Quote of the day:

Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it.

-attributed to Yves Saint Laurent

The B-I-B-L-E

Here's your first hint that I'm a children's pastor:

I LOVE MY KIDS BIBLES!!!

I have The Adventure Bible for Young Readers, and the Hands on Bible. Both are simply amazing, not only because the language in them is simple and easy to understand, but also because of the great notes.

Now, obviously these Bibles are written for those still in elementary, but the extra content in them is so good that it speaks to a 20-something. All I can say is how amazing that there are such incredible resources available to help children (and adults) grow in their walk with God.

Just a little shout out to Christian publishers AND Christian bookstores. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

decisions, decisions, decisions

This week I've got some decisions to make. Some of them are pretty small in the grand scheme of things like: what paint colours will I choose for our house, what kind of flooring will I got with, what will I get my father-in-law for his birthday (ps:I welcome suggestions ;) ). Other decisions are slightly more important like: what things will I dedicate my time to this fall, what things will I dedicate my time to this fall, what things will I dedicate my time to this fall (can you tell I have too many things on my plate and not enough time?).

Through all this decision making though I believe that God has a lesson for me (I'm expecting a lesson this time...there always seems to be one in there somewhere, this way I won't be completely surprised).

I remember waiting for my college application to go through a few years back and thinking to myself one morning about how anxious the whole situation was making me. Being the crazy children's ministry fanatic that I am, naturally a children's song came to mind. I have these great CD's that are Bible verses put to songs for kids. The song 'Philippians 4:6' came to mind (Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.)

I'm finding myself in that anxious state again. I realize that unfortunately I only have 24 hours in my day, which means I need to prioritize and stop sweating the small stuff. As well, prayer is key, a little (or not so little) detail I far too often overlook.

And so on this Tuesday, I'm making the decision to stop worrying about all the decisions I have to make, and rather 'present my requests to God,' knowing that there is no reason to 'be anxious about anything.'

seasons.

I find it interesting how I often find myself in this place of expectation. My life has become anything but boring...
from hearing outrageous stories of fraud, to unexpected mysterious deaths, to building a house, to taking on more responsibilities...

I'm learning that life is full of a bunch of seasons. Although the seasons we find in the yearly calendar have a specific beginning and end, I don't necessarily see that in the seasons I face in my life. At the moment there seems to be no rhyme or reason to anything that's happening.

I find that the challenge is not so much the seasons I face, rather how I choose to handle myself in these seasons. Unfortunately the person I'd like to pride myself on being isn't always the one who seems to appear when different & difficult situations arise.

Therefore I would like to state once again:
I'm a work in progress, your patience is appreciated.

Patience is a Virtue

I'm kind of feeling stuck at the moment...

My husband and I are currently living with my parents while our new house is finished being built. Everything I own apart from my clothing is packed in boxes in a storage unit. Daily we go out to our house and the anticipation grows for the day when I will call that place home.

Things at work are revving up for the new school year and I have a bazillion ideas in my head. I'm learning that unfortunately there aren't nearly enough hours in my days to make everything happen...and some dreams take time to develop...and likely won't begin to happen for a few months, potentially even years.

I feel like I'm on a constant journey to discovering a life of patience. It's said that patience is a virtue, although I'm quite confident that it's a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). We all know that you can tell a tree by its fruit. If an apple tree were to grow oranges it really wouldn't be an apple tree.

And so I am learning patience so that my fruit matches up with the tree that I claim to be.

Hope Lives

I've just started 'Hope Lives: A Journey of Restoration' (by Amber Van Schooneveld). I'm really looking forward to the five week journey I have just embarked upon.

But really, more then being excited about MY journey, I'm excited about the journey I'll be taking others on. Along with purchasing the book, I've purchased 'Hope Lives: Children's Ministry Kit'.

Take your children on a five-week journey - one that gives them God's perspective on poverty and equips them to respond with heartfelt compassion. Hope Lives empowers your children to understand and impact their world...to share home with the hopeless. Children experience five adventures straight from the Bible and then apply what they discover through prayer, service, and commitment.

This curriculum isn't about guilting children into helping those in need, rather giving them a Biblical look of what Jesus calls us to do as Christians to do. I think its easy for us to say 'Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress...' (James 1:27), but how easy is it for us to actually live this out? It's easy to sign a check to give yourself that 'warm, fuzzy feeling' knowing that you're helping someone, but is it really a sacrifice?

In Matthew 19:16-24, Jesus tells the rich young man to sell EVERYTHING and give it to the poor! Hello, he was rich! You want him to sell his iPhone, his new 2000 sq. foot home, his wife's Coach purse...
I have a long ways to go...
As I'm sure nearly all of us living in first world nations do.

I'm actually really looking forward to this journey. Not only for what I think it will do in me by changing my thinking, but also for what it will do in the children that I have the privilege to teach and lead.

Check out other 'Hope Lives' resources here: group.com/hopelives

in my world...

...it's all about the kids.

I've been really challenged over the past few months to re-examine how I act out what I confess with my mouth.

I think it's really easy as an adult to say that the next generation is going to do greater things then what this generation has done. And it's really easy to say that the next generation is the future. And it's really easy to say that the next generation has so much potential. It's really easy to say a lot of things, but unless I put actions to what I'm saying...what am I really saying?

What am I as an individual doing to give the next generation the resources to do greater things then my generation? What am I doing to make sure the next generation actually does something great in the future? What am I doing to invest into the next generation's potential?

I attend (and work at) a church where we say a lot of really great things about what God is doing to do in and through the children and youth...but at the end of the day I'm left asking myself, what are we doing to make this possible?

I've been challenged to make sure I'm doing all that I can to empower the next generation. I've been challenged to earnestly pray for the next generation...not just in my community, but worldwide. I've been challenged to invest, and invest, and invest, and invest in as many ways as I possibly can.

I really do believe in the next generation. And I really do want to see them do great things...

therefore I'm going to do something.

I'm just still trying to figure out the how and when...

And as long as our culture continues to change I believe that I'll be in the place of trying to figure out the how.