Monday Morning Update 1.30.11

It's been a beautiful week in Texas. The weather has definitely felt more like April than January. I have enjoyed being able to run several days this week in the great outdoors before the weather changes next week. While I run, I spend time in prayer and worship. For a little while I have no stress or worries, or if I do, I can spend time talking to God about them without any interruptions or distractions. His ideas about my life are always much better than mine. Having the time alone with God this week made me much more ready to encounter Him in worship this morning.

Sometimes the way that God chooses to move in my life is quite strange. Today Shawn was preaching the gospel message of salvation. I knew this, and while I enjoy hearing the story of Christ dying for my sins, it is certainly not a message I expected to bring change in my life, as I am already a believer. I was certainly in prayer for God to move in the hearts of those who were not believers, but did not expect a life changing moment for myself. The worship set was fairly straight forward - focused on God, the cross, and praising Him for salvation. While a great set, again, I did not expect to be personally greatly affected.

Then as Shawn prayed over our people at the beginning of the services, I began to weep. I cried all through the worship set, struggling to read the music well enough to play along, and continued through much of the sermon. I was overwhelmed by the absolute tangible presence of God's love today. It was as if God had scooped me up in his lap and was holding me like I hold my children when they are hurting. His love was just that present and powerful this morning in my life.

Like many woman, I spend a lot of time seeking to be good enough, pretty enough, smart enough, nice enough, and to work hard enough, in order to earn people's love. Like everyone else, I often feel that I fall short of the expectations of others and don't quite measure up. I know that my value is found in Christ and that he sets me free from having to conform to others' expectations, but the desire to be pleasing is hard to overcome. This week I have felt very inadequate and overwhelmed, primarily due to challenges at work. I discovered this week that a third of our population is significantly below grade level, and that I will be redoing my schedule to be able to service about 20 additional children in reading groups to try to get them caught up. This will be tough - probably more challenging than anything I've had to do as a teacher.

Today, God said the most beautiful thing ever. As Shawn prayed, I was surprised by God's voice saying to my heart, "I love you. I believe in you." Over and over throughout the service today, God continued to affirm that statement, "I believe in you. You are enough." It was amazing. I was awed all over again that the God of the universe loves me. Personally. Intimately. It was amazing to hear someone say "I believe in you." Everybody needs a cheerleader in their life, rooting for them to find victory over sin, but more than that to be victorious in life - to dream big dreams and chase them down - it was beautiful that God stepped into that void in my life today.

Tonight we got to baptize five more new believers in a friend's hot tub. I love seeing God at work in people's lives at The Crossroads. It is an amazing experience to be a part of what God is doing in Anna, Texas. I am privileged indeed.

Monday Morning Update 1/23/11

This morning was more chaotic than usual at our house. Multiple members of our set up team called in sick, so we had to hustle to get ready and get to church. My oldest daughter, Grace was under the weather as well. Unfortunately part of being the preacher's kid is having to attend church sick or not. She sat down in my classroom watching a movie until services were over.

I was excited to get to share with our congregation that our Adopt an Apartment project is underway. We have adopted a two bedroom apartment for a father and his two year old daughter. The family is currently residing at The Samaritan Inn, the only homeless shelter in Collin County. Their next stop will be at the Gateway Apartments, a bridge between the shelter and self sufficient, independent life. I am excited for our people to have the opportunity to bless this family. I think this will be a beautiful journey for us all.

Shawn preached about the Holy Spirit today. It is impossible for us to live holy, blameless lives in and of ourselves. I heard it explained once that it's like trying to iron a pile of clothes with a cold iron. If you want to be effective, you've got to plug in the iron. If we want to be effective, we have to be constantly in tune with our power source.

Praying that you will each seek God this week, and attempt to listen to his voice.

Monday Morning Update 1.16.11

I led worship in Kid's Cove yesterday, so I don't know much about what happened in the adult worship service. I know Shawn was very excited about his sermon on the Year of Jubilee. I am excited about his upcoming sermon series on loving your neighbor and how to practically apply that in our lives.

One of the things we are doing is adopting an apartment to furnish for a graduate of The Samaritan Inn, the only homeless shelter in Collin County. It is going to be a huge blessing for our people as they collect and pray over the needed items in the next few months. I can't wait to see how God grows them through this outreach.

Kid's Cove rocked yesterday. Our lesson actually tied in very well with Shawn's upcoming message series. We talked about how the early believers shared with one another so that none had need. I gave the kids an opportunity to share how they have helped others recently. The answers varied from sharing their pencil with a friend at school to serving in a soup kitchen over the holidays. We brainstormed ideas about how we could reach out to others, including practicing hospitality. Kids are awesome at hospitality - they love to have friends over. My favorite moment though, was probably singing, "The More I Seek You." At the last minute, I discovered one of the girls knew the sign language for the chorus, so I had her co-lead with me. It was cool to watch the kids really engage on this slow song, in part because their friend was sincerely helping lead them in worship.

I was thankful for a day off today. We went to Arkansas to spend time with Shawn's family. It was great to get away for a bit before heading back into work. It will be a busy season over the next few months as we have many projects on the horizon, as well as school, work, and ministry. I know that God has amazing plans, and look forward to seeing them play out.

Monday Morning Update - 1.9.11

It's snowing in Texas! A rare event, causing mass chaos and panic. We abbreviated services at The Crossroads today in an attempt to get people home before the bad weather rolled in. By the time we loaded everything back into the big truck and returned it to storage, the roads were a bit slippery. We made it home just fine, after a short trip into the insanity of the grocery store.

The kids had a great time playing in the snow this afternoon. The girls were bundled up in thick sweatshirts, coats, and hats, reminding me of the little boy on The Christmas Story. They took my cookie sheets and experimented with sledding down the hill in the back yard. The snow was a little too slushy for sledding. After an hour or so, Abby came stumbling back into the house crying. Her little hands were red and frozen, a result of discarding her gloves during the sledding experiment. A few minutes later, Katie came in laughing. On her last attempt down the slope, she tumbled face first into the snow. She was in so many layers that she couldn't roll over, finding herself stranded in her precarious position. James finally realized she wasn't pretending and rolled her over so she could stand up.

We spent the rest of the evening sipping hot chocolate and watching movies. I am conflicted, hoping to be off school tomorrow so I can finish up some chores at the house, but knowing that I will not want to have to make up the day later.

I'd appreciate prayers as my new semester of school begins tomorrow. I am only taking one class this semester. Hopefully that will leave me a little more spare time.

Winter Run

Winter Run

Icy air, searing lungs

Cloudy breath, frozen nose

Time to think, dreams to make

Sleeping homes, empty streets

Sun kissed branches on naked trees

The world awaits the magical whisper of spring.

Though not a poet, I am making a stab at a poetical expression of the run this morning. It was 33 degrees, with a windchill of 29. The air burned my lungs as I breathed in and froze as I exhaled. And yet, the world was beautiful. The sun shone on the trees, and the world seemed to be waiting, asleep for a touch of magic. It made me think about how our lives run in seasons. We have times of passion and excitement (summer), times of quiet and peace (fall), times of barrenness and discouragement (winter), and times of new dreams and ideas (spring). I thought about how without the winter, the spring would have no beauty. It is in contrast to the barrenness of winter that spring displays its magnificent colorful explosion.

My top 10 Fitness Facts

1. Being skinny hurts - the needed workouts leave one painfully sore.

2. The amount of workout time required to lose weight is grossly underestimated in government studies (30 min 3 times a week, please.... not with my body)

3. You WILL need to pee every time you get way far from home on a long run - so plan runs that loop back by your house.

4. Falling off the treadmill makes everybody in the gym stare at you and guffaw with laughter. I know this for a fact.

5. Rule of thumb on healthy eating - if it tastes good, spit it out.

6. Losing weight is hard - it's like carving a masterpiece from stone with a dull spoon. Gaining weight it easy - it's like setting fire to gasoline.

7. When everybody goes left and you go right in dance class, pretend that you are right and they are all wrong.

8. Gym mirrors add at least 35 pounds. You are not REALLY that large.

9. Shirt length must be tested before working out. Nothing like a shirt that doesn't cover the white jiggly belly when I get my arms up over my head lifting weights.

10. The rocks in the sink at Nautilus Lady are supposed to be there for decoration. It's not a mistake. So don't take them all out and pile them off to the side while you wash your hands and then carefully return them to avoid getting them wet.

Seriously, I have to laugh at myself often to keep after this fitness stuff. I feel much better when I work out at least 5 or 6 days a week, but it sure is challenging for me. If it just wasn't so hard, it would be easy. But then where would the pride be in that, right?

I will say that having Grace as a new workout partner is fun. It is definitely more fun to go to the gym with someone else, and the alone time with me makes her feel special and loved. I have long prayed for someone to join me in my fitness quest. It has been an extraordinarily lonely journey the last 18 months. It's cool that God seems to be answering that request with my own daughter.

God leads us home

I have a long, involved blog in the works on practicing the gift of hospitality and what it reveals about God's heart for his people. However, for tonight, I just want to share a verse I read this morning in Exodus 15:13, "With your unfailing love you lead the people you have redeemed. In your might, you guide them to your sacred home."

Last night I fell asleep discouraged about many things, but this morning I realized that God's leadership never fails. His love for me never falters or wavers, and it translates into leading me into his eternal presence. God is so hungry for a relationship with me (and you) that he sent Jesus to die for our sins. Then Jesus went back to heaven, to his home, to prepare a place for us to live with him. God is a hospitable God, making room in his home for his beloved people.

I kept this verse scribbled on a slip of paper on my desk today. When I was tempted to replay my doubts and discouragements from last night, I reread the verse and remembered that my ever loving, never failing God is leading me home where there is complete joy, peace, and rest. My only responsibility is to follow him as closely as I possibly can.