Thankful Thursday: May 3rd

I feel like all I have time to blog right now is these Thursday posts…more coming soon though! There are so many things in my mind that I want to write about…when life slows down a little.

For now, thankful for these 5 things:

1. Girl’s night. We had separate mens/women’s times for small group on Tuesday, and even though I love our whole group, it was refreshing to have some time with just the girls. We were able to go deep talking about heart change vs. behavior modification, and the root issues of the surface things we struggle with (one of the topics I am planning on writing more about soon!). So challenging and encouraging to share together and pray for one another.

2. Summertime is coming! The maintenance guys at my apartment complex took the cover off the pool this week and started the process of cleaning it out and refilling it in preparation for opening weekend coming up on Memorial Day. I wish they would open it early with the 80 degree days we’ve been having, but 3 more weeks won’t kill me.

3. The sky. I love the sky so much!

Beautiful Beaufort by the sea…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4. God’s mercy in revealing our sin in little bits that we can handle. If we saw all of it at once, we would be crushed under the sheer weight of it. How kind that he gives us small glimpses of where He is working in the process of making us more into His image. It’s a long road Home, but a good one.

5. Good quotes. In light of the above topic, I love this quote from Lilo and Stitch: “it’s small and broken, but still good.”

 

Thankful Thursday: April 26th

Thankful today for…

1. Baan Sabai Lodge. Two and a half days of relaxation, refreshment and pampering at a cabin in the middle of nowhere do wonders for the soul. Dave and Irene took such great care of me, and I could not have asked for a better vacation. It was the perfect time away (although I could have stayed another week!), and gave me the space and rest to connect with the Lord and be rejuvenated for the rest of this year!

2. My Journals. While I was at the cabin I took some time to read back through all of the journals I have filled since I graduated college. It was encouraging and enlightening to see all that the Lord has taught me in the past 5 years! I love that I started journaling 14 years ago, and for all that they hold as a record of the Lord’s great work in my life through all the good and the bad.

3. Being unplugged. Another great thing about the cabin was that being in the middle of nowhere makes it very easy to not have a phone or computer. Glorious.

4. Getting to have a sleepover with the Just kids on Friday and Saturday. Love kids, and getting to hang out with those 4 is always a blessing. We had a “pizza picnic” on Friday night and watched Cars 2 in the living room, and I loved that they assumed I had never seen it, and so explained everything that was going on so I would understand.

5. Four year olds starting to grasp the gospel. My Sunday School class has been working all year on two main things – understanding who Jesus is and why He came to earth. It has taken 7 months of repeating the same things every single week, and they are finally starting to understand and repeat back to us that Jesus is God, and that He came to earth because he loves us and died on the cross for our sins. Hallelujah and amen.

Thankful Thursday: April 5th

Today, I am thankful for…

1. Matt Franklin. My brother celebrated his birthday on Sunday, and I was just reminded how much I love him. There is no one else I would rather have as a big brother, and I am thankful that the Lord saw fit to put us in the same family. I am so proud of the man he has become, and the gifts and abilities the Lord has given him. He makes me laugh and is the best brother in the whole world. I love you Matty!

A few years ago....

2. Rachel. Another dear fried celebrated her birthday this past weekend, and I had fun reminiscing about all of our adventures over the past 8.5 years. She was my first friend at College of Charleston – we met on the first day of new student orientation at this lame party on top of a parking garage – and have been friends ever since.

3. Holy Week. I was convicted this week about my tendency to celebrate Jesus’ arrival in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, and then just skip ahead to Easter with the resurrection without focusing on what happened during the days in between. The anguish, the goodbyes, the confusion, the betrayal, the death of our Savior, the cross, everything that leads up to the most glorious day in our history. This is a week to remember these things and to worship the One who bore them for our sake, yet my days fill up with other things that distract me from focusing on worshiping Jesus. Thankful for the reminder yesterday and today about the need to stop and re-focus, and the ability to do that today and tomorrow.

4. Water. We had a water main break in my apartment complex on Tuesday and had no running water most of the day. Something contaminated the water in the process of them fixing it, and we now have to boil our drinking and cooking water for 5 minutes before using any…indefinitely. The Lord has used this to remind me how much I take for granted here. It makes me thankful for when our water does work properly, but also thankful for a stove that I can boil water on until it is fixed.

5. Wisdom. I think this is a repeat, but it is a good one. Thankful for this promise: “but if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously and without reproach [no judgment or disapproval on our need for wisdom - He knows we are a bunch of dumb sheep], and it will be given to him” James 1:5

faith.

George Müller, on answered prayer, after being asked if the Lord had always been faithful to His promises:

‘Always’, replied Müller, ‘He has never failed me! For nearly 70 years every need in connection with this work has been supplied. The orphans from the first until now, have numbered nine thousand five hundred, but they have never wanted a meal. Never! Hundreds of times we have commenced the day without a penny in hand, but our Heavenly Father has sent supplies by the moment they were actually required. There never was a time when there was no unwholesome meal. During all these years I have been enabled to trust in God, the living God, and in Him alone. One million four hundred thousand pounds have been sent to me in answer to prayer.  We have wanted as much as fifty thousand pounds in one year, and it has all come by the time it has been really needed.’ (emphasis mine)

Müller was born in Germany, and moved to England as a missionary in the early-1800′s. He started out his ministry as a church planter and pastor, but after seeing a desperate need for good orphan care he shifted his focus to starting homes for children. For over 50 years he ran an orphanage that consisted by the end of 5 houses that cared for over 1,200 children (at one time!) from birth-17 years old. He revolutionized orphan care in the nation of England, and by the time of his death the entire system had been transformed, largely because of his efforts.

In addition to the orphanage, his church supported missionaries all over the world, including Hudson Taylor in China! He started the Scripture Knowledge Institute that trained hundreds of men in theology and teaching, and spent the last twenty years of his life traveling over 200,000 miles around the world sharing the gospel to thousands upon thousands of people.

All of this work was accomplished by bringing his needs before the Lord only. He founded his organization on the conviction and belief that God would answer when asked. That blows my mind. As I read his biography (Delighted in God by Roger Steer), I was/still am a bit at war in my heart on what I thought about that. One cannot deny that God clearly provided for Müller, and that his approach brought God much glory. But I alos have wondered if they would have seen God provide even more, had they simply asked and made their needs known. There is a balance, I think, between trusting God to provide without ever speaking, and trusting God to use your voice in drawing others closer to Himself as they give.

Sometimes I have doubts that God is really big enough to provide, but reading about the life of this man has given me renewed faith in God’s provision. So often I have a limited view of the omnipotent God. I start to worry, but then am reminded that I am the finite one, He the infinite. I have limitations, He is the owner of everything we can and cannot see. I am broken and flawed, He is perfect and Holy. I can only see one minute at a time, He sees every moment at once. I only know what I need moment by moment, He knows all of my needs and exactly how He is going to provide!

Treasuring Jesus

On Sunday, Pastor Bill taught from Matthew 6:19-24:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body; so then if your eye is clear, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light that is in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and wealth.

This is a rich passage that both convicts and comforts. There is so much to get out of it, but one thing from the sermon stuck out to me that I have been mulling over the past two days.

for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Where your treasure is [present tense, right now, in this moment], there will [future tense, later, ultimately at the end] your heart be also.

Treasure leads the heart. Or, to say it backwards, your heart will follow after what you find most important. This is why it is so crucial what we are treasuring right now. What we choose to spend our time investing in at this time is where our hearts will lead us in the future – either closer to Jesus or farther away from Him.

There are many ways I store up treasure on earth – investing my time, energy and talents in things that are just going to burn up one day – rather than storing up treasure that will last for eternity. One would think that eternity would trump temporal every time. But sadly, it doesn’t.

Most often it is because I fail to see Jesus as the ultimate treasure.

When I am pulled in by the things of this world, my “eye” becomes dark and my vision is blurred, and suddenly my allegiance has shifted. You see, it’s not about the stuff; stuff is fine when viewed rightly. It’s about attitude, and recognizing that Jesus and His kingdom are the only things that are going to last forever. Everything else, everything else, is going to burn up. We are called by Jesus to invest our lives in eternal things, and rightly understand that earthly things, while sometimes good, are all temporary.

Where is your treasure being stored right now?

Road Trip: The End.

Well, my time in the south is coming to a close, and tonight is my last night in Beaufort. Tomorrow morning I will be at CBC Savannah, enjoying all three services and hopefully getting to meet a ton of new people! After that I’m headed to Knoxville and then on back to Indy on Monday. The best part about these days in the south isn’t the great weather or good memories or beautiful places, although those were definitely highlights! No, the best part is the time spent deepening friendships, sharpening one another and catching up on life. The phone suffices when distance comes between friends, but it cannot capture or replace what happens when sitting face to face over a cup of coffee, sharing your heart and life with another person. So grateful for this time, and these faces that make up the fabric of this mosaic that God has given as my life.

The Chocolate Tree....one of my favorite spots in the world! My first grade teacher works here now and sometimes I get to see her. It's not a real visit to Beaufort without a stop at the chocolate tree.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of my dream homes in Beaufort. It's for sale....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beaufort Downtown Waterfront - with the bridge open!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ran into Alex and Irina at Common Ground coffee shop! What a delightful surprise and so great to catch up with them! Love them!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beautiful Huspa Plantation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had the joy and privilege of spending half a day with the lovely Mrs Marlit! Such a delightful friend - I love any time I get to spend with her!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hanging out downtown this afternoon with Chandra and her new puppy Charlie!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Road Trip: Day 7 & Thankful Thursday!

Day 7 ended up being quite the adventure. Including, but not limited to, getting some work done in the morning, an attempt to hang out with a friend, thwarted quickly by Winston cutting off in the middle of the street 4 times in a few short minutes, getting towed to West Ashley and finding out that once again it is going to cost an arm and a leg to get it fixed (awesomesauce….very thankful for my savings account right now), it not being ready until tomorrow, missing a second hangout with a friend, and then it all culminating in a lovely walk through Charleston to meet a friend for dinner.

Amy is that friend – she was my discipler my sophomore-senior year at the College, and a great friendship grew out of that. We have stayed in touch over the years, and each time I come to Charleston one of the greatest highlights is my time spent with her. She is a constant encouragement, source of wisdom and so, so fun! I love getting to hang out with her and just do life together. We always go to great local restaurants, and tonight we enjoyed Basil, my all-time fave Thai spot (in C-town, at least). So refreshing after a crazy day, and I am very thankful for her friendship!

Hanging out with Amy at dinner!

Just remembered that today is Thursday too! Much to be thankful for….

1. No accidents when Winston kept shutting down in the middle of Meeting Street today, and that I was able to get it to the side of the road without any problems. Also thankful for AAA. We’ll put them in this one.

2. The internet – makes my job sooo much easier, especially when traveling

3. This opportunity to connect with so many friends and ministry partners!

4. Friends having timeshare condos that we can use for free on Edisto Beach. Yay Bull St. girls reunion this weekend!!!

5. The Valley of Vision book of Puritan Prayers. Such a rich addition to any time spent in the presence of Jesus!

2012 is here….and?

What are you going to do about it?

For some reason 2011 flew by like a flash (not that I’m complaining), and when I woke up on Sunday a new year had dawned (as a side note, I really like starting the new year on a Sunday. It just seems right somehow). The year didn’t go exactly as I had planned, but then again, nothing ever does.

I’m not really big on goals or resolutions. I never seem able to keep them, and at the end of the year just end up frustrated or uncommitted to what I originally said. Andy Stanley preached a great sermon on Sunday that I totally agree with. The gist of it is that what we do is not nearly as important as who we are. What we do comes out of who we are. So, if we don’t first change the “who”, than the “what” isn’t going to get very far, no matter how hard we try.

At the beginning of each year, I make 3 lists. One is of ways I grew in the past year, two is the way I hope to grow in the new year, and three is the ways God showed up as my Jehovah-Jireh in the past year. I’ve been doing this for the past 5 years or so, and I love looking back and seeing all that the Lord did, as well as looking forward to what He will do in the new year.

In 2011, I had 8 things on my “hope to grow in 2011″ list:

• Mercy/Justice ministry – developing a heart for the poor and needy, and learning to love them
• Ministry strengths – learning new ways to use my gifts and grow in ministry capacity
• Expectation management – that I will expect great things from God, and learn from Him how to manage well the things of my heart (something I am very, very bad at)
• Financial stewardship – to use well the money I have been given
• Communication – keeping up more with friends, talk more, put people first
• Bible study – deepen my knowledge of God through His word
• Prayer – learning to cultivate Adoration and Thanksgiving, not just supplication
• Self-discipline – exercising more, eating healthy, contentment with what the Lord has given me

The past 2 years have held an amazing amount of change, pain and altered plans, and I am thankful that in the midst of it all the Lord did indeed grow me in each of these areas in 2011 in some way – some in bigger ways than others, some I completely forgot I had on there, others were constant sources of my attention. What a great reminder that even when I forget what I ask for, He remembers.

As 2012 begins, I want to change my list to “what I want to be true of me at the end of the year”. I really want all those same areas of growth to be true again. But I realized that 8 things is a whole lot, so I think I will narrow it down to the top four, with one of them being new.

Here we goooooooo! By the end of 2012, I hope to be a person of…..

• Expectation management – This one still needs a LOT of work. Sigh. Trusting the Lord in 2012 to help me surrender all of my wealth of expectations and just go with the flow.
• Communication – We definitely made progress last year, but this year I want to continue to grow in communicating well, especially with friends and family who live far away (which is pretty much the majority of them)
• Prayer – Learning more about God’s heart for prayer, how to pray, what to pray for, and how to listen (always hard considering how much I love to talk and how easily I get distracted)
• Trust – This is a constant growth area, but this year, especially in light of my post from yesterday, I hope to grow in actually trusting His plan and His sovereignty and not trying to manipulate my own way, or even try to figure out the what or why’s of what He is doing in my life. I don’t need to know until He tells me.

Who do you want to be in 2012?

Disappointment and Hope

What do you do with unanswered prayer?

I have been praying for one specific thing for a long time, but in 2011 I ramped it up and prayed for it every day. Literally. Each morning I woke up, brought my request to the foot of the throne of God, and waited with faith and hope for Him to answer. 365 days. The caveat was that I was asking for Him to answer positively by the end of the year.

All during the year I was hopefully expectant – knowing that in His sovereignty He could make it happen anytime…even on December 31st.

But He didn’t. As the night drew to a close, I realized that once again, His answer was “no”. And my response at first was disappointment. I know He loves to show up at the very last minute, just when you think He’s not going to. And so I was hoping that was His plan. I was excited to see how He was going to answer, how He was going to provide, and I was waiting expectantly on the 30th and 31st, and then, nothing. Again. Just like 2010, and 2009, and 2008, and so on.

And I began to wonder…when do I give up? When do I stop waking up, coming before His throne and laying down what is on my heart?

Our main speaker last week at IndyCC was Mike Erre (excellent, excellent speaker/teacher, by the way), and one of His talks spoke directly to my heart. He talked about the “gap” that we are living in, between how life was meant to be, and how it is now that sin entered the world. He explained how our imperfect lives are a result of God’s mercy on us. If we had everything we asked for, if life went just like we wanted it to, then we would have no need for Him. And we do need Him, desperately. So God allows brokenness, and unanswered prayer, and delayed hopes, and lost dreams, because we need the reminder that this world is broken, and He is the only remedy.

Which means that I don’t give up hope that one day He will provide. Ever. Even if I pray every day for 10 years, and His answer is still no. He has proven Himself faithful over and over, and He has called me to trust Him. A “no” doesn’t mean that He doesn’t love me. On the contrary, it means that He knows what I need and what is best for me so much better than I ever could, because He is the very One who created me. His “no” is because He knows that at this time that is the exact response I need.

O, Praise Him.

And so, disappointment turns to hope. And then trust.

This summer I was journaling after the loss of a relative who didn’t love Jesus, and I wrote this about hope:

Hope is a verb. We “hope” that something will happen. That some unseen or unspoken desire will in time come true. Regardless of the evidence, we hope. When things are at their worst, we hope. We the impossible comes, we hope. In life, we hope. In death, we hope. We hope in the future. And when hope seems lost, we trust.

Trust that God knows. Trust that He is big enough, strong enough, alive enough, faithful enough, enough.

Trust when we can’t see, can’t understand, can’t control, can’t hope, can’t walk….we trust that He can.

And someday, He will.

Taking time to Celebrate

It is official: I am finished with my New Staff Training and Development, and have moved from new staff to senior staff! One of the final projects in the last module is to take some specific time to celebrate all that God has done in and through my life in the past 2-ish years. This comes from John Ortberg’s book The Life You’ve Always Wanted, and one statement I found interesting is this:

“People who want to pursue joy especially need to practice the discipline of celebration.”

There is so much in that one little statement. First, joy is a pursuit – it is not natural. It is my choice to run after joy when my flesh wants to wallow in self-pity and pain or even boast in pride and self-glorification. Second, celebration is a discipline in much the same way that fasting, meditation and prayer function. It takes concentrated effort, and the focus is on rejoicing over what God has done, big or small and knowing Him more deeply. Third, joy is hard to come by if you are not taking time to celebrate. Celebration leads to a deep joy. As we see God at work and rejoice in it, our hearts are filled with a joy that comes from Him alone. Without celebration joy cannot run very deep, and I would say that when it gets tested, will be found wanting.

I know I often think of celebration as unplanned, raucous, loud – not as a discipline. It often seems to be just the natural consequence of something good that occurs. But, I am learning that it is also so much more than that. It is celebrating the small things when the big things all seem to be going wrong. It is celebrating consistently so that you begin to see “our wonderful God who has given us such wonderful gifts” at work in your life all the time.

Can you see it? What do you need to celebrate today in your life? Do you need to take a break from the world and spend some time celebrating?

Here is the beginning of my celebration list from all God has done in and through me over the past two years as I have been in my training phase:

• Working in the regional office, and being on the Conferences and Events Team
• Successful conferences
• Discipling Kayla
• Making my apartment “home”
• Learning about holiness and sanctification
• Serving with my team of ministry partners
• Working with Athletes in Action at Butler
• Taking steps of faith to work with AIA – out of my comfort zone!
• Serving the families by running childcare so they can enjoy the conference fully
• Re-structuring childcare
• Developing the childcare curriculum
• Sharing my faith
• Getting to know students
• Summer project in Chicago
• Getting involved with teaching Sunday School at church in the 4 year old room
• Being plugged in to a small group
• Continuing to trust the Lord with my future

Praise the Lord for all He has done! He is Great, and Greatly to be Praised! Here’s to more years of seeing Him at work and celebrating.