IS this the stuff?

Monday was one of those days that there isn't time to come up for air!  It started with a meeting before school and ended with another meeting after school.  It is always at those meetings that I feel like I am doing everything wrong!  Not because of any particular thing that is said, but because it is time for me to process what is being said and really think about what I am doing.  As a 1st grade reading teacher, I take my job VERY seriously.  I am a believer that 1st grade can make or break your whole elementary experience so I put a lot of pressure on myself to be the best.  However, as I reflect in those meetings, I start to stress about not taking things deep enough or doing enough.  I start to panic that I am accomplishing a lot of the skills, but can they really apply them?  Are they getting what they need to be successful 2nd graders?  Or is next years teacher going to wonder what I did all year long? It makes me think I am getting bogged down with the "stuff" and not spending enough time going deeper on the things that really matter.
So I wonder if we do the same with our witness?  How much time do we spend doing "stuff" with those who are lost, but not focusing on what really matters, like their eternity???  Don't think I am pointing any fingers...I am talking to myself just as much as anyone!  But let's consider how much time we spend on Facebook, or texting with friends...if you are like me, too much!  Having this digital communication at my finger tips has gotten ridiculous!  I am the first to admit that every free minute I have, I am checking Facebook and my email and texts.  So I am having conversations with lots of people every day, but what is being said in those conversations?  I challenge us all to consider how much time we spend telling others how much they need a Savior?  How much they need to have a personal relationship with Jesus?  How much more they could get out of life if they knew the Heavenly Father?  Hmmmm.
Our church has purchased some property and is in the process of beginning a building campaign.  The drafts of the new building have been published and the plans are amazing!  Sunday we had the chance to go out and participate in a Prayer Walk.  The lines of the building were drawn out and a cross marked where each department of the church would be.  We walked though each area and prayed specifically for those ministries that were represented.  It was very cool, but the last part was the best.  As we got to the place where the alter will be, we all chose a river rock.  We wrote our names on it and then on the back we wrote the initials of people we know who need a relationship with Jesus or need a church home.  This was an opportunity to work on the things that really matter!  However, it was just a start.  As I stood there and prayed for these friends that I know are in need, it made me nervous that I was the one responsible for them!  Just like I am responsible for all of those 1st graders learning to read, I am responsible for making sure I have done all that I can to share the love of Christ with these that are lost.  Do I take that as serious as I do the reading?  If I am honest, probably not.  Maybe it is because it is uncomfortable.  Maybe because it is hard to discern who is ready for the information.  Maybe because no one is here waiting to complain that I am not doing a good enough job.  We all have different reasons for why we don't witness like we should, but if we think it is uncomfortable now, just wait until we are standing before the Lord on judgement day...will He ask us why we didn't do a good enough job?  Why we didn't take things deeper?  Why we spent our time talking about "stuff" instead of focusing on what really mattered?
So, what do we do?  Well, I know what I have to do. Just like I do with my first graders, I have to get to know these people deeply.  I have to build relationships with them so that I know the level they are on spiritually, just like I have to know reading levels of my students.  In addition, I have to make sure I am prepared and I know the material.  I can't walk into a class and teach something I haven't studied...so I have to spend time in God's word making sure I am knowledgeable. Last I have to pray for wisdom, especially on the days that I am running on fumes!  I can't depend on my own knowledge and words, but I need the Holy Spirit to deliver the right words at the right time. 
So as you go through the last half of the week and you have conversations with people, pray for the opportunity to turn "stuff" into something that really matters:)

Who Let the Dogs Out?!

You can thank me later for getting that chorus stuck in your head!
We have two dogs, large 70 pound dogs to be exact.  Even though they are "family" dogs, in reality they are MY dogs.  For the majority of their lives I have been the one who lets them out, feeds them, and puts them to bed.  Because of this fact, I am the one they love the most. While this is a good thing in some instances, like if someone where going to attack me, most of the time it is annoying! Don't get me wrong, I love the dogs...I am the one who rescued them from the street and the pound, but because I am the favorite I have 8 extra feet under mine at ALL times! Wherever I go... to the kitchen, across the room to the couch, to the bathroom...they are always less than a step behind me.  And heaven forbid I turn around to change directions!  It is like a 10 car pile up on a major highway!  There are body parts flying in all directions, the dogs' and mine! 
So the other day I got to thinking, aren't we the same when it comes to God?  If we are being the followers that were created to be, we should!  We should be less than a step behind our Heavenly Father at all times.  Then that made me think how lucky we are that we worship a God who doesn't get annoyed that we are there!  He doesn't have that human gene that we have when we just can't take anymore.  There are lots of days when I have stepped on dog feet one too many times and I am ready to open the gate and let them run, and wouldn't it be easier for God to do the same with us?  We have so many needs and so many complaints and so many screw ups...He should just let us go.  But He doesn't, and He won't.  It is proven to us in Joshua 1:9 when it says, "for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go".  No matter how whiny we are or how bad we sin, He will ALWAYS be with us.  It is restated in Hebrews when it says, "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” (Hebrews 13:5)
There is a flip side to the story though.  If I were to open the gate and let the dogs out, I can assure you they wouldn't leave.  Our dogs have gotten out a few times and only once have they left the front yard(we will save that story for another day!). So how do you relate?  If God turned you out would you run, or would you stay?  My dogs know who feeds them.  They know who provides them with a place to rest.  They know who takes care of their every need so even when given freedom to run, they will always come back inside the gate.  Do you know who does all of those things for you?  Can you humble yourself to say that you NEED God and that you are grateful that He loves you enough that, no matter how annoying you are at His heels, He will NEVER let you go? 
What an awesome God we serve!  A God that never gets tired of turning around and nearly stepping on us, but instead greets us with unwavering love and acceptance!  As you pray today, thank God your Father for loving you in this way. Give Him praise for being the ultimate caretaker with patience that know one can comprehend.  Commit yourself to Him and confirm that you will follow His lead and will never run. 
Now, if you have a dog, go hang out with him/her...hopefully you have more in common than you thought!

Stranger Things Have Happened

So, most of you know that Corey and Makinley bought a truck a few weeks ago.  It is a project truck that they are planning on redoing so that it can one day be Makinley's.  The two of them searched for weeks and weeks to find the perfect truck.  They had so many leads that fell through that I was sure they were going to give up.   However, one night they stumbled upon this Chevy that was listed for WAY less than a running truck should have been.  Of course we were all skeptical at first, but Corey texted back and forth with the owner and determined he was legit.  Turns out the guy was in the middle of a bad break up and was ready to move to the coast to be with family.  He was selling the truck for just enough to get him home.  After a few mishaps, Corey finally met up with the guy to purchase the truck.  Corey told him the plan of fixing up the truck for Makinley and he was very interested, as it had been his plan to fix it up as well.  The next day the seller contacted Corey to tell him he has some other parts he wanted to give him and he wanted to know if Makinley had liked the truck.  Corey emailed him back and gave him Makinley's Everlasting Love Heart website so he could see her and told him about her necklace.  After visiting the website the seller sent another email about how he was in complete awe of Makinley's testimony and her necklace.  He shared a little about how his son went to a local church as a kid and would come home and tell him stories of Jesus.  And that was it...or so we thought.  We had no reason to think we would ever have contact with this man again. However last Friday Corey got another email from him asking about ordering a necklace for his mother.  Here is how it concluded...
I would also like to take a few minutes to thank you. It may not seem like much from your end. After the couple of conversations we've had about life, church, and family. I walked away with a very positive feeling. One that has stayed with me since. I did move to Galveston in hopes of making a positive change for myself and children. I wanted to share with you that I found a job and was hired on the spot the first day I was down there. It's a great job with good pay and all seems the being falling into place in that aspect. So once again thank you for your time and positive attitude given to me. 
Now, this process started out with one goal...to find a truck.  God obviously had bigger plans.  He brought this stranger into Corey and Makinley's lives that needed something other than money.  He needed to be reminded of what his child had tried to teach him so long ago, the love that Jesus has for him.  He calls it a "positive feeling" but I believe 100% that God is working in his life.  He is stirring things and making him think. 
There is no way that Corey could have seen this coming or could have sought it out.  It just happened.  The important thing is how he reacted to this stranger.  He talked to him, was understanding and sympathetic, and then planted a seed by sending him to Makinley's website.  God did the rest, and we just happened to get lucky enough to get a little feedback on how things are developing.  So many times we plant seeds and we don't ever know if they grow.  Regardless, we have to plant them!
So the question this week is, when God sends a stranger to you, how do you react?  Or maybe it's not even a stranger, just a lost friend or family member.  Are you planting those seeds every chance you get?  The Bible tells us he has made us "fishers of men" and look what it says in 1Pet.3:,Be ready always to give an answer to every man.  That includes those you know, and those you don't. 
As you pray this week, ask God to make you aware of those around you who are in need of that seed.  And then prepare yourself for the great things God will do through you!

Are you a threat?

So how many of you thought it would be a year before I blogged again??? Ha! Well it is a little later than I planned but hey, it's gettin done!
So, do you ever have those times when things just couldn't get any better?  Everyone is happy, healthy, and accounted for...and then it all falls apart!  Or maybe just one thing falls apart, but it's a BIG thing.  I have talked with several people lately about this frustration. Let me be transparent for a minute and give you a clearer picture about what I mean.  A few weekends ago, when Morgan decided to make her public profession of faith, we SHOULD have all been focused on making that day one of our best memories.  Instead, Corey and I somehow ended up at odds.  It was very tense and stressful between the two of us, and the outlook for a memorable day wasn't going the direction it needed to.  It's at these times that we get frustrated and say "Why God? Why is this happening now?".  But is God the one to blame?  What about Satan?  Did you ever think that maybe he is after you?  Maybe what you have going on isn't pleasing to him so he has launched an attack?  Since taking over the Journey class a few years ago, Corey and I have had to brace ourselves for this kind of attack more and more.  Satan doesn't like that we are sharing God's words with all of you each week.  He doesn't like that Corey is a Deacon and that we are as involved as we are at church.  He doesn't like that our children are building spiritual relationships with the Father.  So that Sunday morning that Morgan was to be the focus, he decided to intervene. But he didn't win.  Once Corey and I realized what was happening, we fixed the problem.  As you all become more active in God's word and his work, you may find yourself in this kind of predicament, if you haven't already.  Here are the steps that I have learned over the past year to get me through these situations that may be helpful to you.  1. Call Satan out! Once you realize that he is after you, you can face him.  2. PRAY...pray for God to wrap his arms around you or put up a wall that Satan can't penetrate.  Tell God what is happening and ask him to push Satan away.  In 1 Corinthians 6:17 it says, "But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit". I am all for being one with God when it comes to battling Satan, cause I can't do it alone and win(and I am all about winning!!!).  But I know that "with God all things are possible",  Matthew 19:26.
We talked on Sunday about "the path being wide but the gate being narrow", and the last blog post I wrote talked about how we chose to be on this path.  Again, it's not an easy path, but to quote Bethany Hamilton from Soul Surfer, "I don't need easy, just possible".  If that is all you need, then you have it made!  What a relief that should be!  And we should all consider it a compliment when Satan comes after us, because that means we are a threat to him.  I'm okay with being a threat, are you?!

***On a side note...in the middle of typing these words, my computer battery died and I thought I had lost everything!  Makinley walked in as I said "Satan you stupid fool".  She asked what happened and I told her what I was writing about and how it was happening right now!  However, I rebooted and my words were all right where I left them:) Another win for me and my God!