To Be Offended or Not Be Offended That is the Question July 6, 2009

Today I was faced with a choice…an opportunity to be offended or an opportunity to chose NOT to be offended.  I am thankful that God gave me the grace to choose the latter. 

It would have been very easy for me to become defensive and feel attacked with the situation I was dealing with but that’s exactly what the enemy wanted me to do.  He wants us to turn on each other, bloody each other up, and forget what the fight is really about. 

Why was I able to look past the offense? 

1.  Because I prayed before hand that God would give me grace. 

2.  Because I knew the heart behind the words.  (Note – importance of building relationships with people)

3.  And because I know there have been countless opportunities for God to be offended with me, yet all those times, He, in his mercy,  has looked past my humanity to the heart He created me to have.  And I am grateful for that.

I didn’t walk away offended.  I walked away reminded of the awesome responsibility God has entrusted me with, humbled by the fact that He trusts me with it, and determined that the enemy will NOT have his way!   I am so blessed.

Kid’s Rock and So Do Parents June 28, 2009

I started my new job this past week as Children’s Ministry Director at Rock Church.  Today as they prayed for me in the adult service and back in Club Rock, I was reminded of the fact that my greatest job is taking care of my family.  Fully aware of my imperfections in all areas, that in and of itself can be a little overwhelming…especially when you take a facebook quiz about how well you know your son & fail.  (In my defense I scored higher than his father and his teacher so I can’t be that bad)

We tell our kids often, we aren’t perfect, but if we realize we’ve made a mistake we’ll be big enough to own up to it and know that if you will honor God by respecting and being obedient God will take care of our mistakes. 

After I finish that lecture, I have to remind myself that not everything I do is wrong, kids are kids and well….teenagers are teenagers…enough said.

I read this amazing post today, if you are a parent, check it out!  It was one of the most incredible things I have read recently.

First 3 Days Top Ten List June 25, 2009

So I have not yet finished my first full week at the office as Children’s Ministry Director at Rock Church, but I thought you would enjoy a list of things I have managed to do in 3 days.

First 3 days Top Ten

10.  Had my first meeting with my Senior Pastor canceled and rescheduled

9.  Planned my first volunteer meeting

8.  Narrowly avoided stepping full force into a fire ant bed

7.  Averaged 4 hours of sleep a night

6.  Moved 300 lb (jk) desk around my office only to move it back to within 3 inches of where it started

5.  Drove the Senior Pastor’s wife to the hospital to visit Founding Pastor who was there sick.

4.  Record my voice message 6 times (still not happy with it but I was afraid someone would be able to detect the frustration in my voice if I did it again)

3.  Locked myself out of the office when going to the bathroom not once but TWICE in 2 days

2.  Set the alarm system off

1.  And finally…are you ready

I brought my home phone to work with me in my laptop bag…not my cell phone – my cordless home phone

God’s Plan – Part 3 June 22, 2009

Now that I had said “yes” to God’s call, the hardest part was keeping quiet and waiting.  So much was racing through my mind.  I was so excited.  I wanted to tell the world the entire story of what God had just done in our lives, but I couldn’t.  I wanted to shout it from the rooftops about what God was about to do in our lives, but I couldn’t.  I just wanted to tell…but I couldn’t.

I began working in Kid’s Rock every Sunday.  Watching what went on, getting to know all the volunteers, learning how things work.  Was this an easy thing? No!  Was it a God thing?  Yes!  As I watched, listened and learned, I gained valuable, needed information that has helped prepare me for what is to come.

These last 6 months have taught me lots of things

1. God’s plan is always better than what we could have planned.
2. Sometimes it’s time to “ponder” things in our heart so that He can bring it to pass
3. Waiting is never easy, but if we will learn to treasure the times of waiting, we will find the lessons in the wait.
4. Sometimes we don’t always understand the “whys” but the truth is we don’t always have to.

The 10 day challenge is coming to an end! June 14, 2009

I am less than 12 hours away from the completion of my marathon ten days and I have to say the last 2 days of this ten day craze have been so much fun. 

On Friday I walked out of J.C. Roe as a teacher for the last time.  I cried briefly…mostly because I was amazed at what God had done in my life and because I’v never been good at saying good-bye.  But I left so excited about what was about to take place.  As soon as I got home, we headed out to a weekend adventure in Boone, North Carolina.  Caleb was going to football camp.  We had a blast – watching Caleb work his butt off, freezing at the top of Howard’s Knob after leaving 95 degree weather here, hiking in flip flops all the way to the top of Rough Ridge and well, trying to all sleep in a hotel room 2 nights without hurting each other…especially when one of us snores really loud and one of us doesn’t sleep well anymore!

Tomorrow morning Caleb leaves with a bunch of other crazy teens to head to Healing Place in Baton Rouge for a 10 day mission trip.  Once I get him off my plan for the rest of the week is to rest, clean my house, enjoy my girls, maybe visit a friend, and enjoy the beach because in a week I start the job of a lifetime.  The thing I know God created me for, but the very thing that seems a little overwhelming at this particular moment.

There are so many things running through my mind, so many ideas, so many thoughts, so many things to do, I know once I start it will be hard to slow down, so for now…I will enjoy the rest.

PRAYER REQUEST June 5, 2009

Shortly after I wrote my last post I got a phone call from my mother.  She told me my sister’s exchange student from several years ago that is an “adopted” family member was in a very bad accident.  He lives in Venzuela and his parents own a farm.  From what I understand he had left to go take care of something for the farm, it was raining, he went around a curve and lost control of the car.  It flipped several times and left him with a broken neck. 

He is currently in ICU but is showing some good signs.  He has moved his right hand and foot and also showed very slight movement on his left side yesterday.  We are praying for a full, quick recovery.  Please pray for him – his name is David. 

Something like this, puts everything in perspective.  The exhaustion you feel from running non-stop seems a lot less overwhelming with the realization that you have so much to be thankful for that you simply take for granted.

How much can I do in 10 days? June 5, 2009

Ok so I lost my calendar and I need to place to vent my anxiety about the next week and a half so here I go.  I am down to the wire with school.  I can’t tell you how exciting that is, but in the same respect I have so much to get done, I want to crawl in my bed and not get up til Monday the 15th.  So here it goes, what I can remember off the top of my head with no calendar.  Here is my life in the next 10 days..

1 Play to attend

2 kids to take to movie’s with different groups but luckily on the same night

1 relocation party

2 birthday parties

1 small group

1 church service

1 mission trip mandatory meeting to attend

1 small group outreach

1 last lesson plan to write

4 more days to teach

1 end of year celebration to plan and prepare for

20 DVD’s to copy after I actually make the DVD from the pictures and video of the school year

16 certificates to make

1 8th grade graduation to attend

3 end of year parties to make sure the stuff gets to and gifts for teachers to buy

1 classroom to pack up

1 trip to Boone to pack for

2 day trip for football camp

1 trip to Baton Rouge immediately following (like 12 hours between) trip to Boone to pack for -not going on the Baton Rouge trip though…

This does not include, cleaning the house, doing laundry, going to the grocery store, cutting the grass, or any of the other normal day to day things that have to be done…but

 then….

A week of rest!  I can’t wait!

God’s Plan – Part 2 June 2, 2009

So for an entire week.  I paced and prayed.  It had to be the longest week of my life!  I believed in my heart this was God’s plan, but also knew if I was wrong, it would be OK.  I mean I couldn’t get upset since only a few months later I had said I didn’t want that job! 

Finally the day arrived.  We dropped the kids off at Bryan and Jen’s house with the babysitter and we rode over to On The Border.  We all tried to be casual and well….beat around the bush, but we all knew this was more than dinner.  See I have known Bryan and Jen since high school and since we have had children we have only gone out to eat as couples twice (I think) without kids. 

After a while Bryan finally spoke up with ” I need to ask you something”  He did a lot of talking and I heard most of what he said.  It was really loud, and I hadn’t had my meds…and I think he wasn’t talking very loud either!  Anyway, he asked me about taking Jennifer’s place.  He told us to pray about it and let him know.  If I hadn’t been afraid he would think I wasn’t spiritual enough I would have said, “Absolutely, 100% YES!”  right there.  But since he kept telling me to pray about it and for Johnny and I to talk about it.  I decided the prudent answer would simply be “OK…” with some added information about what had been going on in my heart.

So after dinner we went back and picked up the kids, headed home and talked and prayed and within an hour or so..I sent him an email that said “Yes!”  And the journey began….

God’s Plan June 1, 2009

Back in January 08, the Lord asked me “Will you teach one more year?”  My answer “Sure God, I can do anything for one more year!”  This discussion with the Lord had come after many months (years) of wrestling with God about what I was called to do.  I loved what I was doing, but never felt complete…like I had found my place.

A little over a year ago, when the announcement was made that Pastor Bryan would be senior pastor in August, a friend began asking me questions.  Questions like “What do you think Jennifer will do about Kid’s Rock?  and then followed that question with “I think you’d be great at that job.” 

First of all, my response to her first question was “she’ll continue to do Kid’s Rock” and then I responded by laughing and mumbling as I walked out of her door “No way, I don’t want that job!”  That comment wasn’t one of those comments that you make sometimes because you don’t want anyone to know what you are really thinking or feeling.  I meant what I said – it was really  not in my heart.  The truth was I had no idea what was deep in my heart, just that what I was doing wasn’t it!  I knew I was called to ministry, but didn’t know what that would look like and honestly didn’t care.  I had just reached a place where I was determined whatever God had for me, I wanted it and I wanted to pursue it with everything within me.

So what changed?  God got to my heart!  He began to orchestrate things in my life to make me aware that change was coming.  He began to strategically plant me in Kid’s Rock leading worship a couple of times Jennifer couldn’t.  Still I didn’t see it coming…I knew something was changing in my heart.  I knew something was changing in what God was calling me to do at church, but I was still clueless as to what it all meant. 

Sometime last November, God really began giving me ideas and dreams for kid’s ministry.  Things at school were crazy but that’s all I would think about on the way to school was the ideas God was giving me for Kid’s Rock.  I kept arguing with God simply because I didn’t think I could juggle another thing.  Then on December 10th, as I was going to meet my husband for his birthday dinner, Jennifer sent me a message.  They wanted to get together for dinner sometime the next week.  Instantly, something instead of me leaped.  I knew what was coming.

I went to dinner and kept asking Johnny “So what do you think it’s about?”  He was coming up with some pretty random stuff so I started thinking I was just crazy.  After what seemed like forever we got home and he finally asked me what I thought it was about….I finally got up enough nerve to tell him.  His response “of course, I didn’t think of that!” 

Stay tuned…

Weekend Thoughts May 31, 2009

This used to be easy.  This used to be the place that thoughts poured onto the page with no concern for who was reading or what I was saying or people took what I said…but all of that has changed in the past few months.  For months I really couldn’t share what the Lord was doing in my life because the time was not right to discuss those things.  Now that I can, I can’t!  I mean I’ve waited months to share the things on my heart and now I don’t know what to say, how to say it, or even if it should be said.  Every time I start to write, I walk away frustrated and confused.

But today I decided I’m just gonna be honest…this transition has been amazingly exciting but very hard.  This weekend has just been a flood of emotions.  I watched my son get all dressed up and go to his 8th grade dance and saw him hanging out and having fun with friends he had known since kindergarten – some really great kids – and I was proud of the young adults they had grown into.  They were beautiful and handsome and well mannered and just great friends!  I felt blessed…made me think of the first day of kindergarten.  I was freaking out about my firstborn going to school, praying we had made the right, though non conviental, choice for school.  As he walked in the room, he found his seat – right beside a cute little boy named Joshua.  How cool was that – Caleb and Joshua!  That’s all I needed.  Caleb and Josh are still best buds!

Kid’s Rock went fine this morning thanks to all the amazing volunteers…but learning this new role is…well…new.  I guess that’s the only way I know to discribe what I’m feeling.  It is just new and trying to figure out how and what my role is on Sunday morning is a little challenging.  I’m still learning everything that has to be done and still teaching school makes me feel like I’m not doing anything well right now.

After church, we had Kennedy’s birthday party.  When I left church, my house was still a wreck – and I had 2 hours to get it all done.  I got home, ate lunch, sent Kennedy and her granddaddy on their way to go shopping, while Johnny was out picking up the cake and groceries for the party and I headed out the door to my parents to get the vacuum.  As the door slammed shut, I realized I had left the keys inside…so there I was, outside in the heat, no one home, with only my phone…luckily I found a key to my parents, who had a key to my house, which allowed me to finish cleaning with only a short delay and a little sweat.  By the time the party started I was ill, tired, and then there was the bike drama!  That’s a whole other blog! 

I have felt many things this weekend…but could probably be summed up with one word – undeserving!  I am so blessed to have an amazing 8th grade boy who is a really good kid inspite of me sometimes.  He is still a teenager and loses his mind on occassion – but he’s a good kid that loves his parents (most of the time).  God has blessed me with an amazing job, and I have a beautiful soon to be 11 year old daughter that is so easy going did not get offended or upset when we forgot to send out invitations and plan her sleepover.  She said she understood how busy we had been.