Some big changes have been going on in my life lately… namely… I got married!

November 11th (11.11.11) was our special day, and it truly was amazing. We said our vows in front of huge bay windows that displayed a gorgeous sunset and perfectly tinted fall trees. The celebration continued at the reception where we had dinner, fellowship, and dancing. Chris and I actually learned a special dance for our “first dance song” (which was “One and Only” by Michael O’Brien) full of turns, dips, and even a kiss! Every moment of our wedding was unforgettable. After waiting our whole lives for that day, it felt almost strange to actually be standing in the midst of it. Chris and I had to keep looking at our rings and telling each other after the ceremony… “Psst, we’re married!!” It seemed too incredible to believe!

We returned from an amazing honeymoon just in time for Thanksgiving (how awesome is that?!) and have been working on getting settled in our home and decorating for Christmas ever since.

As I sit in my new home and type this, I can’t help but think of what an amazing whirlwind this all has been. In those brief moments at the alter, Chris and I declared vows that have changed our lives more than any other words we have ever said. (Besides what we said when we first came to Christ, of course.) When Chris and I were going through our pre-marital counseling with our pastor and his wife, they tried to warn and prepare us for the on-setting changes marriage would bring. To be honest, they blew our minds with the depth of what it really means to join your life with someone… to lay down your life for them, commit no matter what to them, and so many other things. One of the things that I didn’t expect to hear from them was that I should seriously prepare myself for my changed name. They told me that taking on your husband’s name can result in a sort of identity crisis in some women. While I loved writing “Paige Omartian” all over my desk’s Post-it-Notes and notebooks, they were right. There was something scary about loosing the name that had “defined” me all my life. Who is Paige Omartian?? I didn’t know her! The name sounded so foreign… yet it was soon to be mine.

Since I am a nerdy list person, I grabbed my journal one night and began to dissect who this “Paige Omartian” really was. What does she look like? What is she like? How does she carry herself? What does she find important? Questions like these flooded my mind until I spilled out all the things I felt Paige Omartian “should be”. My pen stopped after one description in particular. This was the one my heart had been longing to see. I had written, “Paige Omartian is who Paige Armstrong is destined to be.”

That was it.

That was the answer I had been searching for to give me assurance of this “new person” I was about to become. I already knew that Chris was God’s plan for me, but when I grasped the fact that Paige Omartian was as well… every drop of fear over my new name evaporated and was replaced with the deepest excitement and thrill. This is the name God has given me!

Now, it’s official. I am Paige Omartian. I realize that many of you who have followed my music, speaking, and ministry have gotten to know me by my former name. This is why I wanted to share some of the process with you – to introduce you to the same, but very new me.

There are a lot of things on the horizon right now, and my first book is on the forefront. Currently, it’s in the editing process with my publisher, and is projected to release in the fall of 2012. I will certainly keep you posted during this process and will let you know the official release date as soon as possible.

Oh, and one more thing! Just to make sure we are all starting off on the same foot, let me give you the correct pronunciation of my new last name. (Many people seem to think it rhymes with the little green martians from space!)
It’s pronounced: OH-MAR-TEE-AN.

Ahh. There we go. Much better now.

Thank you so much for joining me on this journey as we each seek to live the mission He has called us to. I’m excited about His promised plans for each of us!

Living His Mission,

Paige Omartian

As many of you know, I have recently had the most exciting months of my life as I am now engaged to be married to the incredible man that God has so graciously given to me. God has written a beautiful and unexpected story in Chris and I as He brought us together. I wanted to share a few of our engagement photos with you as well as a link where you can catch a glimpse of our story in a recent press release: Click Here .

Words can’t describe how thrilled and grateful we both are for the gift that God has given us in each other. I look forward to sharing more of our journey along the way as we step into this new and life changing season in our lives. One thing that has been made very clear to me at this time… is that it is WORTH the wait!

It was late in the evening and I was trying to get some work done, but my brain was shutting down and my eyes were drooping, so I decided to call it a night and head to  bed. Fortunately, I usually don’t have trouble falling asleep or even staying asleep for that matter, so I drifted off to dreamland rather quickly.

At 4:20am, I was woken up by terrible pain in my stomach and a feeling of sickness that made my whole body miserable. I laid
there for a while in hopes that it would just go away, but it only got worse as the minutes went on. I decided to pull myself out of bed and see if I had any medicine or vitamins that would relieve my pain and help me feel better. I took what I found and hoped it would work quickly.

Minutes slowly turned into hours. I was too uncomfortable to read, or even distract myself on the computer, so all I could do was lay there. I began to pray… what started as praying for God to take away my pain turned into prayers about everything. There has been much going on in my life lately that I’ve needed to pray about – prayers for people close to me who are in need, prayers for my own wisdom and guidance, prayers of thanksgiving and reflection. For the first time in a while, I had time to really be alone with my thoughts and the Lord. It wasn’t rushed trying to wrap up my morning devotion to start my day, and it wasn’t cut short by my tiredness at the end of the night when I’m about to fall asleep. It was unhindered time.. it was exactly what I asked for… but certainly not in the way I intended.

Sometimes blessings are the same way. We ask for something good – and then, much to our confusion, something uncomfortable, even terrible happens. What happened to the blessing that we asked for? Doesn’t God want to bless us?
He does… and He did. His ways are not our ways, and He desires to open our eyes to be able to see the answer to our prayers that He has often already given us.

How ironic that when I told God I missed Him and wanted more time with Him – He gave it to me by waking me up in the night with a stomach ache. Perhaps that sounds a little less than desirable… and well, it certainly wasn’t how I had envisioned it. But the truth is, it was exactly what I needed.

In fact, I still haven’t even gone back to sleep yet… I’m writing this and the sun has already risen. But this time was really precious to me, and my day, my week will be different because of it. My stomach ache was my blessing.

Is there a blessing in your life God is trying to give you that you may be missing? Look closely… it just may be in a clever disguise.

Though money has been pledged to help Haiti from several countries, most of that money and help has yet to arrive. I was shocked to hear that less than 5% of the debris from the earthquake has been cleared… leaving enough to fill dump trucks parked bumper to bumper halfway around the world. (information from http://bit.ly/ifEaxF)

While it has been a year since this tragedy, it is clear that the Haitian people are still in great need of prayers and help. Though a year of other disasters and needs have piled up since theirs, they cannot be forgotten.

Soon after Haiti was hit, I shared that I would be releasing a song that I had written and recorded for them which would benefit World Vision. My plans to release that song were altered, and I was unable to release it as I had planned. Now, in order to share the song with you, I have made a video of remembrance to honor this day one year ago. I will let you know when the song is available to be purchased for the proceeds to support World Vision.

For now, may this song and video be a reminder for us to pray and help in whatever way we can. May the precious Haitian people know they are not forgotten.

All of the work on the song was generously donated by: Chris Omartian, who wrote the song with me and produced it, Paul Allen, who played guitars and Tony Palacios, who mixed it.

The New Year always brings a string of resolutions and reflections, and I’ve usually been the type of person to make a whole list of personal ideals for the upcoming year. If you saw my blog post last year at this time, you’ll see what I mean.

This year, however, I didn’t make a 10 ft scroll of promises, but I focused in on something that I found even more beneficial. With my notebook and pen in hand, I wrote out 3 bad things that happened to me in 2010, and 3 good things. I then listed some things that I was looking forward to potentially happening this year, and a few key things that I’d love for the Lord to strengthen me in.

What was fascinating to me was with these things clearly laid out before me I was able to see a direct correlation between the struggles of my year in 2010, and the blessings. Each one of my three negatives were then followed by either a fulfillment of the need or loss, or an answer that I had been searching for… and those were the three highlights of my year. I didn’t notice this direct connection until after it was written and staring me in the face. The “aha” moment was astounding, and left me dumbfounded at the Lord’s in-genus provision!

This beautiful discovery of God’s hand in my 2010, gave me a platform to see the new 2011 from. It’s like peeking back in a book at the chapter you left off in and refreshing yourself on what it said. Suddenly it gives context to the next chapter that you’re about to embark on. When you know where you came from, you can know where to begin.

As I sat and stared at the new number, 2-0-1-1, I felt the need to dedicate myself and the year to the Lord. I gave Him my dreams for the year and the things that I’m most excited and hopeful about – giving Him permission to do as He sees fit and knowing full well that may not look like what I had envisioned. I dedicated my heart, my time and my relationships. This new year is more about dedication for me than it is about my resolutions. I found so much peace and excitement in putting this year in God’s hands rather than clinging to the list in my own.

Action Challenge: I challenge you, if you haven’t already, to seriously dedicate this 2011 year of your life to Him. Share with Him your dreams, your hopes, your needs, and lay them at His feet where they belong. If there are things in your life that you know you need to turn from, make this the year that you start anew. When we submit ourself to the author of our lives, we will never be disappointed by the story He writes.

This is a season of giving gifts… because we were given the GREATEST gift, Jesus Christ. But along with that gift, we were each given personal, unique gifts to use in serving others. These gifts come in the form of things like compassion, encouragement, generosity, teaching, leadership, hospitality, behind-the-scenes serving… and sooo many others. A gift can be as broad as “being wise” and as specific as “being a good cook”. The Bible says… we each have them! A special set of gifts of our very own.

So this Christmas, my challenge to you is to use your gift. Any gift. Do something that you normally wouldn’t – that puts you in a place where you are serving another person’s need this season.

For some people, Christmas can be the hardest time of year. Many can’t afford to buy their children Christmas presents. Some don’t even have a home to decorate or put a tree in. Others are away from family, or have a broken home.

How can you use your gifts to help? Is there one person or family that you know who has a need this Christmas? Is there a homeless shelter that is looking for volunteers? Is there a place you could set up a free hot cider stand and ask to pray for each person you give the cider to? Is there a gift on your Christmas list that you know someone else could use more than you? Is there a song you could sing or a word you could speak to someone who may need it more than you know?

This is the Christmas Challenge… and I’m doing it too. I have a few things in mind that I’m going to do this month, and will share with you what they are and how they go. Pray about it, and see what the Lord would have you do. I’m praying that each of you will take this challenge – I’m looking forward to hearing from those who do. Let’s encourage each other with our stories!

Each one of us has a gift. What will you give?

“Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant… just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:26-28

When I was little, I made a box called the “Thankful Box”. It was a box where you’d put the list of things that you were thankful for after writing them out. My family used to do that each year, but for some reason we hadn’t in a little while.

Last night, we rekindled that old tradition. We got out some index cards and scribbled down the things that we were thankful for this year. After we finished our dinner, we opened the box and picked out the first card. One by one, we went around the dinner table sharing what we had written and what we were thankful for. What initially seemed like a cute little thing to do, turned into hardly a dry eye at the table. As we took this moment to share our thanks… for each other, for God, for our lives and the blessings of the wild journey we’ve all been on… there was something so deeply profound that came out of our words. There was something about sharing and recognizing our gratitude that was so overwhelming – like the deepest joy you can imagine.

I read in my devotional the other day that thankfulness is God’s love language which enables us to communicate intimately with Him. That really struck me because if thankfulness is one of the main ways that God wants us to show our love for Him… I feel like I haven’t been loving Him very well. I realized I sometimes carry around a spirit of ungratefulness and even entitlement to God and His love.

I heard a speaker the other night who asked a question that I’ve been thinking about for days. It was this: If God never did ONE more thing for you in your life, would you still be thankful?

I stopped. Would I?

Here’s the thing. Even if God never did one more thing for me in my life… I have every reason in the world to be grateful to Him and give Him my life. He’s the creator of the Universe who came down to earth to take on MY death and save me. How could I ever demand more from Him?

But then the speaker said, with gentleness in his voice and reassurance in his eyes…”But God is a good God and He will be with you and He delights in blessing you.” Suddenly, my heart was just so humbled. God has already given me everything… but He loves me enough to not stop there.

I have every reason to be thankful.

But the heart of the message is a lot deeper than those cute catch phrases. If we’re going to not waste our lives, what are we going to do with our lives? If we’re going to be against apathy, then what are we going to be for?

I believe teens and young adults have been stripped of their value by society and left floundering for their purpose. There’s an aimlessness that’s rising out of the “lost cause” mindset that we’ve been fed. It walks among us, it wrestles within us. It keeps us sitting down when we should be standing up.

It’s time for things to change.

God has called me to start a movement called, “Wake Up, Generation”, whose goal is to awaken young people to break the chains of apathy, reclaim their value and live out the incredible, God-given mission for their lives. I am currently working on a book that lays out the heart of this movement and what it truly looks like to use our lives. I would love prayers as publishing opportunities are in the works.

In the mean time, if this is a rising movement… there needs to be action. I am going to be throwing out some “action challenges” in these next few months – some big, some small. As we take these challenges I expect a greater adventure to unfold than we ever dared to foresee.

“Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made… Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. (10) You are my witnesses, declares the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen.” Isaiah 43:7-8,10

It’s an honor to be on this journey with you as we serve a God who has mind-blowing plans for you and me.

Wherever you are at your crossroad, there’s a lot of paths that you could take from here. So how do you begin to choose which way you go?

The other day, I sat down with a pen and paper and literally began to write down every direction that I could imagine myself going in right now. When I had scribbled out all the options I could think of, I have to admit, I was pretty overwhelmed.

When I sat there with a thousand different roads seemingly before me, my thoughts initially felt as jumbled as my crowded piece of paper. I can see why some people just choose to escape and “check out” when it comes to major life decisions rather than really digging in to think things through. Could that be what some of us have done?

I see it all the time. Instead of really buckling down and facing some of the choices that are set before us, we choose escape. We welcome the fact that the world doesn’t encourage making hard decisions and really getting serious about things. We think, “If I can coast my way through, that’s good enough for me…”

But is it? At some point, we all choose a direction. Whether consciously or not.

On the piece of paper with my many scribbled out “path options”, were two in particular that stuck out to me the most – all the other choices seemed to pale in comparison. If anything, they seemed to point to those two main things that I apparently really care about doing. (might I just add that those 2 things were the biggest, craziest things on my list??)

Suddenly, what had seemed like a mass confusion of overwhelming choices became narrowed down to a handful. When I really stopped for a second to think about these big, hard, life things… I realized that maybe there weren’t a thousand paths after all. Maybe I was actually made for one.

Maybe the purpose that was inside me was reaching for the things on that list that had the most to do with my passion… perhaps a passion that I hadn’t even fully discovered yet. But regardless, I seemed to know which 2 things on the list to pick… though they were the craziest, most improbable ones.

>> ACTION CHALLENGE << If you feel you are at a crossroad in your life with many paths set before you, take a minute to write down all the paths you’d consider taking right now. ie: Career, School, Relationships, Living locations. Include the “crazy dream” paths, as well as the seemingly logical/practical paths. After you have it written down, read it over and see what sticks out to you. What could you take or leave? What do you keep coming back to? Circle the things that seem to jump out to your heart the most. Those are the things that are most likely not options to ignore. This means you are meant to do them… they are part of your path.

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Matthew 7:13-14

*If you do this action challenge, I’d love to hear what you found if you care to share!