Take a Train to Happy Town.... wooo wooo!

Yesterday we had a fun outing with other couples from our church. The women's ministry planned a "mystery event" with tours at various mystery locations.

The first stop was my favorite - a train museum that included a short ride in a refurbished train car. Our conductor was a former broadcaster that had a an amazing voice. Everything he said was fascinating!

I was devastated that my camera battery died shortly after we arrived, but fortunately Joy was on hand to take a cute picture of us:

On My Mind

So, this has turned out to be a month of not much blogging. There's been so much going on it's kind of taken back seat for a while. But not to fear, I haven't given up completely. Just to keep you in the loop, here's just a smidgen of what's been rolling around my mind:

- Hospitals and Doctors: Up until the past couple of months, I haven't spent too much time around them. Now that I am, as an advocate, I've been surprised and disappointed with my experiences. Care providers are happy to help with a symptom, but forget it if you want to discover and treat the cause. I believe I have some squeaky-wheeling in my future. Grr.


- The Shack: A work of fiction that has created such a buzz that I've tried to avoid it. Well, I wasn't able to, and now I am so glad that I finally gave in and read the thing. Once I started, I couldn't stop, and devoured the book in two days. The author creates such a fantastic word picture of a living, breathing relationship with God. I was amazed at what an encouragement I found this book to be. I'd definitely recommend it to anybody, Christian or not, especially those struggling to reconcile God's goodness with the problems and evil in the world. Excellent!


- New neighbors: Eric, the new worship leader at our church, and his wife Yvette, finally found a place of their own here in Concord. For the past six weeks, they've been living out of boxes and dealing with a lengthy commute while looking for the right place. Well, God has provided - they're moving into a house one street down from ours! It's literally a five minute walk from our front door. We are so excited to get to know one another better - what a blessing!

- Billy: I took my little doggy to the vet today for a routine vaccination and when I reviewed his records, realized that he is NINE years old! That came as a little bit of a shock to me, as we've really only spent three years with him. He wasn't a puppy when we adopted him, and we left him with my parents for a year when we went on the world race mission trip. But now, his right eye is getting cloudy, and the vet told me it's a sign of aging. What! Billy can't be getting old. No, no, no.

- The new school year: Yes, I'm excited. Nothing fires me up more than the possibilities in a new beginning. Yet, I sense that my role in youth ministry is going to have to be more defined and less all-encompassing than it has been in the past. I dread the moments when I am going to have to, at some point, say NO to myself, my students, and worst of all, to my husband. But I don't see a way around that if I'm going to keep myself and my marriage healthy for the long term.

I guess it's kind of like planting a garden - you're supposed to plant all the seeds, then uproot all but the strongest so they have room to grow. I'm gonna have to uproot some flowers in my life, and I don't like it. Nope, not one bit. I imagine you can expect many posts along this line as I try and sort things out. Along with related topics such as identity, purpose, calling, faithfulness, discernment, and the meaning of life. Argh. I suppose I thought these things would fall into place as I got older, but the more time goes by, the more complicated it seems.

Pastor Gary's latest sermon

Last Sunday, Gary had the opportunity to preach to the whole congregation, and did a fantastic job talking about the conversation between Moses and God in Exodus 3 & 4.

If you missed out on the chance to hear him live, you can catch it online here on our church website. Click where it says "When God Calls" (August 17, 2008).

You won't be disappointed!

Two Wolves

One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two 'wolves' inside us all...

"One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

ht: Gary Black

Sometimes God opens doors, other times He provides them...

This past spring, as we were preparing to take our team of high schoolers to Guatemala, we were faced with rapidly rising prices for flights, to the extent that we feared busting our budget. We sat our team down at the next meeting and prayed together that God would provide flights that we could afford. Two days later, we found an amazing deal that not only kept us within budget, but saved us hundreds of dollars. Praise God!

Fast forward to the trip... when we arrived in Guatemala, one of the first things we did was to sit down with Pastor Antonio and ask him about the needs of the church and community. He shared with us that the new church had been able to construct a building to meet and worship in, and had even acquired sound equipment and musical instruments.

Unfortunately, however, they had not raised enough to put the final touch on the building - a secure door. Without the door, there was a huge open space that gaped across the front. Antonio confided in us that one of the young men in the church, Mateo, would sleep in the church building every night to ward off would-be thieves. We were amazed that this remarkable young man would leave the comfort of his home and family to protect the church's property.

We asked Antonio how much it would cost to construct and install a door for the church building. To our astonishment, the figure was the precise amount that we had saved on our cheap flights! We knew that God had provided, not for our indulgence, but for His glory. And we promised to Antonio that we would put a door on his church.

During our time in Guatemala, Antonio was able to order the door, but alas, it was not ready in time for us to see it installed. Antonio promised to send us a picture as soon as possible. And... here it is!

Before:




After:


Isn't it beautiful? I especially love the little faces peering out from the windows!

End of the Summer

Since my last post, I've been holding down the fort while Gary was gone for a week at the high school camp, then preparing for and running our own junior high camp this past weekend.

We've been running hard this summer, and I am pooped! On one hand, it's been extremely rewarding to pour myself into activities such as the mission trip and youth camp, working hard to see our kids serving and learning more about living out their faith.

On the other, now comes that tricky balance of trying to rest and recharge, take care of some mundane household needs that have been neglected, all while simultaneously anticipating the need to plan and prepare for the kickoff of fall ministries.

As I stand on the verge of a new school year, I want to be deliberate about finding a good balance for life and ministry. I want to improve at preserving my sabbath, building friendships, and developing myself outside of the bubble of youth ministry.

Don't ask me yet how I plan to do this (ha!), but I know it's going to be necessary for me to maintain my sanity as well as the ability to minister to my husband and to the youth. I look forward to seeing what happens!