Too bad I was wrong. Don't stop watching...the dance moves truly begin about 2 minutes in...
UPDATE: The video was pulled from youtube. But Cassie found this clip with hilarious commentary at the end by "God". You'll catch enough of the video to get the gist...along with a huge laugh! (Well, at least we did...) The part you're looking for is about 25 seconds into the video...
HT: Between Two Worlds
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Another good gift from our Father
Part 1 - How we got into that mess in the first place...
I wrote in a previous post about our praise for Cassie's new car. It was meant with all my heart, but can seem a little bit obvious. You got a car, paid for mostly by others, and you're praising God? Well, guess what? He gives me a car and I'll praise Him, too. Yeah. Not a stretch, I know. So I thought it might be helpful to some of you for me to tell you about another kind of gift the Lord gave us also from a purchase...this time it was a house. It'll take a bit of telling, so settle back.
It all started with being fired right after we found out that we were going to have our third child. From the highest of highs to WHAT? I probably just sat stunned for days. It was out of the blue to us. Plus I was so overwhelmed by that point at the thought of another baby when Aisley wasn't even crawling yet that I couldn't see how to make the bed much less move a family. Add to that, these were some of our first true friends that stick with you a lifetime. We would be leaving Cassie's first best friend. Our first real church home. I couldn't managed to process it...so, I checked out on the search for our new job. Wayne could handle it...I hoped. After 8 months of nothing...not one interview...I was pretty panicked. But sure enough, literally while in labor in the hospital, Wayne gets a call to go on an interview in central Texas. Manna from heaven.
He returns to tell me about this great little town. Quaint houses. Quiet streets. People walking through town. Seems like just the thing. Only problem? Not a single place to live. Truly...not even to rent. But just when I'm beginning to think that Wayne's going to leave us and go work 3 hours south, we hear of a place. We'll take it! I screamed. Whatever it is. Who cares? So with three days before we needed to arrive for him to start and five weeks after Brennan's birth, we're off. Only to arrive with me asking him a ton of questions, like what part of town he'd seen during the interview because I wasn't seeing what he was. Come to find out it was at the time the poorest town in one of the poorest counties in Texas. Quaint houses? Oh, you mean houses which haven't been updated in 60 years. Quiet streets? Well, yeah, because no one lives here! People walking the streets? Of course they are! This town had the highest unemployment rate in the state one year. And this is a BIG state. People weren't just walking the streets...they were living there!
Okay, enough of that. Onto better complaints...We moved into a rent house that had more problems than I'd ever seen. Dirty. No clean water. Holes in the floor. Rats and cockroaches everywhere. No air conditioning in the August, Texas heat. Add to that Cassie went from one of the best school districts in the state to one of the lowest performing. (The teacher told me a few days in that she was having Cassie tutor the kids in the hallway one-on-one. She was 6!!) Wayne's gone from 6am to 11pm. I'm at home with a 6 yr old, a 20 month old and a 6 week old. We knew no one. Not one soul showed up to help or to welcome us. I was miserable, depressed, angry, bitter...if it was negative, I was feeling it.
I'll warn you...I'm trying to sucker you into my mindset. Get you to see it from my world, cause then maybe what I tell you next won't seem as unlikely, or as stupid, as it really is. Because it was then that I told Wayne that we had to get out of that house. Now. NOW. Ever felt that way? You can't take one more day of whatever it is. I remember I was crying, shaking even when I said it. So Wayne made some calls and sure enough, through the grapevine, we heard of a house that was being rented right now. Maybe they'd be willing to sell it. The answer was YES! with a few conditions. They were non-negotiable on the price. Whatever, I said. I was in no position to bargain.
Thus began the following stupidity...we couldn't get a loan for their asking price due to all the debt we carried. Considering we had 13 small loans and credit cards, a car loan and school loans at this time, that wasn't surprising. We also had no down payment. But what I did have was a finance degree from a university which taught me all sorts of creative ways to finance your life. (Ask me sometime how I managed to get to England using a Dillards card. Yes. I'm serious.) So, we arranged with the owners to take out another small loan from them to get to their asking price...arranged with the mortgage company to extend us the sum they would...and charged the down payment on the house to a credit card. Yep. You heard me right. We charged a house. (And no, you're not supposed to be able to do it. And no, I won't teach you how.)
So, over the course of the next few weeks we slowly moved...one night at a time, hauling stuff over in the back of the car or a coach's truck after Wayne would come home from football. But I was happy. The girls had a home we could live in. They could actually get down onto the floor without concern they'd fall through it! I settled in and settled down. We got Cassie rolling in her second school (first one burned down a few weeks after we arrived...again, another story...) and even made friends with the people we bought the house from. Things were looking up. We found TBC, got started with a small group of wonderful families, started working on the debt problem and the bigger problem in our hearts towards money.
The Lord so convicted us at this time in so many different ways. We knew that we had been stupid in getting this house. But as He often does, He blessed us despite ourselves and brought us to a good place in our home, in our marriage, with our children and with our money. We prospered there. So, now you're thinking...Wait. They even sin and He blesses them. What's up with that? Well, it's right about here that the story takes the turn. But since you've been reading for a while, I'll finish that thought tomorrow.
I wrote in a previous post about our praise for Cassie's new car. It was meant with all my heart, but can seem a little bit obvious. You got a car, paid for mostly by others, and you're praising God? Well, guess what? He gives me a car and I'll praise Him, too. Yeah. Not a stretch, I know. So I thought it might be helpful to some of you for me to tell you about another kind of gift the Lord gave us also from a purchase...this time it was a house. It'll take a bit of telling, so settle back.
It all started with being fired right after we found out that we were going to have our third child. From the highest of highs to WHAT? I probably just sat stunned for days. It was out of the blue to us. Plus I was so overwhelmed by that point at the thought of another baby when Aisley wasn't even crawling yet that I couldn't see how to make the bed much less move a family. Add to that, these were some of our first true friends that stick with you a lifetime. We would be leaving Cassie's first best friend. Our first real church home. I couldn't managed to process it...so, I checked out on the search for our new job. Wayne could handle it...I hoped. After 8 months of nothing...not one interview...I was pretty panicked. But sure enough, literally while in labor in the hospital, Wayne gets a call to go on an interview in central Texas. Manna from heaven.
He returns to tell me about this great little town. Quaint houses. Quiet streets. People walking through town. Seems like just the thing. Only problem? Not a single place to live. Truly...not even to rent. But just when I'm beginning to think that Wayne's going to leave us and go work 3 hours south, we hear of a place. We'll take it! I screamed. Whatever it is. Who cares? So with three days before we needed to arrive for him to start and five weeks after Brennan's birth, we're off. Only to arrive with me asking him a ton of questions, like what part of town he'd seen during the interview because I wasn't seeing what he was. Come to find out it was at the time the poorest town in one of the poorest counties in Texas. Quaint houses? Oh, you mean houses which haven't been updated in 60 years. Quiet streets? Well, yeah, because no one lives here! People walking the streets? Of course they are! This town had the highest unemployment rate in the state one year. And this is a BIG state. People weren't just walking the streets...they were living there!
Okay, enough of that. Onto better complaints...We moved into a rent house that had more problems than I'd ever seen. Dirty. No clean water. Holes in the floor. Rats and cockroaches everywhere. No air conditioning in the August, Texas heat. Add to that Cassie went from one of the best school districts in the state to one of the lowest performing. (The teacher told me a few days in that she was having Cassie tutor the kids in the hallway one-on-one. She was 6!!) Wayne's gone from 6am to 11pm. I'm at home with a 6 yr old, a 20 month old and a 6 week old. We knew no one. Not one soul showed up to help or to welcome us. I was miserable, depressed, angry, bitter...if it was negative, I was feeling it.
I'll warn you...I'm trying to sucker you into my mindset. Get you to see it from my world, cause then maybe what I tell you next won't seem as unlikely, or as stupid, as it really is. Because it was then that I told Wayne that we had to get out of that house. Now. NOW. Ever felt that way? You can't take one more day of whatever it is. I remember I was crying, shaking even when I said it. So Wayne made some calls and sure enough, through the grapevine, we heard of a house that was being rented right now. Maybe they'd be willing to sell it. The answer was YES! with a few conditions. They were non-negotiable on the price. Whatever, I said. I was in no position to bargain.
Thus began the following stupidity...we couldn't get a loan for their asking price due to all the debt we carried. Considering we had 13 small loans and credit cards, a car loan and school loans at this time, that wasn't surprising. We also had no down payment. But what I did have was a finance degree from a university which taught me all sorts of creative ways to finance your life. (Ask me sometime how I managed to get to England using a Dillards card. Yes. I'm serious.) So, we arranged with the owners to take out another small loan from them to get to their asking price...arranged with the mortgage company to extend us the sum they would...and charged the down payment on the house to a credit card. Yep. You heard me right. We charged a house. (And no, you're not supposed to be able to do it. And no, I won't teach you how.)
So, over the course of the next few weeks we slowly moved...one night at a time, hauling stuff over in the back of the car or a coach's truck after Wayne would come home from football. But I was happy. The girls had a home we could live in. They could actually get down onto the floor without concern they'd fall through it! I settled in and settled down. We got Cassie rolling in her second school (first one burned down a few weeks after we arrived...again, another story...) and even made friends with the people we bought the house from. Things were looking up. We found TBC, got started with a small group of wonderful families, started working on the debt problem and the bigger problem in our hearts towards money.
The Lord so convicted us at this time in so many different ways. We knew that we had been stupid in getting this house. But as He often does, He blessed us despite ourselves and brought us to a good place in our home, in our marriage, with our children and with our money. We prospered there. So, now you're thinking...Wait. They even sin and He blesses them. What's up with that? Well, it's right about here that the story takes the turn. But since you've been reading for a while, I'll finish that thought tomorrow.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
It's not whether she can...it's whether she should
It seems that America has found a new reality TV show that it loves...Election 2008! What an amazing and exhausting time it's been. We had the unbelievable race between Obama and Clinton...followed by his victory and history making acceptance speech. I thought we'd ride that to the ground, but just one week later Obama's name drops from sight as a hockey mom from Alaska steps into the limelight.
I've been asked over and over what I think of all the drama of Sarah Palin. Should she be Vice President? Is it okay to even think of a woman in the White House? What about her daughter and grandbaby-to-be? Not to mention her newborn. Well, my silence and reticence to speak doesn't come from a lack of an opinion, but you knew that already. I just really wanted to think about it before I spoke...a novelty for me that I'm learning more about as I age!
So, here's my two-cents...First, in the public realm, yes. I believe that a woman can biblically hold the highest office in the land. The Bible speaks clearly about the roles of men and women in the home and in the church. I am a complimentarian when it comes to my views of male headship...which in summary simply means that I believe men have been ordained by God to represent Him here as leaders in these two areas. Women have great value, equal value in the sight of God as men. But God has given some areas of governing and teaching in the church strictly to men. He has also given them highest authority in the home. (I'd love for you to think more about this by clicking over to CBMW.)
What this means to me is that Sarah Palin can lead our country but not our church. The same may be said to be true of any man running for president. The qualifications for both offices may have many similarities in terms of what I'm looking for in a leader. But the office of elder is a tougher one to fill compared to president...just see 1 Timothy 3 and compare it to our past presidents. Even the much applauded Reagan wouldn't have made the cut. And as to that, neither would McCain. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't vote him president. The same would be said to be true for Palin, but I'm grateful to say that it would be for different reasons than those two men.
Secondly, though, and most personal to me, is whether or not she should be vice-president. This isn't about women in general as much as it is my opinion about her specifically. I am one of the millions who tuned into her speech and left humored and impressed. She did an excellent job not only delivering that speech, but in making the case that she is qualified for this office. It's not the speech that gave me pause...it was the shots of her daughter smoothing down her infant son's hair while sitting next to her other daughter, pregnant with her first grandbaby.
Because I'm at home with my girls, I admit I long for other moms to be there, too. I want them to be the primary caregivers to their children. I don't want them gone for hours at a time when they are infants. I don't want her 17 year old daughter to be facing these days right now with mom traveling the country. I want Sarah Palin home with her kids...because that's where I am. That's what I am called to. And that's what I love.
But it isn't necessarily a sin for her to be out doing what she's doing. Nor is it necessarily a sin for any of the other millions who are in the workforce. Many women I know who are working feel that they not only want to work, but feel called to work. They make sure that their children are well taken care of. They make sure that they fulfill all that God has blessed them with in their homes. Their husbands love them and feel cared for by these great women. Many of them have blessed us over and over in their work...what would we have done without our Dr. Black! They have sought the direction of the Lord. They feel called to it. They are supposed to be there. So they are. I'm sure that there are those who are working in rebellion against what God is calling them to. Just as I'm sure that there are millions of us at home who rebel every day against what we know He is calling us to. Rebellion against God isn't about where we work. It's about our hearts. And I'm not close enough to very many to taste the fruit of rebellion in their hearts...much less Sarah Palin's.
Sarah Palin has stated her belief in Christ. She has spoken about a relationship with God. This puts her in the realm of all the other women around me who are living their lives weighing before the Lord what is best for them and their families. Homeschool? Public school? Dating? Courting? Spaghetti strapped shirts? How short is too short? Make-up? Working outside the home? We're all in this together...making our way one step at a time...weighing it out before the Lord...asking, begging for Him to give us an answer...what would He have us do? Which way would be best for us, for our kids, for our husbands? Should I? Should she? Should any of us?
For me, I'm leaving her and her family to the Lord and asking Him to bless her time with them. I'm asking Him to bless her work and her words, that she might hold with integrity this office that she feels called to. I'm also asking for an extra measure of grace in the form of renewed energy every night she comes home to them whether as governor of Alaska or Vice President of the United States. And I'm asking God that her husband might be encouraged in what he might be called to do in Washington.
And I'm thanking God for reminding me to pray for those that are much closer to me in my life. That God might give them these same graces. I don't want them to live my life. I want them to live the life that God has called them to...and I want us all to do it well...for the glory of the One who made it all, purchased it all on the cross and sustains His church till He comes again.
I've been asked over and over what I think of all the drama of Sarah Palin. Should she be Vice President? Is it okay to even think of a woman in the White House? What about her daughter and grandbaby-to-be? Not to mention her newborn. Well, my silence and reticence to speak doesn't come from a lack of an opinion, but you knew that already. I just really wanted to think about it before I spoke...a novelty for me that I'm learning more about as I age!
So, here's my two-cents...First, in the public realm, yes. I believe that a woman can biblically hold the highest office in the land. The Bible speaks clearly about the roles of men and women in the home and in the church. I am a complimentarian when it comes to my views of male headship...which in summary simply means that I believe men have been ordained by God to represent Him here as leaders in these two areas. Women have great value, equal value in the sight of God as men. But God has given some areas of governing and teaching in the church strictly to men. He has also given them highest authority in the home. (I'd love for you to think more about this by clicking over to CBMW.)
What this means to me is that Sarah Palin can lead our country but not our church. The same may be said to be true of any man running for president. The qualifications for both offices may have many similarities in terms of what I'm looking for in a leader. But the office of elder is a tougher one to fill compared to president...just see 1 Timothy 3 and compare it to our past presidents. Even the much applauded Reagan wouldn't have made the cut. And as to that, neither would McCain. But that doesn't mean that I wouldn't vote him president. The same would be said to be true for Palin, but I'm grateful to say that it would be for different reasons than those two men.
Secondly, though, and most personal to me, is whether or not she should be vice-president. This isn't about women in general as much as it is my opinion about her specifically. I am one of the millions who tuned into her speech and left humored and impressed. She did an excellent job not only delivering that speech, but in making the case that she is qualified for this office. It's not the speech that gave me pause...it was the shots of her daughter smoothing down her infant son's hair while sitting next to her other daughter, pregnant with her first grandbaby.
Because I'm at home with my girls, I admit I long for other moms to be there, too. I want them to be the primary caregivers to their children. I don't want them gone for hours at a time when they are infants. I don't want her 17 year old daughter to be facing these days right now with mom traveling the country. I want Sarah Palin home with her kids...because that's where I am. That's what I am called to. And that's what I love.
But it isn't necessarily a sin for her to be out doing what she's doing. Nor is it necessarily a sin for any of the other millions who are in the workforce. Many women I know who are working feel that they not only want to work, but feel called to work. They make sure that their children are well taken care of. They make sure that they fulfill all that God has blessed them with in their homes. Their husbands love them and feel cared for by these great women. Many of them have blessed us over and over in their work...what would we have done without our Dr. Black! They have sought the direction of the Lord. They feel called to it. They are supposed to be there. So they are. I'm sure that there are those who are working in rebellion against what God is calling them to. Just as I'm sure that there are millions of us at home who rebel every day against what we know He is calling us to. Rebellion against God isn't about where we work. It's about our hearts. And I'm not close enough to very many to taste the fruit of rebellion in their hearts...much less Sarah Palin's.
Sarah Palin has stated her belief in Christ. She has spoken about a relationship with God. This puts her in the realm of all the other women around me who are living their lives weighing before the Lord what is best for them and their families. Homeschool? Public school? Dating? Courting? Spaghetti strapped shirts? How short is too short? Make-up? Working outside the home? We're all in this together...making our way one step at a time...weighing it out before the Lord...asking, begging for Him to give us an answer...what would He have us do? Which way would be best for us, for our kids, for our husbands? Should I? Should she? Should any of us?
For me, I'm leaving her and her family to the Lord and asking Him to bless her time with them. I'm asking Him to bless her work and her words, that she might hold with integrity this office that she feels called to. I'm also asking for an extra measure of grace in the form of renewed energy every night she comes home to them whether as governor of Alaska or Vice President of the United States. And I'm asking God that her husband might be encouraged in what he might be called to do in Washington.
And I'm thanking God for reminding me to pray for those that are much closer to me in my life. That God might give them these same graces. I don't want them to live my life. I want them to live the life that God has called them to...and I want us all to do it well...for the glory of the One who made it all, purchased it all on the cross and sustains His church till He comes again.
Friday, August 29, 2008
A mark of common grace
Probably not a surprise to anyone that I've not been watching all the speeches this week at the Democratic National Convention. I had no real intention of watching Barack Obama's acceptance speech last night either. But as God would have it, I happened to turn on the TV last night just as he made his way to the podium. The cheers, screaming, chanting brought Aisley back in the room from brushing her teeth. What's the deal?? What are they yelling about? she asked. The democrats are electing Obama to be their nominee for president. I told her. She just shook her head, made a non-committal noise and walked away. She came back just a moment later and said Isn't it sort of a big deal? Because he's like the first black guy to do this? A pause...That's kind of funny to me. she said as she walked away again. I turned back to watch with tears in my eyes.
Aisley wasn't incredulous when she asked...taken aback... shocked... wondering what my reaction would be. Well, I'm sure she was a little shocked that I was watching considering she knows we hold very different views from Obama on so many issues that matter to us. But she wasn't shocked for the reasons I would have been at 12 years of age. It was no big deal to her that we were watching a black man accept the nominee for the highest office in our land.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed when I was 10 days old. Though desegregation of schools was begun in 1954 with Brown vs. the Board of Education, busing students to actually achieve integration of schools had only been happening for about 8 years when I was Aisley's age. There were no blacks in my elementary schools that I can remember. I know there were none in the entire town where I went to junior high and high school. Forty years ago, Obama was more likely to be killed in that crowd than applauded.
But there it was. A standing ovation. His wife was introduced and a white woman next to her,
Mrs. Biden, stood in her honor along with the cheers of 80,000. His daughters were beaming, thinking about nothing other than seeing themselves on camera. The camera kept panning the crowd...tears streaming down the faces of blacks and whites, Hispanics and Asians. My heart turned to those young black men in our lives. There is a generation of these that have been left behind while so many others have made strides forward. (For an amazing, saddening look at this, click here.) But tonight, they saw their face looking back at them, reaching for the highest goal of political office and watching also tens of thousands cheering him on.
I was touched, deeply touched by the grace that God has chosen to give our country. The hate that was shown throughout the civil rights battles is only a portion of the truth that our hearts are desperately wicked. When God allows our sins to show, it is only a revealing of truth and only a small part of what we've earned. But when he changes the hearts of tens of millions of people to accept one another, to applaud one another, to support one another...He deserves the praise, adoration and devotion of those same people.
I know though that mostly God won't receive what is due His Name. Mostly we'll hear praise for Obama, democratic congressmen and supporters, hard working Americans, old people, young people...anyone but God. The Republican Convention won't be different, I'm sure. But some from both parties are joining me today, especially I think those who lived it and hated it. They will see this as an amazing gift to us...a moment when the common grace of God shown on our country, when hope was offered in a new way to millions of people.
I'll admit to you that as soon as he finished accepting the nomination and got into his speech, I muted the TV. I was having a good moment. I didn't want to lose it by hearing his strategy. But for a moment, I gave praise to God and used Barack Obama in the same sentence. Now there's a miracle.
Aisley wasn't incredulous when she asked...taken aback... shocked... wondering what my reaction would be. Well, I'm sure she was a little shocked that I was watching considering she knows we hold very different views from Obama on so many issues that matter to us. But she wasn't shocked for the reasons I would have been at 12 years of age. It was no big deal to her that we were watching a black man accept the nominee for the highest office in our land.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was shot and killed when I was 10 days old. Though desegregation of schools was begun in 1954 with Brown vs. the Board of Education, busing students to actually achieve integration of schools had only been happening for about 8 years when I was Aisley's age. There were no blacks in my elementary schools that I can remember. I know there were none in the entire town where I went to junior high and high school. Forty years ago, Obama was more likely to be killed in that crowd than applauded.
But there it was. A standing ovation. His wife was introduced and a white woman next to her,
Mrs. Biden, stood in her honor along with the cheers of 80,000. His daughters were beaming, thinking about nothing other than seeing themselves on camera. The camera kept panning the crowd...tears streaming down the faces of blacks and whites, Hispanics and Asians. My heart turned to those young black men in our lives. There is a generation of these that have been left behind while so many others have made strides forward. (For an amazing, saddening look at this, click here.) But tonight, they saw their face looking back at them, reaching for the highest goal of political office and watching also tens of thousands cheering him on.I was touched, deeply touched by the grace that God has chosen to give our country. The hate that was shown throughout the civil rights battles is only a portion of the truth that our hearts are desperately wicked. When God allows our sins to show, it is only a revealing of truth and only a small part of what we've earned. But when he changes the hearts of tens of millions of people to accept one another, to applaud one another, to support one another...He deserves the praise, adoration and devotion of those same people.
I know though that mostly God won't receive what is due His Name. Mostly we'll hear praise for Obama, democratic congressmen and supporters, hard working Americans, old people, young people...anyone but God. The Republican Convention won't be different, I'm sure. But some from both parties are joining me today, especially I think those who lived it and hated it. They will see this as an amazing gift to us...a moment when the common grace of God shown on our country, when hope was offered in a new way to millions of people.
I'll admit to you that as soon as he finished accepting the nomination and got into his speech, I muted the TV. I was having a good moment. I didn't want to lose it by hearing his strategy. But for a moment, I gave praise to God and used Barack Obama in the same sentence. Now there's a miracle.
Lessons from Mary
I mentioned in a posting from July that two friends had died while I was up in Lake Burton. Mary Bowles was one of them. She was a lady that I knew only by name and sight until about a year and a half ago. Then she came to one of the Bible studies I led. She had just turned 80 at the time...had lived over 70 years knowing Christ! She was forthright, opinionated, a little stubborn...which was easy for me to recognize since I see it in the mirror every day. She was also steadfast in proclaiming His grace to others...she was generous, social, active, outreaching to everyone (except toddlers...I'm not sure why she never could relate to them!).
Not knowing her well, I wondered what she'd think of someone half her age teaching her. I was delighted with her response. She talked over and over about how much there was still to learn about Christ...how the love of God constantly overwhelmed her. She came with question after question, trying to reconcile what she had read in the Scriptures that week with what we were discussing. She prayed faithfully for others and cared deeply for their pain and suffering. She was always sharing about someone around her that she was trying to reach out to who was in the hospital or recently diagnosed with a dreaded disease.
Thinking about her life and the talks we had, especially in the last 18 months, led to several good lessons for me to consider...
Not knowing her well, I wondered what she'd think of someone half her age teaching her. I was delighted with her response. She talked over and over about how much there was still to learn about Christ...how the love of God constantly overwhelmed her. She came with question after question, trying to reconcile what she had read in the Scriptures that week with what we were discussing. She prayed faithfully for others and cared deeply for their pain and suffering. She was always sharing about someone around her that she was trying to reach out to who was in the hospital or recently diagnosed with a dreaded disease.
Thinking about her life and the talks we had, especially in the last 18 months, led to several good lessons for me to consider...
- I will die with sins still needing change, but the effort to put them to death should only increase to the end.
- His grace will always be my only hope.
- The faithfulness of God is not truth because of what He does for us, but because of who He is.
- There will always be more to learn which should excite us every day to rise to see what He might reveal.
- There is always ministry to do, no matter what infirmity you have or circumstance you find yourself in.
- Though suffering from disease and death will come at us more and more as we and others close to us age, the compassion to meet that suffering will always rise to meet it. Our hearts should never grow hardened to others' pain.
- A lifetime of learning will not fathom the depths of what occurred at the cross of Christ.
- Questions need to be asked, even when you think at a certain age you should know the answers.
- Prayer changes us, settles us, moves us to action, reminds us, secures us, draws us up from the pit.
- God is my only hope in this age as well as the next.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
One more push
Next week is the deadline for the early registration discount to the Desiring God Regional Conference in Austin. I'm so excited that Cassie has signed up to go with me! Please consider joining us. Here's the description with links posted below that for you. I promise you will be blessed by hearing Piper teach.
InvitationDesiring God 2008 Regional Conference
The book of Job asks the earnest question we all ask: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”
Afflicted with disease, stripped of his wealth, and asked to confess to evil, Job reaches through his cloud of suffering and strains to touch his God.
As we ponder Job's misery, do we also see the threads of God's mercy in it?
We will all face suffering at some point in our lives; it is inescapable. But what makes calamity endurable is not that God shares our shock, but that through every flame of pain and flood of fear, his sovereign goodness sustains us and turns it all for our good.For you who suffer, for you who will suffer, and for you who walk alongside those who suffer, we invite you to this conference to see and savor the One who suffered in our place, and who promises never to leave or forsake us.
Please join us for this two-day event on October 17-18 in Austin, Texas.
If you give our Cassie a camera...
One of the best things we've ever purchased for our girls is a digital camera. They all have one now which at the time seemed like excess. Now we are so grateful. Every trip is documented from a completely different point of view. We think about the age of 5 or 6 is a great time to get started...unless they are still using objects as weapons.
Cassie and Wayne both had cameras in the Ukraine. I was looking for a specific picture and came across this small sampling from Cassie's memory card. It's not that I've not taken pictures of the same things from time to time. But my shots tend to be of the action going on. Cassie's are like still life. We can count on it, no matter where she goes, Cassie will come back with pictures of these four things...
Food...
On the other hand, maybe instead of worrying
about what we'll eat in the Ukraine,
we need to worry about not eating everything put in front of us!
Animals...
I wouldn't have even noticed this one,
but you can count on hearing from my girls:
Nature/Buildings...
Friends...
Cassie and Wayne both had cameras in the Ukraine. I was looking for a specific picture and came across this small sampling from Cassie's memory card. It's not that I've not taken pictures of the same things from time to time. But my shots tend to be of the action going on. Cassie's are like still life. We can count on it, no matter where she goes, Cassie will come back with pictures of these four things...
Food...
Cassie says this is a piece of fish...sure it is...
On the other hand, maybe instead of worrying
about what we'll eat in the Ukraine,
we need to worry about not eating everything put in front of us!
Animals...
Not the friendliest greeting Cass has ever gotten!
I wouldn't have even noticed this one,
but you can count on hearing from my girls:
Ooooohhhh! Mom, it's a puppy!
Nature/Buildings...
Friends...
Sarah, Molly and Cassie...on their way!
I just love to watch when they're messing around...
Children draw Cassie like a magnet...
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
It's not about the game
The first scrimmage is behind us. School has started. Our meal money stretches a little farther as Wayne is now eating three meals a day at the field house...except of course on Sunday when he eats breakfast with us! Our nights end with us hoping that he gets home around 9pm so that he can put the girls to bed and talk to them each for a few minutes. This is even on the weekends. Our updates on him will come from Cassie who sees him across the hall before her Statistics class.
Email is now the best way for me to contact him and I'm getting back in the groove of putting together my top three list...what I absolutely need to tell him vs. what I might just want him to know. Lots of things that are normally his concern become mine...minor repairs, dealing with bills, lawn care, most discipline issues, school forms and meetings, homework help, budgeting...He'll do it when he can and would love to do it more, but he's just not here. So, I try to whittle the list down of what I truly need his help on when just a few weeks ago I would talk to him about everything.
This life isn't unusual for many women across the state. There are more than 15,000 coaches in Texas public schools. And college and pro coaches make our husbands' schedules look good. More than that, there are lots of doctors taking call this week, leaving wives and little ones wondering if they dreamed that they heard him come in last night. There are firefighters who are leaving home, literally, for days. I know so many women whose husbands are gone for over a year to Iraq and Afghanistan, whose lives are in danger every day.
But notice something about that last group of people...doctors, soldiers, firefighters...they're out there helping people. Defending and rebuilding a country. Saving lives. They're not away from home and families for a game. They're not spending HOURS watching film of other games. Those soldiers spend hours in meetings plotting strategy for defending people not the spread or the Wing T. This is why I gear up for weeks before the season...praying, thinking, preparing myself...not really for now, but for that week about mid-October when money doesn't match the bills, and Brennan's sick again, and I'm needing wisdom about something going on with Cassie...and Wayne's gone from us for a game.
Then my flesh rages and rails against my life...I lose focus...I grow bitter in my loneliness and under the weight of all that I bear without Wayne. It's not worth it. It's not worth this. Why are we still doing this? For a game?? It's not worth it. Women who know me will begin to see the strain and fraying of my nerves. You okay? they'll ask. No, not really. The truth will rise out of me. I can't remember why we do this.
Many will simply reply that they agree! But a few women have been near me long enough to know what I long for them to say to me...Kim, it's not about the game. It's never been about the game. It's never been about the job. What job is worth this? I would go without so much before I'd ask Wayne to work 100 hour weeks for months on end. So, why are we still there?
Because Harry still doesn't know Christ. Because Tevin might see Jesus in Wayne. Because Lache (pronounced Lake) is being pulled by hundred different people who want to use him for their glory and gain. Because of the countless young men who get their first taste of what a real dad is like by being around my girls' daddy. Because no one sees them...not really. But Wayne does. He knows them. Encourages them. Is there for them. Loves them...because Jesus Christ first loved him.
A quick story to highlight it...I got a call during football season last year, right about the time I was losing it. Middle of the morning. Out of town number. I hesitated to pick it up because we were in the middle of schooling. But they were moving pretty good. Stranger's voice on the line, asking if this was Coach Ransleben's house. Yeah. I'm his wife, Kim. Can I help? This grown man tells me that I wouldn't remember him, but he'd been trying to find Wayne for a couple of years. Finally ran into a coach who knew where we were. He just had to call. He wanted Wayne to know that he wasn't the same as the kid he knew. He was playing arena ball. Had turned his life around. His older brother was a preacher now. They both came to Christ years back.
But he had to tell Wayne. Because, he said, Coach was the only one in his whole life to tell him that he could be somebody, that he was going to make it, that he believed in him. He told me about the conference at school with all his teachers when everyone of them were telling about how bad he'd been in class, how poor his work ethic, how they were sure that he was about to drop out and would end up like his parents...both in jail...dad for assault, mom for prostitution. Then Wayne spoke up and said that he didn't believe it. He said this kid could be whatever he wanted. Wayne even said that day that he could play professionally if he wanted to. He was going to be fine. He knew what he had to do. He'd make it.
The guy teared up on the phone some 16 years later because a man believed in him. He never forgot it. He knew Wayne was a Christian. He watched him all the time. He really believes that God used that moment to pull him from a pit. Everything changed after that one meeting that Wayne can barely remember. He wasn't trying to rescue a kid. He was just living his life, encouraging kids, modeling as best he knew the Savior who saved him.
When you look at it from a distance, it's just a bunch of guys on a field, chasing a ball around. Crowds are never worth it. Nameless faces. But if you'd wait until after the game, you could look into their eyes...and if you have the heart of Christ...you'll have compassion on them and you'll stay until it's very late in the day...past meal times...past the point when others would tell you that it's time to send everyone away.
Football isn't worth it. No game is. But it's not about the game. It's about God loving us and pouring that same love into us so that we might pour out that same love to those who are in need of a Savior. If football will bring us to these kids, give Wayne an automatic in with them, grant them the chance to see Christ lived out, grant the audience for the gospel...yeah, that's worth it.
So, when I falter this season...would you do me a favor? Tell me it's not about the game, it's about the Savior. Tell me to look away from the mirror and look into the eyes of the boys Wayne is with. Remind me that staying late and serving long is nothing compared to the gift that has already been poured out on us. Tell me that this light and momentary affliction is preparing me for an eternal weight of glory that is beyond compare.
A game? Of course it's not worth it for a game. But for our Savior?
Go, honey. Have a great day there. We'll be here. And we'll be fine. Go.
Email is now the best way for me to contact him and I'm getting back in the groove of putting together my top three list...what I absolutely need to tell him vs. what I might just want him to know. Lots of things that are normally his concern become mine...minor repairs, dealing with bills, lawn care, most discipline issues, school forms and meetings, homework help, budgeting...He'll do it when he can and would love to do it more, but he's just not here. So, I try to whittle the list down of what I truly need his help on when just a few weeks ago I would talk to him about everything.
This life isn't unusual for many women across the state. There are more than 15,000 coaches in Texas public schools. And college and pro coaches make our husbands' schedules look good. More than that, there are lots of doctors taking call this week, leaving wives and little ones wondering if they dreamed that they heard him come in last night. There are firefighters who are leaving home, literally, for days. I know so many women whose husbands are gone for over a year to Iraq and Afghanistan, whose lives are in danger every day.
But notice something about that last group of people...doctors, soldiers, firefighters...they're out there helping people. Defending and rebuilding a country. Saving lives. They're not away from home and families for a game. They're not spending HOURS watching film of other games. Those soldiers spend hours in meetings plotting strategy for defending people not the spread or the Wing T. This is why I gear up for weeks before the season...praying, thinking, preparing myself...not really for now, but for that week about mid-October when money doesn't match the bills, and Brennan's sick again, and I'm needing wisdom about something going on with Cassie...and Wayne's gone from us for a game.
Then my flesh rages and rails against my life...I lose focus...I grow bitter in my loneliness and under the weight of all that I bear without Wayne. It's not worth it. It's not worth this. Why are we still doing this? For a game?? It's not worth it. Women who know me will begin to see the strain and fraying of my nerves. You okay? they'll ask. No, not really. The truth will rise out of me. I can't remember why we do this.
Many will simply reply that they agree! But a few women have been near me long enough to know what I long for them to say to me...Kim, it's not about the game. It's never been about the game. It's never been about the job. What job is worth this? I would go without so much before I'd ask Wayne to work 100 hour weeks for months on end. So, why are we still there?
Because Harry still doesn't know Christ. Because Tevin might see Jesus in Wayne. Because Lache (pronounced Lake) is being pulled by hundred different people who want to use him for their glory and gain. Because of the countless young men who get their first taste of what a real dad is like by being around my girls' daddy. Because no one sees them...not really. But Wayne does. He knows them. Encourages them. Is there for them. Loves them...because Jesus Christ first loved him.
A quick story to highlight it...I got a call during football season last year, right about the time I was losing it. Middle of the morning. Out of town number. I hesitated to pick it up because we were in the middle of schooling. But they were moving pretty good. Stranger's voice on the line, asking if this was Coach Ransleben's house. Yeah. I'm his wife, Kim. Can I help? This grown man tells me that I wouldn't remember him, but he'd been trying to find Wayne for a couple of years. Finally ran into a coach who knew where we were. He just had to call. He wanted Wayne to know that he wasn't the same as the kid he knew. He was playing arena ball. Had turned his life around. His older brother was a preacher now. They both came to Christ years back.
But he had to tell Wayne. Because, he said, Coach was the only one in his whole life to tell him that he could be somebody, that he was going to make it, that he believed in him. He told me about the conference at school with all his teachers when everyone of them were telling about how bad he'd been in class, how poor his work ethic, how they were sure that he was about to drop out and would end up like his parents...both in jail...dad for assault, mom for prostitution. Then Wayne spoke up and said that he didn't believe it. He said this kid could be whatever he wanted. Wayne even said that day that he could play professionally if he wanted to. He was going to be fine. He knew what he had to do. He'd make it.
The guy teared up on the phone some 16 years later because a man believed in him. He never forgot it. He knew Wayne was a Christian. He watched him all the time. He really believes that God used that moment to pull him from a pit. Everything changed after that one meeting that Wayne can barely remember. He wasn't trying to rescue a kid. He was just living his life, encouraging kids, modeling as best he knew the Savior who saved him.
When you look at it from a distance, it's just a bunch of guys on a field, chasing a ball around. Crowds are never worth it. Nameless faces. But if you'd wait until after the game, you could look into their eyes...and if you have the heart of Christ...you'll have compassion on them and you'll stay until it's very late in the day...past meal times...past the point when others would tell you that it's time to send everyone away.
Football isn't worth it. No game is. But it's not about the game. It's about God loving us and pouring that same love into us so that we might pour out that same love to those who are in need of a Savior. If football will bring us to these kids, give Wayne an automatic in with them, grant them the chance to see Christ lived out, grant the audience for the gospel...yeah, that's worth it.
So, when I falter this season...would you do me a favor? Tell me it's not about the game, it's about the Savior. Tell me to look away from the mirror and look into the eyes of the boys Wayne is with. Remind me that staying late and serving long is nothing compared to the gift that has already been poured out on us. Tell me that this light and momentary affliction is preparing me for an eternal weight of glory that is beyond compare.
A game? Of course it's not worth it for a game. But for our Savior?
Go, honey. Have a great day there. We'll be here. And we'll be fine. Go.
First days...Last days
Today was a day we've been working toward for years here at Ransleben Academy. Aisley is off to school! She began her 7th grade year this morning joining a few hundred others at Bonham Middle School. For those who don't know, we've been homeschooling her throughout her life. She was excited, if a little pale, as she left the van. But athletics was first period and there's nothing more familiar to her than gymnasiums and coaches. Then she has the next two classes with Kelly who's been her friend since they were 20 months old and in the same nursery class at church. We also met a couple of teachers who already expressed their faith in Christ and welcomed her as a former homeschooler. All this to say, God has been abundant in providing a way for her to thrive there.
As if that weren't enough, today marked the beginning of the end of Cassie's high school years. And to further mark the moment, it was the first time that I didn't take her to school since this summer she received this blessing. Twenty years of talking to seniors has shown us that this will be one of the quickest years of her life...and ours. Every thing that happens is marked by the words: This is the last... Last time for school pictures. Last homecoming. Last first day of high school. There isn't one day since she became a senior that we don't think in terms of her leaving. Plans for next summer, what stuff to keep in her room, what clothes we buy, what kind of car we purchase, how to change a tire and check the oil, why it's important to separate colors from whites...all of it happens with a view to sending her off, Lord willing.
Two big moments in our lives...but now that it's here, it is both more and less than I had imagined. It feels very momentous to have them both gone...and very strange to have just Brennan sitting at the table finishing up her World History lesson. The quiet is quieter than I thought it would be. I'm more grateful than ever to be able to give Brennan all of my attention. There is so much less to distract her as she moves from subject to subject. I've never been able to teach in that kind of environment. It's really, really nice.
But though I miss them today, it's less emotional than I thought it would be. No tears yet. I think it's because it feels today like it's time. Time to send off. Time to test out what God has been building in them. Time to have them go off and come back to tell about what they've seen and done. Time to grant them the opportunity to see Jesus for themselves as the Christ, the Son of the Living God and to praise God for giving them what flesh and blood could never reveal.
You often hear older moms exhort the younger to take advantage of all the time you have with your kids because the years fly by. I can echo that, but am still close enough to those younger years to remember how long the days are. Long days...fast years. That's what I remember. But through it all, Wayne and I have struggled to discipline ourselves to the challenge of not just parenting in the moment, but preparing to launch the girls for life. It changed the focus of what we might have said so many times.
It's one thing just to solve a dispute between sisters in a way that gets them quiet for a few minutes. Another to settle it in a way that gives them the communication skills to talk to their future husbands and children in a way that honors the Lord. It's one thing to do their laundry. Another to take the time to teach why it's done in a certain way. It matters less how I spend our money than to show them by spending our money where our treasure lies.
We started them off homeschooling not to keep them away from "out there"...but to give us a chance to spend as much time as possible getting them ready to go out there. God tells us in Psalm 127:3-5:
We feel strongly that Cassie and Aisley are sharp enough to be shot out...not too far yet though. We still want to be able to gather them up again. Find out where they need honing. See where we can strengthen. Make sure they are aimed right. And give us the practice we need to launch them further and further away...maybe even halfway around the world.
But that's another day. Today a few miles away is plenty far enough for me.
As if that weren't enough, today marked the beginning of the end of Cassie's high school years. And to further mark the moment, it was the first time that I didn't take her to school since this summer she received this blessing. Twenty years of talking to seniors has shown us that this will be one of the quickest years of her life...and ours. Every thing that happens is marked by the words: This is the last... Last time for school pictures. Last homecoming. Last first day of high school. There isn't one day since she became a senior that we don't think in terms of her leaving. Plans for next summer, what stuff to keep in her room, what clothes we buy, what kind of car we purchase, how to change a tire and check the oil, why it's important to separate colors from whites...all of it happens with a view to sending her off, Lord willing.
Two big moments in our lives...but now that it's here, it is both more and less than I had imagined. It feels very momentous to have them both gone...and very strange to have just Brennan sitting at the table finishing up her World History lesson. The quiet is quieter than I thought it would be. I'm more grateful than ever to be able to give Brennan all of my attention. There is so much less to distract her as she moves from subject to subject. I've never been able to teach in that kind of environment. It's really, really nice.
But though I miss them today, it's less emotional than I thought it would be. No tears yet. I think it's because it feels today like it's time. Time to send off. Time to test out what God has been building in them. Time to have them go off and come back to tell about what they've seen and done. Time to grant them the opportunity to see Jesus for themselves as the Christ, the Son of the Living God and to praise God for giving them what flesh and blood could never reveal.
You often hear older moms exhort the younger to take advantage of all the time you have with your kids because the years fly by. I can echo that, but am still close enough to those younger years to remember how long the days are. Long days...fast years. That's what I remember. But through it all, Wayne and I have struggled to discipline ourselves to the challenge of not just parenting in the moment, but preparing to launch the girls for life. It changed the focus of what we might have said so many times.
It's one thing just to solve a dispute between sisters in a way that gets them quiet for a few minutes. Another to settle it in a way that gives them the communication skills to talk to their future husbands and children in a way that honors the Lord. It's one thing to do their laundry. Another to take the time to teach why it's done in a certain way. It matters less how I spend our money than to show them by spending our money where our treasure lies.
We started them off homeschooling not to keep them away from "out there"...but to give us a chance to spend as much time as possible getting them ready to go out there. God tells us in Psalm 127:3-5:
Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,
the fruit of the womb a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
are the children of one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.
But that's another day. Today a few miles away is plenty far enough for me.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Home again, home again
We're back at it and grateful to be so...
Coaching school was our annual marking for the end of summer even though we are fully aware that August is still considered summer everywhere else. Football coaches in Texas uses a different calendar than the rest of the world. Our spring/summer schedule gives us a bookend of football in May and August...which makes June and July our "time off". I bracket that on purpose as Wayne still has to be at school all of June, but the hours are nothing like they are during the school year, so it counts!
But July, as you can tell from recent posts, is a different life. Wayne is truly off and we are gone, gone, gone...a year's worth of vacation in four weeks! And as an extra grace from God Wayne has had some extra days off on weekends! That's truly unusual and such a blessing. We've put the time to good use by sitting, hanging out, playing and relaxing! All things that were much more difficult for us before we understood what was coming in August and the start of two-a-days...more commonly known around here as the "all-days."
This has reminded me of a truth that God impressed on me years ago about times of rest. I touched on a specific application of it in this recent post. The history is that I used to be of the mind that times of rest were for recovery from work...what that meant for my spiritual life was that weekends, summer time, holidays, etc. became times when I put away the discipline of prayer and scripture and meditation on God...you know, I "rested". I couldn't have a worse definition if I tried.
It all depends on what you think of as rest and how you define work. The last one shouldn't be hard...work is just what we think it is. Merriam-Webster says:
This has all hit home for me again as I am in the middle of helping Aisley train for upcoming volleyball try-outs. (Well, helping Aisley would imply that she wants to train. How about...I'm in the middle of making Aisley train? Yeah. That's more accurate.) She is not having the greatest time in her life. She is tired of getting up early. Hates that her body is sore. Usually feels like she can't run more than 1 minute at a time. Isn't a huge fan of drills. But Aisley isn't so much a vocal complainer. She's more the sighing, grunting, sullen one.
She has much more fun babysitting the Tibbetts' boys!
But it hits me every day we're out there that compared to what she's done this summer, this is nothing. I heard no complaints from her about getting up earlier than ever to go to Six Flags. No whining about how many steps we climbed getting to the top of that boat house. She was so sore after days of swimming and inner tubing, but not a word. We walked and walked, literally miles, some days this summer. We even ran with nothing but smiles. No moaning. Why not? What difference does it make where you are or what you're doing? Running is running. Right?
Well, you know the answer to that. Aisley isn't different than me. It's just that I don't count as work what brings me pleasure. She might say to me, Well, of course I didn't mind climbing those stairs. That was different. That was to get somewhere so we could have fun. The destination and purpose changes perspective. What is work in one place becomes joy in another...almost restful, in fact.
You get where I'm going already. What happens through my days with God is that I lose sight of joy. Spending time in the Word and in prayer becomes what I have to do, instead of what I get to do. I forget that I'm not just out for a walk. I'm here to get to God! He is the highest source of pleasure. My greatest joy. My deepest rest. My soul's satisfaction. The funnest place on earth isn't Disney World. It is found with God.
The fight of my life is to believe that with everything I am. A friend commented on another posting this quote from John Piper. It sums up everything I'm praying for Aisley and I today...
Rather than granting rest, my time away pulled me from the only true rest my life has.
Coaching school was our annual marking for the end of summer even though we are fully aware that August is still considered summer everywhere else. Football coaches in Texas uses a different calendar than the rest of the world. Our spring/summer schedule gives us a bookend of football in May and August...which makes June and July our "time off". I bracket that on purpose as Wayne still has to be at school all of June, but the hours are nothing like they are during the school year, so it counts!
But July, as you can tell from recent posts, is a different life. Wayne is truly off and we are gone, gone, gone...a year's worth of vacation in four weeks! And as an extra grace from God Wayne has had some extra days off on weekends! That's truly unusual and such a blessing. We've put the time to good use by sitting, hanging out, playing and relaxing! All things that were much more difficult for us before we understood what was coming in August and the start of two-a-days...more commonly known around here as the "all-days."
This has reminded me of a truth that God impressed on me years ago about times of rest. I touched on a specific application of it in this recent post. The history is that I used to be of the mind that times of rest were for recovery from work...what that meant for my spiritual life was that weekends, summer time, holidays, etc. became times when I put away the discipline of prayer and scripture and meditation on God...you know, I "rested". I couldn't have a worse definition if I tried.
It all depends on what you think of as rest and how you define work. The last one shouldn't be hard...work is just what we think it is. Merriam-Webster says:
1: activity in which one exerts strength or faculties to do or perform something: a: sustained physical or mental effort to overcome obstacles and achieve an objective or result b: the labor, task, or duty that is one's accustomed means of livelihood c: a specific task, duty, function, or assignment often being a part or phase of some larger activityWhen defined this way, rest is also easy to define. It's when you have freedom from work. But how did meeting with God become work in my mind so that I actually wanted freedom from it? Look at the words used above...task, duty, assignment, mental effort, labor. Ever feel like that when faced with your quiet time...with thinking about doing your Bible study...when feeling guilty about your prayer life? Yeah. Me, too.
This has all hit home for me again as I am in the middle of helping Aisley train for upcoming volleyball try-outs. (Well, helping Aisley would imply that she wants to train. How about...I'm in the middle of making Aisley train? Yeah. That's more accurate.) She is not having the greatest time in her life. She is tired of getting up early. Hates that her body is sore. Usually feels like she can't run more than 1 minute at a time. Isn't a huge fan of drills. But Aisley isn't so much a vocal complainer. She's more the sighing, grunting, sullen one.
She has much more fun babysitting the Tibbetts' boys!
But it hits me every day we're out there that compared to what she's done this summer, this is nothing. I heard no complaints from her about getting up earlier than ever to go to Six Flags. No whining about how many steps we climbed getting to the top of that boat house. She was so sore after days of swimming and inner tubing, but not a word. We walked and walked, literally miles, some days this summer. We even ran with nothing but smiles. No moaning. Why not? What difference does it make where you are or what you're doing? Running is running. Right?
Well, you know the answer to that. Aisley isn't different than me. It's just that I don't count as work what brings me pleasure. She might say to me, Well, of course I didn't mind climbing those stairs. That was different. That was to get somewhere so we could have fun. The destination and purpose changes perspective. What is work in one place becomes joy in another...almost restful, in fact.
You get where I'm going already. What happens through my days with God is that I lose sight of joy. Spending time in the Word and in prayer becomes what I have to do, instead of what I get to do. I forget that I'm not just out for a walk. I'm here to get to God! He is the highest source of pleasure. My greatest joy. My deepest rest. My soul's satisfaction. The funnest place on earth isn't Disney World. It is found with God.
The fight of my life is to believe that with everything I am. A friend commented on another posting this quote from John Piper. It sums up everything I'm praying for Aisley and I today...
Jesus said in John 6:35, 'I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.' In other words what it means to believe in Jesus is to experience him as the satisfaction of my soul's thrist and my heart's hunger. Faith is the experience of contentment in Jesus. The fight of faith is the fight to keep your heart contented in Christ--to really believe, and keep on believing, that he will meet every need and satisfy every longing."To really believe and keep on believing"...that's it, isn't it? God is the fullness of rest. Christ is the one who labored. Now He has sat down at the right hand of the Father...telling me that the work is done. Now I must fight only to believe it.
Rather than granting rest, my time away pulled me from the only true rest my life has.
I just love these kids
I didn't realize that our guys posted this video to youtube. I'm so glad to be able to show you some of what we were up to at Impact this past June. You'll see video of our camp week and also get to see some of our kids in action during the clubs. As you watch keep in mind that we had a "treasure hunters" theme...pirates on a sea adventure to discover long, lost riches...
I just can not express to you what it means to watch these kids teach from Scripture and share the gospel. They did such an amazing job and God was so gracious to bless their work. To read one perspective on some of what He did, read Cassie's postings (Part 1 and Part 2). By the way, you'll see her earlier in the video in a royal blue shirt and then at the clubs in a red shirt, holding a child (as always!).
I can't wait to start up again with them...you'll see why...
I just can not express to you what it means to watch these kids teach from Scripture and share the gospel. They did such an amazing job and God was so gracious to bless their work. To read one perspective on some of what He did, read Cassie's postings (Part 1 and Part 2). By the way, you'll see her earlier in the video in a royal blue shirt and then at the clubs in a red shirt, holding a child (as always!).
I can't wait to start up again with them...you'll see why...
Monday, August 18, 2008
It's time!
Once again a summer has flown by and it's time to kick off the sign up for fall Bible studies. I'll be joining the Women's Ministry team again by teaching a class Thursday mornings starting September 11th. We'll take a look at women of the Bible each week, looking to see in their lives what it means to live out our faith (or to fail to!). The book will be provided to you the first day of class, but you can see it here.
Yes...for those who know me well...I will be adding a little something extra to the study! Not a great deal of extra work (no, really!), but I want to make sure that we look each week at how Christ is found in these passages and what difference the cross of Christ makes as we move forward each week. And I'm sure I'll find some long-dead guys for you to read during your "free" time!
Sign up does start tonight...come around 6pm to TBC if you can to listen to some of our women talk about what God has been doing in their lives. If you are pressed for time, come around 7:30pm to the chapel and get your hands on the material and see where the Lord leads you. For those who don't get this in time or can't make it tonight, you can sign up at the Women's Ministry table any time after tonight. There should be a place for you to select which group you'd like to be in...and invite your friends from school, work and neighborhood to come along. They'll make sure you're all together.
I'd love for you to join me or any of the other great ladies who will be leading us through the Word this year. I'm praying for us all that God might grant our hearts to long for Him, to be thirsty for His Word and that we would not be satisfied by anything apart from Him. Join me.
Yes...for those who know me well...I will be adding a little something extra to the study! Not a great deal of extra work (no, really!), but I want to make sure that we look each week at how Christ is found in these passages and what difference the cross of Christ makes as we move forward each week. And I'm sure I'll find some long-dead guys for you to read during your "free" time!
Sign up does start tonight...come around 6pm to TBC if you can to listen to some of our women talk about what God has been doing in their lives. If you are pressed for time, come around 7:30pm to the chapel and get your hands on the material and see where the Lord leads you. For those who don't get this in time or can't make it tonight, you can sign up at the Women's Ministry table any time after tonight. There should be a place for you to select which group you'd like to be in...and invite your friends from school, work and neighborhood to come along. They'll make sure you're all together.
I'd love for you to join me or any of the other great ladies who will be leading us through the Word this year. I'm praying for us all that God might grant our hearts to long for Him, to be thirsty for His Word and that we would not be satisfied by anything apart from Him. Join me.
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