Easter Sunday at JPJ

There is a picture of me as a little girl going to a church event where a person was dressed up as an Easter Bunny. I was put in this person's lap, took one look at the "bunny" and burst into tears. A lovely picture was taken to capture this moment.

Is this what Easter is all about? Bunnies? A celebration of springtime?

I also remember becoming a Christian. I understood that Jesus was God. He lived a perfect life and taught about His Father- saying that those who know Jesus know His Father. God the Father asked Jesus to take on all the sin of the world and be the propitiation for our sins. Make the payment for sin that we could never pay. For you see, the wages of sin is death. Jesus asked His Father to take this cup from Him because Jesus knew how big of a price this was to pay. Jesus knew the plan. God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believe in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life. That Jesus is the way, the truth, and life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. Jesus knew that without paying the penalty for our sin, there would be no way and no eternal life for us. So, He died. He paid what we could never pay. He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way, but God has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. So, how are we to know that this death paid for our sin? Easy. Jesus triumphed over it. He rose again. Therefore as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. Jesus' resurrection is a sign of what happens in our heart when we believe in Him. A sign that He really can overcome death and therefore overcome sin. We are made new. Made as if we never sinned. We are as close to God and His faithfulness, gentleness, and love as Jesus is. That because we know Jesus, we know His Father. Christ Jesus is the one who died- more than that, who was raised- who is at the right hand of God who is indeed interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus became my Lord the day I became a Christian.

That is what Easter is a celebration of. Spring is just a hint of that. Once you have the Holy Spirit, you see the gospel in everything. God is continually pointing to himself. In our hearts, in creation, in our circumstances. He wants us to know Him. Spring is a time of renewal. Of coming out of winter and coldness into life and new things. Just like coming to know Jesus. 

So, decide this Easter. Will you celebrate the bunnies and eggs only or will you celebrate with the angels in heaven? Will you decide for yourself if Jesus could be what He said He was? 

My church is hosting an Easter service at the John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, VA. Come and hear about Jesus. See His people and His church. Look into what Jesus is about. Look into His heart. For yourself. It will be the biggest decision you have ever made. 

I will be there. I hope to see you too. 

http://www.porticoeaster.com/

    

Passion 2012

Our Community Group is awesome. There is a girl in our group who is in college and wanted to attend Passion. It happens once a year and it's basically a Christian conference with amazing worship leaders and speakers. It's like Woodstock for Christians. It's geared toward college students.. claiming Isaiah 26: 8 "Yes Lord, walking in the way of your truth, we wait eagerly for You, for Your Name and Your Renown are the desire of our souls."

She wanted to go, but couldn't afford it. So, our group collected money and surprised her with $300 + to attend the conference. It was in Atlanta and she was traveling there with some friends.

I talked with her this Sunday about it and she of course said it was amazing. She said that God did a lot of things there not only in her heart but in other's hearts. One of the workers at the Georgia Dome (where the conference was held) became a Christian... just from hearing what was happening there. Awesome.

Another thing was this song. She said this song did it for her. She was so in awe of Our God and how big He is. That He is all over the world working... and we are in one place having our one experience, but He is vastly bigger than our one experience. Check out the song for yourself.



The words are.... How great is our God. Sing with me how great is our God. And all will see how great how great is our God. The name above all names. Worthy of all praise. And my heart will sing how great is our God.

I was thinking about what she said. And I see it too. Some of our greatest friendships have been with Christians from other parts of the world. God is the same wherever He is. And worthy to praised in all the nations.

That's My God

God is so good. Some friends of ours had a yard sale this weekend at our church.They are adopting a child from Uganda. You can visit their blog to find out more. I went to help sort some clothes on Wednesday afternoon thinking it would be easy peasy. I walked into our church and it was wall to wall stuff. Amazing. Furniture. Books. Video game systems. Clothes. Home Decor. You name it, it was there. I was blown away by the shear amount of things that were donated. A friend and I sorted through little girl clothes and it took us over an hour to get through the mound of stuff. And that was just little girl clothes.

April and Chris went from this much stuff on Monday.....

To this much stuff by Saturday.....

Incredible. They were hoping to raise $3k for their adoption. They raised $8k.

It's amazing to see God's hand on someone. To take faith so simple and blow them away. That's my God. A God who loves us with an everlasting love. That cares for each and every thing we care for. Who hears us when we pray and answers us. Who takes a little yard sale and shows off and shows my friends how much this adoption matters to Him. That's my God. I am so glad to be counted as one of His children.

Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! Psalm 117

Night Night

Ethan is so fun. Last night we were putting him to bed and Jason started to play his animals that make noise. Ethan thought it was the best thing ever....

I have started praying this verse over Ethan. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. 3 John 4. People ask me if I am praying for Ethan's future wife. I respond by telling them that I am praying for his salvation first. It would give me no greater joy than to know that the little boy that I love is securely in the hands of my Savior and my God.... to know that Ethan understands the depth and breadth of love that God has for him. That it even outdoes Mom and Dad's love for him. That would make me so happy! I pray that this is true for Ethan one day. Then, I will start praying other things for him. Right now, that is the most important prayer coming from this Momma to her God for Ethan.

Tuesday Nights at our House

Tuesday nights at our house are Community Group nights. Jason and I are blessed to host a group of Christians in our house every Tuesday night. We start with some dessert and conversation, move onto prayer and discussion of the sermon that was taught on Sunday at church, then we split up guys and girls and have prayer time.

It is so fun to hear the heart of other Christians. You think you know someone, and then they reveal a piece of themselves that God is working on. It's beautiful. I love how God uses what people say in our group to teach me more about Himself. I am sharpened as Proverbs 27:17 says and my heart is encouraged. I find myself taking notes during the sermon so that I can meditate on it later and be familiar with the passage preached on before Tuesday night.

We are so blessed to have each other. I am so thankful for each and every one of them!

Favorite Song

This was my favorite song from camp this week. It is so simple but so true. Jesus, you are so good. :)

10/40 Expedition

Whew! I just finished going on an expedition for the 10/40 window. Or at least I helped lots of kids to.Our church hosted a morning camp all week for kids to learn about Jesus. I volunteered to help out with games.

The camp was really fantastic. It was all centered on the 10/40 window and sharing the gospel and praying for people in that region. The 10/40 window is 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude. It is origination point for all the world's major religions. It contains the most people who don't believe in Jesus in the world. They believe in their gods, but not the one true God.

Each day was a different place and a different focus. It gave the kids some exposure to different cultures in the world. For snack, they would have rice or noodles or whatever kids in that region eat. For games they would play things that kids in that region play.Each group of kids had a "base camp" that was a scene from a different part of the world. We would pray for the kids and people in each region everyday and talk about how God loves them so much. It was a really cool way to explain Christ to the kids and teach them about prayer and sharing the gospel.

There was this character called Addison Venture that showed up each morning. He was a guy in our church who was playing a part- where he was looking for the 10/40 window. He kept having crazy things happen to him. On the last day he finally understood what all the people on his journey were trying to tell him and he "Jumped to J". He accepted Christ as his savior.

I had a lot of fun with games. Each game had a spiritual connection. We would play the game and then talk about a spiritual truth. For example, we played a game similar to duck, duck, goose. At the end, I explained that in our game we had a hole in the circle that we were trying to fill, and we have a hole in our hearts that only Jesus can fill. We were created to know God and only with Jesus in our hearts can we know the one true God. We played a game where the kids had to pretend to be a dragon today. The head had to reach the dragon's tail and pull on it. I explained that the church is like a dragon. There are all different parts- head, tail, body, legs just like there are different kinds of people with different kinds of gifts in the church- singing, cleaning, teaching, saying hi and we need all these different kinds of people to worship God together. It wouldn't work if we were all a head or all a tail. And just like we had to be strong and hold onto one another to be a dragon, we need to encourage each other in the Body of Christ. We need to be strong for people who are having a hard time and need encouragement and help.

I'm glad that I got to be a part of what God did this week. Now I need a good night's sleep! :)

The gaming area... minus all the wild kiddos.

 Ethan enjoying himself in the nursery.

Baby Dedication Sunday

I have been struggling with a few things since having Ethan. Namely, wanting to protect him from anything that I consider harmful to him. A book I was reading suggested that you create a "Protective community" for your child. Their little hearts will absorb anything so the people and situations they interact with should all be pointing them to Jesus. I was really struggling with that. I don't want Ethan to live in a bubble that I create for him, but I want him to know God in a intimate way. How does this work?

So, I prayed. God calmed my heart and reminded me of Hannah in 1st Samuel. She wanted a child for so long and was unable to have one. Then, she gave her boy to God. She sent him to serve in the temple-- where she had been mocked and she knew there were some very unholy people and shady practices going on right  under the priest's nose. She trusted God with Samuel (her son) and knew that she was giving Samuel to her Creator and not the circumstances around Samuel. Her faith was well placed, because Samuel grew up to be the spiritual leader of Israel.

God said-Look I can do this- I can show Ethan who I am. Just be faithful and trust me. Pray that he will have discernment to see me. Pray that Ethan will know me and love me. That's the most important thing. So, I am. I am trusting God to see Ethan through. To love Ethan better than I can and to protect him when he needs it and strengthen him when he needs strengthening.

Dedication Sunday came right on the heals of this lesson. God has a sense of humor and timing. :)  God reminded me that He is the author and perfecter of our faith. It is my job and our church's job to point Ethan to Christ. But it is not my job to save Ethan- because I can't. There were lots of friends and family who came to the service. Ethan is a loved little boy!

Ethan loves Pastor Matthew as you can clearly see in this picture. He used to do somersaults in my belly when he would preach on Sundays when I was pregnant.

Ethan doesn't understand the whole praying concept yet. :)

John and Barbara (Jason's grandparents) and Tom and Lucy (Jason's dad and stepmom) came.

Getting Ready with Prayer

Hebrews 11:6
And without faith it is impossible to please Him (God), for whoever would draw near to God must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who seek him.

What a truth. I am holding onto that truth right now.

So, any day could be the day that I go into labor. Apparently, bringing the worst pain I have experienced in my life. I need to pray a lot right now. I need strength and encouragement from my Heavenly Father to make it through.

Last night, we had our community group (our small group with our church). We split up guys and girls for the second half and share our prayer requests. Then, we  pray for each other. Last night, instead of praying for everyone, they all wanted to pray for me specifically. How humbling that these women would want to pray for me and what is coming this week! I was and am so encouraged. Hearing their prayers was like hearing the heart of God. They were praying things for me that I had not even thought about. It was really sweet. I hope that God will reward our seeking of Him together last night!

I also wanted to post a few pictures from the surprise shower that these same women threw for me a few weeks ago. I was beyond shocked. They got me good. :)

Some of God's Greatest Gifts are Unanswered Prayers

The title may lead you a little astray, but I have been thinking about so many of my prayers that have been boldy and blatantly answered by God lately. I thought I would share. My heart is overwhelmed with how much God really cares for my every need....

4 people have inquired about taking my long term sub position- 3 of which I know personally and would be fabulous

I'm pregnant!

Very specific situations at work have been made better and more glorifying to God

Jason is a deacon of finance (one of his dreams)

My good friend Dana is pregnant and due soon ( we had been praying for a long time for pregnancy together)

Some family members are being drawn closer to Christ in the most unexpected ways

Our friends who have been missionaries in the 10/40 window were able to come back to the states and find a job working with the same nationality of people in America while they persue a degree that would help them to go back and do a better job - and God is providing for their every need

There are still a lot of prayers that I have. These are just a few that have been constant in my life for the last year or two that have been answered. I am so encouraged. I know that some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers because they stretch me to wrestle with - why am I asking? Is this what God would want? What is God calling me to do in this? What does scripture say about this? And they force me to rely on my Savior for things- that I know are only possible with Him.

Jude 24-25
 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Prayerful for Pastries

A few weeks ago, I was supposed to pick up pastries on Saturday for church on Sunday. I forgot. When I realized I started to be upset with myself for forgetting. I decided to pray and ask God to provide even though I forgot.

On Sunday morning, I prayed again before heading out for church. When I arrived, I went in the kitchen to check out the situation. I was hoping for the usual small box of pastries-- mabye someone else picked them up on accident. Instead I was met with more than 10 boxes full of pastries. I was blown away. I went and found Justin ( our pastor) and asked him what the deal was. He said that a lady at our church had brought them in for us to put out for Sunday morning. She works for a caterer and they were extras.

I was encouraged. God showed His overwhelming mercy towards me in that moment. I was expecting a little and He overwhelmed me with a lot. How cool is our God?

Holy Week!

Portico (my church) has created some videos that are all about 5 minutes long. The videos are to help our church focus on Holy Week. Jesus was crucified on Friday. We should be thinking about why and what was going on. The videos help us to do that.

They are good, except I have a hard time focusing on what is being said with the camera stuff sometimes. Check it out for yourself.

I hope you are encouraged. :)

Portico Band (yes, they are on itunes)

Pastor Chris Atwell

One Conference

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDwHxQZNMgo

I took off work on Friday to attend a conference at our church Portico. The conference was called One and it was on the topic of racial reconciliation. I grew up in Texas and the racial divides were there but not super tense in my life. It was not until I moved to Dallas and became a teacher of primarily hispanic children that I understood racial divides.

The conference had some main focuses. The first speaker preached Jonah. He talked about how unrepentent and bitter he was. Jonah refused to go to Ninevah. God had to call a fish to swallow him to take him there. Then, after he was vomited out onto dry land Jonah sat down. God's first word to him was Arise-- Jonah was stubborn. The speaker, Eric Mason, said Jonah would rather die than repent. Eric said we get that way and that is not what God wants for us. He wants us to have joy in Christ and not bitterness because we refuse to repent of the sin that is in us. Jonah saw the entire city of Ninevah turn to follow Christ, yet he still did not follow Christ in his heart. The people he hated were repenting better than he was.

There was a Q&A session that was awesome. I was really convicted about memorizing scripture. The pastors could spout it out and it was obvious they had spent a lot of time chewing on the words of scripture. Amoung the verses brought up was Matthew 6:1--Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Derek Mondeau recommended the book Being White to help white folks to realize things about race. Things that we don't think about and are ignorant of.

The last session was Derek. He talked more topically how we should go about being unified in the gospel-- even transcending race.  His first point was that we model the incarnation of Christ when we model humility. Point 2-There are 45,000 denominations in America today-- the body of Christ is not unified. Point 3- Listen to people! Surrender our pride and power to dwell with other people. Christ did this. He was born in the likeness of man but was God. Pretty humbling. He said that we are really pragmatic- task oriented. Jesus was on earth 30 years before he started his ministry of 3 years. It would have been more pragmatic to be here 3 years and then minister for 30. Then he stopped himself and said-- how silly that was. Jesus offered atonement for our sins and the redemption of man. He came what he was sent to do. He didn't need 30 years, he only needed 3. Things take time and should not be forced. We should not be so consumed by our lists of things to do that we lose sight of who we are, who God is, and who other people are.

A couple more books were suggested: One Body, One Spirit and Obedient Unto Death

One last story that broke my heart.Eric's father lived in Jim Crow South Carolina. It was so bad for him that he joined WWII to get out of it. He fought bravely and was wounded in action during the war. When it was all over, he and his all black unit came home and participated in a victory parade. During the parade white folks from his hometown spit on him and his unit.

I am about to start teaching Jim Crow and Massive Resistance at school with our curriculum. Please pray for me. I want to share personal stories from all sides and around Charlottesville. It is going to be a tough topic, but a good one to learn from. I would love for my kids to gain not just knowledge but some wisdom from this time period.

Donuts

Tomorrow I plan on doing one of my favorite things for the kids I teach. I am bringing my homeroom class donuts and orange juice. I love it!

So many teachers "reward" kids good behavior. It tends to end up being used as a threat to behave well to kids that don't. If you don't do this you won't get this. I must admit I do this on a somewhat regular basis. BUT....

Tomorrow I am bringing donuts to kids because I want to. I love the excitement and joy they get from a surprise breakfast. So little work for such fun. I so wish I could bring you along when they walk through the door and see the donuts.

At church one Sunday, Chris ( my pastor) was preaching about how God loves us. He was saying that God loves seeing us have joy in Him. He is glorified and loves when we see Him for who He is and delights in that. He delights in us. I forget the context exactly, I could look in my journal to find out. I do remember in that moment, I was thinking about the closest thing I have to a parent relationship and I thought of my kiddos at school. I thought, what would it look like to show God's love that way to kids?

So, the next week I brought in donuts for the first time. I told them I got donuts for them and to come get them. A kid asked what are they were for. I told him I got them just because I wanted to. I enjoy them and I wanted to do something fun for them. I think they were just as excited that strings were not attached as they were about donuts.

I got a lot of thank yous (because the kids I teach are awesome-- I am a little biased though) but I so enjoyed the anticipation of their happiness and the delight of seeing it. :)

Anyway. I am excited. If you happen to be at Spudnuts tomorrow morning at 7am-- I may see you there!