Photo 365 12.31.10

Last photo of 2010. Sare at Walmart vascillating over a decision with her $10 gift card.

50 Year End Questions:

What are your resolutions for the next year?
We've already covered this topic... although I do see some additions needed. You can find them here.

What happened in your life that you never expected to happen?
We moved to San Antonio. (deep in the heart of Texas) And no, the Alamo doesn't have a basement. We checked.

What is one thing you did that you have never done before?
Painted our house.

What were your biggest achievements?
The first five courses of Berean. In fact, I just tested out on the fifth one this evening.

What were your biggest challenges?
Leaving Baytown. Living apart for 7 weeks. Squeezing into a 2 bedroom condo. 5 courses in Berean. Returning to the workforce. Re-establishing my photography business. (wow, it's been a challenging year)

What is your biggest regret?
Not valuing people the way God does.

When were you happiest?
Learning new things in my courses. Spending time with my family. Youth group is always awesome.

Who was your best friend?
The same three people really hold me together. I miss talking to Lori all the time, work has interfered a lot with that. Rob and I have had a lot of incredible conversations this year, with school and job transitions.

Who surprised you this year? In what way?
My family, with my convertible. I will always be grateful.

Who did you admire most this year?
I feel a little out of mentor this year. I feel like, with the whole Berean and not knowing where God is leading me with photography and ministry, like I'm paving my own course right now. And that's a little wierd and a lot scary. But then I remember that God is leading me down that road.

Who were you in love with?
Always Rob. He holds my heart and my hand and my attention. I am so thankful for him in my life.

What was the most important lesson you learned?
That the Holy Spirit can and will empower me to do anything God calls me to do.

What was your favorite TV show?
the Office, because I will never outgrow it. We also enjoy Community, and most recently have added Chase to our short list of awesome tv shows.

What was your favorite film?
Voyage of the Dawn Treader was pretty epic. So much poetic scripture played out in the film. Took my breath away.

What was your favorite book?
Unlikely Disciple was pretty good, but can't remember if I even read that this year. I also really enjoyed Crazy Love even though the audio version is pretty dry. And another dry but life changing book is 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. loved it. Wow, I just listed all non-fiction books. God has grown me!!

What was your favorite food?
We had a wedding dinner at Maggiano's at the Rim. Oh my goodness, four courses of wonder. I dream about that meal.

What was your favorite song?
This is my official top-down song with the kids. We just love this whole album!!

What were your favorite phrases?
might could. It just works.

What did you do for your Birthday?
not good. Moved into our new place. sick. prefer to forget it. perhaps I'm still only 30?

Which was your favorite holiday?
Christmas was awesome. Very low key, lots of chill time. I loved it.

What was the best gift you gave?
new tv for the bedroom to my sweet husband.

What was the best gift you received?
permission to buy an iPad. oh my, I love it so.

What did someone say to you that surprised you?
can't think of anything off hand.

What was your hobby?
hobbies indicate free time. I still like to scrapbook, but it's few and far between. I love photography and remain pretty committed to that. I'm pretty addicted to Facebook. And my personal quiet time. And this year I've enjoyed taking drives with the top down when the weather's nice, that's pretty fun.

What new discoveries did you make?
the iPad in all it's glory. LOVE it.

What was your guilty pleasure for the year?
pretzel bites from Pretzelmaker. They are amazing.

What did you do on an average day?
work out, shower, bible study, Berean classes, photo shoots, reception at church, pick up/drop off kids at school, remind them to brush their teeth, pay bills, plan meals, texted and of course, FB.

What was your fashion like?
skinny jeans. lots of scarves. Toms. flashier earrings. Big sunglasses (never leave home without them) heels. tons of big flowers on my left shoulder.

What was your career/job like?
photography is making a reappearance and I love that. 3 days a week receptionist/secretary at church, also loving that. Lots of bulletin making/ monthly calendar producing, scheming with Rob on youth events.

Did you make more/less/same amount than the previous year?
not sure. we'll see what year end numbers say.

What new skills did you learn this year?
managing my HUGE Nikon. Publisher (a lot better than before). Honed my study skills.

What do you think was your most valuable contribution?
lots of hard work. and some great photos. :)

What lesson(s) did you learn about yourself?
God's grace is enough for me. His Holy Spirit enables. I can depend on Him to show up, and He will.

What were the most significant events of the past year?
relocating to San Antonio. Selling our house. Grandma Ann passing. Becoming a two car family.

What were you afraid of?
failure.

What was your most memorable journey?
driving from Bemidji, MN to San Antonio, TX.

Which did you do more of? Smile or cry?
cry? nah, more smiling, but definitely did some crying this year.

Did you make any new friends?
oodles. We've fit in really fast at ct and I praise God for it.

Did you lose any old friends?
That stinking defriend button on FB annoys me! I refuse to use it!

Did you have any births/deaths in your family?
Yes, my grandma passed. And my dear friend Kim welcomed a baby girl. Can't wait to meet her!!

Did you fall in love/out of love?
more in love with Jesus.

What is your newest tech item?
my d300.

What was your most extravagant purchase?
iPad. Man, it made a lot of questions this year.

What should you have done more of?
prayer. I need to remember to pray without ceasing! It's much more productive than worrying!

What should you have done less of?
moping.

What made the biggest difference in your life?
the infilling of the Holy Spirit. life changing.

What gave you joy?
my sweet family. photography. worship. quiet times with my savior. receiving my prayer language. completing classes. driving my car with the wind in my hair.

What made you sad?
lost and hurting people.

What is your motto for the year?
Jesus saved me, He's saving me, and He will save me.

Photo 365 12.30.10

So I tried a long exposure today... It was pretty fun but didn't quite turn out like I'd hoped. Oh well, didn't have time to pursue anything different. This is me in my kitchen, starting dinner. I was hoping it would look like Superwoman, moving too fast for the shutter. :) I was on the phone while I was doing this, and truly making dinner. Nothing like a little multi-tasking.

Reflection

Well, I suppose you can tell from my multiple postings this week that I've had a bit more time on my hands than usual. And I've been loving it. Tomorrow I'm hoping to slip back into get-er-done mode to accomplish some projects, but it has been great being restful (not lazy, I've still kept up with the house-ish) for a change. I've watched some tv this week, got a lot of schoolwork done, taken some photos, cooked 3 meals and it's only Wednesday!! It's been really nice to live like normal people for a little bit. :)

But I'm thinking it's time for my big year wrap-up post. I've spent the last couple days mentally wrapping up 2010 and preparing to unpack 2011. I guess I'm a sentimental person, I treasure memories (and photos, obviously) and I like to mentally go back over things. 2010 had it's ups and downs, but overall it's been one of the best years of my life. Even typing that kind of surprises me, for a lot of reasons, but being 31 is right up there at the top of that list. :)

But really, we had some major challenges this year. We had walk through the Hayes retirement. Oh, that was a hard season. We love the Hayes and so enjoyed our season working with them. We bore the burden of knowing that for months before it happened, and I am grateful for that knowledge, we had a full season to pray and mull it over and seek God's will for our lives. We had every intention of staying at Trinity until God very clearly showed us He had other plans. So then there was that difficult season, having to announce and carry through actually leaving a place where our hearts were sown so deep. We loved our 3 years at Trinity and will always look back with fond memories and a deep appreciation for the people. I cried so hard over that decision. Our last Sunday was one of my most difficult Sundays thus far as a pastor's wife. And if those two difficult seasons weren't hard enough, the toughest one was around the corner. Rob and I living in seperate cities for 7 weeks. That was about enough to push me over the edge. Although, looking back, I can see where I wasn't exactly 'emotionally fit' for that transition because of the stress leading up to it.

But God is God. And He had me exactly where He wanted me. I was so desperate in that hour of need. I felt like my marriage was falling apart, being outside of ministry, my purpose was muddy, not having a church family to lean in to, or an immediate family to cry to... All of those things led to the perfect storm of dependence on God. In my darkest hours I cried to Him, and after fourteen years of seeking, He filled me with His Holy Spirit in a moment. My life has been set on fire ever since.

[Just to back step a moment, I felt like my marriage was falling apart, it wasn't. The thing about feelings is that they often lie to you, and satan will use this to his advantage. God's promises hadn't changed. Rob hadn't stopped loving me. I just felt like I was purposeless, useless. I know better.]

I'd like to tell you that everything was hunky dory from that moment of infilling. It wasn't. But the difference was that I now had the power to handle it. There is a definite difference in a spirit-filled life, I know because I spent the first 30 years of my life without it.

So we sold our house this year. That was another difficult transition, moving into a small condo while we got our feet wet here in San Antonio. But event that was miraculous in such a terrible housing market. In fact, being asked to come to ct|church was an incredible experience in itself. We had never been persued to the extent that we were here. We have been so accepted and loved and allowed to really jump right into an incredible youth ministry here. What a blessing!!

This summer we went to camp with our new students (less new to Rob than I after our 7 week commute) and of course it's camp and it's awesome... but then on Thursday night God revealed to me the next step in His plan for my life, and it scared the daylights out of me! So much so that it really took me 24 hours to process it before I spoke to Rob about it. The call into ministry was so strong, and has only become stronger with the passing of time. So we got home from camp and I registered with Global University for Berean courses. These courses have been challenging, enraging, encouraging, overwhelming, and edifying. As much as I've wanted to throw a book across the room, I have loved the challenge and accomplishment of it.

This summer with my grandma passing, it was again a reminder of the frailty of life, and the importance of each soul. It presses me to reach the people within my grasp for Jesus, to let my light shine strong and consider every soul worth my effort. Compelled by His love, her passing prepared my heart (like a meat tenderizing hammer to a steak) to receive the lessons in my Evangelism in the Local Church coursework. And her legacy of leaving her convertible to me was another tangible reminder of God's grace, even in our consitent unworthiness.

The trip to Minnesota was bittersweet. Actually, I don't think I have ever cried so much as I have this past year. But I notice as I become more sensitive to the Holy Spirit, I experience emotion much deeper than before.. I spent so much time talking to God about the loss of my grandmother. And the roadtrip home, all 1500 miles, well, it was an exercise in healing. I was so incredibly blessed by time with my mom, and then time with Lori, and then time with my Aunt as I worked my way emotionally and spiritually back to Texas, back to home. I was surprised at the sigh of relief when I crossed the state line, and I realized more solidly than ever before, that my home is where Rob is, and even beyond that, where ever God has called me to serve Him.

Returning to working outside the home this year has been an adjustment, but I've loved it. I love my job, I love serving pastors. Today someone in the office was joking with Pastor Doug and said that he could see why Pastor kept me around, because I respect his authority. And it's true, I love serving our pastoral staff. I acknowledge the call on their life and the sacrifice they've all made to serve God full-time. I love being in the office, answering the phone, praying for needs, participating in brainstorming and planning, and being at Rob's disposal. I feel like we are more the team now in ministry than we have ever been before.

And of course, photography has been a journey this year. I mourned over leaving Baytown for many reasons, but high on my list was leaving my clients. I had cultivated many relationships in two years of professional photography, and it was disheartening to start over. And it was a slow start here in San Antonio. But slowly, God is restoring my business, only at a pace that I can handle with all my other responsibilities. And I am grateful that I still have opportunities to shoot. I was so thrilled and humbled by the purchase of my dream camera body at the end of this year. It felt like quite an accomplishment, especially to have gotten there financially in a way that honored God.

We've grown a lot in the area of financial responsiblity this year, too. And that has been a slow and steady journey for us. I feel like we've reached the tipping point, not out of debt yet, but at least having a definite plan and living well within our means.

So I think you can see where it's been a good year. A year of stretching and growing and learning, which is uncomfortable but for our best interests. A year of big ups and downs, but mostly a year where I can consistently see the hand of God on our life. I'm sad to see it finish, but I'm excited for 2011. I'm probably most excited to finish the first level of credentialing, but pretty thrilled about where ATP is going as well. God is good and I trust Him. In 2011 I plan to put Him first and do the right things consistently. I don't think we can fail with a plan like that.

Photo 365 12.29.10

This photo is a bit celebratory... even though it may not look it. I just finished up the final questions on my Unit 4 exam in "Evangelism in the Local Church" which is my 5th course towards credentialing. Five of nine completed, I'll take my test tomorrow and then have pushed myself over the half way mark towards the first level of card-carrying A/G preacher. I'm amazed at how far God has brought me in just six months. I am also insanely grateful to be finishing a full ten days before my next class begins. I've accomplished my personal goal of 'catching up' with the classes I missed with the district, since they began in May and God called me in June. His grace and strength are my refuge. I could not have made it even half this far without His Holy Spirit empowerment. Feeling very blessed and encouraged right now. Of course, I haven't checked to see what that next course will be...

Beautiful Things

this song has been stuck in my head for the past two days. Now it's in yours. :)

A Social Network Christmas

Rob showed this video at our shift Christmas party. It was very powerful, kind of a what if Jesus was born today kind of thing...

Photo 365 12.28.10

I found this jewel at Family Christian Store a few weeks back. We had one just like it when I was growing up. Thought it would be a great way to sow scripture into the hearts of Eli and Sarah.

Photo 365 12.27.10

trying out my new year's resolutions early... We went to the Alamo today. Took a few photos. Loved this one the most. :)

2011 Resolutions.

It's that time of year...

Thinking about New Year's resolutions. I love that opportunity to start fresh. I need to check back to last years, but I'm feeling like I've made a lot of headway in 2010. It's about time. :)

So this year...

1.) Get a gym membership of my own. I've been mooching off of my friends with gym memberships long enough. Tomorrow I'm setting out to become one of those people with a gym membership. :) Ths resolution includes USING the gym 4 times a week, which I was actually doing really well with until Janet fell and broke her heel. Man, I've missed my gym buddy!

2.) Quiet time before Facebook. Been pretty great about my quiet time this past year, but now I want to work on priorities. So if you don't see me on FB you'll know I haven't done my quiet time for the day yet. I've actually already tried to implement this...

3.) Photo a Day. I tried this last year, but life got pretty hectic pretty fast and I quickly abandoned this when everything started to get crazy with the move and all.

4.) Finishing my first level of Berean and attaining credentials with the Assemblies of God. I'm just over half way down with this process. I need to finish 4 classes and then make my way through the interviews and (gulp) test on the 16 Fundamental Truths.

5.) Build my photography business. Usually I'm not this vague with a goal, and personally it's a bit more specific than that, but for the sake of the public, we'll just leave it at this. Relocating was a hard hit for ATP but we began to pull out in the 4th quarter this year. I'm believing for a strong 2011, with two weddings and a special project on the dockett already. Pretty excited about this.

6.) Paying off our Saturn! We are slowly but surely getting there, and this is our major financial goal this year.

So, that's it for the time being. I've got some other things brewing.. Cause it's me. :) Have you thought about what you'd like for the new you in 2011? And can you believe it's almost here? I thought we'd be flying cars by now. LOL.

Blessed Beyond Measure

We have had a beautiful Christmas. We both worked right up until the last minute. Even Christmas Eve itself was kind of stressful, but by the time service was over, we were ready to really chill and enjoy our family. We love going out of town to be with extended family too, but every other year or so it's really nice to stay home and enjoy our own traditions. This year we did some new things;

1) the Riverwalk. Oh my, that was beautiful. We went down on a night when it was almost 80 degrees! It was lit up fantastically and we got some really neat photos.

2.) Fiesta Texas. No photos this year, but we did really enjoy riding rides as a family, and especially the "Night of Miracles" performance. Incredible.

3.) The Bethlehem experience in Burnet. Wow, this was totally worth the 2+ hour drive up there. We went with several families from church. It felt like we stepped back in time and experienced the world the way it was when Jesus gifted us with His presence.

We also visited the Walkway of a Million Lights on the way home from Burnet. That was amazing too!

4.) Voyage of the Dawn Treader in 3D. Not so hot on the 3d, from a photography perspective it really kills sharpness, which is of utmost importance to me. But LOVED the story. We took the youth group, and our own kiddos. What a special night and shared experience. LOVE when our work makes us better parents.

4.) Christmas lunch at IHOP. Yep, you read that right. Sarah had the idea of going out for pancakes on Christmas Day. I was totally cool with this, I love to cook, but I hate that my family is not generally excited about a traditional Christmas meal. This was a perfect alternative. And it was yummy.

And of course, we still did the usual things, like the Children's musical. Eli was a wiseman and Sarah was an angel and it was fantastic, of course.

It wouldn't be Christmas without candlelight service, so that was pretty special too.

And now we have almost the entire week off. No church this evening, we've been compelled to 'spend times with our families' and I am so cool with that! Rob's talking to his dad now, but we are halfway through the new Robin Hood and I'm pretty sucked in. It's so nice to just lay around the house and chill. Last night I watched 3 episodes of House back to back. That never happens in my world. My number one goal this week is to relax. My number two is to finish up 'Evangelism in the Local Church' - I have one unit left. My number three goal is to organize the condo a bit, and number four is to prep our papers and numbers for taxes. If three and four don't get accomplished, I'm not going to get too worked up about it.

We are still hoping to drag the kids out of bed late one night, shove cups of hot cocoa in their hands and run around and look at Christmas lights. (that's on my list) And we may try to head back to Six Flags for a few more rollercoasters. But really, we are planning on just enjoying each other's company this week. And feeling really blessed to have that priviledge.

So Happy to be Home.

even if it means being sick to be here. :) I came down with a sinus thing yesterday, and today it's been lots worse, I'm hoping to get lots of rest tonight and be back on my game tomorrow. I have a family session that I'm EXTREMELY looking forward to, and then shooting the dress rehearsal for the children's musical tomorrow night.

I recently invested (fancy word for ca-ching) in a new-to-me d300 and WOW, I am loving it. I shot Eli's choir singalong today and it performed beautifully! I feel so blessed to have been able to work myself up to this level of camera, both financially and skill-wise. I look back at my growth as a photographer the past 3 years and it's really exciting. But I can also see where I have a long ways to go.

I love..

how when you suddenly realize you feel far from God, that all you have to do is carve out some time for just you and Him. Wow, what a difference maker in your day.

I'm still doing my quiet times, but with this season, they've been rushed. This morning I set aside a full half an hour, and even then it didn't seem like enough. What a tremendous improvement in my outlook.

I am so thankful for a Father in heaven who always has time to sit and chat a while.

(Christmas busy-ness is here, take time to celebrate the true reason for the season, He's waiting.)

amazing quote

just read an amazing quote by John Wesley in my Herm class - which I'm almost through, praise Jesus!!

"I was saved, I am being saved, and I will be saved". John Wesley

pretty profound, very true. I love Jesus so much. :-)

Mid-life Crisis?

so, I was thinking about it this morning. In the last 4 months I've started driving a convertible, going to the gym 4 times a week, and just bought a crazy new high end camera. Am I going through a mid-life crisis? Nah. :) But I am really enjoying life!! The convertible continues to be such a blessing. Every time I get in it I say a little prayer of thanksgiving for it, having two cars has made our life so much easier!! And the gym just makes me feel so much better! I had a great workout this morning, did the treadmill for about 25 minutes, and then made my way around the weight machines for about 25 more minutes, and then topped it off with my crunch routine... cause I'm still looking for that 6-pack somewhere. LOL.

I have been debating a new camera for a long time, and had a buyer for my d40x, which I have had since I first started shooting professionally back in 2008. I found a super deal on Craigslist, and as soon as I go get the right card adapter (the store opens at 9:30am) I'll be playing. I can't wait!! I've looked over the body pretty carefully, familiarized myself with everything on it. I've taken a few demo photos, but haven't really played just yet.

Everything else is pretty good. We are struggling a bit with Eli and his grades. Met with his teacher yesterday, and it's really just a matter or being inconsistent. He needs to learn to be a hard worker, so we'll be hitting that pretty hard in the next few weeks, building his level of responsibility at school and home. Needs to happen anyway, can you believe he'll be TEN in just about 6 weeks? I can't.

Sare's got some struggles of her own. She's in a peer pressure battle right now and I'm really praying for her to rely on the value system she knows, rather than the ones being pushed on her by this other girl in her class. If you think about her, would you pray for her? She's such a sweet kiddo, but she needs to learn that being sneaky is not a quality she wants in her life.

Church is awesome. Youth Convention went really well, we took a ton of people (I honestly can't even remember how many). Now we are gearing up for our Christmas festivities. We've got some teenagers speaking this week, so that will be really interesting to hear their hearts. And next week is Rob's Christmas message. The week after that we are seeing Narnia as a group, and also our White Elephant exchange.

We are really looking forward to Christmas at home this year. I love to travel and see family, but some years it's really nice for it to just be us 4. We've got a lot of plans for things to see and do, starting with a trip to ancient Bethlehem at the end of this week. :)

Ok, back to work. I, of course, have a huge list today... grocery store, quiet time, editing, scrubbing the kitchen/living room floor, and CAMERA STORE, obviously. Hope you have an awesome Tuesday!

Saturday's Devotional

(our senior pastor's wife, Janet, fell and broke her heel while we were decorating the church about ten days ago. she asked me to share tomorrow morning at the women's section Christmas breakfast. Let me know what you think!)

God’s Great Gift: Progressive Revelation

Janet, my friend, my mentor, and senior pastor’s wife, asked me to share this morning in her stead. When I asked if she had something in mind, she encouraged me to share whatever God puts on my heart.

I’m currently taking my fourth Berean Bible class. That being said, God’s pressing a lot on my heart these days. J Seriously, if you ever want to really grow in your relationship with Jesus, take a few Bible courses, it will blow your mind!

Last week I was reading about Progressive Revelation in my Hermeneutics class. The more I got to thinking about it, the more in awe of God I became. So much so that I had to stop reading and just worship Him for a few moments. I quickly came to the realization that Progressive Revelation is one of God’s most awesome gifts to humankind. My textbook defines Progressive Revelation as God revealing truths over a long period of time, according to humanity’s requirements, and at a pace slow enough that people were capable of understanding them.

So basically, Progressive Revelation is God’s divine plan to not overwhelm us with His presence, rather to reveal Himself to the human race in bite sized portions that His people can understand. Such a gracious God we serve! In His infinite wisdom He knew that confronting us full-on with His glory and majesty and righteousness would be heart-attack inducing. So instead, He formed a plan from the beginning of the Old Testament to slowly reveal Himself; His love and His perfect plan in a way that we could grasp.

1 Corinthians 13:12 frames it perfectly “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror, then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Think about it. Old Testament believers had the law, and other than brief encounters with a few select people, that was their understanding of God. He performed some incredible miracles along the way, but they did not have any idea of the capacity of His love. They did not understand that the law was motivated by love. Love sets boundaries to protect us.

Then, when Jesus came to earth, as a tiny precious baby boy, more of God’s love was revealed. That He would send His only son!! To a filthy stable!! Incredible.

His love was even more greatly magnified when Jesus went to Calvary. We get a deeper look into the heart of God when we revel at the pain He must have endured in the dark hours on the cross.

But then, after the joyous resurrection, when the Holy Spirit came and filled us with power from on high; divine truth and light living right here inside us, oh what love He has for us!! The Holy Spirit dwelling in us is such a precious gift! And the amazing thing about the Holy Spirit is that it continually reveals more of God to us within our own lives.

Which brings me to the other side of the coin that is progressive revelation. An interesting character trait that I’ve noticed about God is that He has a deep appreciation of systems, and when He finds a good working system, He seems to enjoy re-implementing it in another area of creation.

You see, progressive revelation works so well on a humanity-wide level, for the good of all mankind, that God decided to duplicate within us as well. How so?

It’s probably best explained with an example. My six year old, Sarah, knows that God is good. She knows He loves her and has a plan for her life. But her capacity for understanding is so small still. Pouring God’s full revelation of love on her life right now would be similar to holding out a Diet Coke can and expecting it to hold the Pacific Ocean. God understands this, and so He reveals Himself to Sarah in ways that she can grasp. And as she grows and trusts and leans on Him, her capacity for understanding will increase simultaneously. And by the time she’s my age, and has been serving Jesus for most of her life, she’ll have a greater understanding of the character of God.

I know this because that’s exactly how it worked in my life. I understand His heart so much more now that I’ve spent a few decades walking with Him. But still, studying these Berean courses, I keep throwing my hands in the air and saying “the more I study and learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know!!”

In the same thought, our sweet saints of the church are so full of God’s glory because they have been walking with Him for so many years. I say that with great respect, I am so looking forward to being a saint of the church!

Can you see how progressive revelation works within our own intimate relationship with God?

So how does this tie in with Christmas? Well, take a moment and to thank God for His gift of progressive revelation, a gift that began in the garden, and was so beautifully unwrapped in the manger 2000 years ago, that grew to take the place of our shame on the cross, and when the gift returned to heaven, He replaced Himself with His Spirit, living in our hearts.

How can we thank Him for this gift? We can use what He has given to walk in His love and by His grace every day. We can use our prayer language often and earnestly seek revival in our own hearts, and then pray that it will spread to our families, our friends, our churches, our neighborhoods, our nation.

Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find’ knock and the door will be open to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.”

And God, in His infinite wisdom, will reward us with more a greater understanding of Him. Because He’s found a system that works in progressive revelation.

Best Life Ever

Seriously. Things are so good. We had an amazing vacation, and I will eventually post some photos. We came back and jumped right back in to full gear, and then got another fabulous breather in Baytown with the Tindols. Back at it this morning with a full schedule and the church Christmas party tonight, it was awesome. Loved taking the nativity photos, can't wait to edit them. Photography has been wildly busy lately and I am so blessed and grateful. Even got a few chapters done in my Herm. book this week. I am learning so much from that class. I need to tell you all about Progressive Grace, it's my new favorite thing! Peace out for now, dear ones!

Random Photo of the Day

I've been thinking how much I've missed this little project lately...

Took some documentation type photos at the church today, and happened across this little gem. :) Looking forward to my two sessions this weekend!

December/January ct|women's Article

I’d like to cover an aspect of parenting that has become increasingly near and dear to my heart as my own children gather in age and stature. Each passing day they are ever closer to that leap from the nest (yet never from my heart). Let’s talk about prayer.

I know that seems like kind of an obvious answer… I teach Sunday School and my students always tell me that the right answers to my discussion points are usually Jesus, the Bible, or prayer.

I can’t imagine for a moment being a mom without being a prayer warrior. I remember when we first found out about Eli, after over a year of trying conceive, waving the test in the air exultantly proclaiming “We’re pregnant!” to a very bewildered-looking Rob. My slow and steady husband took a moment to process and while he pondered, my next breath was “What did we do?!?”. Suddenly the depth and brevity of bringing a helpless life into the world crashed in and around my heart and I began to question every aspect of our preparedness for this incredible responsibility we had just flung ourselves into.

In that moment, positive pregnancy test in hand, the crushing anxiety of being a parent set in. And truly, though it ebbs and flows, anxiety has been a faithful companion from that day forth. I began to think about every possible scenario of what could go wrong during pregnancy and delivery in the next nine months.

The reality is that when the baby finally arrives, that’s where the real worrying begins. You take that precious bundle of joy from the sterile cocoon of hospital out in to the real world, the nurse proclaims you ‘parent’ and puts your child in your car waving you off as you head off into the harrowing journey that is parenthood. I’d like to say it gets easier as your child grows, but danger lurks at every corner in the form of germs and falls and weird new diseases. (I distinctly remember being worried about Avian Bird Flu) Then they start school and face the giants of bullies and demanding teachers and loss of naptimes, and my, the list goes on and on. They only continue to grow as this lost and dying world becomes a darker and more sadistic place. Someday soon, in jr. high and high school they’ll be offered all kinds of opportunities to do Lord only knows what with God only knows who!

It’s overwhelming. And of course, you can see how my over-active imagination had a run away with me even before Eli was kicking in my belly. It’s enough to make a parent want to throw in the towel before they even begin.

So how do we combat all this anxiety and complete inadequacy we have as parents?

I’ll tell you what Rob and I did in that moment that we discovered our bundle of joy was on its way. We prayed. We humbly bowed down before the Creator of heaven and earth and everything in between and we asked for help.

When Eli was an infant, he had his days and night’s confused. I wandered around in a sleep-deprived coma for the first six or eight months of his life. We were too broke for cable at the time, so I would sit with my beautiful, babbling, fully-awake baby in the wee hours, night after night, and pray over him. I prayed for his health, his safety, his friends, his career, his walk with God and his future wife. Four years later, when God blessed us with Sarah, my prayer life doubled.

I have never stopped praying for either of my babies. And as they grow and change and move more towards that dreaded leap from our nest, my prayers only get more fervent. I pray for specific character traits and habits and values. I pray against harm and sickness. I pray for relationships and opportunities. But most of all, I pray that they will always walk with Jesus, because I know He knows the way.

When you become a parent, it’s as if a piece of your heart has detached, grown legs and begun walking around and making decisions all for itself. You can still feel all the emotions of it being your heart, but you gradually lose the ability to help it make choices, or to influence the environment around it. The only way to combat the anxiety that comes from that lack of control is to take it to Jesus.

So how do you love your teenager? You pray. You ask the Creator for wisdom, guidance, protection, SANITY, whatever you need at that moment.

Praying for you, my friends–a

“pray without ceasing” 1 Thessalonians 5:17

Scrap Happy

I did manage to squeeze in a few minutes of scrapping today, finished two pages. These other three are from a few weeks ago. Feels good to do something unecessary.

What?!?! Two Posts In 2 days?

Yep. Had to share these cuter-than-cute Trick-Or-Treaters. :) Sare has come down with a nasty case of strep, so it wasn't exactly the Halloween we had in mind, but we survived. Everything's good. Working hard on Hermeneutics (oh my goodness, it's a tough course!) and trying to get and stay caught up with photography. (a great problem to have) Looking forward to my Monday with Rob + one, Sare's not cleared for school until at least Tuesday.

A Full Heart

Oh goodness. I think about my blog often, having random things to post but never time to actually stop and post it. Life moves full speed ahead. Oh, but it's so good. I want to stop and tell you, to document how very good it is.

We love our church. Wow. Seriously. CT is the San Antonio equivalent of MAG (our home church way back up in Iowa). The hearts of the people are so full. There is so much joy here. And we are so excited for what God is doing in and through us. I feel like Rob and I are really beginning to experience each personal revival, and already seeping into our family, into our little cozy condo and we are poised to reach our students and our church and eventually our world. It's crazy exciting. My quiet times have been so blessed lately. I keep having to cut myself off, to stop short because I cannot spend the time that I long to, each day goes a bit longer and seems to be a bit more intense.

But as that happens, my other responsibilities slide. Oh dear, you should see my house! (it's a good thing you can't) And I feel quite behind on my studies for credentialing, but it's only because I'm trying to work ahead to be set to take some time off for the holidays. I have completed and tested on three courses now, which means I'm officially a third of the way there through my first level of credentialing. A ninth of the way there towards my education for my final goal of ordination. woohoo!!

The weather has changed. (at least for the moment) We are enjoying a cool front, and let me tell you, ENJOYING!! It was 87 on Tuesday and I'm just over the heat. Today is the first day that really feels like fall, it got down to 47 last night and Rob and I snuggled close. Never a bad thing.

We went to the Apple Orchard last weekend with our church family. It was beautiful, the air was a bit cooler up in Hill Country. The more we explore the surrounding area, the more I love San Antonio.

In a few weeks we are taking vacation and going to explore Pedernales Falls, it's about an hour and a half from here. I can't hardly wait! Vacation sounds lovely, but exploring sounds fantastic!! We are prepping for Fall Fest here on Sunday. Sarah is going to be Pinkalicious and Eli wants to be an iPad, so I need to get cracking on his costume today. They are both pretty excited.

Starting next week we are challenging our students to carry their Bible with them every where they go for an entire month. It's part of the 1Month challenge and are pretty psyched about it. Should make for some interesting discussions and life applications.

Rob and I are doing great. More in love all the time; I think ministry keeps the spark in our marriage in a lot of ways. And working together too. It's been so fun working in the church office, serving our staff. They are all amazing people and I love being here with them three days a week.

Okay, gotta get back to my Hermeneutics book. It's kicking my tail. blessings!

Last Night's Message..

(I was so honored that Rob asked me to share my bible study techniques with the youth group. And I was greatly inspired last weekend by the singularly amazing Suzanne Cox. I really felt a freedom to speak last night, it was probably my favorite preaching experience to date!)

How to Read the Bible For All It’s Worth (props; toilet paper, Purpose Driven Life, Word for Today, deodorant, life savers)

A daily Bible study is like toilet paper. It’s necessary. Whatever you used yesterday isn’t going to do you one bit of good today.

1) Remove yourself from distractions. Have a special time and place that you meet with God. Keep this appointment. Consider how it feels when a friend stands you up.

2.) Come with the right attitude. Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% the attitude you have. Prepare your heart to receive what God has for you.

3.) Have a plan of attack. Hunt and peck scriptures are great for getting a good nugget of truth, but it makes it hard to see the big picture. Explain my bible study method. Consider a One Year Bible Study plan. Or pick one book of the Bible and start there. Or you can find a good devotional book and use that as a source, but still refer to your Bible and read the passages of scripture pointed out in your text. I recommend “Purpose Driven Life”. Or you can do the daily devotional on the national youth department’s site, which is called Firestarters. If you don’t have access to a computer, you can use Word for Today, which is a free publication the church puts out. Also you can download uVersion from Lifechurch.tv to your phone or touch and there is a daily read button on that ap.

Another great aspect of bible study is scripture memorization.

4.) Ascertain truth for yourself. You may consider yourself a strong Christian; experiencing God in great altar times, receiving a lot from Sunday and Wednesday messages, loving times of corporate worship. But if you aren’t seeding your faith in the word, it will likely fall away. (read Luke 8:5-13, the story of the seeds) Your relationship with God cannot last if it’s based purely on emotion or other people’s connection with God rather than truth. The only way to gain truth for yourself is through the word of God. Also, reading God’s Word yourself will guard your heart and mind against heresy, or false teaching.

4.) Repetition breeds results. What you do over and over again equals who you become. Decide who you want to become and create a plan of action. Like working out; I don’t want to be normal weight obese. I’ve decided I want to be in shape, so I’m working towards it. I want to be a Holy Spirit filled, set apart for Jesus, scripture quoting Christian, so I’m taking steps towards that. Don’t miss your appointment. Yesterday’s Bible study is like yesterday’s deodorant. It was good and necessary for yesterday, but it simply isn’t going to cut it for today.

5.) Compounding Interest. Age is in your favor. Consider if you invested $100 a month from the time that you are 18, stopping at 28. Leave that money be, and you will be a millionaire by the time you retire. The same principle works with your quiet time now. You have an opportunity to make a greater investment now than any other time in your life. I guarantee that the spiritual investment you are making will have a far greater return than any financial investment you can ever make. Daily quiet times are the difference between serving God for a life time and serving God for a season.

I'm Here!!

I bet you were starting to wonder? :) I'm here and everything is going fabulously. A few hiccups with overwrought schedules, but mostly just blessed beyond belief and growing in leaps and bounds! Today I take my final for Relationships and Ethics in Ministry which has probably been my favorite course thus far in the credentialing process. The more I study, the more I realize how utterly dependant I am on God and the Holy Spirit to make it through these courses. Good Night! :) But it's been so healthy, coming face to face with my inadquacies only makes me lean harder on God and focus more on my relationship with Him.

Which leads me to 10/10/10, a program we've started with our students. Basically we are devoting ourselves to 10 minutes per day devoted to each; worship, prayer, and bible study. I've seen this work wonders in my life and I'm honestly at a point where it's difficult to limit myself to 30 minutes a day with God, so I don't unless my schedule is really jam packed. But I find other points in the day to remain in touch with Him; praying in the shower, while I'm doing my routine in the morning, jamming out to worship in the car to and from school and work. You have opportunities, seize them!!

Well, I'm off to work and then Women's Retreat tomorrow. I'll be in touch!

PS - the photo is from a random old church we found while taking a family convertible drive last week. I've been trying to be very intentional about unplugging from my 'tasks' and spending specific time with the Rob and the kids lately, otherwise I find I never give them my full attention. Not good!

Prezi!

heard about some very cool presenting software today at school of all places... This presentation is for a sermon I'm going to preach in about 10 days. Keep in mind, these are only my key points. :)

How to Read Your Bible For All It's Worth on Prezi

October/November CT Women's Magazine article..

This is my second article in our bi-monthly women's newsletter at church.

Can I take a moment and be real with you? It may hurt a bit, but it’s something worth reading. Sit down a moment, take a deep breath, and brace yourself for an uncomfortable truth.

Your student is likely not ever going to think you are cool. Yep, I said it. I hate that it’s true, but that doesn’t change the reality of it. You, and I, well, to a teenager, we aren’t cool. There’s probably not anything we can do in the way we style our hair, choose our clothes, the music we listen to, the way we speak; none of those things are going to heighten our ‘cool’ factor with our teenagers. And what’s more, the harder we try, the more obvious our efforts are, and the lamer we appear. Yes, I just used lamer in a sentence.

So you might be pretty discouraged right now, wondering the point of this article. Here you thought you were going to be encouraged in your relationship with your teenager and instead I point out the disarming truth about your lack of coolness. Don’t be embarrassed, it’s my lack of coolness, too! Let me salvage this situation and pick you back up off the floor with another important truth about your teenager.

Your teenager doesn’t want you to be cool; they need you to be authentic. They need you to be real. Teenagers are bombarded with fakeness on a daily basis. Every where they turn they see people trying to be something they aren’t. They are constantly told they aren’t good enough the way they are, but they can fake when necessary. They rarely have deep encounters with moral compasses such as truth and love. Seizing opportunities to be authentic will speak volumes into their lives at a critical season of growth.

How does a parent pursue authenticity?

Let them know you aren’t perfect. Exercise dependence on God and do so in a way that your teenager sees you test and grow that dependence. Let them see you defeated, and then show them how to apply the promises of God to your life and try again a second time. Explain to them that you can’t survive the pressures of this world outside of an intimate, personal relationship with the creator of this world. Let them experience love, disappointment, grace, frustration, elation, and encouragement in the safe confines of their relationship with you.

As much as it is important to be authentic with your own life with them, realize they need you to genuinely care about their life as well. When you speak to them, speak the truth in love. When you comfort them, have compassion for their situation and their depth of understanding. When they rejoice, share in their joy. When they walk in to a room and speak to you, stop what you are doing, make eye contact, and begin to genuinely listen. Treat them like they are the most important person in the world in that moment. And really, aren’t they?

Authenticity is a dying art. Students today are aching for truth, and if they don’t find it at home, and in you; they will look somewhere else. Stop trying to be cool with your teenager and focus instead on being real. They don’t need another friend, but they do need the parent that God has called you to be. Above all, pray and seek God’s grace to love your teenagers according to His perfect love. Until next issue…

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

Galations 5:1-2

The WM's Fall Retreat Poster

Janet, my senior pastor's wife, asked me if I had any ideas for a poster representing our section. I did. :)

Don't Be Too Impressed...

I haven't been scrapbooking lately, I did these pages a few weeks back, I'm pretty sure before School Of Ministry. I am considering playing this afternoon though, and really thinking that it would be a good plan along with house cleaning on Tuesday... actually, some of these pages are from Iowa, and maybe even before that!

My Life as a Juggler.

Wow. I feel like when I finally get a chance to post on here it's only ever to pause and say how insane my life is. I wish I could say things are different.. Well, they are different, but not any saner. LOL.

I'm baking cupcakes right now. Out of a prefuse need to do something domestic with my daughter, I guess. We made the batter and carefully poured it into the tins together. Eli is cleaning toilets (we've added a commission/chore schedule to our home life). Sare's in the bath. I've got laundry sorted and whirring upstairs. For the moment it doesn't feel like anything is falling apart, but I've come to realize that it is a very delicate eco-system and one small thing could offset the balance and send the world spinning again. :) It's all good though, right?

After 9 weeks back in the work force I am only beginning to realize the implications of my working outside of the home. My piddly 16 hours a week (plus lunches and commute is more like 20) is enough to make a splash in the family finances, but also enough to drain my energies to fix dinner, do laundry and coupon cut. I struggle with a constant division between the mom I used to be (frugal, creative, driven) and the working mom (passionate about my job and the opportunities and relationships at work). I think part of the adjustment is just the nature of ministry, it's a beast that will consume any talent, time or wherewithall you may throw in it's general direction. I say that in love, as a person who is passionate about ministry, simply because ministry is a means of serving my Savior.

Insert one Bible class a month into that equation, and the seemingly desperate hope of renewing my photography business, and my, it's a mess I lead. :) But I love it. And when I'm tired and frustrated and wishing someone else would run to HEB and feed these people that is what I remind myself.

I had a little moment a few days ago, on the 12th in fact. When I realized that October 2nd is my next class final and I had finished exactly ONE chapter in my textbook. And getting that far in itself had been the result of serious effort! I had a really good conversation with my mom (who told me she was exactly my age when she went to seminary, how cool is that?) and she really encouraged me that the Holy Spirit would give me all I needed. And that He has. Last week was insane at work, every day I squeezed as much as possible into every hour of the day. This week was so slow, the phone barely rang and I was caught up on all of my work. And because I work for some of the most awesome people on the planet, I've been given permission to work on my class when it's slow. So after my prayer with mom on Monday, I am half way through chapter 13 in my textbook, one and a half chapters to go. Praise God! I'm hoping to finish it up today or tomorrow, and then, oh my goodness, take a week's mental break between classes! That's huge, because last time my classes overlapped by a week and that was super over-whelming! Too much material to keep active in my brain, for sure!

One of my major bummers this week was that my new-to-me convertible started experience insane electrical issues. Pretty much a bunch of yesterday was consumed with trying to find someone who could diagnose it. I still don't have an exact diagnosis, but they are thinking it's one of the major computers in the car. To the tune of $500-800. waah. You know me and my frugality, that just bums me out beyond belief.

Oh well, such is life. And overall, things are good. Going to try to get a good night's rest again tonight, it really helps keep stuff in perspective. See you soonie!