Released

I was gonna title this
Dreams Dashed
or
Broken Dreams

until I got an email from my Soli Deo Gloria group leader, Jean.
The SDG captain, Jen, has been encouraging us to TRUST for a while.
My leader, Jean, just let us know that a new theme is coming: “Release, Renew, Refresh”

Released.
That’s it.
(and a much nicer way to say it, I might add! Thanks, Jen!)

I have a new appreciation for Joseph.
A dreamer.
With lofty dreams.
Big dreams he believed in,
and believed they came from God.

Did he wonder about his dreams
in the pit,
in Potiphar’s house,
and in the prision ?
Did he think his dreams had been dashed?
Did he think his dreams were broken? dead?

That’s where I’ve been the past two weeks.
Which is really ridiculous, considering that I’m not in any kind of pit or prison.
Actually, what’s happened in our lives is a good thing overall.
Just a big change, and one that I didn’t expect.

Three weeks ago God turned my plans upside down. I’ve been a stay at home, homeschooling mom for the past 14 years after leaving the classroom when our oldest was born. The plan was to continue homeschooling this year. Until I got a call to interview on a Wednesday for a 4th grade teaching position that started on Monday – in 4 days! Not what I wanted, not what I planned, but what God said do. (And He didn’t give me ANY time to think it over because He knows me too well & He knows better! :-))

Our adjustment these past few weeks has been a good one. So what’s the struggle? What’s the connection to Joseph? Well, I feel like all my dreams just died. I certainly don’t see how any of the dreams or plans I had is going to work out now.

Today in worship, I thought about those dreams,
and how I need to throw them at the foot of the cross,
whether they’re whole or in pieces.
I know God’s plans are best.
And I know He’s in the business of rebuilding better than I could.

I just have to be like Joseph and trust,
in those times when the dreams look dark and dead,
that God is working all things for my good.

I’m glad Jen had a nice title for this post –
one that gives me a different perspective!

 

Amazing Giveaway!

This is another exciting adventure for me!

If you read A First, you know that I just participated in my first ever Launch Team for Philosophy Adventure. It’s a great curriculum that uses ancient philosophers to teach thinking skills, Biblical worldview, writing, and speaking. This has been such a great experience for me, mainly because I “met” some neat people online in this Launch Team.

In their own words, “Philosophy Adventure™ is designed to help students 6th-12th grade cultivate and defend a biblical worldview by teaching them how to write skillfully, think critically, and speak articulately as they explore the history of ideas.” In my own words, I think they do just that. Although I haven’t been able to actually use this with my boys yet, I love the flexibility, ease of use, and mostly, the thinking the kids are encouraged to do. Philosophy Adventure helps our kids learn to discern, which, in my opinion, is one of the most critical skills they will need to be counter-cultural!

DO YOU NEED to teach advanced writing and speaking skills?

DO YOU WANT your students equipped to discern truth as ungodly messages bombard them?

DO YOU WONDER how to cover all they need academically as well as practically?

Philosophy Adventure may be your solution!

Below is a link for an amazing giveaway, with lots of chances to win Philosophy Adventure. I encourage you to enter. You’ll be glad you did!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Prepared Not To Miss

I’m not waiting anymore.

I got a word

got direction

just not what I was expecting

and God had me

Prepared Not To Miss

A few Saturdays ago I attended the Amazing Women’s conference. Our pastor’s wife, Julie Mullins, spoke first about how God is writing His story in each of us. You can hear all of it – it’s worth it! What she said that struck me and has resonated with me strongly in the last few weeks is this:

Don’t miss your story.

She shared about their struggles to start a family and how eventually friends around her were having kids, changing diapers, and having playdates. As Julie went to appointments, she kept thinking about her friends going to the park and said, “I want to be going there!” She said one day, as she continued to look at what God was doing in other people, He gently told her not to miss what He was doing in her life, in her story.

I can relate
– to her struggle in having a family,
– to looking at other people and
wanting what God is doing in their lives
– to not appreciating what God is doing in my life
because it doesn’t look like I thought it would
or like I want it to.
Teacher – sure, to 3 boys –
NOT to 20+ students again.
Teaching – sure, as always, at home with my boys –
NOT in the classroom again!

picture by Carol Gonzales from Amazing

Because of the Amazing weekend
God had me
Prepared Not To Miss
the story He will write in the next chapter of my life,
even though it looks nothing like I thought it would or want it to.
And my heart is starting to catch up to my head! 🙂

Here’s the rest of the Amazing conference. It really is worth it to watch!
http://gochristfellowship.com/about-us/sermon-archives/#action=watch&series=144&sermon=409

 

Wait! Not that word!

waiting…

waiting for the next word,

the next drop of ink that begins something new.

read here to get that story

Sometimes The Word writes slowly

a flowing script,

a gentle steady pace,

and I see every upstroke, downstroke, and curve as it happens.

Looking  back I see how each letter blended together to make a beautiful word

but…

Sometimes The Word stamps!

a complete word.

quickly.

in one complete motion.

jarring.  vibrating.  splintering.

an unexpected sudden mountain

in the otherwise pleasantly smooth landscape.

And my heart cries

Wait! Not that word!

That word doesn’t fit my dreams and plans!

That word changes my daily routine!

I know that word, and

it brings unknown.

It’s happened before

But I also know The Word

and I know His Word

and the promises that

His Ways are higher than mine

so I can trust Him with the next chapter

even when it doesn’t look like I want it to.

and I’m thankful He prepared me for it

But I have to say, peeps,
as poetic and heartwarming as those words sound,
I’m a master at flashing my pearly whites,
blinding you to the fact that
inside I feel like I’m watching dreams die.
This is one tough lesson in the discipline of obedience and faith for me!
I’m waiting for my heart to catch up to my head.

 

Life on The Rock

Over a week ago I wrote Perspective

I have so appreciated watching Tim shepherd Aunt Dee through these hard days!

She is amazing! – a true pillar of strength
a living example of building a life on the Solid Rock
so when the storm of life hit her,
and she lost her best friend and husband of 71 years,
she was not  – and IS NOT –  shaken.
Mt 7:24-27

Today, Monday, she boarded a plane for Philadelphia and the funeral service.
And that’s an answer to prayer.
Because Saturday she was in the hospital getting a blood transfusion.

But God not only answered her prayer about getting to go to the funeral.

• Before she left this morning she was able to connect with an international couple she and Uncle Sam had befriended years ago, which lifted her spirits. She was able to share Jesus with them once again.
• On the way to the airport she shared Jesus with the driver from the funeral home. As she got out of the car she said, “Now Chris, make sure you go to church.”
• I’m sure there will be stories of how she shared about God on the plane!

We continue to marvel at how God is holding her up, how she depends on Him, gives Him praise, and speaks about Him to anyone and everyone she meets.

As you read this, would you pray for Aunt Dee?
It’s been a long month,
and Tuesday, July 23, 2013 she will bury her love,
her life partner of 71 years.
Thanks for holding her up before the Throne of Grace!

 

Daily Life Guest Post

As we blog through The ABC’s of Homeschooling,

I got the letter D.

D for Daily Life

but I should have signed up for B

…as in B for Battle!

Daily Life here isn’t always pretty, peeps!

BUT, God is always working and I’m so thankful!

Click below to read the whole story & be encouraged! 🙂

 

Perspective

Uncle Sam
2 days shy of 92 years old
Soccer player
Leg-puller
Italian connoisseur
Husband of 71 years

He went into ICU a few weeks ago with lung complications.
He got better and went to rehab.
We visited him last week.
He was still the jokester…
just a little slower

Had to go back into ICU a few days ago.
Aunt Dee & I talked yesterday
praying for wisdom –
should she go home or stay at the hospital…
praying for healing
“God we know You can ultimately heal Uncle Sam.
We pray that You will heal him,
that he’d be able to skip the rehab and go right home”

And God said yes.

Just not the home we were expecting.
And the reality of eternity
and God’s perspective of what’s real
are just a little clearer today
even through the tears.

 

Belle Glade Beautiful

The 5 Minute Friday topic:

Beautiful

and I immediately thought of our week in Belle Glade.

No way to do it justice.
Not in 5 minutes,
Not in 5 lifetimes!

But I want to share some of the beauty with you,
so I will attempt,
knowing that some things,
even for one who loves words,
are best shared face to face.

It was Beautiful… to see 40+ (yes, really!) girls and leaders living in unity and fun,
sharing and praying together at day’s end

Yes, we did look like a tetris board completely filled up!
Yes, we got our exercise walking/jumping to and from our mattresses each day!

It was Beautiful… to see middle school kids learn, grow, and lead Sports Camp with excellence!

It was Beautiful… to see God call me to something crazy – seriously crazy! – during the week
AND call my husband to something similar – without either one of us knowing!!

Then see Him confirm that call in His Word

It was Beautiful… to see God answer prayer!

It was Beautiful… to see 500+ students sing in worship and surrender

and to hear them cry out to God in prayer,
a Thursday night etched in eternal memories

It was Beautiful… to be challenged by our Student Ministries pastors twice daily

It was Beautiful… to share the re-cap of the week together, even though it doesn’t touch the surface.

click to watch the Belle Glade service

It IS Beautiful… to see God continuing the work He started last week!!

It WILL BE Beautiful… to see others wake up and take the challenge!
You’ve got 2 to choose from – go for both! 🙂

Prayer Pocket Challenge

Awake 514 Challenge

WILL YOU JOIN THE STUDENTS & MYSELF ON THE JOURNEY?
I’d love the company!

 

Prayer Pocket Challenge

How do you put one incredible week into words?

If you’ve been on a missions trip
or to church camp,
you know what I mean.
And I was on both of those last week!

As often is the case, I had another direction to go with this post, but God changed my mind just now

because I read this

There is so much behind that great blog, but it’s for another day. What God brought to mind as I read Logan’s words was the message Pastor Aaron preached Wednesday morning

Wake Up And Pray!

Pastor Aaron talked about creating Prayer Pockets. A Prayer Pocket is something you do daily that you use as a trigger to pray – like brushing your teeth.

And I thought, here’s a challenge! The whole week of Belle Glade the pastors challenged us that the week was more than a week. Logan’s awake. Some of the other guys are also awake and planning things for the next year. We can be a part of that! How? Glad you asked!!

• We can pray! Those of you who are bloggers, what about making your blog a Prayer Pocket? Every time you sit down to blog, why not pray a quick prayer for these students who were awakened last week – that God will keep them awake and use them to transform their schools and their culture?
• If you’re not a blogger, when you read this you can pray, and ask God to give you a prayer pocket to remember the students throughout out this next year.

Would you do me a favor? Would you either write down a prayer God puts on your heart in the comments, or tell me that you’re making your blog a Prayer Pocket.

I got gooesbumps last night thinking of the prayer covering we could give these kids!!

“Prayer is the birthplace of ministry, and the fuel for its fruit.
Prayers outlive those who pray them.” Pastor Aaron

Can’t wait to see what God does as we bring these kids before Him!!

Thanks for being a part of the Great Awakening!!

 

Stewarding God’s Story

If I had a penny for every metaphor of God’s writing a story in our lives over the past few weeks I’d be a rich gal! Here are just a few:

I read this tweet about giving God the pen & I wrote a post about it

I’ve read blogs and heard things on the radio about how God is writing a story with our lives.

Last week our Campus Pastor, Jonathan, announced the Amazing 2013 event by staying,
“We are stewards of the story God is writing with our lives.”

And I’m ok as long as there’s writing going on. As long as I see the pen moving. Action, people. I like action. You know, “Action Action We want Action! A-C-T(clap,clap,clap) I-O-N (clap,clap,clap)” Go, Do. I’m not a good “sit still”-er. Think Martha, not Mary. Because if I’m doing, moving, I have a semblance of control.

So what happens when God refills the ink of His quill pen?
What do I do when it seems like an eternity
between the time the last word was written and the next letter starts?

What do I do with the waiting?

I’m not good at it. My friend Jen Ferguson wrote this: “Why do I feel better if I’m doing something fruitless instead of being still & letting God do something magnificent?” Oh, how I relate to that! This is her take:

After today’s service I could say,
“Focusing on problem can make you miss the Promise who walked through the door.”

Just today God gave me some challenges from the message. (It’s worth watching! According to John Week 5.) Pastor Todd preached out of John 11, comparing the miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection to the one where Jesus raised the son of the Roman official in John 4:43-54. One was an instant miracle (John 4), one was The Long Way Around (John 11). Here are some of the quotes and challenges God gave to me today:

• Don’t despise the detour and miss what God has on the journey
• Don’t hold onto an old thing with Jesus wants to do a new thing
• Stop crying in the corner about your problem when the PROMISE is walking through the door!!
• There was a crowd in John 11 – more people were affected on The Long Way Around
• Don’t hold onto grief; Hold onto God
• God will get you where He wants you, you might just have to take The Long Way Around. When you wonder, “Why is this taking so long??”, hang in there. God will get you where He wants you.
• Martha & Mary thought Jesus was LATE, but He was NOT!! (this is a biggie for me!!) He was right on time for what He wanted to do that glorified God
• It’s The Long Way Around that tests my faith. When God asks, “Do you REALLY BELIEVE it?” Like Pastor Todd said of his conversations with God: God – “I know you can preach it, sing it, pray it, admonish it, but do you really BELIEVE it. Do you really believe I AM ENOUGH for you?”
• God cares more about changing me than changing my circumstances

And the kicker was this line from the opening video by Donta Nelson

“We should not be desperate for the miracles,
but desperate for the SOURCE”

and I realize I’ve gotten more desperate for the miracle, the testimony, than I am for the SOURCE.