Miss Anything Else, but Don't Miss My Voice

Our eight year old son, Joshua, wants to be baptized.  He initiated it.  He has set the date. He is telling people about it, and he's been talking about it a lot.

What I love most about Him talking about it, is that when he refers to it, He does it mostly from a "relational" stand point.

Last night, before bed, He was talking about hearing God's voice.  He brought that up, not me.  He said from His little eight year old heart and mind something to the effect of "I think I'll have more conversations with God once I get baptized."  He then said, "I think that sometimes during the day, I'll just stop to listen."  Then He followed that up with,  "How will I know if I'm hearing His voice in my head, or if it's just my thoughts?"

I thought to myself, "Great thoughts, and great question."  I told him that the more He gets to know Jesus, the easier it will be to recognize His voice.  I also told Him that God would never say anything that would go against the Bible, like He probably would never tell you to go hit your friend as hard as you can, and hurt them just for the fun of it.

But the truth is, and I will talk to Josh more about this too, don't most of us struggle sometimes with knowing whether something is our own thoughts, and knowing if it's Jesus?  And I do think it has become easier to discern the more I've walked with him, but there are still those times that I have to say, "Lord, is this me, or is this you."  Quite frankly, that's one of the determining factors for me.  If I have to stop and ask that question, then most often it's God.

There's a lot more thoughts I have on this, and a lot more I'd like to share, but I have to prepare for a mtg this morning, I just wanted to throw this out there because it was on my heart this morning, AND because I'm reading a book called "Come Away My Beloved" by Francis J. Roberts, and what I read this morning went right along with my conversation with Josh, and I loved it, so I wanted to share.  I read this:

"Miss anything else, but don't miss my voice. Other voices may introduce disharmony, but My voice will always bring peace to thy heart and clarity to thy thinking.  For ye shall hear My voice behind thee saying:  This is the way, walk ye in it, when thou turnest to the left hand or to the right."

May we stop and listen today.

A Few Things I Would Miss If I Left Our Church

I'm not planning on leaving our church, but if I did, it would be things like this that I would remember about our church, and things like this that I would miss:

1.  Travis Beltz and Mike England standing in the congregation and calling praise team member's cell phones right after we start worship.  They think that's funny.  :-)  We have had to LEARN to make sure our cell phone are OFF!

2. People, on more than one occasion, not letting me out of the sanctuary.  (Travis) The praise team leads during 2nd and 3rd services.  In the 3rd service the praise team is dismissed prior to offering.  I stay and play the keyboard through offering, and then leave during the sermon to fellowship with the rest of the band. That is, if someone is not standing on the outside of the door, holding it so I can't get out. :)

3.  Getting stuck in our bathroom behind the stage.  enter at your own risk.  You might not come out.  ha. (the door sticks)

4.  I miss Karen Keim's Sunday School class.

5.  And even now, though I am there every Sunday, I miss having the chance to sink deep, ONE ON ONE, with  people in our church.  Those conversations would typically happen in Sunday School or on Wednesday nights at Bible study, neither of which I have been able to attend in recent years due to scheduling conflicts of ministry duties.

I love the church family.  Which in all seriousness doesn't look much different than a regular family.  There are good times, hard times, happy times, sad times, goofy times, annoying times....but doing life with my FCC Family is a special gift to me.

You Are Never One of Many to Me...

"You are never one of many to Me. You are precious and dear to My heart, yes, even as a very special treasure. For I love you more than you can ever comprehend, and I long to gather you in My embrace and hold you close to My heart. Do not hold Me at arm's length because you have a sense of unworthiness. Have you not read that the redeemed are brought near by the blood of Christ? Your sins are not covered: they are washed away!! They are not only forgiven: they are forgotten!!"

Adapted from "Come Away My Beloved" by Frances J. Roberts

I read this today and loved the way the writer reveals the heart of God.

"You are never one of many to me."

A Quick Trip...

As I type this I am driving, okay not driving, riding in the van on our way home from Nashville.

Denny and I had a GREAT time last night in Nashville at a fundraiser for S.E.E.K. a ministry that helps people in Kenya. We had been talking about wanting to get away for an evening, just the two of us, when we received the invite to this event. It was an excellent benefit put on by Barbara Mandrell's daughter Jaime.

We got to see our friends Matt and Christy again. We always love hearing Christy sing, and Matt was tearing up the mandolin (impressive).

We also loved hearing Mike Farris and The McCrary Sisters. Oh my. SOOOO incredibly talented. I had never heard of them prior to this, but obviously others have, because Mike has won a Dove Award. Which is probably the most prestigious award given to Gospel Artists.

And I also THOROUGHLY enjoyed watching my musical hero, Barbara Mandrell, enjoying the evening. If there was a "congregational worship leader" present, she was it!

I haven't heard any totals, but I know that there was a lot of money raised. Glad we traveled, and got to be a small part of God's plan for this ministry.

Here's some pics from the evening.

Mike Farris and The McCrary Sisters

The Mandrell Sisters...still lookin' GOOD!

Matt and Christy

In Need of Something Real

I have found myself in a bit of a funk lately. I would love to tell you all about it, but I haven't quite figured it out myself. I can't "label" it. I'm not sure why I find myself at this place. I'm not sure how to describe it. But in the midst of the "funk" I've yearned for something real, and I CAN describe what I mean by that.

I've yearned for "real". Real stories of God, not in Bible days, but in modern day, and how He's moving in the lives of His people here and NOW. I haven't just yearned for it, I've been desperate for it. I'm not sure why that desire manifested itself, I just know that it has burrowed it's way into my heart.

What I love about God and the way He works is that HE knows what we need, when we need it. I hadn't told anyone about how I was feeling. To be honest, I hadn't even had any long discussions with God about it. But one day this week I was sitting at home watching TV, when I felt a stir in my heart and I said to God, "I need something real Lord."

About that time Denny said, "I want to read you a story from the book I'm reading. I think you'll like it."

To be honest, my first thought was a sarcastic "Great. Denny's gonna read me a story."

Denny came into the family room and sat down and started reading. He hadn't spoken three words before my tears began to flow. I felt God's presence immensely. I got up from my chair, trying to hide my tears, and turned off the TV so I could give HIS story my full attention.

Denny began reading a story to me about a man named Richard Stearns. He was the CEO of Lenox a company that sells China and dinnerware. One day a friend who worked for World Vision was speaking with Richard, and he said something to this effect, "Richard, World Vision is in need of a President, and every time I pray about who it should be, you come to mind." Richard, basically said, "I'm not interested. I'm not the man for that job."

I'm not going to tell you all the details, but in short, the rest of the story was about the incredible way God revealed himself, in the next six months or so of Richard's life, through people and circumstances, until Richard knew that he WAS the man God wanted to lead World Vision.

I was teary eyed through the whole story as Denny read to me the MANY ways God revealed himself in the here and now. A modern day man. A modern day God. And as Denny read, my faith increased.

But it didn't stop there, God continued to give me more stories throughout the week of how HE is showing off in the lives of modern day people....and in doing so He showed Himself greatly in my life by fulfilling my desire for something "real".

I'm so thankful for Jesus. Thankful for the personal relationship that He has invited us to have with Him. Thankful that the relationship is REAL. That He answers when we call to Him. That He met me in the middle of my "funk".

How is it that you need Him today? What "real" thing do you need? May you call on the One who has proven himself faithful for generations.

"Call to me, and I will answer you...." Jeremiah 33:3

(the book Denny read to me from was "The Hole in Our Gospel" by Richard Stearns)

BTW, in case you're wondering, yes, Denny is still a Children's Advocate for Compassion International, but we obviously support all who help those in poverty.