Lent

I was challenged last year to give something up for Lent...something that I would actually notice. I opted for chocolate. It was a small step into a powerful experience. It worked, too. I made it through Easter without eating chocolate. Yeah for me. Every time I wanted chocolate, I was reminded to pray in my temptation. I know this is trivial, but I started small on purpose. 

This year needed to be different. I have been praying for a few days about what to give up for Lent. It needed to be something more significant than sweets. It needed to be something that I could connect to our studies with "Not a Fan." I wanted to choose something that interferes with my relationship with Jesus. The idea is that I will tackle something that enslaves me, something that I feel captive to. 

It's no secret that I have struggled to find balance with my work for the past two years or so. I realized last night that I have really never had that balance. I am just becoming increasingly dissatisfied with the amount of time my career takes away from my family and the energy it takes away from my ministry. I have become so focused on the tasks at hand, I have even lost touch of the opportunities to minister (or lost sight of how I already do minister) in my job. 

So, I am fasting work this Lenten season. I am getting down to 45 hours a week at the school. This will mean cutting off an hour every morning and at least half and hour every afternoon...plus the occasional 4 hour Saturday work session. 

I know this is not possible without God's intervention. I need to be a better husband for my wife, a better father for my kids, and a better follower for my Lord. I need to find balance. 

Danee, Elijah, and I are all giving up something that we feel gets in the way of our relationship with Christ...even if it is only occasionally. I am really excited for our family as I step confidently into this season, prepared to rely completely on God for healing, revelation, and growth. 

My prayer tonight for our group is that each person will hear God's voice, deny him/herself, pick up his/her cross daily, and follow Him. 

Prayer Requests

One of the growing points for our small group lies in what we share, or don't share, in regard to prayer requests and praises. As close as we are, many of us have neglected to share some pretty significant requests in the past. This may be due to self-consciousness, absent-mindedness, or any of a long list of reasons.

Danee and I both hope that sharing prayer requests on the blog will give us the opportunity to be there for one another in prayer consistently. That way, if there are issues preventing us from sharing requests when we are together, perhaps we can overcome them through this medium.

I have to admit, I thought of a prayer request on Sunday and opted not to share it. I honestly got tired of hearing myself ask for prayer for so long, so on the rare occasion that I do have a request, I tend to keep it to myself. So, this avenue for communicating requests is just as much for me as for anyone.

So, here I am, sending out the first "blog prayer request." It's an unspoken. I know, that was a lot of build up for no detail...sorry. I would just appreciate your prayers.

Thanks.

As we learn to use this resource to hold one another up, I pray that it will strengthen the time we spend in prayer when we are together.

Prayer Requests/Praises for 2/19/12

As you are praying this week please remember to pray for the following:

Chris

• going to Africa to work with Steve on building a church
• will be gone from March 6 - 21 (waiting on visa then will book travel arrangements)
• family, especially Lilly, in preparation and while he is gone
• pray that the Holy Spirit will be working in and through him as he prepares to go and while he is in Africa

Caleb

• going to psychriatrist on Tuesday (2/21) due to behavior issues
• pray for wisdom for the doctor, Jill and Robert

Danee

• anxious about bump behind right ear
• going to an Ear/Nose/Throat doctor on Wednesday (2/22)
• pray wisdom for the doctor and that he will be able to figure out what the bump is

Jessica

• attending and working at Ramah International seminar
• wants to get involved with the Center for Women
• needs help balancing everything with kids, home, school, etc.
• 3 exams tomorrow (Monday 2/20)

Praises!

Worship services are going amazingly well

Kid City -  going well with worship

Soup Connection is bringing people to church


Please feel free to write any prayer requests or praises on the blog so we can be in connection with each other during the week. This will also give us the opportunity to pray for each other better.

where I am at right now

I have been, for the past few days, no more like the past month, lukewarm. I cannot seem to shake it but I feel like as I am trying to better myself and live for Christ, Satan is doing his best to bring me down. This time of the year is especially hard on me because it is so yucky outside and is it winter or spring who knows. I started to notice last night that even though I am reading in the Word and in prayer throughout the day the "dark" moments are winning.

Recently I asked God what He wanted me to read in the Bible and I felt like He wanted me to read Esther and Daniel. Both of those books talk about how God is in control of everything. I know that God is working in my life through what He wants me to read in the Bible, going through not a fan, and weigh down. In all of that I need to remember that He is in control NOT me. I will never be able to be the woman He needs me to be if I do not let Him fully and completely take over my life. I will never be able to lose the weight if I do not go to Him when I am having a hard time and want to eat but am not truly hungry. I am realizing that as I write that how much He is trying to talk to me and help me give 100% of myself to Him and not try to keep even 1/2% for myself. He wants all of me not most of me. I need to be able to teach and show my kids that as well. How will that look if I am like "give your all to Christ" but I keep some for myself? That is just not okay. "LORD I give my ALL to YOU." 

I am actually reading Job with James at night. Like with Esther and Daniel I asked God where to go next in my readings and He lead me to Job. Job talks about the meaning of true faith. I feel like God wanted me to read through Esther and Daniel so I can learn to give all of my control to Him and now He wants me to learn to have true faith in Him at all times, even the dark ones.  Job was tested by horrific suffering and then tempted by Satan. He wanted Job to think that God’s way of governing the world was not good and tried to drive a wedge between their relationship. Now I have not suffered like Job did but I feel like because I am trying to become who God wants me to be Satan is trying to drive a wedge between my relationship with God. I know that I can conquer Satan’s attacks with the help of God. I need to remember my life verse in Philippians 4:13 that “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” Who else do I need? Not food, myself getting in the way, no one but Jesus. I know that He’s got my back.  


This song by Chris Tomlin seems very fitting.

Box labeled "Jesus"

     Does anyone here ever think about how big God really is? For some reason I was thinking about that the other day. I think that as I was trying to live my day out with Christ maybe He was trying to help me understand as much of that as was possible in this moment in my faith. I was actually a little bit awestruck for that first time in a long time.
     He is so magnificently, beautifully, and glorifyingly large that we as small minded human beings can't really begin to comprehend that. I think that it actually is His Glory that is so unimaginable. I think that the vast size and beauty of the earth alone is only a small taste of what He has in store for us as His creation. I think that the Glory that God infused with His creation is really all that He knew we could understand. As part of His creation, its easy to say that His Heavenly beauty will be more than we can imagine, but no matter how hard we try, we can not comprehend the true beauty of His plan fulfilled. Its actually very difficult right now to put it all into words that can even describe the thoughts in my mind.
     So God, infinately larger than the earth and heavens themself, fits in this little tiny box that we allow Him to remain in right? Is that even possible? We try to believe that it is don't we? I think that giving God a compartment in our lives, even a large one, really dulls down the Glory that He wants people to see in us. We have a lot of boxes. Some that are really important, some that aren't. Most of us have so many boxes that we have all rented out a storage unit so we can keep them for another time. Ya know, when we finally realize that our boxes are getting in the way. Maybe sometimes we can go to the storage unit and drop off a box or two, and replace them with one that's been in storage for a while. I can even say that I have dropped of my Jesus box from time to time. Too many boxes! I think it's time for a major garage sale.
     Do we actually think that we can squeeze Jesus in a box and put it away until we need Him? Christ is the One and only that can decide if anyone should be in a box or not. He absolutely does not even consider putting us in a box that He can put away until He feels like playing with us. We have an uncanny ability to play God don't we? What if we felt like we didn't need any more boxes? What if we lived like we didn't have any more boxes?
     I am really starting to realize for the first time in my life how much more God has to offer us. We just choose not to receive it. A new insight was revealed to me recently. Before the fall of Adom, we all thought that he was naked and just didn't know it. Maybe, but I feel that maybe he was actually clothed in the Glory of God. Why else would it have been possible for him to stand in the garden with God. Everybody since then, until Jesus, would have been consumed by God. Moses, as Holy as he was couldn't even see His face or he would have been consumed. Imagine for a moment, being clothed in God's Glory. He offers that to us every single day and we choose not to receive It. I say, that for me, I am done with my compartments and boxes. I want Christ to clothe me with His Glory so everyone can see IT. I want every box in my life to be labeled "CHRIST"!

Self Centered

     I find life very amusing sometimes. I was journaling a couple of days worth and felt really connected with God. Yeah that's right I said a couple of days. I know, I know, I was the one who said that it is really helpful to do the journal as it is suggested because we all will get more out of it. Well I goofed. Anyway, so there I was really connecting with God right, as I started with the tail end of day five. The reflection of day five seemed quite difficult for me. I couldn't for the life of me think of anything that I needed to confess to Jesus for. I closed my eyes and tried to think back through the day to see if anything I did was sinful. NOTHING! I was feeling pretty good about that.
     Well the warm fuzzy feeling of my self righteousness started to wane pretty quickly as I started going through day six. The funny thing is, that had I done day six as I was supposed to I don't think that this would have been as evident to me. After I had gone through the entire day in approx. 20 min I realized something about my day. In spite of the fact that I feel more in step with Christ right now in my life than possibly ever before, I was extremely self centered. It became evident that almost every one of my answers was one that cooled my interest in Him.
     Christ calls us to always be in prayer. As I woke up today the last thing I thought of doing was to pray, I was too tired. It seems quite interesting to me that if He lives in me than shouldn't I ALWAYS be thinking of HIM. I think He wants that for us for obvious reasons but life gets busy, or stressful, or we're too tired. The actuality of it is, that Christ lives in us so that we can go through those moments of life with Him. Life with Him is true life as He designed it for us. He wants to be part of our tiredness, or stress, or our non-faith-based places of work, or our frustrations of life. How are we supposed to keep the fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives if everything we do is the exact opposite force and cools our interests in Him?
     My prayer tonight is that I can wake up in the morning invigorated by the presence of Christ throughout my day. That every step I take tomorrow is "in step" with Christs'. I pray that for all of you guys as well.

I am about to post my first blog ever

I am now officially a part of the blog world. I feel so weird. Now that I think I know what I am doing I may post an actual update tomorrow.