The Week in Review

The last couple of weeks have flown by and I did not take the time to blog.

We have faced sickness, teething, a Seder dinner, four Easter services, a short-notice day trip to Cheyenne, "regular" ministry responsibilities, our second anniversary, vacuumed and did one load of laundry.

I have also faced a bout of discouragement and feelings of been completely overwhelmed. There has also been a twinge of jealousy regarding what others have and a dose of pride regarding what I have given up.

God is so gracious to rebuke and correct my misplaced desires.

He alone satisfies.

I find myself expressing unBiblical ideas such as, "It is so hard," more than I ever should. Do I believe the Bible is true and that God has given me "all I need for life and godliness" (2 Peter 1)? Do I believe that "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13)? And, if I do believe it, but do not live it what good is that?

Oswald Chambers in My Utmost for His Highest on April 25:

"If we do only what we feel inclined to do, some of us would do nothing for ever and ever. There are unemployables in the spiritual domain, spiritually decrepit people, who refuse to do anything unless they are supernaturally inspired. The proof that we are rightly related to God is that we do our best whether we feel inspired or not." (Read the full entry here.)

There are seasons of life and not one of them has all the joy, nor is there one with all the pain either. God gives and He takes away. He sends the sun to shine on wicked people every morning and even the righteous must endure the storms.

Discouraging times come from the enemy to distract me from the Truth. I have hope in God- hope of eternal life and the promise of everlasting joy. I have been given a peace that no one can buy. Jealousy over possessions others may have is only my heart deceiving itself into thinking those things last. Jesus did not die and rise again so I can live the American Dream.

And He did not leave me on the earth so that I could spend my days trying to obtain it.

The Gospel is worth far more than that.

M is for: Monday, Ministry and Marriage

(Some family fun last week!)

I am so stinkin' tired emotionally, mentally, spiritually and physically. Last week was draining in so many different ways and I just wish I could take a day and sleep.

That is not possible, but one can dream!

Yesterday was really, really, really long (welcome to the new normal). We were out all day at church, my parents and then back to church (insert YAWN). It is exhausting to take care of a 7 month old at church (he is not in the nursery yet), do normal Junior High activities (of which I lead a game that went pathetically wrong), talk with 76 people (which drains me after about the third conversation), sit through the second service (a great message!), attend a meeting (for our mission trip to Pagosa Springs) and do most of that with an empty stomach (when will I learn my 7AM breakfast will NOT last me until a 3PM lunch and bring a snack?!?!). We headed back to church at 6PM after spending time with my family (yay!) to lead the Junior High Discipleship Groups (almost done and they have gone so well!) and attend the evening of prayer with the church (the D-Group students participated, too- what a blessing to watch them grow).

We left the church at 10:15PM.

Welcome to ministry.

Marriage and ministry is a wonderful thing, too. It was a taxing day (no pun intended, but laugh if you must). When we got home last night we were talking about how satisfying it is to serve the Lord. What else would we want to do together?

A. See a movie (wasting $20 and 2.5 hours on junk)?
B. Go out to dinner (Chick-fil-A is our favorite date spot when we get the chance)?
C. Lounge around the house (which we do on occasion, of course)?
D. Serve the Lord (and see eternal blessings all around)?

Definitely D!

(Oh, and 6 days until our second anniversary!)

Savings Saturday: Books!

(NOTE: Ok, so having an alliteration for every day of the week might be overload, but I think it will help me write more frequently and keep my thoughts somewhat organized.)

Today Joel and I spent the morning and early afternoon wandering around town. We had breakfast at Chick-fil-A (LOVE them) and then went to a nearby Christian bookstore in search of some books about this generation.

The Christian bookstore could only offer us books by or endorsed by Rob Bell, Brian McLaren and other emergent pastors (holding back a major rant here!). We were disappointed and decided to go to Goodwill instead. We have found that Goodwill usually has a nice selection of Christian books (sadly) and we would much rather pay $0.99 than $15.95.

The only problem is that it is pretty hit and miss at Goodwill, too. We still love to try and it is relaxing (to us) to browse cheap books. We usually see a lot of books that we already own like My Utmost for His Highest (there is ALWAYS a copy at thrift stores, sad, sad), Boy Meets Girl, and Fresh Wind Fresh Fire (all books we would highly recommend).

We did not find any books on the subject we were looking for, but we did find one amazing deal: The Two Towers Extended Edition DVD set for $2.99! Wooohoooooo! We also bought a potty training book for starting to train before 12 months for $0.99, a Bible memorization devotional called Memorize This for $0.99 and the above mentioned copy of Boy Meets Girl for $0.99.

I thought those were all amazing finds! We were driving home and, low and behold, noticed the Borders bookstore was going out of business and had things up to 80% off! We were in the bargain hunting mood so we decided to stop in there as well. We did not find any reliable books on the topic we originally set out to find, but I did get two books I had been *wanting.* They are: The Vaccine Book for $4.90 and Happy Baby: The Organic Guide to Baby's First 24 Months for $5.20.

TOTAL book/ DVD purchases: $16
Original Value: about $110.00
Savings of: 85%

Financial Friday: Thanksgiving

Money has always been intriguing to me. What is it, really? How does money travel from one person to another? What builds an economy? Is it more than numbers? What can I do with it? How much can I save? How far can it go when stretched?

I love having money. I loved watching my bank account grow. I like feeling the "security" (real or not) that having a savings account can bring. Saving money has always been important to me and being careful with how I spend money even more crucial.

The last year I have had to face the loss of money, for several reasons, and God has been teaching me a great deal about letting go. I need to trust Him. He will provide all we need. And, as a matter of fact, I need less money in the bank than I think.

I hope to spend more time writing about my struggles and what I am learning, but for today I wanted to share something I got in the mail:

12 Keys to Financial Stability
TRANSFER ownership back to God (Col. 1:16-17, 1 Chron. 29:11-12)

HUMBLY adjust your lifestyle to live below your means (Pr. 21:20, Dt. 25:13, 1 Pet 5:5-7)

AVOID or eliminate growing indebtedness and surety (Pr. 22:7, Dt. 28:15, 43, 44, Ez. 28:18-18)

NAVIGATE away from financial temptations (Ps. 119:36-37, Tit. 2:12, Rom. 13:14)

KNOW your financial status and goals (Pr. 27:23-24, Pr. 21:5)

SHARE with people in need (Pr. 22:9, Jam. 1:27, 2 Cor. 9:9)

GIVE to God first as your highest financial priority (1 Ki. 17:13-16, Dt. 14:22-23, 2 Cor. 8:7)

INVOLVE yourself in productive work (Pr. 10:4, Pr. 13:4, Mt. 6:33, 2 Thess. 3:9-13)

VIEW every need and desire as a chance to trust God (Mt. 6:11, Ps. 34:10, Ecc. 2:26)

INSERT time into your week to manage your finances (1 Cor. 16:2, Pr. 13:16, 14:23, 24:3, Is. 32:8)

NEVER be dishonest (Pr. 13:11, Pr. 20:17, Pr. 10:2, Eph. 4:28)

GAIN Biblical understanding (Ps. 119:11, 2 Chron. 26:5, 2 Tim. 3:16-17)

Quietness

***UPDATE***
I did, amazingly, get my To Do list below done!

Jeremiah is still sleeping. Wednesday night at Jr. High wipes him out and he usually sleeps longer on Thursday mornings. Ah, so nice for an equally tired mother.

And now I hear him waking up, ha!

To Do Today:
- play with Jeremiah (done!)
- grocery shopping (done!)
- finish laundry (done!)
- meeting at church (done!)

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Epic Fail: Sponge Sanitation

It sounded like such a great idea.

The tip on the website seemed brilliant:
put damp sponge in the microwave for 3-5 minutes every night to sanitize it.

So, Monday night, I tried it.

I will not be doing that every night.

In fact- I will never do that again unless I want a burnt sponge, a house full of plastic scented smoke (that is still lingering three days later) and an evening of frustration (not to mention a headache from the stench).

Epic fail.

(Come to find out this is epic fail #2 of the same brand. I did not think it was possible to have two epic fails of the same nature, but my mom assures me I tried this several years ago and the same thing happened. You would think one would remember the smell and never attempt sponge sanitation via microwave ever again.)
I am grateful for a husband that encourages me to laugh at myself!

Honesty

I love Katie's honesty in her post yesterday and Dawn's post a few weeks ago. I am sitting here, in wrinkled clothes, with a sleeping baby on my lap (typing one handed) and a long list of things to do (that I am not doing). The house is a semi-mess. The laundry is half done. I cannot remember the last time I dusted. The vacuum has been broken for weeks now and the carpet looks as you might imagine.

People have told me that I always seem to have it together. HA! I think we all feel that way about other people in our lives. It is an easy way the enemy uses to discourage us and make us condemn ourselves.

Please know that I do not have it all together. I struggle with worry more than you may know. I get frustrated at others for things I myself do. I have days where I am so lazy.

I never want to excuse sin, I want to grow and improve, but I know that this side of heaven I will always fall short of perfection.

Praise God for His grace!

Raising Jeremiah: A Series

"But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you,

then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve,
whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates,
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living.
But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:15

I LOVE being a mother. Have you guessed that yet? I LOVE BEING A MOTHER! It is absolutely amazing to carry a child inside your body, nurturing and caring for them, as they are hidden in the secret place. It is a delight to experience the full pain of labor and delivery as you bring them into this world.

We LOVE being parents. There are no words to describe looking at the small scrunched up face of your flesh and blood for the very first time. Oh, I could go on and on with this list. It truly is unbelievable to be a parent.

Today Jeremiah was giggling as I was tickling him and I just had to sigh. What a blessing from the Lord! He is such a gift. He is a reward (Psalm 127) that we definitely do not deserve.

The last 15 or so months, as I was pregnant and since Jeremiah has been born, have been a time of accelerated growth for me. I have had to take all I once dreamed of and put it into action. It was finally my time to experience morning sickness, heartburn, crazy dreams, labor, delivery, nursing and child raising!

There have been so many supportive people in our life who have given Godly counsel and advice. There have been a lot of people who have asked us a myriad of questions. I have been pregnant with several good friends (Dawn, Darrah and Katie!) and walked the journey of motherhood with them.
Still, Joel and I are different. We always have been, I guess, and we knew that raising children would set us apart in more ways from the mainstream- even among Christians. We have "radical" ideas, as some call it, and as others would say are "too idealistic." Maybe. Maybe not.

As with all things Joel and I want to be fully surrendered to the Lord in our decision making processes and what we do. We want to make sure that we have sought the Lord in all things instead of just following what everyone does. It may be that in the end we do what most people do, but we still want to know that the direction came from God Himself!

Romans 14, at the very end, after talking about the weak and the strong follower of Jesus, in relation to food sacrificed to idols, states, "and everything that does not come from faith is sin." We get focused so much on the issue of not causing another brother to stumble that many times we completely miss this absolute fact. Romans 14:23 is a verse for ALL followers of Jesus, about ALL decisions in life, across ALL cultures and for ALL time. If it is not done by faith it is sin. Hebrews 11:6 also tells us, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him."

Those are just two verses that remind me to take all my decisions before the Lord before moving forward! I want to please the Lord, not sin and do all things by faith!!!

Many people have asked why we did, do and plan on doing certain things like natural family planning, womb bonding, out-loud pregnancy Scripture memory, natural childbirth, delayed and limited vaccinations, co-sleeping, feeding on demand, attachment parenting, delayed non-parent care-giving, baby wearing, natural solid food timing, baby potty training, realistic toys, spanking, homeschooling, etc., ETC, ETC. I would like to begin sharing why and how we are parenting!

(I never want to cause you, my reader (whoever you may be) to stumble or to feel that I am judging you for your decisions. As I stated here, I just want a place to share, digest and encourage you to, at the base of it, surrender your lives to the Lord- in ALL things. When you read my thoughts on parenting please take it at face value. And, for your home, seek the Lord!)

We are Jeremiah's parents. We have been given the role of raising him. We will answer for what we did or did not do in leading him to know God. We do not take that lightly! We are also not perfect. We am new to this parenting thing. I get really tired and drained. There are days that I have no idea what I am doing. I told Joel last night that I can see how parents can so easily get lazy. I also realize that what I share on this blog may not be what ends up happening in our home. I also know that Arrow #2, when the Lord blesses us again, will be a completely different child! I will probably have to write a whole new series about them!

Parenting is HARD work.

Maybe by expressing some of my thoughts and our convictions here I can encourage you while at the same time challenging myself to really think about what we are doing! I also want it to be a place where we can share ideas. You may have learned something along the way that we need to know!!! (Like HOW in the WORLD do you know when a 6 month old is being curious, playful or defiant? God give us wisdom!)

If you are a parent, the key is always prayer. We cannot do this without the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives! I hope to look back at these posts one day and smile... what an adventure!

Worldess Wednesday: Old, but Good!

M is for: Monday and Ministry

The Junior High Winter Camp last weekend was, to say the very least, interesting. It had been a LONG time since I had been on a trip with youth. It was also my first time doing a trip with ALL Junior High students. Wow.

The drive was beautiful and we had perfect road conditions (thanks for praying!). The camp was stunning and so quiet (minus the Junior High noise). Joel did a wonderful job teaching Friday night (I am SO blessed to be his wife- what an amazing man!). It was almost just like old times spending the weekend with my brother, Ben (another amazing man!). Jeremiah did wonderful (an amazing man in the making!)!

We learned a lot about ministering to Junior High students. There is so much boy-girl drama. There are fewer students seriously walking with the Lord than we thought. We knew the majority of our students come from broken homes, but it was eye opening to talk with them about their personal lives.

I do not have much time to get into this right now, but please be praying for this generation. Step outside your little personal bubble and minister to a Junior High student in your realm of influence. They need Godly adults who will love them, say hard things and correct their foolish ways. Pray for the single mothers trying to raise unruly, disrespectful and distracted children. Pray for the youth leaders in your church.

Just pray!

Jr. High Winter Camp

24 hours from now, Lord willing, I will be at the church preparing to leave for the Calvary Chapel Aurora Junior High Winter Camp!

The house is a mess, the laundry is half done, I am still in my pajamas (it is noon), my Bible has not been opened yet today and I have exactly 38 things to do before Joel gets home (in 5 hours).

My lesson last night went well (I think). I pray that the kids students (trying not to call them kids anymore) are thinking about what I said. Joel and I have so many desires for the youth group as we get involved more, but we also realize that change takes time.

Pray for us this weekend as we spend time with 200 people from four churches! Pray for safety on the road (four vans with winter conditions). Pray for me since this is the first time I go on a ministry trip with MY child in tow (SO fun to have a little family to do ministry!). Pray that Jeremiah does well and that the kids students do not smother him (too much)! Pray that we will all draw closer to the Lord and seek His will for our lives. Pray for Ben (my brother, yay!) as he leads worship and Joel (as well as the other men) as he teaches.

Have a wonderful weekend (find a way to serve the Lord)!

Wordless Wednesday

M is for: Monday, Ministry and Marriage

I LOVE Mondays now that I am a full time homemaker! The last 10 years I have dreaded Monday morning because it meant crawling out of bed, getting ready and heading to work.

The last six months I have spent Monday at home with Jeremiah, playing with him, cuddling with him, cleaning and doing laundry. I now find Monday to be one of my favorite days of the week!

I am thinking about writing a post every Monday about ministry or marriage. I cannot decide which one, so today I will do both!

Ministry
The last year God has worked in our hearts to pursue ministry full time. It has been a long process and I may share more details at some point! Needless to say, Saturday and Sunday are quite full now. Joel attends all three (soon to be four) weekend services at church. I serve at the early morning service on Sunday and we attend the second service together. It has been an interesting transition. I miss having all day Saturday to spend together.

Translation: I am selfish and miss having Joel all to myself.

God is teaching us that only what is done for Him and His kingdom are important. It is a blessing to be given the responsibility to minister to people. I love hearing the stories Joel is able to tell me about people he counsels. God is changing lives!!!

Why would I want my husband all to myself if he is able to do the Lord's work?

Marriage
Joel and I are not perfect. We do not have a perfect marriage. One thing you will never see on this blog and never in person is me criticizing or putting my husband down. (If you ever see it- confront me... seriously!) We made a promise before we were married that we would never do that. We must guard, with our lives, this precious marriage relationship that God has given to us.

I detest, even though that may be a strong word, when people make fun of their spouse, marriage, intimacy or anything related to marriage. There are, of course, funny things that happen between a husband and wife. There are funny characteristics about men and women that are laughable. I am not talking about good-natured teasing.

Marriage is a vulnerable relationship. Joel knows more about me, my weaknesses and my faults than anyone else. I trust that he will not expose my failures to anyone in anyway- seriously or joking about it. When I hear a husband or wife degrading their spouse in a light-hearted manor my blood starts to boil. It is not funny.

The world does a good job at degrading marriage. We should not be joining them. Marriage is a holy picture of Christ and the Church. We should do everything in our power to uphold that image to the world.

Think of the last argument you had with your spouse. Was it about something eternally important? Was it worth getting angry about? Were you being prideful and selfish?

Pray for your marriage regularly. Study the Word of God together. Do everything you can to cultivate the relationship you have with your husband or wife. Work on arguing less. Encourage one another more.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ is worth it.

Who I Am

Passionate is a word that could be used, I think, to describe me. I am also pretty opinionated about most things. Yet, at the same time, I am reserved and can be pretty quiet. I am not shy by any means, but just like to observe people before I jump into a conversation.

If you read my blog, though, you may be kind of confused and think I go around talking to everyone I meet the way I voice myself on this site. Welcome to the (wonderful?) world of blogging!

I seldom voice my opinionated thoughts with the average person I meet. You have to know me a long time, or bring the subject up yourself, before I would feel comfortable ranting in person about certain convictions or opinions I have. There are times I speak up when I feel it is crucial, but I would say those times are rare. Still, I have a lot of thoughts on a lot of subjects! I desire a place to not only voice them, but encourage others to consider everything as they follow the Lord. Welcome to the (wonderful?) world of blogging!

If I ever sound harsh or blunt please do not take it personally. Instead, be a person that knows why you believe, do and say what you believe, do and say! I am a real person with real struggles. I never want to hide those struggles as I am growing in God's grace. What comes out on this blog is from a heart that is working out her own salvation.

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure."
Philippians 2:12-13

Please continue reading. I have a lot I want to share with you.

"Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called "today," that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end."
Hebrews 3:12-14

Jeremiah's Mommy

It is hard to believe that I am a mother. I dreamed all my life about having children and now I am the mother to an adorable little boy. He will be six months old in just a few days. He is growing and changing so quickly!

I love watching him study something new.

I love giving him a bath.

I love getting him up from his nap.

I even love changing his diapers.

Joel and I talk a lot about parenting. We want to be the best parents we possibly can be. I know I will make many mistakes (and already have). I have had a couple of days in the last six months where I seriously thought I was not fit to be a mother! It is exhausting in every possible way- spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically.

Jeremiah is starting to show signs that he has a sinful nature. It will not be too long (probably a week!) before we have to discipline him. I pray every day that God will give us wisdom. I want to be intentional in everything I do with him as we discipline, love and nurture him into an adult.

Everything matters when raising a child. I seriously believe that. Everything. Children are like sponges. They soak up what they see and hear. They are aware of our emotions, patterns, habits and desires. They understand more than we really give them credit for understanding! I know Jeremiah will not be perfect. I do not expect him to be. I know he will sin. I know that he will disobey. I know he will pick up all sorts of our bad patterns. He is human and we are, too.

Still, I never want to be a mother that makes excuses for any bad behavior. I cringe when I hear parents say things like, "Oh, it's just a stage they are going through" or "haha, he is going through the terrible twos." (Seems parents have an excuse for lazy parenting at every "stage"!) Christ died to set us free from sin! He died to make us like Himself. He left us on this earth to do HIS will. He wants to make us vessels that are willing to be used.

He did not leave me here to have cute kids. He did not leave me here to make sure my kids each have their own room, birthday parties, a Wii, nice clothes and gobs of toys. He did not leave me on earth to just raise a nice American family. What a waste.

He gave me Jeremiah, first, as a gift and blessing from His gracious hand. He gave me Jeremiah to sanctify me so that I am more like Christ. He gave me Jeremiah to raise in the fear of the Lord! He desires that Jeremiah know Him, serve Him and be a witness of the Gospel of Christ.

And me? I am Jeremiah's mommy. I get to spend my days raising him to be all God desires him to be!

Pride: The Childbirth Method

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit,
but in humility
count others more significant than yourselves."

Philippians 2:3

God has been showing me areas in my life where pride has so easily and cunningly crept in to set up camp. The more I am sensitive to pride in my own the life the more I see it in everyone else as well (which can be both good- and- bad). Pride takes so many shapes and forms it is simply unbelievable.

A few weeks ago I was at Katie's baby shower and came home ranting to Joel about how pride and childbirth, when combined, can be so infuriating! First, though, a picture:

She is so CUTE pregnant!

Anyway.

Whenever you have a group of mothers together you will probably hear something about their children and chances are that sooner or later the topic of childbirth will surface. I am sure it has been this way for at least a couple thousand years. Now that I have been through the whole process of pregnancy, labor, delivery and five whole months of motherhood I can understand why it becomes the center of many conversations. It is an amazing and life-changing experience.

Yet, in everything, pride finds a way to wiggle itself into hearts and eventually out into conversation. We all have had our own experience and we want so desperately for others to understand why we did what we did in our childbirth.

Epidural vs. Natural. C-Section vs. Vaginal. Long labor vs. Short labor. Bradley vs. Lamaze. Doctor vs. Mid-wife. Formula vs. Breastfed. Hospital vs. Home Birth. And the list could go on and on.... and on.

It does not matter which side you fall on in any of the list above- you have pride about it! Those that did go all natural have pride that they did. People who did not go natural call those that went all natural the prideful ones and in that statement itself is a truckload of pride. I will spare you more of the types of comments I have heard from both sides! They are sometimes brutal!

I am not sure how to say what I am thinking without sounding incredibly harsh.

What if we, as women, learned to hold our tongue? What if we, when we feel slighted by another woman's childbirth story, would just listen? What if we applauded those who went all natural and listened to why some decided to have a c-section? What if we did not call people who get epidurals wimps and those who went without medication stuck up?

What if we prayed about all our decisions? What if we obeyed the Lord's will for our lives and then would confidently abide in His love? What if we were humble enough to just keep quiet?

When I think about my childbirth story I smile. I have so many precious memories in my heart and mind about that night. I am excited that God answered my prayers. I am incredibly thankful for my husband who cheered me on in the wee hours of the morning. And, I am SO grateful for a healthy baby boy.

There are some situations, like baby showers, where I wish I could tell my story without fear of being interrupted by those who have a different experience than me. I wish I could share my life without wondering what people would think. I wish I could give women advice without being seen as a childbirth nazi.

There are so many topics for women that we could discuss when it comes to pride. It may not be childbirth for you. It may be homemaking. Cooking. Time-management. Money. Appearance.

Take your pick.

Above all, I wish to see pride rooted out of my life because as a woman of God it has no place and is not welcome in my heart.

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit,
but in humility
count others more significant than yourselves."

Philippians 2:3

Online Self-Centered Mess

Maybe you do not have a problem, like I do, with being self-centered. Thinking of others might come more naturally to you than it does for me. If that is your story, congrats, you are more like Jesus and I want to be like you. If I guess right, though, you probably think more highly of yourself than you ought.

I stand in the middle of a grand stage.

::Facebook, iPhone and Flip enter stage right::

::Myspace, iPod and Blogger enter stage left::

I believe that we can use these modern tools for the glory of God. I believe we can take something that is used for evil and turn the attention to God. I am not an advocate of locking oneself in a closet and never touching a computer.

There are days when I really, seriously, want to delete my Facebook page. Today, as you guessed, is one of those days. How self-centered can we be?

"Hey, world, me, me, me, I, I, I, look at how cute I am, look at my cute kids, look at my perfect life that is not so perfect because I either hide the truth or make it look worse than it is, and oh yeah I love God, too."

Really?

Joel is teaching though Philippians with the Jr. High students on Wednesday nights. I was feeling quite self-centered yesterday and then remembered he was teaching on Philippians 2. Great.

No, adjust attitude, GREAT! The Lord needs to work in my heart. The Lord needs to work in the lives of these students. We must cultivate humility or we will be in danger of thinking that God feels sorry for us. We may begin to feel like we need the world to look at us and applaud. We may begin to rely too much on Facebook notifications to fill our hearts with a fake sense of acceptance. We may begin to think the world revolves around us.

Do you love Jesus Christ more than anyone or anything?

Do you love Jesus Christ more than you love yourself?

Wordless Wednesday: A To Do List

The Body of Christ

I have been falling in love, all over again, with the Church. She is such a beautiful creation and I am grateful for her.

I am also so grateful for MY local church, Calvary Chapel Aurora, where I fellowship, serve and learn.

I am ALSO grateful for my pastor, Ed Taylor. He is imperfect, but we love watching him grow and obey the Lord! It encourages Joel and I to do the same!

He will often at the end of a service, when he is presenting the Gospel or challenging believers, feel like there is someone specific he needs to mention. It is usually something simple like, "I feel there is someone here that needs to be reconciled with their wife. You need to surrender to Jesus and make it right!"

He told an amazing story at the beginning of our service yesterday:

Saturday night at the end of the normal service he (Pastor Ed) felt the Holy Spirit was leading him to mention a specific situation that someone was facing in the church. He said that there was someone who was a believer that was doing drugs and needed to give it up. He said that the Spirit kept leading him with further descriptions. He said (something like), "You are doing drugs and, in fact, you are not listening on the radio or watching online, but you even came to church high tonight. You are in this building and can hear my voice. I feel the Lord is telling me you are a woman- a young woman." He then challenged the girl, whoever she was, to give up the drugs and fully surrender her life to Christ.

He said that he, lacking faith, fully expected to just get an email during the week with a "that was me you were talking about Saturday" type of message. He said that often happens when he gets specific like that in his challenge to people.

After service as he was talking and praying with people a couple came up to him. They said that when the girl he mentioned makes herself known that they would like to help disciple her. Pastor Ed said that he would let them know... and then he saw a young girl right behind them.

Now, before I continue, let me say this before you write this off as crazy, absurd or mystic: it's not. My church is not a coo-coo place where we put the Spirit to the test or try to fabricate these kinds of stories to make people cry or go "wow!"

I have a real pastor who just wants to obey the Lord.

Ok, now I will continue:

The girl stepped forward and said she was the one he was talking about. She said she had been down in the bathroom when she heard him talking about her. (We have speakers in the whole church that broadcast the message.) She knew it was God calling to her.

He felt the Holy Spirit was telling him she had the drugs with her so he held out his hand and asked her to give him all the drugs she had with her. He said they would go flush them down the toilet right now and connect her with people who would help her. She reached in her pocket and handed him the drugs. He paused and asked her for ALL the drugs. She reached in her purse and gave him the rest.

He handed them to a couple other pastors and they flushed them right then and there.

This is the body of Christ. This is faith. This is being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, how He works and then obeying!

So many people, including me sometimes, wonder why God is not "working in their lives." Yet, at the same time we keep God in a little box. We tame Him. We turn church into a social club, gossip session, compare my cute kids with yours day, duty and all around American past time.

It is time to wake up. The end is near and the Lord is calling YOU to step out in faith, like never before, and obey.

You know what you need to do.

Will you join me? Let's do it!

For the sake of Jesus Christ, His kingdom and HIS glory!

Wordless Wednesday (on Thursday): A Glimpse of Tuesday