Giving thanks!

It’s that time of year again.  Time to go out of town, have relatives come into town, clean house in preparation for the relatives, decorate for Christmas, shop for Christmas, cook huge meals, eat 20 pounds of turkey, try to lose 20 pounds because of the turkey, the list goes on and on…

And in the list of things to do, it is all too easy for me to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of the season.  So…to keep myself sane and focused on the right things, I wanted to put the chaos on pause for a few minutes just to express how thankful I am!

Although my to-do list seems to grow exponentially with each passing day, I am thankful that I have the health, ability, and will (okay…will-power may be a little shaky sometimes) to continue chipping away at it.  These are things I take for granted all too often, and I need to continually remind myself of.

I am thankful for my family, which I am sorry to say I haven’t seen very much of the past few months.  The holidays have reminded me that I really need to spend more time with them.  I don’t yet know where the time will come from, but I am going to try to find it.  For now, I am just so glad that I have the holidays to really catch up with those that I love.  I can’t wait to hang with them over the next few days!!!

So thankful for my friends!  The laughing friends, encouraging friends, friends to be real with, new friends, old friends, friends that are no longer with us…  Most fit into more than one category, and I am so thankful for them all.  Knowing that they were placed in my life by God, many at just the right time, is such a blessing!

I am thankful for my husband!!!  So thankful!  He is such a wonderful man and has been a great encouragement to me.  I am reminded daily just how much of a blessing our relationship is!

And more than anything…I am thankful for Jesus!  My savior!  For saving my soul and showing Himself to me in so many ways.  I know I can have highs and lows in my walk with Him, but I know that He never leaves me.  I am just so thankful that He reveals Himself to me when I take the time to look.  I am striving to constantly keep my eyes fixed on Him.  I know that it is only by His grace that I have any of the other things I am thankful for.

“For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be the glory forever!  Amen.”

Jumping In

As a child I loved to swim.  Rain or shine, hot or cold…it made no difference.  I was like a fish by the age of 3, and keeping me out of the pool was a challenge.  In my early elementary school years my granddad always picked me up from school, and I can remember the days towards the end of the school year when I would eagerly await the last bell.  That bell signified an afternoon on Woods Drive.  My grandma would fix me a grilled cheese, and I would be able to go swimming.  I can vividly recall hurrying in and changing into my bathing suit and heading straight for the pool.  I was so eager to get in because I knew how much fun there was to be had. 

As I am sure most of you are aware, even if it is warm outside, the water lags behind quite a bit in temperature.   The first step into the cold water can be quite shocking.  Knowing that the temperature shock is coming, there is a choice to be made.  Do I jump right in, or do I try to wade in?

In my youth there was never a choice.  I was a jumper.  I knew that the sooner I got into the water, the faster I would get used to the temperature.  I also knew that there were a limited number of days when my family would give me the opportunity to swim, and I didn’t want to waste any time.  The longer I was in the pool, the more fun I could have.

I can’t remember exactly when, but as I got older, reaching adolescence, my mentality changed.  I began to think that since the water was so cold, it might be better to slowly get in.  That way I could ‘get used to it.’  So instead of jumping in, I would inch my way into the pool ever so slowly.  It never worked!  It didn’t make the water warmer, and it definitely didn’t help me adjust to the temperature more quickly.  When I think back to those days, I lost hours of fun just trying to get used to the water. 

It is the same in life.  What have I missed out on by not simply jumping in?  In what areas of my life have I lost valuable time just inching along and ‘getting used to the water.’

I think somewhere with maturity comes caution.  Caution is good when necessary, but often times we are too cautious.  Too guarded.  Too slow to move.  I know I am all of these things, and it is not a mentality easily changed.

It is my desire to get back to how I was in my early childhood.  Having a path and committing to it.  Not being reckless, but being bold.  Casting aside my indecisiveness and excess caution, so that I can make the most out of each opportunity.  In short…Jumping in! 

Big improvements…

I just had an epiphany!  It makes me SUPER excited for what I will be able to do, but super frustrated at myself for the stuff I have already done! 

I now regret every photo I have ever taken, because I know each one could have been SOOOOO much better.  There is a mode on my camera that I have used but never adjusted, and about 15 minutes ago I decided to play with it.  WOW!!!  I just discovered the Holy Grail of camera settings, and I can’t wait to put it to good use!  

To those of you I have already taken pictures of I apologize, because I think this setting is going to really make things a whole lot better than anything I have ever done before!  I can barely contain my eagerness to take some photos now.  I may just start wandering the neighborhhod taking pics of random things.

 

To those of you I am supposed to be taking pics of soon…YAY!

Community…

The past few weeks I have become increasingly aware of just how important it is to have community.  To have strong relationships with other believers.  People who you can trust, love, be open with, be held accountable and challenged by, and just have some great times with.

Through NewSpring Church, God has blessed me with the most incredible people to have community with.  The volunteers that I serve with (and near) are incredible, inspirational, and just totally awesome people.  The small group I lead at Fuse consists of the most amazing middle school gals I have ever encountered.  They are super cool, but more importantly they are seeking Him—and in the process even challenging me.

And then the biggest blessing of all for me in terms of community…my wicked awesome HomeGroup!  Perhaps one of the best homegroups in the history of homegroups!  (If you are in a different one, I’m sure yours is great too—I admit that I am bias). 

I am particularly thankful to be a part of this gathering because I can see God’s hands all over the group itself, and how my husband and I came to be in it.  Travis and I could have easily ended up in a different one.  We are the youngest of our number, and the only couple without kids.  I’m pretty sure that the seats we sat in on a bus trip more than a year ago—plus what was undoubtably a little divine intervention with some TV sets—may have directly or indirectly resulted in this oh so awesome year of community. 

Over the course of the last twelve months I have gotten to know these people more and more.  We have shared laughter and love, sweat and tears, struggles and triumphs.  Encouraging each other, helping each other, learning from each other, loving each other—all the while growing closer to Him.

What an awesome thing it is to experience!

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.  Let us not give up on meeting, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another—all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

-Hebrews 10:24-25

My true nature…

I have become acutely aware of just how much of a nerd I am.  I used to like to consider myself a ‘cool nerd’, but I now realize that would be a gross misuse of the word ‘cool’.  Every now and then my nerdy nature likes to bust out a bit.  Seeping out into the ways I describe things, random facts that no one wants to know, and just a general state of social awkwardness.

I try my best to restrain it, but when I do slip into nerd mode it usually results in quite a bit of laughter from the peanut gallery, and me with a flushed face.  Nerd fact 1: Blushing is due to capillary dilation stimulated by the sympathetic nervous system

So…as you can see from my first nerd fact, for tonight I thought I would embrace my caged nerd and set it free for one blog post—clueing you in on some of my not so cool moments at the same time.  This will either give you a good laugh, some information you may deem useless, or perhaps bore you to tears.  Which will it be?

Socially Awkward Me – At a party back in my college days I totally busted out the “Why you go to the bathroom a lot after drinking alcohol” explanation.  Nerd fact #2—Alcohol inhibits the release of ADH (Anti-Diuretic Hormone).  Without ADH, water fails to be reabsorbed in the kidneys.  As you can imagine, I was obviously the life of the party.

Getting way too worked up – I have on occasion been known to go off on medical shows for inaccurately saving peoples’ lives.  It makes me especially upset when I see them shock patients in asystole.  Nerd Fact #3—If a person flat-lines, shocking them DOESN’T WORK to restart the heart!  They need epinephrine/adrenaline.  Watch for it if you are an ER fan.  Grey’s and House at least keep the medical stuff fairly accurate.

One more for the night – Playing catchphrase last night I was trying to get my team to guess the word ‘eardrops.’  I totally busted out the word “auditory tube” in my attempt.  The funny thing to me was that I seriously didn’t see the nerdiness in that statement until everyone else started cracking up.  Nerd Fact #4:  I technically could have called it the external acoustic meatus if I was feeling a little more scientific. 

I realize that I seriously need to rein this stuff in, but tonight I am feeling particularly keen on sharing.

I may regret this in about an hour…

The Magic of Photoshop…

I love me some photoshop!  I haven’t worked too much with it in a while, but this past week we rekindled our relationship.  I had some time on my hands, and I dove right back in.

I love having a project to work on.  Give me a photo, and let me go at it.  My most recent challenge was at an Upward football game.  I went to take pics of the football players, but couldn’t seem to get very many promising shots from my location.  With the help of my friend Cookie’s daughter, I was able to get some great cheerleading shots to work with.  I just wanted to give some perspective on the amazing abilities of photoshop, so I am including the pictures I started with, as well as the finished product. 

Special thanks to the wonderfully talented cheerleader featured here!  She was kind enough to show me her moves while I snapped some shots! 

His will, not mine

It is all too easy to get sucked into the trap of praying to God like He is a vending machine.  Giving Him our requests.  Asking Him for things that would make our lives happier, easier, or more comfortable.  Often times the things we desire aren’t even bad for us.  They may even be scriptural.  Like praying for protection in a dangerous situation.  Or asking God to bless a certain area of our lives (like relationships, children, our finances, or our careers).  Or maybe even asking God for healing of ourselves or a loved one.

Those are not unhealthy things to pray for; but they may not be what He has in mind for us at the time.  This can be frustrating, but we have to remember that He has a plan for our lives.  There may be other things He wants for us first.  Or maybe His will for us involves something else entirely.  It could even involve a time of pain and suffering.

Knowing all of this, it is still my greatest desire that His will is done in my life.  That was not always the case.  Asking God for His will to be done used to be a difficult prayer for me.  I can be a bit of a control freak, and I got into the habit of thinking that I knew what was best for me—when in reality only He does.  I even used to be so bold as to ask God, “Can you let this be your will for me?”  How crazy could I have been?  Thinking that I knew better than God.  Looking back on those times I am very ashamed of my arrogance in front of Him, though I am also very grateful for His forgiveness and faithfulness despite that arrogance. 

Thankfully I haven’t prayed like that in years.  Now I know that though I may want something good, He wants what is best.  It may be hard, painful, frightening, or even heartbreaking; but it will always be better than what I could choose for myself.  It is with this attitude that I now pray, “Your will, not mine.” 

Sometimes it can still be scary—telling God that I am completely surrendered to His will, no matter what it is.  Especially when I see that His plans are not lining up with what I thought He had in store for me.  When that happens, my faulty heart sometimes gets carried away thinking that there may be really bad things coming my way.  But then He speaks to me—through scripture, my heart, and friends—and I know better.

In my quiet time this morning, a verse that I read months ago simply popped into my head.  “For I know the plans I have for you’ declares the Lord.  ‘Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you.  Plans to give you hope and a future.”  I couldn’t even remember where the verse came from (biblegateway.com told me Jeremiah 29:11), but God knew just what I needed to hear.

A reminder from a friend has also been resonating in my mind.  If we delight ourselves in the Lord, He will give us the desires of our hearts.  (Psalm 37:4).   That could mean He will give us what we currently desire, or maybe He will change our desires so that they are in sync with His.  No matter which it is, I must trust Him.  Trust can be hard.  But if I can’t trust Christ, who can I trust?

The final point is this—I don’t want to screw up God’s great plans for me with my own ideas.  If He isn’t in it with me, then I want no part of it.  If what I desire isn’t what He wants for me, as hard as it is to say, I really don’t want to have it. 

Even if it leads to a time of pain and sorrow, my only true desire is for His will to be done, not mine.  He must become greater, I must become less.

Not Just Another Sunday

Today was not just another Sunday.  Jesus showed up today in a BIG way.  Answering prayers, reaching people who were lost, and bringing out a big crowd despite all the cold and flu stuff going around.  I never fail to be amazed by the shear awesomeness of God. 

Today we were way low on volunteers for KidSpring, the childrens’ ministry at NewSpring.  Several people were out of town and even more were sick.  When I found out on Friday how low we would be, I was a bit overwhelmed.  After having more kids than ever the week before, I didn’t think I would be able to handle the same volume with so few volunteers in my room. 

Satan was really trying to wear me down.  To get me to a point of such stress and worry that I wouldn’t be able to lead the kids.  I found myself thinking that maybe a lot of kids would be sick; and I was relieved at the thought of having fewer kids to handle.  I hate that feeling.  I always want to hope for more kids, not fewer.  So I began to pray.  Constantly and passionately.  Asking God to give me peace, patience, and more volunteers.  

How great is He!?!  He answered every one of those prayers.  I went to bed last night feeling calm and prepared, and woke up this morning in a state of complete peace.  To solve the volunteer shortage, several other KidSpringers rearranged their schedules to fill in.  I knew I might have a lot to get through today, but I also knew I wouldn’t be doing it alone. 

It made me think about how very thankful I am for all of the NewSpring volunteers and staff.  Those who were there today, and those who were not.  People rarely see all the planning and preparation that goes into making church what it is.  From greeting to production, setup to teardown, and all areas in between.  Being able to see and be a part of it is such an enormous blessing.  If you are not plugged into a church I would encourage you to do so.  Not because God needs any of us; but because it is a privilege He allows us to take part in.  An opportunity that He calls us to participate in, using our spiritual gifts for His glory—–if you don’t know what your spiritual gift is, trial and error is a great way to find out  

To end, I just want to share a verse I read this morning.  I was asking God to give me something to cling to today.  Something to set my eyes on so I could stay focused.  I stumbled into Romans and found a few verses that spoke straight to my heart and my circumstances.  

“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love.  Honor one another above yourselves.  Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.  Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.  Share with God’s people who are in need.  Practice hospitality.”  Romans 12:10-13 

That’s my new memory verse!  I LOVE IT!

Who was I?

After talking with a few friends about how much I have changed in the past year, it made me think about how much I have changed throughout my life.  Most people who are reading this blog have only gotten to know me within the last year or two.  If you are one of them, then you are unaware of my childhood and adolescence, and even college years.  With that being said, I thought I would enlighten you on some of the more light-hearted aspects of my earlier life.  I am more than willing to bet most of you wouldn’t have guessed some of these things about me. 

I played the violin for 7 years.  I still have it somewhere, but I haven’t tuned or really played in years.

In college I got called into the police station over some immature soccer pranks we pulled in Due West.  It is funny looking back, but at the time I was terrified!  I’m afraid it isn’t as interesting as it would seem, but if you ask me I will tell you about it.  

I didn’t start playing soccer until my freshman year of high school, and I am not exaggerating when I say that I was really, really bad.  Most of my teammates may have even gone on to say that I sucked!  The good news is that I improved by like a thousand percent in just one year, and eventually played in college.

I have always loved creative/artsy stuff.  I took art lessons as a child, was accepted into a summer art camp, and even sold some artwork when I was in high school.  I am still perplexed over the choice I made to major in Biology when I got to college.  That is a topic for a whole new discussion.

As a child I developed a phobia of clowns.  I can thank my aunt for that one.  She hired a clown to bring me balloons for my fourth birthday.  Freaked-Me-Out!!!  There’s a picture of me crying at the top of the stairs.  I am much better now, but you definitely don’t want to jump out and surprise me in a clown suit.

And perhaps the most shocking of all…As a child I was into musical theater.  On more than one occasion I was known to sing, dance, and act on stage in plays.  I’m not talking standing in the back mouthing the words either.  I had big roles with solo singing  parts.  Today I don’t think there is anything you could do to get me to even hum a solo, much less sing.

Looking back it’s amazing to see how much I’ve changed.  Are you shocked?

5 Things I am Thankful for Tonight

I was just hit with the biggest wave of thankfulness, and I just wanted to share some of it. Just so you know, these are in no particular order and there are many more I could add to the list. These are just five.

1. Friends. True friends who you can rely on, be real with, and call at midnight if the need arises.

2. His Church. Seeing God do amazing things through His church, and so happy He is allowing me to take part. Realizing that having all those new kids today, though it was stressful, is a huge blessing.

3. Marriage. So thankful for my husband. I never want to lose sight of how blessed we are in our relationship.

4. Rest. I am confidant that I will have no trouble falling asleep tonight.

5. Rocky Road Icecream: As I sit here eating my bowl, I refuse to feel guilty.