If You Say Go

A song we sang in church this week end meant so much to me that I came home and found it on the web. It's a song written by Diane Thiel. It's called If You Say Go.

If you say go we will go

If you say wait, we will wait

If you say step out on the water

And they say it can’t be done

We’ll fix our eyes on you and we will come

Chorus:

Your ways are higher than our ways

And the plans that You have laid

Are good and true

If You called us to the fire

You will not withdraw Your hand

We’ll gaze into the flames and look for You

©2002 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Music Services)All rights reserved. International copyright secured.CCLI song #3548640

Spending or Being Spent?

Sunday in church, I was reminded again of a phrase that I heard a long time ago in youth ministry. I remember challenging my students with the idea of "being spent" rather than "spending" so much. They would be looking at cars, movies, concerts, etc. trying to decide how the little bit of money they had could be "spent". It was an interesting time trying to retrain thinking that was solidly reinforced by television, radio and peers. Way back then, there wasn't instant messaging or even text messaging to consider either.

Pastor Dan reminded us again that our lives are not our own if we truly want to be a follower of Christ. We've been in a series entitled "Can We TALK?" A delimma happens in the heart of the believer in Christ. We want to become more holy - separated from sin in our world- yet we want to invite the world to join us in the journey with Christ. How do you do both?

Oh, I know there are lots of models out there for how it's being done. The God directed ones are very fruitful. I am reminded that "by their fruit you will know them". I have made all kinds of excuses in my past when there is no "fruit" in what I have been doing. When all the rhetoric is sliced away, it's still about the "fruit". I think that's why churches in general struggle with goals and accountability. God might honestly be directing, but to find the right model to implement that direction might take more than one shot. Somehow, it seems like admiting one model is not bearing fruit and considering another model to see if it might bear fruit is not "spiritual". Bleah! What is that all about?

Back to Sunday's sermon . . . Pastor Dan confessed that he is trying to find that place where the church is serious about being a "church to the unchurched" yet finds the clarity to disciple in deeper ways those that are following Christ. It's certainly not that we don't have a bunch of serving opportunites through the evangelism arm of the church. Recently our church helped do a Home Makeover for a gramma who was taking in grandkids whose parents were drug users. That was a huge task, but over 160 volunteers found themselves entrenched in something meaningful and rewarding. They were being spent. In addition to small groups galore, there are a variety of training classes on Wednesday nights. Seasonally, there are training classes for teachers, counselors, etc. It's not like the church is sitting around being eye candy for the community.

So? Why is this series impacting me so much? It's making me ask, "What can I do?" I know that would encourage my pastor. He reminded me of something I read awhile back. The idea was about not just living for success but living for significance. I am learning that in the hiearchy of needs there is this place of "self actualization". Self-actualization is the instinctual need of humans to make the most of their unique abilities and to strive to be the best they can be.
For a follower of Christ, this is about discovering and understanding how God has created you; your giftings and passions are able to be lived out with abandon.

I made a decision one year ago to make a huge shift in my life. I believe it was a God directed move. It has not been easy nor has it gone the way that I thought it might. That's ok. Learning to wait has not been a forte of mine over the years. It seems that this is my time to learn to wait. I believe that I am to keep my eyes and ears open to what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to me. It's not that I am not doing something while I wait; I'm going to college, working, dealing with cancer in the family and homeschooling. I just know though, that there is that place of being spent that I have not found yet. I still think it will become my work and my college training will mesh with it as well. It feels like I have so much to give and I want to be spent meaningfully. I guess I will see in the days ahead how this will find real life application.

Certified Framer

My company trained me and certified me to be a picture framer. That should keep me out of trouble, eh?

This picture is a Google image, but sometimes I feel like I'm slaving over a picture about as hard. It's all about the details!

I'm excited to have my certification framed and on the wall with my co-workers. We're a team now!

Adventures in the Mountains

This cute little guy jumped right up in front of my daughter to pose. She almost dropped the camera in surprise, but had enough reflexes to snap the pic.













These fellas were on a ledge from which they could look down . . . about 10,000 feet!













This little guy was posing for more treats! He had some unusual coloring. He was very friendly though.

A Sunday Evening in the Mountains

Finishing my Ethics class was a blast! My professor read quickly over it before my last class and said it looked good. Yeah!

This week begins two more classes in this endeavor to finish my BA in Organizational Management. "Early Christian Literature" is on Wednesday night and "Leadership and Management" is on Friday night. I've had a NT Survey class much like the Wednesday class. I'm not expecting that to be too hard. The Leadership class is of great interest to me, so I want to glean as much from it for "real life" tools to use. I know I am in this time of significant shift in my life.

Our family took a trip to our nearby Grand Mesa last Sunday. We packed a picnic lunch and headed for the hills. We picked up a friend in a small town on the way. The flowers were beautiful. The weather was sunny, yet cool. It was a great evening as we watched the sun set over the Grand Valley. My daughter took some great pictures. There are several fires in our area, so the smoke across the valley was very visible. Still, it made for some great sunset shots.

The World from My View

What does this picture say to a person looking at it? It's the old question - "What do you see?"

I am trying to articulate my world view for a university class. I thought my views were fairly clear by now considering my age. My professor (and my reading) have rather shaken that notion though. Having your views "shaken" is not a bad thing. I'm not forsaking my convictions, yet I am really having to rethink what I really do believe. That's a good thing!

I don't think I'm as cut and dried in my views as I once was. I suspect that some would consider me wishy washy or mushy in my thinking. What happened to that "have an answer for every question" kind of thinking? After all, wasn't I taught to be able to "fix" every problem and leave people with answers rather than more questions? What ever happened to life fitting nice and neatly in 10 easy steps?

My pastor's sermon this past Sunday was a reminder that sometimes our neat little answers aren't anything that we'd want to hear if we were on the questioning side of things. One point he stressed was that wherever Jesus went and whatever He did, He started discussions. He was often found in conversation with people. My take on that idea was that He was always trying to convince others that He was right and they were wrong. Is that really how He worked? The people He was continually scolding about right and wrong were religious people. Ever notice that?

I wonder if I'm as clear about my own judgementalism and sin as I am about others' actions who don't serve Christ?

Our Summer Happenings at the Moment

My daughter went on a hike with our church's youth group yesterday. They hiked up into the mountains to Hanging Lake. The incline is fairly steep, but the trail is good. She said she could see lots of fish. I guess the fish are safe up there because there is no fishing. Geesh!

Our middle son is working at WalMart at the moment. WalMart is doing a major remodel at one of its stores in our town. Our son says he is enjoying working there and would like to continue. This job is only temporary, but he's trying to connect with supervisors who could recommend him for a permanent job. This is really good for him and he seems to be rising to the occasion.

Today, I hope to take the last part of my training to be a picture framer. After I do that last section of training, I will study for a few days and then take the final test. My supervisor informed me that no one had failed it in the department yet. I think she meant to encourage me. Yikes . . . I'm not sure that's how I took it! I am enjoying this department. My supervisor is a good teacher and has a great heart about her. The two other framers are incredibly helpful and kind. I have seen them both goof up stuff and they are very open and forthright. We all know we can goof and feel safe with one another. That, by itself, is a great reason to want to be with these co-workers. There's no backbiting or gossiping. It's just a great place to be!

I'm taking Personal and Business Ethics in university at the moment. Our professor has a way of making me think about what I thought I always believed. He doesn't have an agenda - or I'm not picking up on it if he does. He really is trying to get us to define our world view. The interesting thing to me is that he doesn't demand we have a specific world view. He just wants us to be able to define it and explain why we think what we think. Our class represents quite a range of world views. It's been interesting to see those various views play out in class. Our professor says he is a facilitator more than a teacher. I know that I am learning from him, but his classroom style is much different than my college classes 30 years ago. (One would hope that would be true, wouldn't it?)

Continued Prayer Request

This is an email I sent out this week. We've been trying keep people informed as to where we are. I didn't know exactly how detailed I should be on these things, but a couple of nurse friends said the more details, the less guessing. It just helps people be able to pray specifically. Sooooo . . .there ya go!

Wanted to let you know that my dh's pathology test came back not so good. Our doc is going to try to present his case to a group of oncologists that get together in Delta to discuss treatment. There is cancer in his lymph nodes although we don't know how extensive. At the moment, the doc is wanting my dh's body to heal for the next month. Then I guess we'll get together and bat around some ideas. The doc said probably the next step is some hormone treatment that stops the testosterone from feeding the cancer. We are going to check our insurance here to see what oncologists are in that plan here in GJ. He said that would be great and he would refer if we'd like. I think we're in kinda shock mode at the moment. My dh is struggling a bit with incontinance. The doc said that might happen and has some exercises that my dh needs to do. They are supposed to be mailing us that pamphlet.