Do you ever feel overwhelmed by life‘s responsibilities? Weary by your inability to handle it all? Do you ever get anxious and stressed, hopeless and angry? Of course you do… We all do. But, do you ever look up at the moon and think about how you are sitting on a speck of cosmic dust suspended in space at the mercy of its Creator? Do you ever close your eyes, take a deep breath and imagine all of the incredible functions your body is doing involuntarily? Do you ever sit at the Read More
MAKING DISCIPLES
I'm not always sure what to blog about that would be beneficial, but when my husband did this course on Making Disciples, I thought it was worth sharing. As Christians, we can do a lot of things with our time, but making disciples should be our primary ministry focus! Making disciples who, in turn, make disciples! Whether you're a Christian who wants to focus more on discipleship, or a nonbeliever who wants to see what the mission of every Christian is, you would benefit from listening to this Read More
Meet Gelisa
Those of you who know me know that I love a good story. I love reading stories, telling stories...but most of all, discovering God stories...you know...stories that make you stand in awe of God's personal involvement and power. Recently I asked Jesus to send me some God stories that I could document and share on this blog. I'm so thankful that God brought Gelisa to our church three years ago. It's really quite the story, and I'm thankful that she's willing to share it. So, make sure you're Read More
Everyday Evangelism (2/5): “But, what IS the gospel?”
If "evangelism" means sharing the gospel, what then IS the gospel? Fortunately for me, I live with a scholar who set me straight on this issue. Many years ago, our family visited a church while we were travelling. A representative from a humanitarian organization was speaking that day and we listened to his stories about Africa and poverty. His message pinnacled around one particular story. I can't remember every detail, but it involved this man befriending a little African boy and Read More
Everyday Evangelism (1/5): A Taboo Conversation?
I just googled synonyms for evangelism because I know some people hate the word. Sermonizing, propoganda, brainwashing...yikes...I guess I'll stick to evangelism. I know this topic isn't the most comfortable, but here we go.... Recently, I came across a post that resonated with me so deeply that I put it by my sink and so I could pray it every morning. In his open letter to his (and my) denomination, the author began by confronting himself to love Jesus more deeply and tell others Read More
My Crisis of Faith and How to Get Through Your Own
Have you ever asked your self one of these questions: If ultimate truth really does exist, how could I even find it? And, if I did find it, how would I know that I’ve found it? There are so many religions out there, how could we possibly know which one is right? Even though I was born in a Christian home, went to church three times a week, attended Christian college, and went right from there into ministry life, I went through a crisis-of-faith of sorts at age 28. It actually began the Read More
What Does it EVEN MEAN That God Protects Us?
This morning my eight year old and I found a quiet moment to read a devotional together. "The Lord is our Shepherd," the page read, "Always watching over us and protecting us." I began to read the line and then purposefully skipped over the words "and protecting us." I wasn't exactly sure why I skipped it, and if I had two bodies, ONE of me would have put her hands on her hips and turned her head to look at the other me in confusion. I kissed Darcy on her forehead and she ran out the door to Read More
When You Forget the Most Important Thing
Well, it happened. I’ve heard of it happening to others, but never imagined it would happen to me. Everything was packed and ready for our missions trip to Iceland. I was taking a team from our church to Reykjavik to run an English camp for Icelandic children. I had the lesson plans, construction paper, multi-leveled books, writing paper, stickers, small prizes, and had even remembered to bring extra staples in case we ran out. My list had all been checked off and I was feeling pretty proud Read More
Unravel
The day after I deep clean has historically been a very rough one. I cringe (on a good day, worse on a bad day) as I stand watching my hard, sweaty work completely UNRAVEL before my very eyes. In most cases I have to step outside and practice deep-breathing techniques as a coping mechanism. Today I stood by Penelope’s high chair literally trying to catch her crumbs as her windmill arms swung and flung...my upper back starting to ache as I envisioned myself cleaning the floor for a third time Read More
Mommy Angst (Part 4 of 4)
Jerry Falwell died before I was able to ask him my question. It really is unfortunate since there's a part of me that still is slightly perturbed at him. It wasn't just his flippant statements post 9-11 or his rash opinions of the TeleTubbies, or even the fact that his reputation made me feel uncomfortable whenever someone asked me where I went to college. It's the fact that every Wednesday for my entire college career Jerry spoke at our convocation, compelling us to Go A Little Farther AND Read More