Another Rainy Day

If you're tired of hearing me rattle on about the rain, then feel free to skip this blog. For the rest of you...here it is.

Today I sat in Memaw's living room and watched a big storm roll in. There's something unique about the sound of the wind whipping through the tall pine trees. The sky darkened and the rain pounded the ground outside the open windows. I love the smell of rain just as it begins to fall and especially love the smell of wet pine trees.

As I sat and watched the storm, I began to think of how often I have used rain as an analogy for God's presence this year. Then I thought about how varied rain is. There's drizzly rain that mostly just gives you frizzy hair. There's the slow, steady rain that nourishes the grass and really replenishes the moisture. There's the cold, hard, driving rain that drives you indoors to seek a warm fire. There's the quick summer storms that invoke a touch of fear and a lot of awe with their lightening shows.

The longer I thought about all the different types of rain, the more I was amazed at our Creator. He just never does things exactly the same way twice in nature. It made me wonder a little bit about how He moves among His people. It seems that there is a lot of variety there as well. I have certain expectations about how God is going to move in Anna. Maybe instead I should just hang out and see what God can do and marvel at all the different ways that He rains out His presence on His people.

Looking forward to a superb day at The Crossroads tomorrow. Can't wait to get caught up with everybody and to finalize mission trip plans. It's cool to be really excited to come back home after Christmas and to be filled with anticipation about what God's got in store for the new year.

I think I'm scared of all the wrong things

The other night I had the strangest dreams about natural disasters. They were that crystal clear kind where you wake up, and it takes you a minute to realize that the dreams were not real. In a nutshell - in one dream I was driving down the highway in a severe storm that suddenly formed several funnel clouds. I evacuated the car with Grace and Abby and took off running across a field, trying to reach a ditch that might offer some protection. In my dream, my heart was racing, the adrenaline was pumping, and the fear was overwhelming. The scene of the dream suddenly changed, and I was in my classroom and could see a huge grassfire blazing across the field coming toward the school and could not find a way to evacuate all of my students. Again...horrible fear consumed me.

After I woke up, my heart was still beating hard, and I began to think through my scary list. Tornadoes, fire, spiders, snakes, really tight spaces, getting my face wet.....The list became rather long. As the list grew, I began to pray against the fear and seemed to hear God saying that I am afraid of all the wrong stuff. Huh? Sometimes God is really confusing.

But here's the deal....in most cases, the stuff that I'm afraid of isn't even deadly. Then I realized that in my long list of scary stuff, it never even occurred to me to list Satan. I began to wonder why it is that I am more afraid of spiders than Satan. God seemed to be showing me that I might need to pay less attention to my scary list and more attention to the reality of spiritual warfare. I think I should worry less about getting my face wet in the shower and more about making sure I am well equipped and very prepared to meet the enemy.

Strange how God can use the weirdest stuff...

So tonight's the last blog for awhile. I expect to be without internet until I get back home next Saturday. I hope you all have a merry Christmas. Filled with rest, relaxation, good food, family, and friends. Safe travels to you all. Be thinking about your New Year's resolutions. I have some ready. We'll see how they compare.

Monday Morning Update

What a day at The Crossroads! It was 19 degrees when we climbed into the suburban this morning. I was pleasantly surprised by how well we were able to heat the cheer gym. It was cool, but not miserably so except while we had the doors open unloading and loading stuff off the truck.

I was so stoked to have our bass player in town for Christmas break. I miss having a bass, but more than that, I've missed my friend. We felt complete today as a band. The worship set was pretty awesome. No big surprise there....I've come to expect excellence.

Shawn's sermon was incredible. He managed to bring out some new stuff about the Christmas story that I had never seen before. I'm pretty sure he will be posting his sermon on www.blazingthetrail.blogspot.com so you can check it out for yourself. He will get to preach one more time before his enforced silence for three weeks due to the cyst on his vocal chords.

This afternoon we had "White Christmas" at the park in Anna. We brought in 330 bags of "snow" - snow cone ice, really. Each bag weighed 35 pounds. Do the math - we moved over 11,000 pounds of ice! We served hot cocoa and cookies, gave away an mp3 player, and the band played. It was awesome. We had over 80 people show up - in spite of the miserably cold conditions. My fingers hurt so bad trying to play keys in the cold. However, I was wearing gloves that I had cut the fingertips out of. The guitar guys were in serious pain because they couldn't wear gloves and play. But even with bitterly cold conditions.....I can't think of any other way I'd rather spend my day than getting to play music with an awesome band. Love hanging out with them!

After we cleaned up and packed up, we went to IHOP for supper with some of the launch team. As we were leaving Shawn said, "We are so very lucky to have such amazing friends." I just couldn't agree more. Several of my friends from Anna stopped by today to hang out at the Christmas thing, and then all the people from church and from the launch team.....days are just better when you get to share them with friends!

We are excited about going to Mexico next week for a mission trip. Please pray for our safe passage back and forth across the border and that God would begin to prepare hearts to meet Him. How cool - The Crossroads' first mission trip!

An Awesome Day

What an awesome day! It started with my amazing husband cooking cinnamon toast- french toast. Yum! Then we did tons of laundry in the newly repaired dryer. Yeah! Have to say that watching him fix the dryer was a real turn-on.

Next was band practice. Always the highlight in my week. Love hanging out with the band and playing music. It's just incredible every week. I wonder how long it will take me to stop being awed by the talent God has placed at the Crossroads. Whether it's amazement at the musician Jake has become as an adult (we've been playing together since he was a young teen) or the incredibly gifted worship dude who's definitely the best vocalist and most talented musician I've ever had the opportunity to work with....I always leave practice just a little bit overwhelmed by what a big God I serve.

Then I was pleasantly surprised by visitors this afternoon. I love when friends just drop by. It's so awesome to not have time to stress about cleaning or anything ahead of time....just free to enjoy the friends. Our church planting intern came by and then Grrr stopped by on his way home from basic training. Loved hearing his stories and catching up with him.

I am so blessed with good relationships. How beautiful is God that he has designed so many unique friendships between very different people!

Tomorrow's a big day at The Crossroads. We have snow coming in at the park. The band is going to play. I'm already nervous. But I am also stinkin' excited about the day. I think we will meet tons of new people and hopefully see some more growth as a result.

The Holiday Spirit

I was out late this evening doing a bit of Christmas shopping. It is interesting to see the other shoppers wandering the aisles. I spent a long time at Wal-mart tonight. And these are my observations.

There are lots of confused and bewildered men. They wander aimlessly up and down the aisles at a total loss as to what to buy their special someone. If they are in the lingerie department, they carefully avoid eye contact with the women around them - it seems a bit awkward to ask a stranger for her opinion on the black or the red item. When shopping for chick flicks, they do extensive opinion polls - asking the other women on the aisle, "Have you seen this one?" Or in jewelry - asking the sales clerk, "What do you think my wife would like?" (Cause the clerk knows your wife so well.) Then there are the desperate and determined men. You can hear the tension in their voice. They are going to buy something worthwhile and wonderful, no matter what, darn it. (edited for you, honey!) And it's going to be the first girly item they see - then they are running for the door.

Grandmothers. God just did something unique when he created them. In the toy aisles, the grandmothers are slowing browsing. They discuss amongst themselves what their grandchildren want for Christmas and swap recomendations. They are excited about their families coming home and are trying to make the holiday perfect. Grandfathers. Most of them tonight were leaning against the buggies with vacant expressions while the grandmothers chatted.

Moms. We are - on the whole - frazzled. There were moms with lists. Lists of special ingredients to prepare special foods for the holidays. Lists of who wants what toys. There were moms yelling at spouses or children as they shopped. There were lots of moms like me wandering the aisles and randomly chunking stuff in the basket figuring somebody would like it.

Young couples. They were holding hands and going ga ga over buying their first decorations and shopping together for Christmas presents for the first time. Lots of hand holding and giggling. Rather cute.... I suppose.

So there's Wal-mart. Quite the interesting study in human behavior.

*By the way - want to know how to totally stress out a church planter? Let him realize the night before a mailer goes out that it is not printed with date, time, or contact information. We printed and stuck labels on cards forever!

Snow Day

I remember snow days when I was a kid. Waking up and feeling the chill in the air in my bedroom. Maybe a bit of frost on the windows. (Since we did not have central heat) I would run to the front door and look out to see snow blanketing the ground. It was such an exciting event.

Dressing took on new speeds. I could throw on layers faster than anything. I remember well my two brothers and all the neighborhood boys pouring into the yard and choosing up teams for snowball fights. We would slip under the fence and sled down the big hill next door. I remember the freedom and exultation that I felt throwing my body onto the sled and zipping down the hill and across the frozen creek. It was cold. And fun. And wonderful.

One of the best snows I remember was when I was 17. I had gone to stay with my brother Jon and his wife Lori over spring break and got snowed in. Jon and I had so much fun throwing snowballs, making snowmen, and teaching his little girl how to make snow angels. For a few days, we were just kids again with no worries. Just carefree. It's one of my best last memories with Jon.

Somehow, I've never lost all that excitement. So today when school was called off, I felt that familiar tingle of excitement. Now....ice is just not as awesome as snow, but I still loved the day off. Things have changed. Now it is my children bundling up and running out in the yard to play while I stay warm by the fire. It was great to just relax, regroup, and get ready to face tomorrow.

Monday Morning updates - on Tuesday

Yes, I'm a day late with the Monday Morning Update blog. Don't panic, I'm just a wee bit busy here with the holidays. I've not given up blogging.

We had a super day at The Crossroads. Love being a part of a church plant. Is it hard work? Absolutely! Is it exhausting? You bet! Is it worth it? Every second! It is way cool to continue seeing returning faces, and new ones as well.

Shawn survived preaching, but is pretty hoarse and raspy. He gets to preach one or two more times before his enforced silence goes into effect. We'll see how that goes. It should be interesting since he does most of the talking around our house.

Enjoyed the worship set. After the tough practice, the set did come off really well. Very impressed.

I will confess that this was a week that emotionally, I felt a bit overwhelmed. It seems like God has called us into such a huge task, and I feel pretty inadequate. I am expecting big things from God, but it is really hard for me to be patient and wait for them.

Oh...we also went to a community-wide praise service Sunday Night. It was neat to go in and recognize people from the community and to realize that just a few months ago, I knew no one. As I listened to the wide variety of music from the different churches, God spoke and reminded me that He inhabits the praises of his people. I began thinking about that. How God loves hymns, choruses, choirs, bands, young people, old people, all ethnicities, all languages........And more than that.......somehow, when we praise God through song we are able to enter into his very presence. I was reminded that music does not have to be my style, my preference, or even in my language for it to be beautiful before God. I am so thankful that I serve a God like that.

*Just a note - will you pray for me this week....tough week at school....I need a lot of wisdom.