Strange moment today. Jumping off into church planting has entailed some budget cuts at the Kemp's house. When the weather started getting cold this fall I realized that Abby did not own any pajamas. I began praying for God to meet this need since I really at that moment could not come up with any extra cash for clothes. Then, honestly I forgot about it and moved on with life.
Today I was sorting through her clothes, reorganizing, packing up what's too little, etc. It took most of the day since we were recently blessed with two big batches of hand-me-downs. I was grumbling about the big mess and the big job a bit when I started folding pajamas.
It was when I began putting away her pajamas and needed not one, but two drawers that I began to cry. You see, I had prayed for warm pajamas and then moved on with life. But my God who is faithful even in the small things of life blessed us with gifts from grandmas and hand-me-downs from friends so that we now have two drawers full of pajamas. My daughter is warm at night, and I had not even noticed that God had answered my prayer.
God is good...all the time....and all the time....God is good.
Thanks for the p.j.s!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
the burning question....did I survive offline?
The burning question...did I survive being offline most of the week? Absolutely. I went to bed early, spent more time with the kids, got caught up on grading papers. Still haven't paid bills...I keep putting that off....must be done.
The kids and I made it through the week without Shawn just fine. We certainly missed him, but we were okay. At no point did I think I was going to see my head totally and completely explode from frustration with the kids. They tried really hard to be extra good and helpful. Now things are right back to normal.
Two of the three nights my stuff I cooked turned out decent or least edible. The third night with the slightly scorched dinner, James said, "No offense mom, but while we're on the topic of food, when's dad coming home?" (I lost two pounds!)
Speaking of supper conversations, that third night was a hoot. The kids just all suddenly broke into some old rock songs and were drumming on the table with their silverware and laughing and giggling and having a great time. (The whole reason I burnt the food in the first place was because we were jamming and dancing before supper.) The jokes were flying.....with middle school aged kids the cheese factor is pretty high, but still funny. Then they started telling me all these funny stories from school, and I seriously could not stop laughing. So sucky food, but great entertainment.... not a bad trade-off. (Oh, and out of the blue Grace says, "Hey mom, what's a virgin....without even considering that we haven't exactly had all of "the talk" just yet I reply nonchalantly, "Somebody who's not had sex yet." James spits his milk out his nose and laughs....Grace turns red.....and Katie was just confused. And then the singing started right back up again.)
It has been a long, hard week at school this week. I've had some difficult conversations with a couple of upset parents. I've done 21 individual, very detailed, reading tests with my class - all while managing the other students at the same time. Put that together with school wide benchmark testing which meant no P.E. or music (no breaks for me at all) - and I'm pretty exhausted! I did have 12 minutes for lunch today....so a short break. I'm really looking forward to the weekend! And I'm really looking forward to sleep!
The kids and I made it through the week without Shawn just fine. We certainly missed him, but we were okay. At no point did I think I was going to see my head totally and completely explode from frustration with the kids. They tried really hard to be extra good and helpful. Now things are right back to normal.
Two of the three nights my stuff I cooked turned out decent or least edible. The third night with the slightly scorched dinner, James said, "No offense mom, but while we're on the topic of food, when's dad coming home?" (I lost two pounds!)
Speaking of supper conversations, that third night was a hoot. The kids just all suddenly broke into some old rock songs and were drumming on the table with their silverware and laughing and giggling and having a great time. (The whole reason I burnt the food in the first place was because we were jamming and dancing before supper.) The jokes were flying.....with middle school aged kids the cheese factor is pretty high, but still funny. Then they started telling me all these funny stories from school, and I seriously could not stop laughing. So sucky food, but great entertainment.... not a bad trade-off. (Oh, and out of the blue Grace says, "Hey mom, what's a virgin....without even considering that we haven't exactly had all of "the talk" just yet I reply nonchalantly, "Somebody who's not had sex yet." James spits his milk out his nose and laughs....Grace turns red.....and Katie was just confused. And then the singing started right back up again.)
It has been a long, hard week at school this week. I've had some difficult conversations with a couple of upset parents. I've done 21 individual, very detailed, reading tests with my class - all while managing the other students at the same time. Put that together with school wide benchmark testing which meant no P.E. or music (no breaks for me at all) - and I'm pretty exhausted! I did have 12 minutes for lunch today....so a short break. I'm really looking forward to the weekend! And I'm really looking forward to sleep!
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Monday Morning Update
Okay...am trying again to add photos. Be patient if they are oddly positioned. Still having a hard time with this.
This morning I was overcome with emotion during worship to the point that I had to work really hard at keeping my composure long enough to finish the set. I loved the worship set, but it was seeing the now familiar faces of people that were strangers just a few weeks ago that did me in. I was so touched as I realized how God is slowly and steadily moving in Anna. I think that sometimes I forget just how amazing God has already been in the life of The Crossroads. I thought that tonight I would take the time to review the journey with you. Sometimes, remembering where we started from helps us to fully see where God has brought us. So settle in for a long read....God has been really good.....There's lots of blessings to share!
Some Crossroads Firsts
This was back that first night when we unrolled the sign for the very first time and were sorting the things for the first preview service and packing the truck. I remember our excitement. My fear of the unknown and my dreams of the future. God blessed us with start up supplies through many sources....Friends, family, other churches, local and state organizations. Somehow we had plenty of funding for everything we needed to begin a new church. We trained with Shawn's coach for our summer work, and began praying for "the friends we haven't meet yet" (Joel - the second shyest member of the launch team. I was first place.)
Worship Dude
We had supplies, we had been blessed with a big truck to haul and store all our stuff, we had found a place to meet.....we were less than a week away from our first preview service.....and no worship leader. I had prayed long and hard for this unknown man. There are specifics in an older blog, but I had a really long list of criteria. We scouted local bands, interviewed men we heard about through the grapevine, and totally exhausted every single resource and person that we knew or heard of. Nothing. Then Shawn went back one last time to one of our sponsor churches to basically beg them for someone just to help us out through the first three preview services of the summer. They reluctantly told us about a guy on their worship team that they thought was probably interested in worship ministry. To me, this is still one of the most incredible things that God has done. That he united Robby (worship dude) and The Crossroads is amazing. I can't imagine anyone else who would be a better fit with Shawn, the band, and the congregation. God did really good on this one. Much better than I had ever hoped for. Honestly, as a brand new church plant, I expected us to get stuck with some has-been, or some mediocre talented guy until we could afford better. Instead God delivered somebody more talented than I ever expected to have the opportunity to work with in my lifetime. We are richly blessed. Shawn's coach told us to dream big about a worship leader and not be afraid of the big ask. I didn't know to ask this big. But God did it anyway!
Block Parties and other summer events
We did four big events this last summer to meet the community and try to generate interest in The Crossroads. We did everything from cotton candy (ewww.....I was sticky for days) to large inflatables to a movie night to a live band. We gave away door prizes, had lots of fun, and began to love our new community. We made hundreds of contacts and saw people becoming interested in us and receptive to hearing about Jesus. By the end of the summer, God had taken a small team of friends and taught us how to create community events and how to trust God to provide for our every need.
One of our big jobs last summer involved door to door surveys. We learned a lot about the community. About their music preferences, which helped us design a musical style for The Crossroads. About their perception of needs for the community - by far the biggest desire was for a sense of community. We had a mission team come in and help with this huge task. I still could only dream and imagine what God had planned for the Crossroads. But as we walked the streets in the heat and prayed for our community, God created in me and each member of the team a sense of hunger and desire to reach Anna. He bound our launch team together with bonds tighter than I have ever experienced in church before as we united around a common goal.
We did three preview services last summer to practice set up and tear down, to generate interest in The Crossroads, and to give us the opportunity to learn how to best reach the community. The first set-up took several hours as we tried several different approaches. It is hard now to remember a time that set-up wasn't totally automatic. It is hard to remember back in the day when we needed photos to make sure we replaced everything where it went. When it still seemed strange to have church in a gym. We are so thankful to have the opportunity to meet in a location that is inexpensive and meets our needs so well. God provided favor with the landlord. While we could not find anywhere to meet, God was paving the way for a cheaper location with much more space than all the other places we looked at. The inexpensive overhead left us plenty of funds for all the outreach events of the summer! God had a plan!
Since the launch:
We have met weekly since September. God continually brings us new people and is really connecting some families into The Crossroads. We have baptized three people, and licensed one guy to the ministry. This fall we did a trunk or treat at Halloween and handed out spirit towels at a football game. (by the way...ended up with a grant for the spirit towels)
This was back that first night when we unrolled the sign for the very first time and were sorting the things for the first preview service and packing the truck. I remember our excitement. My fear of the unknown and my dreams of the future. God blessed us with start up supplies through many sources....Friends, family, other churches, local and state organizations. Somehow we had plenty of funding for everything we needed to begin a new church. We trained with Shawn's coach for our summer work, and began praying for "the friends we haven't meet yet" (Joel - the second shyest member of the launch team. I was first place.)
Worship Dude
We had supplies, we had been blessed with a big truck to haul and store all our stuff, we had found a place to meet.....we were less than a week away from our first preview service.....and no worship leader. I had prayed long and hard for this unknown man. There are specifics in an older blog, but I had a really long list of criteria. We scouted local bands, interviewed men we heard about through the grapevine, and totally exhausted every single resource and person that we knew or heard of. Nothing. Then Shawn went back one last time to one of our sponsor churches to basically beg them for someone just to help us out through the first three preview services of the summer. They reluctantly told us about a guy on their worship team that they thought was probably interested in worship ministry. To me, this is still one of the most incredible things that God has done. That he united Robby (worship dude) and The Crossroads is amazing. I can't imagine anyone else who would be a better fit with Shawn, the band, and the congregation. God did really good on this one. Much better than I had ever hoped for. Honestly, as a brand new church plant, I expected us to get stuck with some has-been, or some mediocre talented guy until we could afford better. Instead God delivered somebody more talented than I ever expected to have the opportunity to work with in my lifetime. We are richly blessed. Shawn's coach told us to dream big about a worship leader and not be afraid of the big ask. I didn't know to ask this big. But God did it anyway!
Block Parties and other summer events
We did four big events this last summer to meet the community and try to generate interest in The Crossroads. We did everything from cotton candy (ewww.....I was sticky for days) to large inflatables to a movie night to a live band. We gave away door prizes, had lots of fun, and began to love our new community. We made hundreds of contacts and saw people becoming interested in us and receptive to hearing about Jesus. By the end of the summer, God had taken a small team of friends and taught us how to create community events and how to trust God to provide for our every need.
One of our big jobs last summer involved door to door surveys. We learned a lot about the community. About their music preferences, which helped us design a musical style for The Crossroads. About their perception of needs for the community - by far the biggest desire was for a sense of community. We had a mission team come in and help with this huge task. I still could only dream and imagine what God had planned for the Crossroads. But as we walked the streets in the heat and prayed for our community, God created in me and each member of the team a sense of hunger and desire to reach Anna. He bound our launch team together with bonds tighter than I have ever experienced in church before as we united around a common goal.
We did three preview services last summer to practice set up and tear down, to generate interest in The Crossroads, and to give us the opportunity to learn how to best reach the community. The first set-up took several hours as we tried several different approaches. It is hard now to remember a time that set-up wasn't totally automatic. It is hard to remember back in the day when we needed photos to make sure we replaced everything where it went. When it still seemed strange to have church in a gym. We are so thankful to have the opportunity to meet in a location that is inexpensive and meets our needs so well. God provided favor with the landlord. While we could not find anywhere to meet, God was paving the way for a cheaper location with much more space than all the other places we looked at. The inexpensive overhead left us plenty of funds for all the outreach events of the summer! God had a plan!
Since the launch:
We have met weekly since September. God continually brings us new people and is really connecting some families into The Crossroads. We have baptized three people, and licensed one guy to the ministry. This fall we did a trunk or treat at Halloween and handed out spirit towels at a football game. (by the way...ended up with a grant for the spirit towels)
LaRissa and a friend at Trunk -r- treat
11,000 pounds of snow at White Christmas
But more important than the statistics and the numbers are the relationships that are building. Every week I watch as our new friends are becoming old friends. Every week I see the excitement and energy as people set-up for services and tear down afterwards. I can't imagine enjoying church more than what I do. Sunday has become the absolute highlight of my week. The day that I count down to. Church is not routine. It is not boring. It is fresh and exciting and beautiful.
Licensing Brad Brinkley to the ministry
Our First Mission Trip
As a new church,we are hungry to share Christ with the world. We went on our first mission trip over the holidays. If you missed all the details, check out my last few blogs. God provided nearly 700 blankets, toys, van rental, and gas for the trip. Total cost of trip per person - $30. I was blown away by God's planning and provision on the trip. He provided the perfect location for us....which was not where we planned to go. God blessed us in so many ways on the trip.
On a personal note
One of the greatest blessings this year has been seeing my family grow. Many years ago I visited with a missionary wife from Russia. She said that becoming missionaries was the best thing that ever happened to her family. We have not left home for a new country, but I have to absolutely agree with her. I am seeing my children loving church. They are anxious and available to help us out. They have important jobs and enjoy the responsibility and importance of being needed. I have seen the church family adopting my children as their own. I deeply appreciate all of the people who have stepped up to love my children like family. I saw this type of relationship at Saddleback several years ago as I watched some staff children with church members. But I never honestly expected to have that level of relationship in a church. Don't misunderstand me here. People in churches where we have served have always been good to our children and loved them - even sacrificially giving of themselves to help us out. But this is different. This is like attending church with family. Thank you.
I've found that there is much that I've forgotten. And then there's much that I don't have the words or the time tonight to share. However, I do know for sure that if God never did another thing at The Crossroads, it would still have been the best ride of my life. But the really exciting thing is that God is not finished yet. He's just getting started!
As a new church,we are hungry to share Christ with the world. We went on our first mission trip over the holidays. If you missed all the details, check out my last few blogs. God provided nearly 700 blankets, toys, van rental, and gas for the trip. Total cost of trip per person - $30. I was blown away by God's planning and provision on the trip. He provided the perfect location for us....which was not where we planned to go. God blessed us in so many ways on the trip.
On a personal note
One of the greatest blessings this year has been seeing my family grow. Many years ago I visited with a missionary wife from Russia. She said that becoming missionaries was the best thing that ever happened to her family. We have not left home for a new country, but I have to absolutely agree with her. I am seeing my children loving church. They are anxious and available to help us out. They have important jobs and enjoy the responsibility and importance of being needed. I have seen the church family adopting my children as their own. I deeply appreciate all of the people who have stepped up to love my children like family. I saw this type of relationship at Saddleback several years ago as I watched some staff children with church members. But I never honestly expected to have that level of relationship in a church. Don't misunderstand me here. People in churches where we have served have always been good to our children and loved them - even sacrificially giving of themselves to help us out. But this is different. This is like attending church with family. Thank you.
I've found that there is much that I've forgotten. And then there's much that I don't have the words or the time tonight to share. However, I do know for sure that if God never did another thing at The Crossroads, it would still have been the best ride of my life. But the really exciting thing is that God is not finished yet. He's just getting started!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Random chaos from the Kemp's
Our home is loud, rowdy, chaotic and messy. Never boring or dull! I love it! Thought you might like to read about just a couple of sample events from a normal day at the Kemp's house.
*You know there's too much talk radio in the morning when the two year old starts making up a song, "mike and mike in the morning...."
*Abby and her Daddy spent the morning dancing to Bon Jovi (cranked up loud). Since Shawn can't sing, he mimes and does huge interpretive dance motions. She is totally copying his miming dance moves. Hysterical to watch.
*Grace was trying to tell James how to make scrambled eggs this morning.
Grace with extreme bossiness, "James you're doing it all wrong. Put butter in the pan. Crack the eggs in a bowl. Whisk the eggs. You forgot to swish the butter...."
James in desperation as the egg shells crumble in his hand and fall into the bowl, and the butter in the pan is scorching, "I can't do two things at once."
I think he gets his cooking ability from me.
* There's just a couple of sample events from a typical day at the Kemp's. I am having a hard time fully capturing the magic of the chaos here in the blog. I'll have to work on it a bit more. The kids are funny, precious, awful, wild, insane, and wonderful all at the same time. That's what makes it interesting and fun.
*Looking forward to an awesome day at The Crossroads tomorrow. Just can't wait! Love going to worship there!
*For the girls : Thanks those of you who prayed for my dress shopping. I made it through trying on clothes without crying. In fact, everything fit really well. The hardest part was selecting a dress to buy. I only had to go to one store. YEAH! Finally ended up with a classy little black dress and new high heels to wear to our big event Friday night. I also wound up buying a hot little blue dress that was on sale that I'll wear when we go out on Valentine's day. It's a little sexier than what I usually wear, but I think I can pull it off. And my husband will definitely not be thinking about the food :) There was also a red dress that I really wanted but could not justify paying full price for....and nowhere to wear it either. Halter top, low-cut, backless kind of thing for evening wear. Be great on a cruise..... Hope the shopping details satisfy all you girly girls out there who enjoy that kind of thing. Boys, guess you're wishing you had skipped this.
*You know there's too much talk radio in the morning when the two year old starts making up a song, "mike and mike in the morning...."
*Abby and her Daddy spent the morning dancing to Bon Jovi (cranked up loud). Since Shawn can't sing, he mimes and does huge interpretive dance motions. She is totally copying his miming dance moves. Hysterical to watch.
*Grace was trying to tell James how to make scrambled eggs this morning.
Grace with extreme bossiness, "James you're doing it all wrong. Put butter in the pan. Crack the eggs in a bowl. Whisk the eggs. You forgot to swish the butter...."
James in desperation as the egg shells crumble in his hand and fall into the bowl, and the butter in the pan is scorching, "I can't do two things at once."
I think he gets his cooking ability from me.
* There's just a couple of sample events from a typical day at the Kemp's. I am having a hard time fully capturing the magic of the chaos here in the blog. I'll have to work on it a bit more. The kids are funny, precious, awful, wild, insane, and wonderful all at the same time. That's what makes it interesting and fun.
*Looking forward to an awesome day at The Crossroads tomorrow. Just can't wait! Love going to worship there!
*For the girls : Thanks those of you who prayed for my dress shopping. I made it through trying on clothes without crying. In fact, everything fit really well. The hardest part was selecting a dress to buy. I only had to go to one store. YEAH! Finally ended up with a classy little black dress and new high heels to wear to our big event Friday night. I also wound up buying a hot little blue dress that was on sale that I'll wear when we go out on Valentine's day. It's a little sexier than what I usually wear, but I think I can pull it off. And my husband will definitely not be thinking about the food :) There was also a red dress that I really wanted but could not justify paying full price for....and nowhere to wear it either. Halter top, low-cut, backless kind of thing for evening wear. Be great on a cruise..... Hope the shopping details satisfy all you girly girls out there who enjoy that kind of thing. Boys, guess you're wishing you had skipped this.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Navigating the preteen minefield
faOkay, I admit it. I am absolutely clueless about parenting teens. I am totally making it up as I go. I just keep trying random stuff hoping somehow the kids turn out all right and I survive as well.
Tonight I had the brilliant idea to take Grace out alone. This was genius. I've done it before, but it's been probably a couple of years since we did anything big together, alone. We ate at Chick-fil-a. (Her choice) I got caught up on school, her friends, some deeper issues, etc.
Then we went to see Twilight. She's now reading the books for the third time. Huge fan. I was interested to see how she would rate the movie since she is the target audience for the film. I was a little nervous since this is one of her first exposures to a pretty intense love story (Shawn calls it girl porn) :) I didn't want her to just get swept away by the romance of it all. She definitely liked the movie, but evaluated it well, too. I was really impressed with her take on the movie. She discussed the acting and directing and details that showed that she watched the movie critically and carefully evaluated what she was taking in.
I know that we have some tough days ahead as we figure out preteen hood together. I'm just having to learn as I go. But for tonight, I think I probably scored an A. Just listening, loving, and hanging out without judging or nagging or fussing. She came away feeling special, and I came away understanding her just a little bit better.
Looking forward to the rest of a busy weekend....dress shopping with a buddy in the morning for the Anna chamber of commerce banquet; band practice in the afternoon, then best of all, church on Sunday! Love weekends!
Tonight I had the brilliant idea to take Grace out alone. This was genius. I've done it before, but it's been probably a couple of years since we did anything big together, alone. We ate at Chick-fil-a. (Her choice) I got caught up on school, her friends, some deeper issues, etc.
Then we went to see Twilight. She's now reading the books for the third time. Huge fan. I was interested to see how she would rate the movie since she is the target audience for the film. I was a little nervous since this is one of her first exposures to a pretty intense love story (Shawn calls it girl porn) :) I didn't want her to just get swept away by the romance of it all. She definitely liked the movie, but evaluated it well, too. I was really impressed with her take on the movie. She discussed the acting and directing and details that showed that she watched the movie critically and carefully evaluated what she was taking in.
I know that we have some tough days ahead as we figure out preteen hood together. I'm just having to learn as I go. But for tonight, I think I probably scored an A. Just listening, loving, and hanging out without judging or nagging or fussing. She came away feeling special, and I came away understanding her just a little bit better.
Looking forward to the rest of a busy weekend....dress shopping with a buddy in the morning for the Anna chamber of commerce banquet; band practice in the afternoon, then best of all, church on Sunday! Love weekends!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
What a day!
Wow - what a day. It seemed like I didn't ever have a second to catch my breath. I hit the ground running hard at school and didn't slow down. I had my hands full between teaching and discipline issue with some kids. My conference period was spent in a meeting where I found out that now we are being required to tutor two days per week after school to try to help the big kids pass the TAKS test. So longer hours for me. I don't mind doing my part, it's just that I'm already slammed with work. It's only a few months.
Between a Wal-mart run and cleaning for the house to show tomorrow, I am exhausted. I know that my energy level will pick up some next week as my body adjusts back to the school schedule. In the meantime....patience....I promise I'm not being purposefully grumpy :)
Do me a favor - pray for my brother-in-law Bryan. He lost his job this week. He and and my sister-in-law Lori have a daughter in college and a son who's a Junior in High School. It's tough to lose an incredible income with that age kids. They are willing to relocate if necessary and are seeking God pretty hard.
Between a Wal-mart run and cleaning for the house to show tomorrow, I am exhausted. I know that my energy level will pick up some next week as my body adjusts back to the school schedule. In the meantime....patience....I promise I'm not being purposefully grumpy :)
Do me a favor - pray for my brother-in-law Bryan. He lost his job this week. He and and my sister-in-law Lori have a daughter in college and a son who's a Junior in High School. It's tough to lose an incredible income with that age kids. They are willing to relocate if necessary and are seeking God pretty hard.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
She's speaking English
Here's another amusing Mexico story friends wanted me to share.
One day we were handing out blankets door to door in the fishing village. The group I was with walked up to a door and worship dude started asking the lady at the door the standard questions....How many in your family, how many children, girls or boy....so that we could leave the appropriate gifts at the home. I suddenly realize that I can not only understand his broken spanish that I had heard several times already by this point, but also am clearly understanding all of the lady's replies.
Running through my head is suddenly the thought, "Thank you, Jesus, for this incredible gift to be able to understand this lady without a translator....especially since we seem to have gotten separated from all of our translators yet again." I'm thinking I have been given a supernatural moment.....when suddenly I realize.....she's speaking ENGLISH!
So of course with my fast mouth and slow brain I yell out, "Oh, you speak English." Duh! So then I got to jump in and join the conversation. She was the first English speaker that I had discovered in the village and so I was very excited. My next bright statement is, "My spanish is really bad." to which she replies, "YES!"
I may not win any awards for coolest, smoothest missionary on this trip...but I did have a lot of fun!
One day we were handing out blankets door to door in the fishing village. The group I was with walked up to a door and worship dude started asking the lady at the door the standard questions....How many in your family, how many children, girls or boy....so that we could leave the appropriate gifts at the home. I suddenly realize that I can not only understand his broken spanish that I had heard several times already by this point, but also am clearly understanding all of the lady's replies.
Running through my head is suddenly the thought, "Thank you, Jesus, for this incredible gift to be able to understand this lady without a translator....especially since we seem to have gotten separated from all of our translators yet again." I'm thinking I have been given a supernatural moment.....when suddenly I realize.....she's speaking ENGLISH!
So of course with my fast mouth and slow brain I yell out, "Oh, you speak English." Duh! So then I got to jump in and join the conversation. She was the first English speaker that I had discovered in the village and so I was very excited. My next bright statement is, "My spanish is really bad." to which she replies, "YES!"
I may not win any awards for coolest, smoothest missionary on this trip...but I did have a lot of fun!
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