A Quote

Greg and I were talking the other day about spiritual maturity and I said something he thought was good enough to quote, so I thought I would share it with you. "Transformation is never comfortable."

When a caterpillar becomes a butterfly, a metamorphosis occurs in the physical body that can't be comfortable, but it is so worth it.

Puberty and menopause aren't comfortable, but both offer something better than before.

I wasn't comfortable coming to Christ. I remember being anxious. Baptism was an anxious time as well. Being asked to give the Bible reading and prayer in front of the congregation was a time of nervousness, sweat, shaking, dry mouth, heart pounding, etc., but I grew through it. Teaching was the same. Praying with a group of people the first several times, and leading ministries all afforded at least once sense of discomfort.

If we truly desire God to transform us, we can expect it to be uncomfortable. The greatest service our churches can do for us is give us the opportunities we need to be stretched and grown, not to be made comfortable. The sincere will embrace it and move forward. Others will dig their heels in, giving in to a selfish desire stay an infant, and refuse to go grow. Where are you?

Blessings on this chilly, overcast Friday.

Why Why Why?

Just for fun . . .
Why do we press harder on a remote control when we know the batteries
are almost dead?

Why do banks charge a fee on 'insufficient funds' when they already
know there is not enough money?

Why does someone

Believe you when you say there are four billion stars; but have to
check when you say the paint is still wet?

Why doesn't Tarzan have a
beard?

Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks
when you throw a revolver at him?

Why do Kamikaze pilots wear
helmets?

Whose idea was it to put an 'S' in the
word 'lisp'?

If people evolved from
apes,
Why are there still apes?

Why is it that no matter what color bubble bath you use
the bubbles are always white?

Is there ever a day that
mattresses
Are not on sale?

Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that
something new to eat will have materialized?

Why do people keep running over a string a dozen times with their
vacuum cleaner, then reach down, pick it up, examine
it, then put it down to give the vacuum
one more chance?

Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the
end on your first try?

How do those dead bugs get into those
enclosed light fixtures?

When we are in the supermarket and someone rams our ankle with a
shopping cart then apologizes for doing so, why do we
say, 'It's all right?' Well, it isn't all right, so why don't we say,
'That really hurt, why don't you watch where
you're going?'

Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that's
falling off the table you always manage to knock
something else over?

In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in
summer when we complained about the heat?

How come you never hear
father-in-law jokes?

And my FAVORITE......

The statistics on sanity is that one out of every four persons is
suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of
your three best friends -- if they're
okay, then it's you.

Private or Personal?

I was reminded of an event from the past this morning. Many years ago two couples from our church had a falling out and as a result, one couple left. I wasn't particularly close to either couple but would often think of the couple that left and be concerned about them. One day I emailed a pastor and asked if they were doing okay. The response I received was "If you want to know, ask them." At the time I remember feeling shoved away. I wasn't asking for details about what happened, I wasn't a gossip and have never been part of a gossip circle. I just wanted peace about them or to know if I should be praying for them. At the time I was a fairly new Christian and trusted this was the appropriate response. In some ways it was. The pastor was trying to stay out of the situation and send me directly to them. However, I didn't know them well enough to call them out of the blue and didn't want an awkward situation. I also wasn't looking for anything more than if they were okay. Yes or no. Communication was definitely lacking on both our parts. If I had been asked why I wanted to know, or if I had explained why I wanted to know, I trust I would have received a more appropriate response.

The situation reminded me of the question, "Is our faith private or personal? Our relationship with God is as individualized as we are. How we came to know Him, our experiences with Him, how much we choose to grow, are all personalized to us. Is our faith private? Absolutely not. We are called to fellowship, called to be ready to share our testimonies, called to bear one another's burdens and joys. And how can we do these things if we keep everything bottled up inside us? In a true community of faith, things are shared in a healthy way. Not to destroy someone's reputation, but to lift them up in prayer and with encouragement. I truly believe a tone must be set from up front and often about the sin of gossip, but the flip side must also be taught, to feel safe and free to share in order to lean on each other in our time of need.

I remember going through some unsure physical ailment a few years ago and Greg asked if I minded if he shared it with some people. My attitude was, "Sure, the more people that know about it, the more people will be praying for me."

Let's not hide our difficulties from one another. God may use it to give us hope and peace from someone who already went through it or use us to give hope and peace to someone going through it after us. Let's not miss an opportunity to be blessed or to be a blessing. And let's not let life's past hurts influence our todays and tomorrows. Life's too short.

EQUIP Update

Yesterday marked the first leadership training session for EQUIP. The three hour session had plenty of variety. We caught up on every one's week, (which is a really good way to find out prayer requests!), Greg and I shared our testimonies, we went over our vision and values, how EQUIP got it's name and what it stands for, and had a time for worship and prayer. We also shared a meal together. It was a great time and there was lots of laughter. This team will work well together.

If you read my last blog, I had a bit of a panic about how to share my testimony with new parameters placed on me. I tried all week to find the time to dedicate time to preparing this, but couldn't find it. It was an act of faith that God would have me share what was important. The words flowed freely as I spoke of my journey with God. When I was done, which took maybe 5-10 minutes, one of the team members said, "I salute you" a few times. Another team member said we had a lot in common. I take that as a testimony told "rightly", as it deepened my bond with them. Greg told his after me, it was typed out on 2 or 3 pages and he went into great detail. It lasted about 30 minutes and everyone got a good sense of his journey.

I must say it was a frazzled, stressful day. It started with me taking Kristen shopping for a skirt or dress for her to wear today on a school trip. It was required. We spent 4 hours going around Turlock to find something. It is REALLY hard to find something modest for an 85 pound 16-year old these days! Add to that the dress code rule for her school of the hemline being no more than 3 inches from the floor in the kneeling position. And she's much more strict on herself and following these rules than I am. In the end we found 2 skirts and a pair of shoes and she has tops at home she can wear.

Then it was home to clean house (I worked Friday), shower, and put together a salad. I didn't end up with enough time to make the meal so we ordered in. It worked!

Today we have plenty to do after church. Blessings on this gorgeous fall Sunday!

S-T-R-E-T-C-H

I'm finding myself stretched almost daily. Last night Greg told me that when we start our leadership training Saturday for our new church, I'm to give my testimony. Up until now, he has referred to it as 'tell them everything about where we've been.' Easy enough. The good, the bad, the ugly. I can do that. I was thinking. . . this is information sharing. The purpose is to make sure everyone knows everything about us, so if anything ever comes up, nothing will be a surprise. Last night, however, he put it in a different light. He called it a testimony and said, "If told rightly, it will impact their hearts." He said he was even sharing verses. It felt like this was a much bigger deal than spilling my guts. I had to tell it rightly in order to impact their hearts. Verses! Yikes! And he wants me to go first! I'm feeling very threatened. All of a sudden I feel like it's a competition, and he won the toss. I'm sure it will be fine and I'll come up with something that will work, I just don't like how I got a different spin on it than I got before. At least it wasn't last minute. That was stretch #1.

Stretch #2 came in the form of a Pastoral visit. There has been a part of me that has resisted doing a 'visit'. I never liked the idea. I guess it's because I've had one and didn't appreciate it at all. It was 1986 and I had become a Christian a few months prior. I was still living somewhat of a worldly life, not dressing appropriately for a Christian woman, halter tops and too short shorts. I had visited one of the larger churches in Turlock and filled out a visitor card. One summer Sunday afternoon there was a knock on my door. I didn't have a peep hole and opened it. There stood 2 Christian men and a Christian woman from the church to visit me unannounced. Imagine my discomfort! They pretty much asked if they could come in and so we sat in my living room while they asked me questions and I asked them one question at their prompting. I wondered, "Why is it that when the choir finishes singing on Sunday morning, there is no applause, but when they finish singing on Sunday night, there is applause?" A logical question for someone trying to find out why there was an inconsistency in their worship. They replied, "Well, we feel Sunday morning is a more reverent time and applause is not appropriate then." I felt it was a weak explanation which didn't make sense to me at all, so I didn't attend there much longer. (Not to mention the unannounced and uninvited visit!).

Back to my second stretch. Greg had been wanting to visit two of the couples in our small group for some time. We had tried setting something up to see them for sometime. The men were open to it, the women not so much. (You know how us women are, we have to clean everything, which means extra work, never feel like it's good enough, and stress over it). I didn't want to put them through that.

We've done a few things for these couples the last month or two and have been by their houses because of it. We found out where this one couple lived because he and his 4 kids were at the Bible study one night (his wife was home sick with the flue and an infected root canal procedure) and he got symptoms of the flu while there. He was in no condition to drive home, with the effects coming out both ends. Greg offered to drive him and the kids home to Ceres while I followed in our car. We had to stop at our house to get my license and when I came out, he lost it in the gutter of our driveway. Anyway, that's how we knew how to get to his house. So, we set up a time to see them yesterday morning and went over. We had a great visit for about an hour, prayed for them and a friend who was there and left. I felt a little like we were intruding, but they didn't make us feel that way. I think it's because I'm kind of a private homebody and I assume others are too. Greg says that Pastors of small churches have different expectations on them than Pastors of larger churches, that's why Pastors of larger churches don't normally do home visits. It's good we went. We found out that they need 2 sets of bunk beds, as their kids don't have a place to sleep. IF YOU KNOW OF ANY BUNK BEDS OR 4 TWIN MATTRESSES OR 2 DOUBLE MATTRESSES LET ME KNOW. We'll pick up and deliver.

I continue to be stretched in this new role. Sometimes my flesh wants to fight it because these concepts are new to me, but I'm not going to let it win. There's too much at stake.

Blessings on this foggy/sunny Wednesday!

Remodel Update

It's been awhile, so I thought I would give everyone an update on where we are on the remodel. We have almost all the electrical done. We need to install some bulbs in the can lights. The concrete guys pour the back patio/walkways and side of the driveway tomorrow. We are are part way done with baseboards and need trim installed around doors and the window in the living room. Then we paint the living room. We need to paint the extension one more time. It was first painted a green that was too dark, like a hunter green, then we swung too light to a lime green, but I think we've found the right color now. We're also waiting for a plumber to come and use a special tool to remove our existing bathroom fixture so we can install a new one. Someday, the vanity will be replaced.

The things that are on our list as God provides are an entry table, an entertainment center, and our desks and office furniture. Because of the dimensions involved, we'll have to do all these items custom. Instead of doing these now, we decided to re-roof and replace 6 existing windows, so structurally, we'll be fine for the next 20-30 years.

I'm happy to say that for the first time in months I woke up this week WITHOUT a new layer of dust on every surface! What am I looking forward to most? It just might be the 20 yard dumpster that's coming so we can throw all our demo stuff away and clear the backyard for landscaping (Greg's favorite part!) It also might be the table and hutch coming Saturday. I just wish the extension was painted the right color first!

Today was spent removing trims from the living room doors and window, going to physical therapy to fix a slipped sacroiliac joint that went out in July after pulling nails from rafters, then again when helping someone move by taking something off the moving van in September. Then I went to work for four hours. Tonight, it's trying to tackle my desk. Tomorrow, we wrap the back of the house so the new concrete doesn't splatter against the new stucco. (That would be so ugly!)

Blessings on this chilly Tuesday night.

An Example

This post is dedicated to my friend, J, who had a bone to pick with me for not blogging since Tuesday. Thanks for encouraging me to keep blogging!

As I was reading through Job this weekend, I read chapter 29 and was quite impressed with Job's character and the way he lived his life. I saw this as an example to follow. I don't think I'll ever measure up, but it's good to shoot for this. Check it out:

1.Job continued his discourse:

7...."When I went to the gate of the city and took my seat in the public square,
8.the young men saw me and stepped aside and the old men rose to their feet;
9.the chief men refrained from speaking and covered their mouths with their hands;
10.the voices of the nobles were hushed, and their tongues stuck to the roof of their mouths.
11.Whoever heard me spoke well of me, and those who saw me commended me,
12.because I rescued the poor who cried for help, and the fatherless who had none to assist him.
13.The man who was dying blessed me; I made the widow's heart sing.
14.I put on righteousness as my clothing; justice was my robe and my turban.
15.I was eyes to the blind and feet to the lame.
16.I was a father to the needy; I took up the case of the stranger.
17.I broke the fangs of the wicked and snatched the victims from their teeth.
18."I thought, 'I will die in my own house, my days as numerous as the grains of sand.
19.My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches.
20.My glory will remain fresh in me, the bow ever new in my hand.'
21."Men listened to me expectantly, waiting in silence for my counsel.
22.After I had spoken, they spoke no more; my words fell gently on their ears.
23.They waited for me as for showers and drank in my words as the spring rain.
24.When I smiled at them, they scarcely believed it; the light of my face was precious to them.
25.I chose the way for them and sat as their chief; I dwelt as a king among his troops; I was like one who comforts mourners.

Before I read this, I thought of Job as a wealthy and righteous man who didn't deserve the difficulties he was facing. I felt sorry for him. But when I read the itemized list of things he did for the poor, handicapped, and needy, I had an all new respect for him. This is true not because of how he was treated by those around him, but because of his generosity and care for all people. He is an example, for sure.

One of the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven Covey I've mentioned before is to begin with the end in mind. I've taken this class a couple of times and taught parts of it. The exercise I did with the class was to have everyone write their epitaph. They had to imagine they were at their funeral and people were getting up to eulogize them. I had them write what they expected them to say. Then I had them write what they wanted them to say. Hopefully they were the same thing. Usually they were not. Then we had to figure out how to close the gap. They had to write the step they would take to correct the course of their life regarding their behaviors, attitudes, and words. They also had to consider mending bridges.

If you want to end your life with a list of accomplishments like Job's, what do you need to do now to make sure that happens? Remember, it's not for the accolades of men, we do everything for the glory of God.

Blessings on this chilly Sunday night.

Miscommunication

We are blessed to have a wonderful Christian man doing our tile floors. He speaks about 95% Spanish and about 5% English. This requires me to pull my Spanish from high school out and do my best to communicate with him. I do fine speaking, as he can understand me, but when I try and understand him, that's where the trouble is. He knows enough English words so we don't have to call his wife very often to interpret. My ears just can't separate the Spanish words when he speaks at a normal pace. They all run together.

As he was leaving yesterday, he thanked us again for the work. Then he said something like, "Que Dios, something something trabajo something something trabajo." I got the "That God" or "Because of God" part and the work parts, but I couldn't decipher the rest and put it all together. I can read and interpret well, so maybe I'll have him or me write it. I did ask him to speak more slowly (a very handy phrase) but I still couldn't make it out. I feel like I missed out on something very important, but I'm determined to find out what he said.

I think of the times when talking to someone in English and there was still miscommunication. Sometimes we are interpreted as having a certain heart (usually bad) and that was neither what we said or how we felt, or what we meant. Sometimes we read others' body language and misinterpret that. We can go through life thinking one thing about a person that is totally wrong. Is that fair to them or to us? Nope. That's why clear, frequent, open, and total communication is so very important. I think of all the relationships that have been prematurely aborted because of miscommunication and it breaks my heart. Let's vow to not only communicate accurately with others, but also to verify they understood the heart behind what we said. Let's also vow to make sure we understand others accurately. One of Steven Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People states "First seek to understand, then to be understood." A good rule to live by!