Beautiful Worship

I am finally home after a week in Kansas City at the National Worship Leader Conference. At the last minute, we had an extra ticket that we couldn't get refunded that was going to be wasted, so my thirteen year old daughter agreed to attend with me. She primarily went out of concern for my safety. I have complex migraines, so she was worried that I might have problems while traveling alone.

Even though she attended out of concern, God simply poured out his blessing and presence in our lives last week. Some of you readers know the back story on Grace. This last fall she was struggling pretty hard with depression. Her mind was confused, her soul despaired, and she felt hopeless. When she reached the point that she felt life was unbearable, God showed her hope for her future.

The first night of worship at the concert, my daughter stood beside me in her well worn Mexico mission T-shirt while a bilingual group sang on stage. We worshiped through familiar songs in English, and then in Spanish. I watched her lift her hands in abandon as she sang along in English and broken Spanish. As I drank in the beautiful moment of worship, I was extremely grateful for second chances. I was glad that God had given my daughter hope, and that our week of worship began with a reminder of the country she loves. I guess I fully realized the greatness of God's work in her life this year. God took her confusion and replaced it with passion; he took her despair and replaced it with faith; and he took her hopelessness and replaced it with purpose.

As I looked back at what was probably one of the toughest years our family has faced, I see how God was faithful. He provided, he comforted, he healed, he redeemed, he forgave, he strengthened, he rescued, and he restored. I was reminded in that beautiful moment of worship of the stunning glory of our God, his character, and his love. He is good.

Monday Morning Update 4/24/2011

Well, it's been a long while since I've posted a Monday Morning Update. Life as a teacher, mom, church planter, and student is keeping me too busy to write blog updates on a regular basis. Hopefully life will slow down soon, and I will be able to write more often.

Yesterday we had the opportunity to help host a community Easter egg hunt at The Collin County Adventure Camp. Hundreds of people attended this amazing event. In between hiding eggs for the different age division hunts, the family and I had a few minutes to canoe out on the lake. Grace and I enjoyed racing around the lake together. I confess that she seemed to want to mostly race around the part of the lake where all the teenage boys were. It was super to see many of my students and friends from the community.

This morning was a glorious Easter Sunday at The Crossroads. My favorite part of Easter is the hum of expectancy that envelopes the room as people arrive. Everyone expects to encounter God's holy presence on Easter and they come ready to worship. I would like to discover a way to help our congregation have that same level of expectancy and recognition of God's holiness throughout the rest of the year.

The worship set was a little longer than usual today. I think the extra time was well worthwhile. That, coupled with the usage of visual media, seemed to help the congregation be more engaged than usual in worship today. Shawn's sermon on the story of Easter was amazing. I love that he has to tell the whole story of the death, burial, and resurrection in great detail because some people in attendance haven't ever heard the complete story. It is amazing to know that God is using us at times to be the first ones to share the story of the Savior.

After services we ate lunch with friends in Anna. With family out of state, they traditionally open their homes to others who are without local ties. While I am grateful to serve God in Texas and love our life here, on the holidays I do miss our family back home. I greatly appreciated the hospitality and good food.

For those of my readers who regularly pray for our ministry, here are our current prayer needs:

1. We are relaunching our youth ministry next Sunday evening. Please pray that God will move in mighty ways among the teens in our church and in Anna. Pray that God will raise up leaders from within our church who will be willing to help with this critically important ministry.

2. Pray for strength for our family. 3 years and counting with the house on the market has left us completely exhausted. We have been struggling with a very tough season of doubt and discouragement. We have questioned God greatly on why we are still in Sherman when we need to live among our people in Anna. Pray that our house will sell quickly and that we will be able to live life again as a normal family, without the need to maintain a continually spotless house. My children are ready to have hobbies besides cleaning house from top to bottom every night. They are tired, frustrated, and discouraged.

3. Pray for our city. Pray that God will unite the churches in Anna to work together to reach the city with the gospel. Pray that God will pour out his spirit and draw people to himself. We are hungry, desperate for his presence. Pray that he will make himself known in our city.

We deeply appreciate your prayers. We are well aware that without the prayers of others, we would be unable to do the ministry to which God has called us.

Starfield in Concert

I had a great time last night at Dallas Baptist University at the Starfield concert. Having the opportunity to worship with my daughter Grace was a beautiful thing. I enjoyed spending the evening hanging out with her - eating at Chick-Fil-A, doing homework together at the college library, then waiting in line and enjoying the concert. Her heart for worship is amazing. The fun part is that as a drummer, when she gets totally lost in worship she moves from lifted hands to drumming on the seats and stomping on the floor to create funky beats. A more thorough review of the concert itself can be found on my worship blog: larissasworshipthoughts.blogspot.com

Back to School

Today I officially registered for classes as a graduate student at Dallas Baptist University. I am excited to finally be moving forward after spending nearly 2 years waiting on God to point me in the right direction. I will be pursuing a MAWL - funny degree for a girl who doesn't even like to shop. (sorry, couldn't resist)

MAWL = Master of Arts in Worship Leadership, with a concentration in media/journalism. Let's just dispel all of the rumors up front. This is not a singing, lead the band, and direct the choir kind of degree, but a writing, publicity, media, public relations type of degree. I have no idea exactly how I am going to use it in the future, but I decided that I will worry about that when the time comes. Going part time, I will have plenty of years to decide what type of career I might be interested in pursuing.

I have appreciated the dean of the department, Dr. Brooks, walking me through each step of this process. I met him at the National Worship Leader Conference, but I didn't realize he was the dean of the Worship Leadership department. When my application came across his desk, he remembered me, called me up to touch base, and since then has worked hard to make sure that my return to school goes smoothly.

I am nervous about doing well in school. It has been a long time since I was a student, and my brain doesn't function quite as well as it once did. I am also nervous about financial stuff. My financial aid application is on hold because I am missing a college transcript from a school where I took one correspondence class back in 1993. (For my younger readers, this is how we took classes at other universities before the internet. The instructor mailed us questions, we wrote down the answers and mailed them back. In an envelope. With stamps. At the post office.) I am hoping to have all my paperwork in place within the next few days. I had to make a huge downpayment today....don't know where the rest is coming from.

However, I am certain that God has a plan. I would appreciate your prayers as I prep for a new school year with a new team, work diligently alongside my husband in the church plant, parent four kids, and now go back to school. I want to make sure that I use my time wisely, that I don't have a lot of regrets about how I spend the hours of the day this next year. I tend to be scattered, and I need to find focus. So here I go, both arms up, ready for the roller coaster ride of my life!

Summer Vacation

Another summer vacation has ended, all too soon. I enjoyed an unplugged week of relaxation in Missouri. The cabin at The Brook of Bethpage was incredible. I am excited that several couples in Southern Missouri saw the need for a free respite for pastors and worked together to create this beautiful retreat. I read through the stories in the guest book in our cabin and was moved to tears. So many pastors and their wives have slept in that gorgeous cabin, desperately seeking God's face after terrible hurt and burnout in the ministry. Many of them left renewed and refreshed. What an incredible ministry! I am touched that people saw the need to minister to pastors in such a practical way!

The retreat was created for pastors to be able to spend hours in quiet reflection and meditation. While it would be a perfect place to go as a couple to seek God's face, especially when facing a big decision, or even alone to be able to just sit and write, it was a little boring for the kids. They enjoyed reading, watching some movies, and swimming in the pool. However, we were in the middle of poison ivy season, so we were unable to do any hiking.

We drove the hour and a half over to Branson one day, did a little school shopping and watched the Noah's Ark Musical. Our four year old, Abby, loved the musical. She was excited to see the animals and hear the story of Noah. She was curious about why God was living in the big flashlights. (The spotlights were used to represent God speaking to Noah.) The older kids tolerated the show, but it was a little over dramatic for them. They have some hysterically funny impressions of the actors, however. (No offense if any of them are your relatives or friends)

Thursday was probably the kids' favorite day. We found a river a short drive from the cabin and took them swimming in the icy cold water. If we ever have the opportunity to return to the cabin, now we know where to find better hiking and outdoor activities. It was a beautiful state park, with great fishing and hiking.

I would say that Thursday was my favorite day as well. Thursday morning I was sitting in a rocking chair on the back porch having my quiet time. I was meditating in Ps. 150, 149, 148, and 147. I don't know why I randomly started reading from the back of Psalms, but as I was reading thunder began to boom in the distance. I continued to read about the God who forms the rain clouds and waters the thirsty earth as clouds rolled across the valley. I read about the God who controls the lightening as it began to flash over the hills in the distance. As the drops of rain hit the porch roof, I was captivated by the language of the Psalms and began to just sing those words back to my Creator.

Yep, it was probably a cheesy song. Most of you would have laughed at my off key voice belting out the melody over the booming thunder. But I was absolutely in God's presence Thursday morning. I enjoyed the time of worship, just me and God hanging out in the storm. I enjoyed a moment alone, to remember just how mighty a God it is that I serve.

Who blankets the heavens with the clouds
Sends down the rain to the thirsty earth
Who counts all the stars within his hands
Fixes their number and gives them names
Our God is great with mighty power
Let's sing to Him our joyful praise

Let the music begin
praise his name
Open up your mouth
give him thanks
Sing praises to the eternal one
Our Lord is great
Let's give Him praise

He binds our wounds and heals our hearts
Hears our cries and brings us peace
He raises us up and gives us strength
The Eternal One is listening
Let's sing to Him our joyful praise.

I would say that one of the other highlights of vacation was starting devotionals with our kids. We spent time every night around the dinner table talking about a Scripture and taking turns praying for each other. I loved hearing the kids' ideas and thoughts and prayers. My other favorite thing was visiting with my cousin today. It is good to rediscover family after many years of being away from home.

I am excited about what's next for The Crossroads and what's next for our family. I know that life is about to hit us hard and fast, but I am thankful to have had a week to catch my breath before the race begins. I am praying that God will use me this year in ways bigger than I can imagine for His glory and his kingdom. I am praying that our family will be guarded from evil and that we will find the time to create memories, laugh, and love each other.

The Roadshow

Last night I had the opportunity to go down to Dallas for the $10 Rock and Roadshow concert. The entire family had originally planned to attend, but unfortunately Grace was sick. I appreciated my amazing husband staying home with her so that I could still go to the concert. I was nervous about driving myself in Dallas traffic on day five of a nasty migraine. My reaction time and memory are seriously adversely affected the longer a migraine lasts. I have been known to not just lose where I parked my car, but even what kind of car I drive when the headaches are bad. However, I only got lost once, and I felt like I drove safely in the 20mph traffic all the way into Dallas. The migraine meds kicked in before I got to the concert, so I was able to enjoy the loud music.

It was an amazing line-up of bands last night. Sidewalk Prophet, Fee, Francesca Battistelli, Family Force 5, Crowder, and Mercy Me. Crowder had to be my favorite. In spite of seeing him many times in concert, I still enjoy every time his band takes the stage. He always makes the audience feel comfortable and at home, then pulls us into worship. He has the gift of making a large crowd feel intimate. I also absolutely enjoyed Fee and Mercy Me. Family Force 5 was a great rock show, but I guess my age is showing. It was a little heavy rocking for me.

It was such a great gift to be able to completely release in worship last night. I didn't have to worry about when to come in with the keys, or watching the worship leader for cues, or reading the audience, or listening to the rest of the band, or adjusting my volume level, or changing the sounds on the keyboard. I just worshiped. I just completely let go and worshiped. And it felt great.

Don't misunderstand me. I love being a part of a worship band. I love being on stage every Sunday and being a part of leading people into worship. I can't imagine anything else that I'd rather do musically. However, even in times of intimate worship, when I am onstage I still have to keep track of what's coming up next. So that moment of complete and total release into full up, all out worship, with nothing held back, comes very rarely. I worship while I am onstage, but it's not quite the same.

I absolutely enjoyed every second of the experience last night. I opted out of the after party with friends to come home and try to sleep off my headache. I feel much better this morning, except for the grogginess that lingers after a headache is finally gone. And the grogginess that comes from sleeping in a bed full of tossing and turning little girls and being awakened by the tiniest one prying up my eyelids at daybreak to say, "Mommy are you awake?"

It is gently raining, and I am pretty sure that I'm going to slip into my shorts and a t-shirt, throw on the sneakers, shuffle a little Crowderband on the iPOD, and spend some time this morning worshiping God on the street.

God is freaking me out

I can't sleep tonight with all these thoughts swirling in my head. They are confusing and muddled, but at least if I write them down, maybe I can sleep. So apologizing in advance if all this makes no sense at all.

My relationship with God has always been pretty cut and dried. I at least thought I had a decent handle on how He operates. I worship, pray, adore, and obey. He gives me peace, strength, and guidance. I feel guilty when I sin - at least sometimes - pray and confess and He forgives me. I try to have a consistent quiet time, then feel bad that I'm not.

The funny thing is that I usually don't question God in tough times. During my miscarriage several years ago, as I lay on the exam table staring at an ultrasound picture without a heartbeat, I turned to Shawn and said, "God is good, all the time and all the time, God is good." I often don't understand what God is doing during the tough times, but I know He is good.

But lately, God's been changing all the rules. He has redefined our relationship in crazy ways. Let's start by giving me an entirely new personality last year. "Merry Christmas - or really happy Labor Day - I'm turning you into a sanguine." Want to talk about shaking up my life? My kids were talking about this yesterday. They were remembering how things used to be and how things are now. That will be a blog for a different day. It was an unbelievable, yet really tough and painful conversation.

God has always been very real to me. I have been able to see his hand in many areas of my life, and yet at the same time he has also been very distant. In the recent past this has all changed - beginning probably with the day I ran in the rain (see archives) and began to understand God desired more than obedience, he wanted relationship. God speaking into my life in very clear and intimate ways is hard to get used to. At times I think I am very fortunate, but at times I think I am totally crazy. Maybe the voices in my head are not God. Maybe I'm nuts and don't know it. It does run in the family.

But even more recently things have just been freaking me out. Before Thanksgiving we were at a friend's house to watch football on his big TV. On the way home, I said to Shawn, "Gosh it would be nice to be able to see the TV that clearly from across the room." Now we don't need a TV. It is not anywhere near the top of our want list. However, that's what Shawn's mom bought us for Christmas. Without being asked.

Shawn's back has been bothering him for quite a while. I was thinking that we needed a mattress, but couldn't come up with any funds. Again, Shawn's mom called up out of the blue and told us she was buying a very slightly used mattress from an elderly lady who was downsizing her bed.

Last week, Katie, my 9 year old, asked what I wanted for Christmas. I gave her the inexpensive short list. On that list was a green necklace and jogging pants. That was on Friday. God gave those to me from friends cleaning out their closets on Sunday.

This afternoon, Shawn told me that he was having to rethink my Christmas gift because he had planned to purchase a week long trip for us for spring break, but was concerned that it would be too hard on his mom to try to keep all the kids for that long. I said out loud, I guess we will be more limited in what we can go and do if your mom isn't available to babysit often. Tonight, our small group and friends got together for our Christmas party. Our gift from our church was each member took a blank gift card and filled in what they would be willing to do for us. There were several overnight babysitters. (Loved lots of the other gifts, too - a day of manual labor - that will be so useful in trying to get the house on the market) Anyway, I was floored. Not that we will seriously go on the trip, but I was amazed that I expressed a desire - not a need out loud, and God met it within 4 hours.

An even smaller detail? When I'm running, as I pray or meditate or even just have crazy random thoughts, more often than not my Ipod shuffle matches up to whatever is going on. It shifts as my brain changes gears. Last night my run started with a journey song that was mine and Shawn's first "our song." I spent the run thinking about where we once were and how we have been redeemed. The last song on my way back in was another journey song that is our current "our song." How wild is that that my shuffle opened and closed my run that way?

Bottom line, this is all just a little weird. I think that it is so cool that the God of the universe who created the stars is a personal God that loves us enough to care about these little things. I shouldn't be surprised. After all, I am not surprised when my husband does little things for me. I don't know why it seems strange that God does those same types of little things. I absolutely don't get what or if God is using all of this to teach me something new. It is beyond my comprehension to understand that I even register on the radar with God. After all - who really needs a new necklace, or babysitters, or a big TV? These are not necessities, nor do they further the ministry.

What makes this even more complex and confusing is that I am not getting clear answers to big things that I'm praying about. I am seeking God about my future. I feel that long term there is more for me than teaching first grade. (I don't know if more is the right word or if different would be better.) I do not know how God plans to tie together my love of writing, worship, missions, and speaking. I cannot see into His plans at all. All I know is that right now, today, He is using me beyond belief right where I am. I am waiting and trying hard to be faithful serving in the role where I heard from him last. And I am trying to figure out why He is giving me things that I have only expressed a breath of desire about having.

The crazy thing about this is that I can believe God is good in bad times - but I'm a little suspicious about why He's being so intimately involved in my life. Why me? It's hard for me to accept any of this as unconditional and undeserved love with no strings attached. My attitude about all this is a surprise to me.

I guess I should learn that God is not predictable, explainable, or containable.

Look!

One of the things that Shawn mentioned today in his sermon was how often Jesus "looked" or "saw" in scripture. His eyes were always open, and His life was always available. This afternoon, I reluctantly slid into my running shoes and cracked open the door to greet a cold, wet run. I was not excited about this at all. Boy, was I wrong. I had not run long when I heard God remind me to look. Normally as I run, God speaks and I listen, or I vent and God listens, but today as I ran I just looked.

When I looked, I saw the amazing beauty of creation. I mean, really saw it. I felt like a blind woman who has suddenly been given back her sight. I looked at the trees in my neighborhood. Every tree is unique. There are trees with red leaves, trees with brown leaves, trees with no leaves, and trees with green leaves. There are thin, tall trees, short, fat trees, old, gnarled trees, leaning trees, baby trees, ornamental, well-groomed trees, and dying trees. I watched stormy black clouds roll into the sky and noticed the variety in the clouds. I felt the cold drops of rain stinging my lips and realized that each drop of rain only has the opportunity to fall one time.

I watched darkness envelop my community and Christmas lights come on, one house at a time. As I listened to some Norah Jones and Kenny G at the end of my run, I was awed by the beauty of the Christmas lights against God's masterpiece of creation. As beautiful as the lights were, they did not match the beauty of what God had created.

I am so grateful that at this season in my life I have finally discovered running. There are not words to describe the sensual feeling of wind whipping my hair, rain trickling down my skin, and music playing in my ears. I return from every run relaxed and ready to tackle life again. Running reminds me that I am more than a career, a mom, a maid, or a wife. I am a woman - a piece of God's valuable and beautiful creation. For all of my flaws and mistakes and craziness, God loves me more than I can ever grasp or understand. As a raindrop splashed against my lips tonight, I was reminded that like a raindrop only falls once, my life can only be lived once. I want God to use it for His honor and glory. Make it count.

Smatterings

If you don't know what a smattering is, it is wide-spread, scattered stuff. It's when your thoughts are all over the place - short of like shooting a shotgun instead of a rifle. Some nights when I sit down to blog, I am shooting a rifle. I have a very distinct goal, thought, or purpose. Other nights, it's a shotgun - I'm firing off lots of stuff all at once. Random thoughts - A smattering. Try to keep up with my randomness. It may take some effort.

Today at school we had a Veteran's Day program. (A day early, yes I know) The program was great. What struck me as I stood there listening to the veterans speak and hearing the children sing, was the sacrifices of women that I know. I have a student whose dad has been overseas in hot zones most of my student's childhood. I have another teacher friend whose husband has been stationed overseas most of their marriage. I saw faces of several other students whose moms are single, not by choice and not by divorce, but because their husbands are fighting in a conflict that began before my first graders were born. I was overwhelmed with emotion by the sacrifices these families make for their country. Whether you agree or disagree with the conflict, you have to admire these women who are doing an amazing job holding things together all alone. I was thankful today to call some of these women my friends. I count it as a great privilege to be involved in their children's lives.

Then tonight was small group. I am going to confess that tonight I was tired, and my house was dirty. I was not terribly excited about it being Tuesday night. Then it turned out to be a beautiful night with people who are not friends, but have become family. I love discussing God's Word with them and listening to their input and thoughts. As I listened to their burdens before we prayed, I realized that it is indeed a beautiful thing to get to carry their needs before our God. I love that while we do not pretend to have it altogether, we are still quick to point out where God is working in our lives. I also appreciated that as I shared some of my vision and heart for what's next for me as far as missions and ministry and asked for prayer, nobody laughed at my giddy excitement. They asked questions and wanted to find out how to become involved with me. They were excited and affirmed my thoughts and vision.

Tonight at small group, we found out that on our Mexico mission trip in December we will be ministering in an orphanage to 150 children. That means we need to provide Christmas gifts for 150 children. That's a lot for a church our size. We expect to have complete details within the next week about ages and sizes. Please pray about how God can use you to provide Christmas for these needy children. I love our church, that we continually seek to reach out to others. Service is worship. Loving the needy is worship. Ministering to orphans is worship. This is how we love God. Loving the least of these. (Matt. 25)

Monday Morning Laugh

Many of my readers are close personal friends who know and love me. For those readers who do not know me well, you must understand that my friends live to laugh at me. I have never quite outgrown that clumsy and awkward stage we all went through in puberty. I still fall down, run into objects, crash into doorways, and have total ditsy moments. I would love to be graceful, sophisticated, beautiful, and athletic. However, God did not design me exactly like that. Fortunately my husband finds it preciously and adorably attractive (don't know why?) and my friends seem to love me anyway. Since so many of you love a laugh at my expense, I'm going to share a story from the other night.

I've been having to run after dark since the time change. The other night, I was running through a particularly dark spot on my road while listening to the new Kutless album. To understand this story, you will need to listen to "It is Well," especially the first few seconds before the full bands kicks in.



As I was listening to those first few moments of the choir singing, I heard footsteps. Remember that the street was dark, and I was alone. The footsteps grew increasing louder. I began to freak out. I decided that a stalker was about to nab me. I screamed and turned around ready to fight off whoever dared to attack me. The street was empty. I was confused - I knew I had just heard footsteps. Then I heard a door open. I realized that the door opening and the footsteps were sound effects on the Kutless song. I was totally and completely scared out of my mind by "It is Well." Now I can't listen to it without busting out in laughter.

Great album, by the way. Definitely worth the 10 bucks. However, I will say that I slightly prefer the new Crowder "Church Music" album.

Monday Morning Update 11.8.09

It was an amazing weekend. I spent Saturday at a local balloon festival, helping out where I could, and hanging out with friends. The band I'm in, "Chasing Lions", played as well. There was lots of cool stuff happening that I could share, but the thing that really stood out to me was the sense of community. When we began preparing to launch The Crossroads, we surveyed hundreds of homes to ask them what was the greatest community need. Every survey stated in some form that they did not feel connected to other people, they wanted community.

So Saturday, I watched families mingle and visit. I heard parents say, "I think our kids are in the same class." I saw neighbors meeting neighbors. All day, I hugged on kids from school and talked with parents. At the end of the day, as I sat on a blanket in the field to watch the fireworks (wow), Shawn and I talked about how thankful we were to be church planters. We are so thankful to have completely done away with the concept of church being about a building, but instead to find church being about loving people outside the walls.

We had great services at The Crossroads today. We had a family reunited after several weeks of living in different states due to job transitions. It was incredible to watch them hold hands as they worshiped. Their thankfulness was contagious. Every week that I stand on stage and scan the congregation, I am increasingly thankful for each family. My awe of what God has done and is continuing to do continues to grow.

Worship was good this morning. We were going to be without a drummer this morning because Tammy was working in the children's area. I was feeling whiny about that since the music that we do is much better with drums. As I expressed that to God, I had a very clear impression of his voice in my head, "You have not because you ask not." So I'm thinking, "Okay, who can I ask? There's nobody here except my family." At that moment a new member walked out of the truck carrying a ficus tree. He's been helping me run cables on the stage, and the other day I saw him set up the drums. So I asked, "I know you can set up drums, can you play them, too?" He said, "No." I am not easily deceived and can be very convincing. So he was persuaded to try. He took a percussion class 16 years ago in college. Some of it seemed to have stuck. I was thankful to have someone sitting in for Tammy, but mostly I was awed that God had a plan and let me be a part of it. I love how God provides in the moment of need.

Shawn preached a great sermon this morning about seizing opportunities for Christ. I was very convicted that my routine keeps me from seeing God opportunities. I think that I set myself on autopilot and forget to be aware of God's hand around me. One of the verses Shawn used today was Eph. 5:17, "Don't act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do." I have always applied that verse to rudeness, unkindness, or ignoring other people. But today I thought about how much of my life I live thoughtlessly - on autopilot - and I think that I need to make a point to live my life with great thought and awareness.

The entire sermon, God spoke to me about my future in ministry, and his specific plans regarding that. I have several opportunities immediately ahead of me that I feel a very urgent call and need to explore. Pray that I will be available, and that I will listen closely to God's voice, and be quick to obey.

Monday Morning Update 11.1.09

November already? How can that be? It was another busy and fun weekend at The Crossroads.

Saturday night The Crossroads sponsored a trunk or treat at one of the local banks. Shawn was the Incredible Hulk, and I was Wonder Woman. Pictures are all over his facebook page if you want to see what we looked like. I think his favorite part of the event was my costume. My favorite part of the event was watching community happen. Our people were visiting with people from the community, and neighbors were meeting each other and making new friends. I love that The Crossroads shares Jesus, but that we also seek to connect neighbors to one another. We want to build relationships, even if those people never come to The Crossroads.

We had tons of new faces join us today for worship. As I stood on stage, waiting for the opening video to finish, I looked at the people in the room. I am privileged to know people's stories. It's one of my greatest blessings of being in the ministry. I looked around and saw a woman battling a substance addiction, but then I looked again and saw a woman who has been sober for over 10 years love on her. It can't be an accident that God brought them together. I saw couples struggling for their marriage, and I looked around the room and saw couples that God has redeemed their marriages and thought that it can't be an accident God connected those families. I saw many terrible and ugly issues in people's lives, but I also saw others in the room who have fought the exact same battle, and walked away whole. As I looked at the crowd, I was awed that God had orchestrated events so precisely at that very moment so that people were connecting with exactly the right people at exactly the right time.

Shawn baptized a young boy today who recently became a believer in Jesus Christ. When Shawn asked him if he had made Jesus the leader of his life and the forgiver of his sins, the little boy said, "I swear." Then he refused to let Shawn dunk him, and instead dunked himself face first in the little bitty portable baptistery (think medium sized wading pool). It was awesome! I love kids!

Loved worship today. We did a new Crowder song, "How he loves." It is one of many new songs on the Crowder album "Church Music" that I really like. I've enjoyed running to the Crowder album this week. I am so excited as I watch where God is taking us as a band. Some cool stuff on the way.

Shawn preached another amazing sermon in the series "Chase the Lion." He talked about taking risks in order to follow Christ. That is not the same as taking risks for the sake of being risky. But following Christ often involves a great deal of travel into the unknown, and that can be terrifying for those who need to know all the details up front. One of Shawn's all time best lines that I use all the time comes from this sermon. He was talking about Peter walking on the water. Yes he sank for a few minutes, but he was the only disciple that day who walked back to the boat on the water alongside Christ. Shawn says, "I'd rather have wet underwear from walking with Christ than splinters in my butt from sitting in the boat." LOVE that line!

I am excited about where God is going with The Crossroads as he brings in new people, and calls and gifts existing members for more extensive ministry commitments. There's lots and lots of amazingly awesome stuff bubbling just under the surface. I can't wait to see where God is going with it all.

On a personal note - for those of you who are keeping up with my quest to create a healthy body that is ready in an instant to go when God says go - Tonight I ran 3 miles!!!!!! The whole 3 miles. No stops, no rest, no pauses, just running and running and running. My time was slow. My speed was a creepingly slow shuffling run. But it was a run. I was so proud of myself. When I started running in June, I struggled to complete a 60 second running interval. Tonight I ran for 42 minutes without stopping. Yes, I stood under the street light for a few minutes and cried. They were tears of joy, accomplishment, and even pain. When I stopped, my legs have never been so weak and shaky. It was all I could do not to collapse in the street.

When I started my run, my intention was to go a mile. Than I wanted to see if maybe I could go just another half mile. Then 2 miles. Then I realized I might be able to run the whole thing. The last mile was sheer grit and determination as I placed one foot in front of the other. My form was sloppy, my gait wobbly, my breathing ragged, but I finished. It makes me think that sometimes following Christ is like that. There are days in my Christian walk that I do more and go places that I never thought I could, and sometimes the only way to get there is with absolutely sheer determination that no matter what, I will follow. I will not stop seeking God. I will pursue my God. I will not be deterred.

In this quest for physical fitness, pray that I will not be confused about my goal. While weight loss is exciting and buying small clothes is cool, it is not my purpose. My purpose is to create a body that is fit enough to be able to say yes to anything God needs me to do. The longer I work out, and the more results I see, the harder it is for me to maintain a wise and healthy perspective on my body. It is incredibly challenging to see beauty instead of my physical flaws. I am thankful for a specific girlfriend who is quietly counting my calories during the week - to make sure I'm eating. And who is lovingly confronting me when I lose my perspective, become consumed with my flaws, fall off into stupidity and don't eat. I have learned that an eating disorder can be managed, but it rarely disappears. It is a monster that lives in a closet in my head. Most of the time the closet is chained, locked, and guarded and the monster is silenced. But on occasion it breaks free and has to be subdued all over again. I am lately reminded of how great my God is that He can bring healing and freedom to the darkest of our darknesses.

Wow, I really wandered off onto a tangent there. And it's all online. That's some pretty heavy stuff right there. I am not hitting delete simply because I feel strongly impressed to share my struggles tonight.

Catalyst 09

Catalyst '09 featured a stellar line-up of "famous Christians." I'll get to that term in a minute. I had the opportunity to hear Andy Stanley, Rob Bell, Francis Chan, Matt Chandler, Louie Gigglio, and many others. Worship was led primarily by Steve Fee, with other artists such as Aaron Keyes doing small segments.

I wanted to share some of the insights and some of the lessons that I learned over the weekend. I had not ever listened to Andy Stanley before, and I must say that I was impressed with his honesty and his depth. He preached about the story in Joshua 5 where the angel appears to Joshua. Joshua asks, "Are you for us or against us?" The angel answers, "Neither." I had always skimmed past this part of the story, but Andy Stanley made a great point here. We have life all mixed up when we are asking God, "Are you for US or against US?" The correct question about our life is "Am I living my life FOR GOD?"

When Joshua asked what he should do next, the angel replied, "Take off your shoes, you're standing on holy ground." These were the same words spoken to Moses. It seemed to me to be an affirmation of Joshua's ministry. It is also noteworthy that the first response of a leader has to be worship before it can be leadership. Falling in love with Christ is the first and most important aspect of leadership.

Rob Bell spoke on the importance of a leader observing a Sabbath day of rest. It has occurred to me that if God took a day off, maybe the pastor's family should as well. He also talked about the importance of preserving family and our relationships with each other. It was a great reminder, especially in my hectic life, of the importance of family time.

Lots of other great moments, but these are a couple of the best that have replayed over and over in my head since returning home.
1. Leadership begins with surrender and worship and loving God.
2. Family is first before ministry and a Sabbath is important.

Monday Morning Update 10.5.09

Yesterday was our first Sunday at the local elementary school, Joe K. Bryant. It was wet and cold. The first day that we could not have done children's ministry outside, God provided us with a new location. I love how God always has awesome timing.

I am thankful that God provided us with an inexpensive meeting place for our first year. When no real estate was available, God opened the doors for us to meet at the cheer gym. It was a great beginning, but as we have grown it has been more challenging to accommodate the needs of The Crossroads. So now God has provided us with a new place to meet that has huge potential for continued growth.

I love how God manages to work out all the details better than I ever could. He is really awesome at doing big stuff in ways I could not dream of. Who would guess that we would be allowed into a closed facility, at a greatly reduced (still slightly expensive for us) rate?

This week Shawn preached an encore presentation of "Chasing the Lion". It is an amazing sermon that encapsulates our dream and vision for chasing big stuff. It's based off a book by Mark Batterson, "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day." Be sure to listen online soon at www.welcometothecrossroads.com. This is probably one of my all time favorites.

On a personal note, I find it easy to get caught up in the ordinary. I love to dream big dreams, but I lack follow through. I have big dreams and great intentions, but the ordinary stuff of life consumes my time and energy until there is nothing left. I am not sure how to shift gears so that the kingdom stuff gets done. I have several items on my agenda that God specifically convicted me about doing, that I seem to never find the time to get done.

During the worship service, it was cool to see how much better our acoustics are at the school. I loved the set-up, with the easy to see screen and the raised stage. As I stood watching people worship in that cafeteria for the first time ever, hands lifted high for the first time ever in that facility, I dreamed about and looked forward to the days to come.

Today it was humbling to walk the halls and hear the teachers that I work with express their joy and excitement that we are being allowed to meet at the school. It was beautiful to hear my head janitor express how glad he is that we have facilities to use and ask what else needed to be done to help us on Sunday mornings. I was touched when I logged onto the school's homepage and realized that The Crossroads is listed there as a calendared event (free advertising for every teacher, every parent, and every student that logs on). I cannot grasp how God would allow me to be a part of anything this unbelievably awesome, but I sure am glad He is!

Continue to pray for us in the following ways:
*That we and our members would be protected from Satan. It has been many, many years since I have been involved in warfare like this. He's attacked our health, our finances, our kids, our marriage, and my eating disorder is harder to fight than it's been since I was a young girl. It's tough being engaged in constant battle and having to be vigilant against the enemy, but also exciting that Satan is concerned about what's going on at The Crossroads. We must be headed toward big stuff.
*That we would find the time and energy necessary to minister to our community. To love them with abandon and passion. And to still have the time and energy left to love our family.
*That God would continue to bless the Crossroads financially. We are stretching to go into the new location and are expecting God to bless that faith. We are also anxious to be able to pay Worship Dude a salary that would allow him more freedom and flexibility to pursue his calling.

I appreciate those of you who continually pray for our family in this adventure we're on. I know many of you have shared with me how God has moved in your heart to drop everything and pray for us during moments of our greatest need. Thank you. I can't express how much that means to me, or how great the results are from your prayers. May God rain down his blessings on you and your family as well.

Love,
LaRissa

Running with God

I had the opportunity to attend a Tenth Avenue North concert last night. Loved getting to hear Brenton Brown as well, and the opener chick (Audrey Assad) was unbelievably good. However, it was way after midnight when I got to bed. And I had been up since 4:30. I turned off the alarm, looking forward to some good sleeping in on a rainy morning.

My God had other plans. I woke up this morning around 5:30 and could not go back to sleep. I tried to lay in bed and listen to the rain and relax, but my body was screaming to go run. I was determined to ignore it till at least 7, but then God began to talk. "Come on, let's go for a run. Just you and me."

Since my kitchen timer has disappeared (I suspect friends who are embarrassed by my ghetto running), I am having to listen to the ipod on my phone and use its timer. I can't do Pandora and use the timer at the same time, can't have 2 apps open simultaneously. I scrolled down to my playlist that I recently posted on itunes, "LaRissa's worship stuff" and hit shuffle.

I barely had time to finish my 3 minute walking warm-up before I was lost in worship and needed to run. That first run interval was 10 minutes. No lie. I just doubled my running time. After that I alternated 2-3 minute running with 1-2 minutes of walking. It was a great run.

When I left the house, darkness engulfed me. Literally, emotionally, and spiritually. The air was heavy with humidity, but there wasn't a drop of rain falling. I felt a little cheated that I wasn't going to get to run in the rain. Then God taught me an amazing lesson. Daylight crept in slowly as I ran that second mile. I couldn't see the sun, but my path became clearer and better lit. It was not bright, but I could find my way. Just because I can't see God doesn't mean that He's not lighting my way.

This is my life right now. I am having issues with not being able to fully see God's plan in my life, and have been horribly discouraged. God reminded me that I do not have to see the full light of his plan to trust him and begin following him. I began running while it was still dark. It was only after 30 minutes that I could clearly see where I was going, and even then I did not have the full light of the day. I do not have to see where we are going to be able to worship Him.

On this note of surrender, I ran up "the hill" - the one where I had the incredible running in the rain experience several weeks ago. The same song "All these Words" began to play as the rain began to pour. Well of course then I couldn't head home as God used the rain to remind me how much He loves me. It was, for me, such an amazing gift of His love and His presence this morning. I was a reminder that God's got my life in his hands, all I need to do is run after Him and pursue Him with love and passion. Then the next song, "Bring the Rain" began to play. (Another song from the running in the rain day) I ran and cried. And cried and ran, long past my three mile mark but unable to give up being in God's presence. More good stuff played in my headphones as I worshiped a God that created the stars and loves me. Crowder's new song "How He Loves" and Starfield's, "Holy Is Our God."

I can't express to you how amazed I was this morning as I realized that I was not running alone. I am not running alone as my feet are hitting the pavement, and I am not running alone as I muddle through this thing called life. God is running alongside me. I don't get it. I don't get how in the world a God who could be spending time with anybody on the planet would ever choose to spend time with me. And not just a casual encounter here and there in my life, but actually a very real physical experience of His love pouring out on me as the rain soaked through my clothes and dripped off my skin. So I don't understand it at all, but I am so very grateful that God is teaching me what it means to fall desperately and hopelessly in love with Him. And what it feels like to experience Him loving me.

So my prayer is that God would rain down on us all. God, pour out your love, your hope, your grace and your presence at The Crossroads tomorrow. But God, I don't wait until tomorrow to spend more time with you. Seek me out today and help me to search for your heart and your purposes today. God remind me continually of your greatness and your might and your power and your love. Your unbelievably beautifully amazing love. Thank you that you are still in the business of bringing beauty from ashes.

Crossing over to the dark side

I have officially crossed over to the dark side. I absolutely love to run. I love that moment when I push my body hard enough that my brain becomes completely silent. The only sensations are the feeling of my feet hitting the pavement, and the burning of my chest as my breathing becomes labored. I love the wind whipping through my hair and best of all - being united with God's heart in worship.

For many years when I read in the Bible "Be still and know that I am God." I thought that meant to sit still, but even when I sit still I cannot make my mind be still. Even in prayer, my thoughts wander. I can be earnestly praying about a heavy need and next thing I know I'm planning my next reading group or worse, thinking sinful thoughts of some sort. Running is the only thing that I have discovered as a way to make my mind be still.

I started running 6 years ago when I was having a rough time in my marriage. I ran so that I did not have to think about all the garbage in my life. I ran to escape my life. But slowly the running turned into listening for God's opinion of the situation, being still enough in my mind to hear his voice. It dramatically changed my life, and I loved it. But then I started working and could no longer manage to schedule my run into my life. That first year of teaching is a killer.

This summer I have mostly done workout videos in the house because of the heat, but on these cooler days I am tying on my shoes and hitting the pavement. I am working on an interval plan that will have me running three miles in 12 weeks. Today I upped my running time and did quite well. Today I remembered how much I love to run. And how much easier it is to listen to God when my mind is not cluttered.

I figured out today that I could shuffle my Pandora stations to have a wider variety of worship music to listen to as I ran. That was cool. But the moment that really got to me was as I was running and listening to Tomlin's "How Great is our God" a cold wind began to blow. In perfect synchronization with the music's build, the wind increased until the trees were all bending over. I saw in that moment a picture of the day when all of creation will bow before our King. But what was even more amazing was that as the music shifted into "The Wonderful Cross," the wind continued to blow in my face and whip my hair into my eyes, but the trees were barely ruffled. It reminded me that Scripture talks about the Spirit as a "Great and Rushing Wind". As I listened to the music, God reminded me all over again that He has purchased my life to use as He wills. I need to be surrendered to Him and listening closely for directions from the One who set me free.

I will say a word of caution - as the trees were bowing, I got pretty lost in worship and instinctively closed my eyes and raised my hands. That's not a wise decision if you are running down a roughly paved road. I did not fall, but the stumble was pretty big. Some of you would have fallen from laughing so hard. The guy watering his yard was pretty tickled, and he doesn't even know me!

I love to see worship becoming more and more a part of my everyday life and not something that is isolated to Sunday morning. I love this new intimacy in my encounters with God. Even though I would love to stay in this moment with God, maybe wander over to the piano and continue worshiping, I have to get dressed and head to work. I do want you to know, especially you Crossroadies that are readers, I constantly pray as I worship alone in the middle of my everyday life that God will also bring you into worship. So that even though I may be worshiping alone, our hearts can be joined together in worship in God's throne room. And I desperately want each of you to be meeting with God in this beautiful and amazing way. Love you all. LaRissa

Monday Morning Update 8.9.09

I have been staring at this screen for a long time trying to come up with a fresh perspective on my Monday Morning Update. I love sharing with my readers how God is working at The Crossroads, but sometimes I run out of ways to say "Wow." I could talk a long time about what a good job Shawn and Robby did this weekend. I could talk about the cool relationships I see people building with each other in our congregation. I could talk about the some of the specific "next steps" that are happening. But instead, I think that this week I will use this space to share my personal spiritual journey this weekend. Being honest about my ugly attitude is not easy, but I want my readers to see how God can work when we are obedient, even with a grumpy attitude. I want everybody to understand that we all have "those" days when we are defeated and discouraged, but God can still move in big ways.

Last night the owner of the cheer gym contacted us to say that one of the air conditioners was still broken, we probably needed to go ahead and set up so that we did not have the doors to the gym open as long on Sunday morning. We had not planned to do a Saturday set up, honestly because we were smooth wore out after all of our camping adventures. Our house was a mess, my kids were exhausted, we needed a night alone at home to recover and prepare our minds and hearts for worship on Sunday. I was in lots of pain from my sunburn and honestly wanted to take some tylenol and benadryl to get a good night's rest. As we sent out a plea for help, we discovered that most people already had plans for the evening, so only one other couple was available to help.

I was so frustrated and discouraged. Satan uses times of exhaustion to really get in my head.
Last night I was done. I had no desire to go drag the cheer mats with my horribly sore sunburned shoulders. I had a pity party about how much work and sacrifice is involved in a church plant. I felt sorry for myself that being in the ministry means leading by example which means that we never ask anyone to give more, work harder, or sacrifice any more than what we do. My pity party was so huge that Shawn decided to contact that other couple to cancel. There are times when I am not suitable to be around others and last night was certainly one of those times. He was actually holding his phone and dialing when God got through to my brain. God reminded me why we are doing what we are. We were going in to set up on a Saturday night so that visitors who arrived on Sunday could experience comfortable temperatures and be more receptive to the gospel. God reminded me that sunburned shoulders don't compare to nail scarred hands. God reminded me that my focus doesn't belong on me. My focus belongs on others. I was being selfish. He showed me a clear vision all over again about why we are doing this church planting gig. I stopped Shawn and said, "Having comfortable temperatures for our visitors is more important than us getting a night off to rest. It's not about us." I said the right words, but my attitude was lagging a little behind my obedience.

Sure enough, we arrived at the cheer gym, and it was hot. I was in a horribly foul mood about having to spend my Saturday evening doing the set up. But before the night was over, two families arrived to help and my discouragement turned to awe. You see, these are both families that have only recently begun attending The Crossroads. They gave up their Saturday evenings to help set up in the heat, and they aren't paid to do ministry. The only reason they arrived to help is because they wanted to be used by God. It's beautiful to see new families plugging in to service. As we were leaving, I was not tired, I had forgotten the pain in my shoulders, and I was refreshed by being with some Crossroadies. I turned around for one last look at the empty chairs. I realized that God had a plan for each one of those chairs. Each of those chairs was a special seat for a person that God had arranged to meet with on Sunday morning. I began praying over those chairs, and the people that would arrive the next morning, and God began to work in my heart and move me to worship.

This morning as I awoke, I remembered those chairs waiting expectantly. I began immediately praying for our services and had some incredible worship time before I ever left the house today. You see, God took my grumpy obedience, and used it to remind me of our vision and our purpose as The Crossroads. Everything that we do, we do to love others - especially those who may not know Jesus yet. Seeing the empty chairs reminded me that God's work in Anna and at The Crossroads is just beginning. I don't want to miss out on anything that He has in store. My bad attitude almost kept me from seeing those chairs and seeing God at work and sensing His promise for the future. I'm glad that I did not give in to that voice in my head, and instead remembered that making our environment more comfortable for visitors is more important than my own personal comfort. (By the way, this is not meant to be any type of guilt trip for anyone...just a confession of my own bad attitude and my need for a refocus.)

As I went into The Crossroads already worshiping, it was cool to join my worship with the worship of the other people there today, to become one voice of praise lifted up to a holy and amazing God. The worship set simply extended the worship I was already engaged in. As a matter of fact, at this point I cannot remember all the songs that we sang. It was all blurred together with my own internal song of worship of my Creator. It's a challenge to explain how my internal music works, so I only know to say it was an amazing worship experience. By this time I had played/sang probably 20 or more songs, so I honestly don't remember which ones were in the set and on which ones I was worshiping alone. I was sincerely just that lost in worship today.

Shawn continued his God at the Movies series with a sermon on "Harry Potter" - love that leaves a mark. It was a great sermon about how sacrificial love is life changing. You should be able to hear the sermon soon at www.welcometothecrossroads.com Be sure to listen to all the sermons in this series.

I don't know where God is headed next. In my personal life, God's doing some stuff that I can't explain in words. I am seeing some huge shifts in what I expected from God in my life and what is actually happening. So much of what's going on doesn't make any sense to me at all. But this I am sure of. God has big plans. He is on the move and is looking for people to work alongside Him. I'm in. Anybody else? I'm saying yes in advance to whatever God wants me to do, wherever he wants me to go - without knowing the desination or the details. And yes, that is exciting and scary all at the same time.

Crowder/Tomlin Concert

Saturday morning began way too early. I was out late Friday night watching "Wolverine"! (Sorry, I have to pause for just a minute to yell WOOOOO!!!!) So when my body woke up a little before 5, I ignored it and stayed in bed till 6. I had to run some errands at Wal-mart, work on stuff for children's ministry, and do a bit of housework before we left at 10:30.

The concert was an outdoor event. Most of the day, the rain was a fairly light drizzle. Drizzle doesn't really bother me. I was just vain enough to be disturbed by my hair getting messed up and having to wear ugly rain panchos. Yes, I know, God is still working with me on my vanity. However, three times the storm sirens sounded and we had to evacuate into nearby buildings. The first two evacuations were fairly short lived, and we were able to quickly return to the concert.

Sanctus Real really rocked the place. I had not seen them live. Loved them! I wasn't as crazy about Flyleaf. I like their stuff on the radio, but they did lots of screaming at this concert and that's hard for me to understand. However, I was very interested in her story of how she became a follower of Jesus Christ, but then we were evacuated again because of storm sirens and were unable to hear the rest of her story.

By the third evacuation, I was just ticked. Not at the concert people. They were doing their best to keep the crowd safe, but I was just a little ticked at the weather maker. Yes, God. I mean, come on....I spent big bucks on these tickets and was not getting to worship! Was God really going to let all that money go to waste? Yes, it's embarrassing to admit.... I was frustrated that God let us have bad weather when all I wanted to do was to worship Him!

So I am trying to hide my frustration with God that I know is way so not cool. It's embarrassing to be with your church friends and be ticked at God. I finally got out my iPOD and began listening to all my "rain" songs. I came to Tomlin's "My Chains Are Gone." This line stuck with me, "And like a flood, his mercy rains, unending love, amazing grace." This was about the time rain was moving across the football field in blinding sheets.

God got my attention pretty good at that point.... his mercy rains on us like a flood.... HELLO! ARE YOU NOT WATCHING????? That's when my frustration turned to worship. If God's mercy rains down on me like that rain was pouring in sheets on that field.... that's some pretty amazing mercy. The popping lightning is the only thing that kept me from walking right out into the pouring rain to fully experience the moment. Then God spoke to my frustration, "I AM NOT A GOD WHO CAN BE MANIPULATED, PLANNED, SCHEDULED OR BOUGHT. I DESERVE YOUR WORSHIP EVERY DAY AND EVERY MOMENT. YOU DO NOT NEED A TICKET TO MEET WITH ME." Oh. I was assuming that somehow the money I spent on the tickets made God more likely to show up. God was reminding me that He is available for free. Anytime.

Rain let up and we did get to see Crowder and Tomlin. It was absolutely an incredible night of worship for me. I loved being able just to let go and worship. And in case I ignored God's voice earlier, one of speaker Chan's points was that "God cannot be manipulated." That was pretty wow cause that was precisely the word that God had used with me in dealing with my sinful attitude. Then Tomlin emphasized his line, "Like a flood, his mercy rains" in response to the weather. So I was pretty sure that the moment earlier under the bleachers at the football stadium was no coincidence.

The night ended with fireworks. My friend Liz noticed something pretty spectacular. She said that when the fireworks first went up there was a single light, but then they spread out into a wide-reaching beautiful pattern. She said it's like the gospel. As you share God's love with others and they in turn share with others, it becomes a beautiful light that cannot be contained.

Bottom line? Wet, cold, shivering.....but amazing worship experience. Would not have traded any of it....not even the rain. On the way home got some Starbucks. Nothing like the perfect end to the perfect evening :)

Monday Morning Update 5.4.09

It was certainly a busy, crazy weekend. Friday night I went to see "Wolverine" with a group of friends from the Crossroads. Then on Saturday, I went to a concert with some more friends. So I hit Sunday morning exhausted. We all did. Staying up till 1:00 a.m. makes it rough to get up the next morning!

I was in children's this week. We talked about Acts 27, Paul's shipwreck. God really spoke to me through this passage this morning as I was looking over it one last time before teaching. I'm sure that will make a blog later this week. The lesson activities were pretty neat, and I felt like the kids left with a good grasp on what it means to encourage others and how important that is.

I hear that grown up church went well. Shawn talked about the song, "My life would suck without you." I was looking forward to listening to the podcast, but unfortunately the computer had issues, and we lost the audio. I will just have to read over his sermon notes instead. Everyone said it was an awesome message.

Shawn says the worship set was good, too. We were missing several band members this morning. I was in children's, the bass player was having to serve his monthly weekend for the Air Force, and the electric guitar player was also out. But to be short that many people, I hear things went well.
Apologies to my worship peeps who are interested in our worship sets. I was too busy with children's to really pay attention while the band was practicing this morning. I don't remember the set.

We are quickly filling up our space. Hope that a new location opens up soon. Continue praying!

Monday Morning Update 4.13.09

Yeah, okay so it's not really Monday by the time most of you are reading this. Let's just pretend like it's a perfect world, and I am never late for anything. Or let's be realists and just accept the fact that I am late lots and just suck it up and deal with it. Whatever....here's the scoop on Easter at The Crossroads.

We began Saturday night by gathering at a home in Anna to watch The Passion. I had not watched the movie since seeing it in the theater. This time I did cry a little once or twice (still not enough to need a kleenex)....made me feel less pagan than at the theater when I didn't cry at all. Instead of crying, I become filled with an almost unbearable sense of urgency to reach the nations. Seeing Jesus' sacrifice reminds me all over again about the great price that He paid for salvation....and how if I really valued His life, I would live a life completely dedicated to Him and to His Kingdom. My priorities would be less jacked up than what they are currently. It would always be Christ and His Kingdom first.

We shared the Lord's supper together and spent time praying for our Easter services. And yes, it began to literally rain (yet again) when we prayed for God to rain down His Spirit on Anna. For me, the literal outpouring of rain is like a promise of God's presence among His people.

Easter Sunday began bright and early at the Kemp's. We made about 100 pigs in a blanket for our Easter brunch, bathed all the kids, and dried 3 girls' hair. And still left on time. Boo-yah!!!

We had the typical huge event set-backs. Things like forgotten videos, lost the clamps to put together the stage, etc. But we pulled it all together and set up for our biggest crowd so far. Best guess is that we had about 75 people in attendance, several first time visitors and several repeating visitors.

Shawn did a "plug and play" sermon. This is when the music is interwoven among the sermon points. Generally I really enjoy this way of doing a service. It breaks the sermon into small, manageable chunks for those of us with short attention spans. Then we get to worship with music, which keeps me continually pulled into God's presence and focused on who I am there to see. You can listen at www.welcometothecrossroads.com and the music will be there as well this week, although sound is usually not as good recorded from a gym setting as it sounds live.

We did a great selection of songs Sunday:
Meant to Live (Switchfoot)
What life would be like (Big Daddy Weave) - if you haven't heard this one yet, you have to download. VERY awesome message about living life like we believe Jesus is really God.
Lifesong (Casting Crowns)
I Will Go (Starfield)
He Reigns (Newsboys) - as soon as we started intro on this, audience members started making eye contact with me and doing the "rock on" hand signs and mouthing things like "awesome" "love this song". And when we came in with vocals....whoosh up stood the audience in full up worship. Stinkin' awesome!!!!
Rest (Nevertheless) This song is beautiful....another must download if you haven't heard it yet.

I enjoyed playing with the new guitar player. Electric guitar really helped fill some of the open gaps in the music. I love our band. Sometimes it's hard for me to really believe that at 34 I'm finally getting to live my dream. I'm playing music that I love with an absolutely incredible team of musicians. I am WAY out of my league and loving every minute of it!!!!!

So altogether it was an incredible first Easter at The Crossroads. But the most incredible thing is that every Sunday is amazing at The Crossroads.

Funny story:
Shawn's mic was popping. Robby mouths at me, "tell him to push up his mic." As a talented lip reader, I just really can't read Robby's lips. Too much facial hair or what, I don't know. So I turn to his wife for an interpretation and she says, "tape the mic." So I abandon the stage to go search for tape to hold Shawn's mic in place. I can only find shiny scotch tape, but figure it's better than nothing. I hurry back to the stage where Robby is doing the longest intro ever to "Lifesong" while he's stalling and waiting for me to return. I quickly taped Shawn's mic in place. Job accomplished. Not sure why Robby is looking at me with total and complete confusion. I just did what he said, right?

So then, the tape started to come loose as Shawn became sweaty. Worship Dude turns and looks and me and mouths, "take the tape off." I interpret, "it's coming off." And think he wants me to retape. I have a spare piece of tape about 7 inches long on my keyboard. We are introing next song, so I handed it to Robby's wife and say, "retape Shawn." I'm assuming that Shawn will tear off the desired amount, but no - he sticks the whole huge piece of tape on his face to hold the mic in place. So when he walks back up on stage, he has tape all over the left side of his face. It was really, really hard not to crack up.

But the funny part was later when I discovered that I had totally misread all the cues of the day. I was simply supposed to tell Shawn to push up his mic. No tape involved. Although the tape did solve the problem, in case you wanted to know. And it was also really funny. Thinking about using Barbie band-aids next week :)