Battle Field.

Every once in a while I get annoyed at the fact that people aren't jumping up and down and praising God when I am. But I then check my heart in the matter because I know there are very many times that everyone else is jumping around and I'm sitting and journaling, knowing that's where I concentrate best. One of the brothers in my class was asking peoples thoughts on that. He is the type of person to be jumping around and waring for his family. And it just got me thinking...

In war, there are so many different roles to play as soldiers. There is a group that is holding down the front lines with their shields and swords, wrecking everything in their path! :D Then there are the snipers... calmly sitting up on the roofs of buildings, watching for hours on end with such a dedicated concentration. They are the ones that will notice an enemy trying to sneak in before anybody else will. Then there are the intellectuals who are pouring hours upon hours of their life into coming up with strategies, researching what works, what won't work, how to improve. Not to mention the nurses that nobody seems to remember. They are the ones taking care of, showering and feeding the wounded soldiers. 

There are so many more roles than just that. But those are the ones off the top of my head, and to be honest there isn't much that I know about all that warfare. But it is just like that in the "war" that believers are in. We all have our different roles. Sometimes we are the ones jumping up and down worshipping God. Sometimes we are in the back, journaling and growing. Sometimes we are praying intercessory prayers. We all have our different roles.

I am the Samaritan woman.

yes. it is true. I am the Samaritan woman. My Love kept bringing that up to me and I wasn't sure why till I went to study it. My life very much reflects her life. Jesus's love surprised her that day. When she woke up that morning, she did not expect for her life to change. She probably didn't expect her life to be the way she was currently living. But there He was, waiting for her. Right where He knew she would be. And despite all rules, regulations, and what was considered acceptable... He spoke to this woman. He revealed to her truth. He spoke of worship. What is funny is that one of my favorite verses is John 4:23 "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and Truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." and to my surprise, there this verse was at the end of the story of the woman at the well. God has been revealing to me so much about the woman He has called me to be. It's so exciting because it's birthing inside me all these desires and dreams. I love the way God works. His Holy Spirit is moving so much in my life. Today I got to get together with my staff coach, the beautiful Mrs. Dawn Pokorney. We went to Starbucks (hallelujah!) and got to sit down share heart and I got to be sharpened. My Love is sanctifying me so much, and every day, EVERYDAY I am growing and learning and through it all I am being LOVED. That is the biggest thing God has been showing me this week. On Saturday the enemy really started trying to distract me and he kept telling me all these lies that I knew were not true, but it's so hard to feel loved and worthy when all you keep hearing are lies. And then an amazing thing happens. You go to Him, and you pour out your heart. You cry in His arms. and you just rest there. 




rest.     rest.




                       rest. 




And sure enough, He is working. I got my first question on http://www.formspring.me/ShaneaWisler. The question was 

why does it seem like the only thing you can ever talk about is god? 

Let me tell you, my heart just leapt! To think that that is what someone thought about me.... me?!?! The very thing I want people to notice in me is Him. Even though I think this person was trying to use it as an insult, it was the greatest compliment I have ever gotten, and it was EXACTLY what I needed to hear at that moment. I really wish I knew who asked me that question because I would so love to personally thank them for giving me exactly what I needed. I know that My Love had them ask me that so that He could reveal to me what people see in me, what He sees in me. And then the next morning we had breakfast at Dawns for our huddle family time and we got to talk about how as women of God we are the direct reflection of Him. After breakfast, we headed on over to prayer, and the BROTHERS! did such an amazing thing for us sisters. It very much touched my life and it was by far the most beautiful, meaningful, PURE Valentine's Day I have ever had. I'd go into details on that, but it is a sacred moment within our family and I want to preserve that. God was just loving on me like crazy and it just rocked my world. 

It makes me laugh when the enemy tries to distract us, because I know what he says are lies, and when God does that in my life, it makes me love Him that much more, and the enemys efforts are completely useless. HEY GUESS WHAT, THOSE LIES MAKE ME LOVE HIM MORE! BECAUSE WHAT HE TELLS ME IS

TRUTH.

And My Love continues to reveal more and more about who He has called me to be. And I think He is going to confirm and reveal a lot more to me on the LA missions trip. I am so excited for that! 

My Love, I don't know if anyone is even reading this, but whoever may read it, I ask that you just bless them ten fold. Love on them like you have been loving on me. Thank you for being who You are. Continue to invade my world and continue to sharpen me so that I can even more further Your Kingdom. May all the praise and glory go to You. For you are the only one worthy. Dios mío, mi amor . I love you :)

Let's get up to date

Let's get up to date.

So I'm not sure why I decided to do this blog thing or how long it will even last, but alas here I am. First I want to let you know what has been going on lately in my life.
I am in my first year at South Carolina School of Leadership. For more information, please go to www.scsl.com. Let me tell you, I am LOVING school. God has been doing so much in my life this year, and I am most definitely not the same person I was coming into the school year. Many of the sisters can testify to that. In a month I will be going to the Los Angeles Dream Center for a mission trip with about 20 people from my school. We will be doing some street ministry for the homeless along with some other outreaches. I am very much looking forward to this trip and what God's is going to teach and reveal to me while I'm there. I'm so anxious to see how He will use me throughout the trip to influence and touch the lives of the people I come in contact with.

Also, back in October, God blessed me with an amazing opportunity to do a work for hire with Mountain Dew to create the new label and packaging for one of the new flavors coming out this April, Mountain Dew Typhoon. Through that I received an oh so beautiful MacBook Pro and $10,000. CRAZY, I KNOW! But I can't wait for it to come out. My name will be on it and everything!!!! So be on the look out for it in April!
That is everything that I can think of at the moment. I'm going to make two more posts tonight about something that God has been doing in my life this school year, and another on more details on the Mountain Dew experience! I love you!!!

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

So earlier in the school year God gave me this verse when I was going to Him about something He had revealed to me. And He recently brought it up again earlier this week. I decided to spend more time on the verse and really seek out what it means to be sanctified. Let me tell you, God was just revealing SOOOO much to me and He just really showed me how He was sanctifying me. If you have the fire bible (and if you don't, I highly recommend it) there is a specific section on Sanctification. Here is some of what it says:

Sanctification (Gk. Hagiasmos) means to make holy, to consecrate and to separate from the ungodly patterns and practices of the world. It involves being set apart from sin so as to have intimate companionship with God and serve Him effectively. In practical terms, sanctification involves an ongoing process of spiritual growth, development and maturity by which God refines us spiritually, prepares us for His purposes and involves us in His plans. Sanctification enables us to live in a way that influences others to follow Christ.

In the New Testament, sanctification is not pictured as a slow process of forsaking or giving up sin little by little. Rather, it is presented as a definite and decisive act by which the believer - by God's grace - is set free from the control of Satan and makes a clear break with sin in order to live for God. At the same time, however, sanctification is described as a lifelong process by which a follower of Christ continues to put to death the sinful tendencies of the body, is progressively transformed to be more like Jesus, grows in grace, exercises a greater love for God and others and fulfills God's purposes for her life.

True sanctification requires that believers maintain close personal companionship with Christ, participate in fellowship with other believers, devote themselves to prayer, obey God's word, be sensitive to God's presence and care, love what is right and hate what is wicked and wrong, put sin to death, submit to God's discipline, and continue to obey and be filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit.

Such an awareness should characterize all believer's lives, as they present themselves to God as living sacrifices, reserved for His purpose and honor. As a result, they receive from the Holy Spirit the needed grace, purity, power and victory to live holy lives pleasing to God. God, the Father, delights in transforming sinners into saints - "holy ones" - so as to have a pure and blameless bride for His son, Jesus.

I'm beginning to see the process of sanctification that God has been doing in my life. My relationship with Him has grown so much and I am loving every second of it. He's been revealing to me different things about the woman He has called me to be and what He has planned for me. I have no idea what all that entails, but I am enjoying every second of it. Though I must add that this process has been painless. God has been revealing areas of weakness and showing me things that I need to get rid of. It hasn't been easy, but it IS worth it! God has something HUGE in store for me. :D This is going to be a beautiful journey.

Mountain Dew, MacBook Pro, $10,000!

Let me start with the very beginning when God told me that He was going to give me a MacBook Pro. First of all, I bought a PC last year because that was the best financial decision for me to make when I was in the process of purchasing a computer. My desire has always been for a Mac, but my opinion is that if you are going to buy a Mac, go all the way, or don't go at all. Therefore, I bought a PC :(. But while I was working with the Junior High Saturate Youth Church, they all have Macs for the media stuff. And when I was sitting in front of a Mac, God spoke to my spirit saying, "What if I gave you a Mac?" Say whatever you want about that statement, but nonetheless it happened. And fyi, I'm typing this on the very Mac that God gave me.

So Mountain Dew in 2008, I believe, they had the first Dewmocracy where they came out with 3 flavors: Voltage, Revolution, and Supernova. You could go online and vote for your favorite one. Voltage is the one that won. Supernova was by far my favorite. That was the one that SHOULD have won. Just sayin.

This time they wanted to step it up and have mountain dew fans be a part of every aspect of creating the drink.

A mobile tour that created more than 222,712 sampling experiences, along with home-tasting kits sent to 50 DEW fanatics, narrowed seven test flavors down to three. DEW Labs trucks traveled to 17 markets, giving consumers a chance to vote on the contenders. Those three flavors will be the ones coming out into stores in April. At this point they were still only known by their test numbers, 509, 493, and 231.

DEW Labs, a community composed of Mountain Dew's 4,000 most passionate fans, was created by the brand. I became a part of this community in August. Each member received samples of the three final flavors, chose a favorite and joined the corresponding "Flavor Nation." When they sent the three cans to me I was in South Carolina for school, and my mom had called me joking around that she had drank all of them without me. I was not at all thrilled when she told me this because she doesn't even like mountain dew that much. But fortunetly she didn't. The next weekend I decided to go home to pick up my car because I had left it there and I got to try all of the three flavors while I was there. My favorite flavor was by far 509. So I went online and became a part of that "Flavor Nation."

Next, DEW flavor scientists provided insight into the creation process so that Flavor Nations could decide how best to describe their beverages. 509 is described as "Punch of Tropical Dew," 493 is described as "Smooth Citrus Dew," and 231 is described as "Lime Blasted Dew."

Each flavor now needed a color. DEW Labs members received an 18-color palette and a "color pour" video, and selected the three that best matched their beverage. Then DEW fans everywhere were asked to "Shoot Your Shade" and choose among the nine finalists (three colors for each flavor). People picked their favorites on Facebook, and those votes later came to life: Each triggered a shot from a matching paintball gun during a live event conducted with Ustream.tv.

To name their beverage, Flavor Nation members submitted lists of suggestions. Then each Nation chose their three favorites once Mountain Dew's legal department had vetted the names. These finalists now entered into a Twitter race: DEW fans could become followers of their favorite names, and the names with the most followers would win. Typhoon led the pack for No. 509, Distortion landed a majority of votes for No. 231, and White Out won out for No. 493.

Mountain Dew sent out a challenge to designers, art schools, artists and DEW fans to create a look for each flavor. Entrants had to design a basic Mountain Dew label, and DEW fans judged their style on Facebook, narrowing the hundreds of submissions down to 10. The final decision was handed over to the Flavor Nations, who voted for the artist they felt was best suited to their product. This is where I came into play. I received this email only a few days after God told me that He was going to give me a Mac. When I read it, I literally thought, "God, is this how you are going to give me a Mac?" However, in order for me to be submit a design, I had to delete my account on the Dew Labs. But I knew God told me to enter this contest, so I gladly deleted my account. I then started praying and fasting that I would have the right heart in all of it and that all the glory would go to Him and that this whole process would bring expand His kingdom. Since I personally liked 509 Typhoon the best I used the flavor of that drink for my inspiration in my design. I really prayed that God would do a work in me to create the very design He wanted me to create. Here is the design that I entered in.

When you submitted your design it went on Facebook for a multiple day voting period. There were over 200 submissions. The top ten of that voting period would be awarded a 17-inch MacBook Pro and move on to the next level to get voted into the top 3. Here is the link for the voting to get into the top, and the winners: http://apps.facebook.com/dewdesigngallery/ . I had sent out a facebook event to all my friends to spread the word to vote for me. I had been sweating out the voting period because they only showed the top 5 and mine had never made it into the top 5. After the voting period, I would check up multiple times during the day on Mountain Dews facebook to find any indication of the top ten. Then one day, I noticed in one of the discussion boards that a guy said that he received notification via email that he had gotten in the top ten. When I went to go check my email, I had nothing of the sort. At first I was so confused because I knew that God had told me that I was going to get into the top ten. Since I didn't get that email, I already told everyone that I did not make it into the top ten but that I really appreciated them all voting for me. The next day I was just playing around on my computer and I noticed an email in my junk mail folder and decided to go click to see what it was. And there it was. My notification that I had gotten in the top ten. Was I excited? Heck yes I was. I practically tackled my roommate Evie. :)

From the top ten, they took all those design submissions and put it into the DewLabs for each of the "Flavor Nations" to compete for which designer they wanted for their flavor. Praise the Lord that Typhoon picked me to be their designer! That was the very one I wanted! This is what made me into the top three. I found out that I got in the top three on October 14th, my parents anniversary. It is sooo funny that I found out on this day because ever since I was in junior high I would always see the numbers 10 14 everywhere. Whether it would be on a mailbox, license plate, or clock, I saw it VERY often. And Since October is the 10th month, and it was on the 14th day, coincidence? I think not! oh, and FYI, top three you receive $10,000. Very, very exciting! Also, might I just add that NO ONE, NOT A LIVING SOUL was in my apartment when I got the email for top three. For those that don't know, there are seven girls living in my apartment including me. And no one was home. I had to run outside to find someone to tell because I was soo excited. It was funny cuz when I first got the email, I had to read over it multiple times to make sure I was reading it correctly, and then when I ran outside and told a few people, I ran back inside to read the email again, JUST IN CASE I didn't read it right the first five times. :D

I then worked very closely with Mountain Dew and the members in the Dew Labs for my flavor nation. Mountain Dew set me up in Discussion Boards in the Dew Labs and I even got to do a Live Chat to talk with all the members of Typhoons Flavor Nation. The whole point of the discussion boards and the live chats was to find out what they wanted the final design to look like. Here is the final design.

The next stage was for the advertising. Each Flavor Nation will need a TV commercial, so a call went out to small advertising agencies, film students and individuals: Submit a 12-second Mountain Dew spot that demonstrates your skills. Entries were uploaded to 12seconds.tv, where DEW fans voted for their favorites, choosing six finalists. Voting ended Dec. 13. The finalists then created a short pitch video for the Flavor Nations, which selected which ad creator they would like to work with. Typhoon chose Crashtestproductions, White Out chose dewadew, and Distortion chose animaticmedia. They are now working on the final advertisement commercials that will be aired on national television in April.

Flavor Nations will get competitive as they prepare to fight for the allegiance of DEW fans when their products hit store shelves in April 2010. After the beverages are released, the Flavor Nations will rally friends, family and the rest of the country to vote for their product, with national advertising supporting the rallies. The flavor with the most votes will become a permanent member of the DEW family. I really hope that Typhoon makes it! Last I heard, in the Dew Labs Community, Typhoon had the largest following!

Also, I will explain the trip to New York. Mountain Dew sent me on an all expense paid trip to New York City for the press release of Dewmocracy 2. They had a studio set up explaining all the stages of the campaign as well as visual examples. All of the original 7 flavors were there to taste. All of the different colors to pick from were there. They had three groups of press coming in to interview, video, whatever. I basically got to share my involvement and what my inspiration was for the design, as well as how I enjoyed the whole process. Here are some links for the press release:

http://www.dewmocracymediahub.com/

http://www.ruthoutspoken.com/2009/12/17/the-power-of-social-media-and-carbonated-caffeine/

http://mashable.com/2010/01/28/social-media-marketing-pepsi/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+Mashable+(Mashable)&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

And then just recently the Reading Eagle, a newspaper from back at home in PA, found out about the whole story and wanted to do a story on me. Friday they had a reporter call me and it will be on page A2 this coming week! So very excited for that!

So That basically explains it all! Keep your eye out for it in April. :)