If any of you have spent any amount of time with me in the last 6 months, you've probably seen my Starbucks cup. It's a huge, plastic cup that holds lots of water. And helps me drink lots of water. I love it. It's almost always with me. Kinda like a security blanket.
I've actually had a few not-so-friendly comments about the cup. Apparently people think it's excessive. Comments like "Who would pay $17 for a cup?" And "Why do you need such a fancy cup? Can't you just use a regular cup?" These comments have just made me more fond of it. Having to defend something makes you love it even more. (In my cup's defense, it really does help me drink more water, which makes me healthier. The lid helps me not spill. And I'm sure I've saved much more than $17 by not purchasing bottles of water.)
Anyway, I was really attached to this cup. Probably a little too much. Which makes the following story so, so sad.
Today was a VERY busy day. Jack was at two different babysitters while I worked, ran errands, and went to band practice.
I took my cup to work with me this morning. When we got home around 5:00, I took it out of the cupholder in my car, along with our "I Make The Dupont Difference" travel coffee mug. I set them both on the bumper of our Pathfinder while I took Jack out of the car.
You can see where this is going.
We went inside and I got my stuff ready for practice, got Jack's stuff ready to go to his aunt and uncle's for the evening, and grabbed some quick dinner. As soon as my sister-in-law pulled out of the driveway with Jack, I thought, "I should fill up my cup for practice tonight. But where is it?" I looked EVERYWHERE in the house, even checked the cupholder in the car. But of course, not the bumper. Finally, since I was already running late, I just grabbed a bottle of water and decided to look for the cup later.
I backed out of the driveway and as I backed into the cul-de-sac, I heard a "crunch" under my car. But I was in a hurry, and it was dark, and I could tell it was a very small crunch, so I decided to just keep going. I had no idea.
Jack and I finally got home at 10:00. As I pulled into our cul-de-sac, my headlights hit something blue in the street. I realized it was the Dupont Difference coffee mug. Crushed. And then I realized what else that meant. My Starbucks cup! Yep. Smashed to smitherines in the street. By my own doing.
After I put Jack to bed, I went out and picked up the pieces of my beverage containers. It was a little bit sad. Okay, a lot sad. I may or may not have gotten a little misty.
Pregnancy brain strikes again.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
I Feel A #2 Coming On...
I feel a #2 coming on.
That's how I wanted to announce on FB that we were pregnant with our second kid. Dustin thought it wasn't classy at all. I believe his exact words were "You're disgusting." So I'll just make it a blog title instead.
Yep, we're having another one! It has been quite a journey to say the least. We've been trying for almost a year. I was on some fertility meds to help the process along. And God's timing is perfect.
That's what made this year so bearable. Knowing that God's timing is perfect. He's already showed us that.
We were not planning to start a family as soon as we did. Jack was a surprise to us. But not to Him. He knew exactly when we were supposed to get pregnant with him (6 months after our wedding). He knew exactly how and when to make Jack happen. And Jack is awesome. I wouldn't want him any other way, or any other time. God knew what He was doing. Typical.
So with this one, even though we weren't getting pregnant when we thought we wanted to, we knew that God had this one. He was gonna make our kid exactly how and WHEN he/she was supposed to be. And he waited until my 6th month on Clomid. The last month that I was allowed to take it. Pretty much the last try. We weren't going to go any further down the fertility road. Adoption has always been (and still will be) in our future, so that was gonna be our next step. If we didn't get pregnant in November. But AS IT TURNED OUT, we did get pregnant in November. Yay God.
God has taught us so much in the past year, and I know He's gonna teach us even more as we grow our family. That's what He does.
And here are all the details for you detail people.
1. I am due August 2nd. Just 6 days after my 29th birthday.
2. There is only one baby in there. For sure. We had an ultrasound and she checked extra good.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for us, by the way. I totally forget who all I told we were trying, but if you prayed for us anytime along the way, thank you. Our journey was not nearly as difficult as a lot of couples. We are truly thankful.
There are more AS IT TURNED OUT moments in our story. I'll save those for another post. Stay tuned.
That's how I wanted to announce on FB that we were pregnant with our second kid. Dustin thought it wasn't classy at all. I believe his exact words were "You're disgusting." So I'll just make it a blog title instead.
Yep, we're having another one! It has been quite a journey to say the least. We've been trying for almost a year. I was on some fertility meds to help the process along. And God's timing is perfect.
That's what made this year so bearable. Knowing that God's timing is perfect. He's already showed us that.
We were not planning to start a family as soon as we did. Jack was a surprise to us. But not to Him. He knew exactly when we were supposed to get pregnant with him (6 months after our wedding). He knew exactly how and when to make Jack happen. And Jack is awesome. I wouldn't want him any other way, or any other time. God knew what He was doing. Typical.
So with this one, even though we weren't getting pregnant when we thought we wanted to, we knew that God had this one. He was gonna make our kid exactly how and WHEN he/she was supposed to be. And he waited until my 6th month on Clomid. The last month that I was allowed to take it. Pretty much the last try. We weren't going to go any further down the fertility road. Adoption has always been (and still will be) in our future, so that was gonna be our next step. If we didn't get pregnant in November. But AS IT TURNED OUT, we did get pregnant in November. Yay God.
God has taught us so much in the past year, and I know He's gonna teach us even more as we grow our family. That's what He does.
And here are all the details for you detail people.
1. I am due August 2nd. Just 6 days after my 29th birthday.
2. There is only one baby in there. For sure. We had an ultrasound and she checked extra good.
Thanks to everyone who prayed for us, by the way. I totally forget who all I told we were trying, but if you prayed for us anytime along the way, thank you. Our journey was not nearly as difficult as a lot of couples. We are truly thankful.
There are more AS IT TURNED OUT moments in our story. I'll save those for another post. Stay tuned.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Giggles
Today I was tickling Jack and he was giggling. Hard. I love it. Especially when it gets to the point where he can't breathe. And he's saying "No! No!" And then when I finally stop he says, "Again!" It's great. Anyone who has ever heard a little kid giggling knows what I'm talking about.
I don't wanna get too deep too fast, but oh well. Here we go....making Jack giggle is a big highlight to my day. And I would think probably it's a highlight in his day as well. But it makes me think about all the kids who don't have a reason to giggle. Do they get tickled? Eh...maybe. But they have far worse problems than what Jack will ever have to deal with. They don't have parents. Or they don't have a home. Or they don't have food.
We sponsor two of these kids. Vitor is turning ten this month. He lives in Brazil with his mom and sister. I started sponsoring him through Compassion International about 5 years ago. About a year into my sponsorship, Vitor got a terrible disease in his blood (I forget what it was called) and had to be in the hospital for several weeks. Fortunately, he came out okay and is healthy now. Vitor draws the best pictures. There's one on our fridge now.
And then there's Devika. She's five years old and lives at Home of Love in India. We sponsor her through the Invisible Girl Project. Dustin got to visit the Home of Love in June, and we started sponsoring Devika in September. She was the newest resident at the orphanage. Just weeks before she arrived, she watched her mother set herself on fire. My heart breaks for her.
All we can give these kids are money, letters, and prayers. Their photos are on our fridge, right at eye level above the water dispenser. To remind us to pray for them. I wear two bracelets on my wrist. One for Vitor and one for Devika. To remind me to pray for them. I hope someday to get to visit both of them and give them lots of hugs!
We do what we can for these two little ones. And someday we hope to adopt a little boy or girl (or 2 or 3???) to be a part of our family. We'll do what we can for them. God already knows who's going to be in our family, and when they will arrive. We pray for them too.
When I pray for these kids, I usually pray for very serious things. That they will grow, be healthy, be provided for, learn more about Jesus.....
But today I'm praying for giggles. I'm praying that they have a reason to smile. A reason to laugh.
And that they will giggle so hard that they can't breathe.
I don't wanna get too deep too fast, but oh well. Here we go....making Jack giggle is a big highlight to my day. And I would think probably it's a highlight in his day as well. But it makes me think about all the kids who don't have a reason to giggle. Do they get tickled? Eh...maybe. But they have far worse problems than what Jack will ever have to deal with. They don't have parents. Or they don't have a home. Or they don't have food.
We sponsor two of these kids. Vitor is turning ten this month. He lives in Brazil with his mom and sister. I started sponsoring him through Compassion International about 5 years ago. About a year into my sponsorship, Vitor got a terrible disease in his blood (I forget what it was called) and had to be in the hospital for several weeks. Fortunately, he came out okay and is healthy now. Vitor draws the best pictures. There's one on our fridge now.
And then there's Devika. She's five years old and lives at Home of Love in India. We sponsor her through the Invisible Girl Project. Dustin got to visit the Home of Love in June, and we started sponsoring Devika in September. She was the newest resident at the orphanage. Just weeks before she arrived, she watched her mother set herself on fire. My heart breaks for her.
All we can give these kids are money, letters, and prayers. Their photos are on our fridge, right at eye level above the water dispenser. To remind us to pray for them. I wear two bracelets on my wrist. One for Vitor and one for Devika. To remind me to pray for them. I hope someday to get to visit both of them and give them lots of hugs!
We do what we can for these two little ones. And someday we hope to adopt a little boy or girl (or 2 or 3???) to be a part of our family. We'll do what we can for them. God already knows who's going to be in our family, and when they will arrive. We pray for them too.
When I pray for these kids, I usually pray for very serious things. That they will grow, be healthy, be provided for, learn more about Jesus.....
But today I'm praying for giggles. I'm praying that they have a reason to smile. A reason to laugh.
And that they will giggle so hard that they can't breathe.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
It's Sunday
It's Sunday. And we're at home. The last Pathway service starts in 3 minutes, and we're still in our pajamas. It's just one of those days.
I gotta admit, I'm a little bummed about missing the service this morning. Since I do the slides, I get to read Ron's sermon notes ahead of time, and this one looks extra good! We'll catch it on the podcast later this week. But it's still not the same.
On Friday morning we were thinking, "Finally! A weekend where neither one of us has to work, and we don't have a lot going on! We can relax at home as a family!" Well.....somehow the weekend filled up. Dustin decided to take the wallpaper off of the only room in the house that we haven't redone yet. So that meant a couple trips to the store. We went to a birthday party, we went to a local Christmas event, we went out to eat. And it feels like we haven't taken a breath all weekend! This afternoon I'm going shopping with my MIL and SIL, and then I'm working at a special service at Pathway this evening. These are all good things. But they're still THINGS. TO. DO. So this morning was the only potential down time.
I do believe that God wants us to be at church. I believe that he wants us to be a part of a church community and be consistently involved in that community. To build others up, and to build us up. But today, it's family time. He wants us to have that too. He wants us to rest. He wants us to enjoy the people we live with. And sometimes that means cutting something out of the schedule to just hang out with each other.
Will we do this every Sunday? Absolutely not. Church is too valuable. It's a part of our lives that we cannot do without. But this is what we're doing today. Eating breakfast (not in the car on the way to somewhere....actually sitting down and eating breakfast), reading books, and, right now...watching Elmo. :-)
It's about time for me to jump in the shower and head out the door to the rest of my busy day. And Dustin will probably spend the afternoon upstairs scraping wallpaper, running downstairs every so often to check the score of whatever football game is on. The busyness will continue. The busyness will ALWAYS continue.
We just have to keep finding mornings like these.
I gotta admit, I'm a little bummed about missing the service this morning. Since I do the slides, I get to read Ron's sermon notes ahead of time, and this one looks extra good! We'll catch it on the podcast later this week. But it's still not the same.
On Friday morning we were thinking, "Finally! A weekend where neither one of us has to work, and we don't have a lot going on! We can relax at home as a family!" Well.....somehow the weekend filled up. Dustin decided to take the wallpaper off of the only room in the house that we haven't redone yet. So that meant a couple trips to the store. We went to a birthday party, we went to a local Christmas event, we went out to eat. And it feels like we haven't taken a breath all weekend! This afternoon I'm going shopping with my MIL and SIL, and then I'm working at a special service at Pathway this evening. These are all good things. But they're still THINGS. TO. DO. So this morning was the only potential down time.
I do believe that God wants us to be at church. I believe that he wants us to be a part of a church community and be consistently involved in that community. To build others up, and to build us up. But today, it's family time. He wants us to have that too. He wants us to rest. He wants us to enjoy the people we live with. And sometimes that means cutting something out of the schedule to just hang out with each other.
Will we do this every Sunday? Absolutely not. Church is too valuable. It's a part of our lives that we cannot do without. But this is what we're doing today. Eating breakfast (not in the car on the way to somewhere....actually sitting down and eating breakfast), reading books, and, right now...watching Elmo. :-)
It's about time for me to jump in the shower and head out the door to the rest of my busy day. And Dustin will probably spend the afternoon upstairs scraping wallpaper, running downstairs every so often to check the score of whatever football game is on. The busyness will continue. The busyness will ALWAYS continue.
We just have to keep finding mornings like these.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Road Trip
This weekend we've been talking about road trips. While we were reminiscing, I remembered one particularly memorable road trip...it was 18 years ago, so my memory may be a little fuzzy. But here's what I recollect:
I was ten. We lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil that year. Over Christmas break, we took a road trip to Rio De Janeiro with some other American friends. I remember we had two cars full of people. I was in the second car, full of ladies with my mom as the driver. We were on a 4-lane highway, and all of a sudden our windshield broke. Now I know what you're thinking...."It got a crack in it." Nope. It shattered. Glass everywhere. Windshield nowhere. A windshield has never been more broken in all of history (I checked). It was actually a really scary moment. A super loud noise as it shattered, then glass flying at us, and then WIND. Lots and lots of wind.
My mom immediately pulled over onto the shoulder. I remember saying, "Honk your horn! Honk your horn!" to let my dad, brother, and others in the first car know that we were stopped (this was 1993, before cell phones). Nope. They were long gone.
So there we were, on the side of a remote highway in the countryside somewhere between Sao Paulo and Rio, five American women covered in shards of glass. We all kinda just sat in shock for a minute.
Then we saw him. A homeless guy. Don't know where he came from. Pretty rough-looking. Probably the definition of the word "bum." His head appeared in the space where the windshield used to be. He rattled off something in Portuguese. We knew a little Portuguese, but didn't really understand what he was saying. Still just sat there in shock. And (not gonna lie) a little fear about what this guy was gonna do.
Then we saw HIM. Another guy. Don't know where he came from. But he had the word "Jesus" on his t-shirt. Not even kidding. J.E.S.U.S. We figured anyone who wakes up and decides to put on a Jesus t-shirt is probably a decent guy. I don't remember if he spoke any English or not, but somehow we were able to communicate enough for him to help us knock the remaining glass out of the windshield, around the edges where it was still hanging on. We got out of the car and tried to brush off most of the glass. At some point the homeless guy disappeared. The other car we were traveling with finally realized that we were stopped, so they came back and found us. It wasn't until then that I saw the car that the "Jesus" man came from. Apparently he had seen us pull over and just decided to stop and see if everything was okay. Once our other car pulled up, we thanked him and he went on his way.
We decided to drive to the next town and find someplace to get a new windshield. I ended up in the other car with my brother and some others, and they let all grown-ups ride in the car sans windshield. My mom didn't really want to drive anymore, so one of our friends took over. And then it started to rain. Of course. They held towels up to try to keep as dry as possible, but it wasn't very effective. Especially since we had to drive like 20 mph all the way to the next town. It was pretty hilarious watching five adults trying to stay dry as the rain was beating down on their faces! Literally. I'm pretty sure the lady who was driving was wearing sunglasses to keep the rain out of her eyes. And at one point (out of habit) she turned on the windshield wipers. They reached into the car like giant claws. Eeek!
We got a new windshield, and the rest of our trip was pretty uneventful (well, as uneventful as you can get in Rio De Janeiro). I honestly don't remember very much about our visit in Rio. But I sure do remember the trip.
I was ten. We lived in Sao Paulo, Brazil that year. Over Christmas break, we took a road trip to Rio De Janeiro with some other American friends. I remember we had two cars full of people. I was in the second car, full of ladies with my mom as the driver. We were on a 4-lane highway, and all of a sudden our windshield broke. Now I know what you're thinking...."It got a crack in it." Nope. It shattered. Glass everywhere. Windshield nowhere. A windshield has never been more broken in all of history (I checked). It was actually a really scary moment. A super loud noise as it shattered, then glass flying at us, and then WIND. Lots and lots of wind.
My mom immediately pulled over onto the shoulder. I remember saying, "Honk your horn! Honk your horn!" to let my dad, brother, and others in the first car know that we were stopped (this was 1993, before cell phones). Nope. They were long gone.
So there we were, on the side of a remote highway in the countryside somewhere between Sao Paulo and Rio, five American women covered in shards of glass. We all kinda just sat in shock for a minute.
Then we saw him. A homeless guy. Don't know where he came from. Pretty rough-looking. Probably the definition of the word "bum." His head appeared in the space where the windshield used to be. He rattled off something in Portuguese. We knew a little Portuguese, but didn't really understand what he was saying. Still just sat there in shock. And (not gonna lie) a little fear about what this guy was gonna do.
Then we saw HIM. Another guy. Don't know where he came from. But he had the word "Jesus" on his t-shirt. Not even kidding. J.E.S.U.S. We figured anyone who wakes up and decides to put on a Jesus t-shirt is probably a decent guy. I don't remember if he spoke any English or not, but somehow we were able to communicate enough for him to help us knock the remaining glass out of the windshield, around the edges where it was still hanging on. We got out of the car and tried to brush off most of the glass. At some point the homeless guy disappeared. The other car we were traveling with finally realized that we were stopped, so they came back and found us. It wasn't until then that I saw the car that the "Jesus" man came from. Apparently he had seen us pull over and just decided to stop and see if everything was okay. Once our other car pulled up, we thanked him and he went on his way.
We decided to drive to the next town and find someplace to get a new windshield. I ended up in the other car with my brother and some others, and they let all grown-ups ride in the car sans windshield. My mom didn't really want to drive anymore, so one of our friends took over. And then it started to rain. Of course. They held towels up to try to keep as dry as possible, but it wasn't very effective. Especially since we had to drive like 20 mph all the way to the next town. It was pretty hilarious watching five adults trying to stay dry as the rain was beating down on their faces! Literally. I'm pretty sure the lady who was driving was wearing sunglasses to keep the rain out of her eyes. And at one point (out of habit) she turned on the windshield wipers. They reached into the car like giant claws. Eeek!
We got a new windshield, and the rest of our trip was pretty uneventful (well, as uneventful as you can get in Rio De Janeiro). I honestly don't remember very much about our visit in Rio. But I sure do remember the trip.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Be Weird
Sunday afternoon I was reading the portion of Exodus with the Ten Commandments, in preparation for our small group on Sunday night (I am a champion procrastinator). And one of them jumped out at me. The tenth commandment:
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:17)
Here's what I wrote in my journal about it:
Covet = wanting what someone else has = American culture
-it's normal and expected to covet in our culture ---> BE WEIRD :)
I was especially convicted by this commandment in that moment, mostly because I had spent the previous two hours making a Christmas/Birthday list for Jack to give to his grandma's. Two hours online looking at things to want. And today I'm getting ready to make a similar wish list for myself and Dustin. Things we want. Ugh.
It is SO our culture to want what we don't have. Sometimes we call it "keeping up with the Joneses." Sometimes we call it "The American Dream." But really it's all coveting. Whether it's something big like a car or a house ("I wish mine was more like that one....") or something small, like an article of clothing or the newest gadget, we wish we had other stuff. More stuff. It's considered normal and even expected to want stuff. But it's SO counter what the Bible tells us.
Last fall I heard Francis Chan speak, and he shared about how he and his wife were discovering the difference between normal and weird. What is normal in the Bible? And what is weird? THAT should be our standard. The Word says, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him..." Foolishness. America-in-December is gonna think this mindset is foolish. And weird.
So what do we do with this? How do we deal with the culture of coveting? Especially when people are asking you for a list of things you want for Christmas? (By the way, if any of you gift-givers are reading this, I appreciate you wanting to love on us by giving gifts. I'm just trying to figure out a godly way to do it.)
Here's what I decided: as I make our Christmas list today, I have criteria. Everything I ask for will fall into one of these categories:
1. Stuff we need. Things that we would buy anyway if we didn't get them as gifts. This way it saves us from having to buy it. (example: all three of us take Shaklee vitamins every day)
2. Stuff from companies that give back. (example: TOMS shoes)
3. Stuff that is made by people who get paid a fair wage for making it. This includes fair trade items from around the world (from organizations like Ten Thousand Villages or The Hunger Site), as well as local handmade items. (Etsy probably fits into this category too)
4. Stuff that will encourage relationships. (example: activities we can enjoy as a family, or games we can play with the neighbors, friends, etc.)
5. Stuff that will help us get to know Jesus better. (example: books)
6. Stuff for others. Donations to organizations in our name. (example: Samaritan's Purse has a gift catalog)
People can get us whatever they're gonna get us. I can't control that. But I certainly can control what I ask for. And I need to feel good about what I ask for. This was a very timely conviction. I am thankful for that.
In a culture of coveting, I will do my best to be weird.
"You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." (Exodus 20:17)
Here's what I wrote in my journal about it:
Covet = wanting what someone else has = American culture
-it's normal and expected to covet in our culture ---> BE WEIRD :)
I was especially convicted by this commandment in that moment, mostly because I had spent the previous two hours making a Christmas/Birthday list for Jack to give to his grandma's. Two hours online looking at things to want. And today I'm getting ready to make a similar wish list for myself and Dustin. Things we want. Ugh.
It is SO our culture to want what we don't have. Sometimes we call it "keeping up with the Joneses." Sometimes we call it "The American Dream." But really it's all coveting. Whether it's something big like a car or a house ("I wish mine was more like that one....") or something small, like an article of clothing or the newest gadget, we wish we had other stuff. More stuff. It's considered normal and even expected to want stuff. But it's SO counter what the Bible tells us.
Last fall I heard Francis Chan speak, and he shared about how he and his wife were discovering the difference between normal and weird. What is normal in the Bible? And what is weird? THAT should be our standard. The Word says, "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him..." Foolishness. America-in-December is gonna think this mindset is foolish. And weird.
So what do we do with this? How do we deal with the culture of coveting? Especially when people are asking you for a list of things you want for Christmas? (By the way, if any of you gift-givers are reading this, I appreciate you wanting to love on us by giving gifts. I'm just trying to figure out a godly way to do it.)
Here's what I decided: as I make our Christmas list today, I have criteria. Everything I ask for will fall into one of these categories:
1. Stuff we need. Things that we would buy anyway if we didn't get them as gifts. This way it saves us from having to buy it. (example: all three of us take Shaklee vitamins every day)
2. Stuff from companies that give back. (example: TOMS shoes)
3. Stuff that is made by people who get paid a fair wage for making it. This includes fair trade items from around the world (from organizations like Ten Thousand Villages or The Hunger Site), as well as local handmade items. (Etsy probably fits into this category too)
4. Stuff that will encourage relationships. (example: activities we can enjoy as a family, or games we can play with the neighbors, friends, etc.)
5. Stuff that will help us get to know Jesus better. (example: books)
6. Stuff for others. Donations to organizations in our name. (example: Samaritan's Purse has a gift catalog)
People can get us whatever they're gonna get us. I can't control that. But I certainly can control what I ask for. And I need to feel good about what I ask for. This was a very timely conviction. I am thankful for that.
In a culture of coveting, I will do my best to be weird.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
My Job....some more thoughts
After my first blog post today I had a conversation with a couple coworkers. It wasn't a life-changing conversation. It just made me think. And it was about our jobs. Which is fitting with my last post.
The subject of how we are "professionals" came up. It was weird....like none of us wanted to admit that we're professionals. But we are. We get paid to do what we do. So, by definition, we are professionals. I am a professional musician. Weird. They are professional ministers of the Gospel. Weird. And I worded that weird. :-)
Why is it so weird? If we were in any other business we would definitely consider ourselves professionals. All three of us have college degrees in our field. If we were teachers, doctors, businessmen, or anything else, we would say we're professionals. So then why is it so weird that we say we're professionals when we work at a church? What is it about ministry that doesn't seem "professional?"
After our conversation, I thought about it some more, and I think I came up with a reason. It's because we are continually learning. Personally, spiritually, professionally, we are continually in process. The word "professional" implies that we are experts, or at least competent in our field. But we are forever students, trying to get to know our Teacher. That is a huge part of our job.
Do people in other careers have continual growth? Absolutely. However, in our line of work, what affects us spiritually will also affect us professionally. It has to, if we are being authentic. It's why we do what we do. We wouldn't even be in ministry in the first place if that wasn't true. So it's hard to feel professional when we know we're just scratching the surface of who God is.
We will probably be professional "God-knowers" when we get to heaven. Seems like that's the only time we'll be an expert on the subject. So until then, you can call me a professional by definition. But as long as I'm here, I will always be a student.
The subject of how we are "professionals" came up. It was weird....like none of us wanted to admit that we're professionals. But we are. We get paid to do what we do. So, by definition, we are professionals. I am a professional musician. Weird. They are professional ministers of the Gospel. Weird. And I worded that weird. :-)
Why is it so weird? If we were in any other business we would definitely consider ourselves professionals. All three of us have college degrees in our field. If we were teachers, doctors, businessmen, or anything else, we would say we're professionals. So then why is it so weird that we say we're professionals when we work at a church? What is it about ministry that doesn't seem "professional?"
After our conversation, I thought about it some more, and I think I came up with a reason. It's because we are continually learning. Personally, spiritually, professionally, we are continually in process. The word "professional" implies that we are experts, or at least competent in our field. But we are forever students, trying to get to know our Teacher. That is a huge part of our job.
Do people in other careers have continual growth? Absolutely. However, in our line of work, what affects us spiritually will also affect us professionally. It has to, if we are being authentic. It's why we do what we do. We wouldn't even be in ministry in the first place if that wasn't true. So it's hard to feel professional when we know we're just scratching the surface of who God is.
We will probably be professional "God-knowers" when we get to heaven. Seems like that's the only time we'll be an expert on the subject. So until then, you can call me a professional by definition. But as long as I'm here, I will always be a student.
Thankful Thursday
Let me just state the obvious: I haven't been great about blogging lately. I've been wanting to post about once a week, but that just hasn't happened. So with Thanksgiving approaching, I thought I would institute "Thankful Thursday." I can't promise I'll post something every Thursday, but hopefully this reminds me to share things more often.
For my first Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for my job. First of all, I'm thankful to have a job. I know lots of people don't right now. I need a job. Dustin works just part-time and goes to school full-time, so I need to work part-time to help support our family right now. It could be just any job. Target, Starbucks, House of Greens, YoYo....(wait, am I just naming my favorite places?). Any of those could be my job. But God gave me this job at Pathway. A job that I care about and am good at (most days). A job where I get to use my talents and college degree. A job that I tried to quit once and He called me right back. :) A job that is flexible around my schedule of being a mom. A job where I get to work with amazing people for an amazing purpose. And it pays the bills.
I am blessed. And I am thankful.
For my first Thankful Thursday, I am thankful for my job. First of all, I'm thankful to have a job. I know lots of people don't right now. I need a job. Dustin works just part-time and goes to school full-time, so I need to work part-time to help support our family right now. It could be just any job. Target, Starbucks, House of Greens, YoYo....(wait, am I just naming my favorite places?). Any of those could be my job. But God gave me this job at Pathway. A job that I care about and am good at (most days). A job where I get to use my talents and college degree. A job that I tried to quit once and He called me right back. :) A job that is flexible around my schedule of being a mom. A job where I get to work with amazing people for an amazing purpose. And it pays the bills.
I am blessed. And I am thankful.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Sing It
All the words in all the world could never say enough
All the notes in my guitar could never play enough
But You've placed this song inside my heart
And all I know to do for You is sing it
No it's not much, but it's what I've got
And all I know to do for You is sing it
I have tried so hard to find the perfect melody
But nothing I could ever write comes close to Your glory
But You've placed this song inside my heart
And all I know to do for You is sing it
No it's not much, but it's what I've got
And all I know to do for You is sing it
"Sing It" by Josh Wilson
Sometimes people ask me what my favorite song is. And I really don't have an all-time favorite. I believe that different songs speak differently to me, depending on what season I'm in. But this is my favorite right now. I saw Josh Wilson play in a tiny room at a local radio station a few years ago when a tour of up-and-coming artists was in town. And I'm so glad that I've followed him ever since, because his music is really great. You should listen to it.
Sing It. I happen to be a musician, so I know exactly what he's talking about. But I can't help but relate this to every area of my life, even the non-musical ones. God has given each of us something to do. Some days I actually get to sing to Him, and that's awesome. But some days I don't. Some days my song is doing dishes and folding laundry. Some days it's playing with my son at the park or putting him in time-out. Some days it's working in the office and making copies. Whatever He's given me to do that day, he wants me to give it back to Him.
He's put a song in all of us. And whatever we can do will never come close to His glory, but He's asked us to give it to Him anyway.
So what's your song? Don't sit on it. SING it.
It's not much, but it's what I've got
And all I know to do for You is sing it
All the notes in my guitar could never play enough
But You've placed this song inside my heart
And all I know to do for You is sing it
No it's not much, but it's what I've got
And all I know to do for You is sing it
I have tried so hard to find the perfect melody
But nothing I could ever write comes close to Your glory
But You've placed this song inside my heart
And all I know to do for You is sing it
No it's not much, but it's what I've got
And all I know to do for You is sing it
"Sing It" by Josh Wilson
Sometimes people ask me what my favorite song is. And I really don't have an all-time favorite. I believe that different songs speak differently to me, depending on what season I'm in. But this is my favorite right now. I saw Josh Wilson play in a tiny room at a local radio station a few years ago when a tour of up-and-coming artists was in town. And I'm so glad that I've followed him ever since, because his music is really great. You should listen to it.
Sing It. I happen to be a musician, so I know exactly what he's talking about. But I can't help but relate this to every area of my life, even the non-musical ones. God has given each of us something to do. Some days I actually get to sing to Him, and that's awesome. But some days I don't. Some days my song is doing dishes and folding laundry. Some days it's playing with my son at the park or putting him in time-out. Some days it's working in the office and making copies. Whatever He's given me to do that day, he wants me to give it back to Him.
He's put a song in all of us. And whatever we can do will never come close to His glory, but He's asked us to give it to Him anyway.
So what's your song? Don't sit on it. SING it.
It's not much, but it's what I've got
And all I know to do for You is sing it
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Change. And remain.
I love change. LOVE it. It makes life interesting. When I was single I had these visions of being single for the rest of my life, and living in all kinds of different places. Moving once a year to experience a different part of the country or the world. I used to change my hair style (and color) ALL the time.
Then I got married. Before I say anything else, let me say that I absolutely love my husband. I absolutely love being married. There. However, being married has severely limited my ability to change things. Yes, Dustin likes to change paint colors or the furniture setup in the living room. But my hair? He's not a fan. Moving to a different, awesome place every 12 months? Not a fan. And why should he be? I don't blame him.
Then came Jack. And now I have to say this: I absolutely love Jack. I'm so glad God planned him to join our family when He did (that's another story). But with motherhood comes even more non-changing-ness. It seems like every day we get up at the same time, we eat the same foods, we play with the same toys.
But God is gracious. Of course. And in all the "we still live in Ft. Wayne...we still take walks around the same block every day...we still eat eggs and a banana for breakfast"-ness of this stage of life, things are changing. While the temporary things may stay the same, the meaningful, eternal things are changing.
Jack is changing: obviously. He's learning SO much right now, and it's been exciting to get to see the world through his eyes. Just a bit. He gets so excited to try and poop on the potty, or eat popcorn with a fork, or when he sees a letter T on a semi truck (when did he start identifying letters???). Dustin is changing: he just started his second year of NP school. He's learning how to do all this cool medical stuff. He's working 2 part-time jobs and going to school full-time. He's growing as a dad and and husband.
And I'm changing. As a mom and a wife. Hopefully I'm getting better at those things. But most of all, God has been teaching me from His Word. This week the main thing He showed me was to REMAIN. I read about it in 1 John 2. And that word REMAIN stuck out to me. And I remembered it from another passage in John 15 where Jesus is talking about the vine and the branches. Both passages say we are to remain in Him. REMAIN. Pretty much the opposite of CHANGE. But that's what He's calling us to do. Remain in Him. And He will remain in us. And here's the cool thing: He promises that if we remain, we will bear much fruit. We will grow. We will change. We will inspire others to change. And to remain.
So, while outwardly it may appear we are staying the same, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. We are changing. We are remaining. All at the same time.
Then I got married. Before I say anything else, let me say that I absolutely love my husband. I absolutely love being married. There. However, being married has severely limited my ability to change things. Yes, Dustin likes to change paint colors or the furniture setup in the living room. But my hair? He's not a fan. Moving to a different, awesome place every 12 months? Not a fan. And why should he be? I don't blame him.
Then came Jack. And now I have to say this: I absolutely love Jack. I'm so glad God planned him to join our family when He did (that's another story). But with motherhood comes even more non-changing-ness. It seems like every day we get up at the same time, we eat the same foods, we play with the same toys.
But God is gracious. Of course. And in all the "we still live in Ft. Wayne...we still take walks around the same block every day...we still eat eggs and a banana for breakfast"-ness of this stage of life, things are changing. While the temporary things may stay the same, the meaningful, eternal things are changing.
Jack is changing: obviously. He's learning SO much right now, and it's been exciting to get to see the world through his eyes. Just a bit. He gets so excited to try and poop on the potty, or eat popcorn with a fork, or when he sees a letter T on a semi truck (when did he start identifying letters???). Dustin is changing: he just started his second year of NP school. He's learning how to do all this cool medical stuff. He's working 2 part-time jobs and going to school full-time. He's growing as a dad and and husband.
And I'm changing. As a mom and a wife. Hopefully I'm getting better at those things. But most of all, God has been teaching me from His Word. This week the main thing He showed me was to REMAIN. I read about it in 1 John 2. And that word REMAIN stuck out to me. And I remembered it from another passage in John 15 where Jesus is talking about the vine and the branches. Both passages say we are to remain in Him. REMAIN. Pretty much the opposite of CHANGE. But that's what He's calling us to do. Remain in Him. And He will remain in us. And here's the cool thing: He promises that if we remain, we will bear much fruit. We will grow. We will change. We will inspire others to change. And to remain.
So, while outwardly it may appear we are staying the same, inwardly we are being renewed day by day. We are changing. We are remaining. All at the same time.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
The Mind of a Toddler Explained!
For about a month now, my son Jack has been calling his giraffe lovey-thing "Brush." In his 21-month-old brain, somehow that was a fitting name for a giraffe. For the past few weeks, Dustin and I have been trying to figure out where in the world he came up with the name Brush. He loves brushing his teeth, and brushing his hair, and painting with a brush, but none of those activities includes a giraffe.
Then today I got my answer. We were playing in the living room, and all of a sudden Jack pointed to the mantel and said "Brush!" He was pointing to the wood-carved giraffes that Dustin bought in Africa several years ago. The tails were facing us. And I realized that a giraffe's tail looks a lot like a paintbrush.
I wonder what else he's been trying to tell us.
Then today I got my answer. We were playing in the living room, and all of a sudden Jack pointed to the mantel and said "Brush!" He was pointing to the wood-carved giraffes that Dustin bought in Africa several years ago. The tails were facing us. And I realized that a giraffe's tail looks a lot like a paintbrush.
I wonder what else he's been trying to tell us.
Monday, September 19, 2011
Stories
Well I've done it. I've started a blog. I always wanted to blog. But I didn't think I had anything worth writing about. Our life is very normal at the moment. No one is sick or going through a trial. We don't homeschool, and we're not in the adoption process (yet). I'm not super crafty or great in the kitchen. I'm not even really a great writer. On the surface, I don't have anything interesting going on that people would want to read.
But in the normalcy, God is teaching me so many things. I heard a speaker once say "Ask people what God is teaching them. That doesn't get asked enough. And share what God is teaching you." So I started asking people what God's been teaching them. And I've been so blessed by the answers to that question. So I guess that's the purpose of this blog: to share what God is teaching me and my family, whether our life is full of interesting or full of normal.
"My comfort and my glory are shaken when I see that my life's not a story about me." It's from a song called "Stay Humble" by Tyler James. I first heard it during a very impressionable time in my life. Since then, I've listened to that song hundreds of times. And that line has always stuck with me. It brings much-needed perspective. Too many times I think my life is a story about me. I try to make it about me. But the truth is, it's not. Not at all. God is writing a story about Himself, and I get to be a part of it. That's all.
So even though I'm in the midst of NORMAL, it's not my story anyway. His story is always interesting. And as He writes my life, and as I share it, I hope all my stories point to Him. Whether they're filled with deep spiritual truth or they're about funny things that happen at the grocery store. He's in all of it. And I'm so thankful.
But in the normalcy, God is teaching me so many things. I heard a speaker once say "Ask people what God is teaching them. That doesn't get asked enough. And share what God is teaching you." So I started asking people what God's been teaching them. And I've been so blessed by the answers to that question. So I guess that's the purpose of this blog: to share what God is teaching me and my family, whether our life is full of interesting or full of normal.
"My comfort and my glory are shaken when I see that my life's not a story about me." It's from a song called "Stay Humble" by Tyler James. I first heard it during a very impressionable time in my life. Since then, I've listened to that song hundreds of times. And that line has always stuck with me. It brings much-needed perspective. Too many times I think my life is a story about me. I try to make it about me. But the truth is, it's not. Not at all. God is writing a story about Himself, and I get to be a part of it. That's all.
So even though I'm in the midst of NORMAL, it's not my story anyway. His story is always interesting. And as He writes my life, and as I share it, I hope all my stories point to Him. Whether they're filled with deep spiritual truth or they're about funny things that happen at the grocery store. He's in all of it. And I'm so thankful.
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