Saying Thanks

I may have mentioned Andy Stanley from Northpoint Community Church before, and i still listen to his podcasts all the time and his messages online. He's a wonderful speaker and is so awesome at life application sermons. This last one I listened to he gave us homework. The homework was to write a thank you note to the person who helped us ask Jesus to become our personal Savior so that we may be saved and have eternal life in heaven.

Being raised in a Christian home I had to really think about this because for as long as I can remember I've always known there was God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. However, when did I truly ask Them into my heart?

Pastor Sam Hamstra Jr. is who I need to thank. He was the pastor at our church when I was a teen. Those years I spent in youth group were awesome! Until now, that was the time in my life when I felt closest to God, that's when I accepted Jesus as my personal Savior. Sadly, for me anyways, Sam left and moved onto another church and our new pastor just wasn't as excited for the youth as Sam was. Life went on and most of it without much God in my daily life. I managed to find the church he's now pastor of online. I'm hoping to be able to connect with him and send him my Thank You Note soon.

I also, feel I should thank my sister Rachael for taking me to that first Joyce Meyer convention, because that's where my love for the Lord was renewed. We're headed to our 3rd convention together in a month or so and I'm so excited for it!

So, you can take this post and read it and take it for what it's worth, or you too can take the time to sit down and write a Thank You Note to the person that guided you to asking Jesus to be your Savior. I'm hoping you'll take that time.

God's Plan

Things are changing at Lakeland Community Church, and although change can sometimes be a difficult thing, it's also a necessary thing in order to grow. About a month ago, Pastor David Howie and his wife Phyllis informed us that David would be retiring from the ministry and taking a position as a Pastors Coach in Greenlake Wis. It of course is bittersweet, on one hand we are sad that they were leaving us. We have grown to love them and enjoy spending time with them and will miss them dearly. On the other hand, we know that God would never have called David and Phyllis to move on to something new, if He didn't have great things in store for both the Howies, and for Lakeland Community Church! I am so excited to see what He has in store for us!!! God is alive and strong and at work in our church and I know that He will continue to work through our congregation. He has already handpicked our newest pastor who will help us to grow in numbers and in faith. I can't wait to meet him!!!

My Creed

For this class I'm taking at church with our Pastor, we had to write our personal creed, what we believe in, what our values are, whats important to us. I just thought I'd share it here. enjoy, and of course feedback is always welcome!

I believe that I am not in charge of my life, God is. I believe that the right way to live is by trusting in Him to guide me in the right path, in His path. I believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, and that with God, all things are possible. I believe in raising my children to love Jesus and to know that God is always watching, and that He is always with them. I believe in sharing my faith with others, to bring others to know the love of Jesus Christ. I believe in spending time each day with God, reading, praying and praising Him. I know that in order to continue spiritual growth I need to make this a priority.

I value family; my family is my security, my safe place, my place of comfort, my place of joy and laughter. I know that in good times and in bad that they love me and I them. I know that family needs good communication to function properly. I believe in listening to my children, and talking to them with respect. I believe that parents should stand united as a team in front of their children at all times. I believe in setting boundaries and sticking to them. I believe that parents and children can also have a friendship within those boundaries. I believe that you should not only teach your children to love one another but also to love themselves. Praise and compliments may not be enough, you must tell them to love themselves.

I value my wedding vows, I believe that husbands and wives need to respect each other, listen, encourage and affirm one another always. I believe in never going to bed angry and always kissing each other before being apart. I believe that the intimate aspect of marriage is vital to the emotional and mental part of it. I believe that it is important to be one another’s best friend and not to keep secrets from one another. I know that communication is key and cannot be overlooked. I believe in holding hands in public and saying “I love you” often.

I believe in surrounding myself with people who help my being. Good community is crucial for a positive well being. Community that builds you up, brings you joy, shares in laughter and has empathy for one another. I believe in community that consists of other believers. Believers that can fellowship and grow and learn from one another often.

I value creativity and self expression. These two things help me to be who I am, they feed my soul and they bring me peace and harmony. I believe that there are no mistakes in art, only ideas that belong on a different canvas. I believe you are never too old to paint with your fingers and make a mess. I believe in living colorfully by living the life of an artist both in the studio and out.

I believe in not taking life to seriously, that you should have fun with each other and you should laugh often. I believe that a good sense of humor is one of the best personality traits a person can have. I believe that laughter is the best medicine and that it helps ease the stress of the day.
I believe in simplicity, that life should not be a constant check list of things to do. I believe in the power of the word “no”. You cannot be all things to all people. I believe that in order to keep peace in your family, to have time for spiritual growth, for community and fellowship, creativity and self expression, you must learn to say no to things that clutter your life. I believe in prayer and deliberation before saying yes to anything that would take my time away from these things. I believe am not in charge of my life, God is.

The Passion of Christ.

For every Christian Easter is the most wonderful day of the year!! The day that we celebrate our Lord and Saviour rising from the dead so that we may have eternal life in Heaven with Him.

To help us better remember just how glorious this day truly is, Jerry and I and the kids watched The Passion of Christ. This is not a movie that I enjoy, or even look forward to watching. I do feel however, that it is something that every Christian should watch, at least once a year at this time. I feel we need to understand and be reminded just exactly what we are celebrating on Easter. Jesus bore so much pain and suffering for us, I know I for one and so unworthy of it all. I am grateful that my children have what very well may be a clearer picture of what our Saviour truly went though. Certainly much more clear than the picture I had painted in my head from the stories I learned in Sunday School. Never in my wildest imagination did Jesus bleed much more than a trickle down his face from the crown of thorns, and there wasn't much more than welts on his back from the whip. Oh how naive I was, as I know were many others. To know that my children will have a better understanding of exactly how much suffering Jesus went through for us, suffering He could have ended with just a single word. I hope that by watching this movie that His sacrifice is much more meaningful and real for them.

Praise God for that blessed 3rd day!! Praise God that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is alive and well and sitting at the right hand of God the Father waiting for the day that we will join him in Paradise!! I for one, cannot wait for that day!!!

Bike Ride With God

I was doing my bible study homework and came across a quote that struck me as "highlighter worthy". I don't know about you, but most of my books have lots of pretty colors in them. This is what it said: "sometimes we don't mind something (someplace) new, we just don't like the vehicle that God's using to drive us there in" . That is so very true! Quite often God takes us where we want to be, but he takes us there in a jalopy when we're dressed in our finest clothes. Or maybe he takes us there in a lightening fast convertible with the top down, when we've just got our hair done and all we want to do is roll up the windows and take it slow. The important part is that regardless of what he takes us there in, that we always let Him drive, cause only He knows how to get where we're going. After sharing this with a friend of mine, she shared this awesome poem with me. So I thought I should pass it along to you. If you're familiar with it already, take the time to reread it, for me, it's something I need to be constantly reminded of.

Bike Ride With God

When I first met Christ it seemed as though life was rather like a bike ride,

but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in the back helping me pedal. I don't know just when it was that He suggested we change places, but life has not been the same since. When I had control, I knew the way, it was rather boring, but predictable...It was the shortest distance between two points. But when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, Up mountains, and through rocky places, at breakneck speeds, it was all I could do to hang on! Even though it looked like madness, He said, "Pedal" I worried and was anxious and asked,"Where are you taking me?" He laughed and didn't answer, and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my boring life and entered into the adventure and when I'd say, "I'm scared," He'd lean back and touch my hand. He took me to people with gifts that I needed. Gifts of healing, acceptance, and joy. He said, "Give the gifts away; they're extra baggage, too much weight." So I did, I gave them to the people we met, and I found that in giving I received, and still our burden was light. I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought He'd wreck it; but He knows bike secrets, knows how to make it bend to take sharp corners, knows how to jump to clear high rocks, knows how to fly to shorten scary passages. And I am learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ. And when I'm sure I just can't do anymore, He just smiles and says..."Pedal."

God at work

For many years the relationship I had with my mom was a bit tumultuous, and somewhat strained. I have to tell you though, since God has really started working in her life she and I have become closer. She's a joy to be around and to talk to. I love watching her excitement for Christ grow. I so completely see that fire for the Lord just growing in her and she hungers for what He has to offer. She's blessed with the gift of hospitality, a trait she most certainly didn't pass on to me. So when she gets God led ideas they usually are in the realm of hospitality. I love watching her be excited about doing things for others in ways that I would never dream to do. In my opinion the giving of self in that respect is such a wonderful, humbling gift because our time is so important and valued and most of us complain we don't have nearly enough of it. She, however, gets so much joy from spending her time doing things, baking or cooking for others. Isn't it awesome how God made each one of us so different to fulfill His purpose.

Tell Someone

Does the thought of opening your mouth to speak about the Lord God Almighty outside of the safe walls of your church make your stomach do flip flops? You wouldn't be alone in that respect in the least. I think as Christians we have to ask God to help us overcome that fear so that we can tell the world about Him without hesitation or fear of persecution. We only have to look to the Bible to see great accounts of Christians with such great love for their Lord that they were willing to die rather than not speak His name. There are some really awesome opportunities out there to be had if only you'd ask God to give you the words. I'm very blessed because I have very little trepidation when it comes to talking to others about God. I am so excited when I find a way to work God into the every day conversation because I cannot wait to share what God has done for me. Very rarely do I get the tummy flip flops or the heart racing because of anxiety or fear. Mind you, I've been very blessed to not have come across anyone who has challenged me. When that happens I know that my God will give me the words I need at that moment.

On the subject of Evangelism, I want to share something amazing and so "of God" that happened to me this week. On Monday, my husband and I went out for lunch at a place here in town. Our waitress came to our table and began to tell us about the specials. In mid-sentence she stopped to tell me just how much she loved my necklace. It wasn't anything fancy, just a scrabble charm necklace I made with a silver cross on it. I thanked her and we went on about our business. We got home from lunch and I heard God say to me "why didn't you give it to her?". I thought well, why didn't you tell me to do that when I was there!?? LOL So I went about my afternoon, and later He said it again, "why didn't you give it to her?". So I put my shoes on and went back to the restaurant but by this time it was 4:00 and she was gone for the day. So I found out when she worked again and made a point to stop there on that day. When I got there it was lunch time but the place was pretty empty and she wasn't busy. When I spoke to her, I reminded her about us eating there on Monday and how she'd commented on my necklace. I told her that since then, I'd been told to give her my necklace. She just looked at me funny and said "why?". I said "when God tells you to do something, you just do it". She paused and then said to me, that she had just started going back to church the Sunday before. That she'd been praying to find the motivation to get back to church and had finally found it. She began to tear up and then hugged me. I was so filled with joy because I know that through God I was able to witness to her and may have helped her in a time when she maybe was having some doubt.

Our God is an awesome God and everyone needs to know Him. I wholeheartedly take on that responsibility of sharing Him every chance I get! I hope you do too!