Big Thoughts

We're back home from our wonderful week of retreat. Today's a snow day...again! I have loads of laundry and housework and church work to do. But I wish I could curl up in a corner and think big thoughts.

• I want to process the retreat, think about what I've taken away and what that means in my life.
• I desperately need to pray and evaluate the tears and broken heart of my littlest boy, who once again got in trouble at school. Is the strict legalism of this place harming my child?
• I want to contemplate my oldest going off to college and pray for God to help him in this decision making process.
• I want to seek God about what to get off my plate and what to put on. I can feel that He is changing my ministry, but it's so blurry right now.
• And...I have to make some kind of sense out of the last episode of Lost Season 2!

Well, I have some big thoughts in this head of mine.

...except for the Lost Season 2 comment, ignore that one...

Good thoughts. I like these thoughts because I know that they lead somewhere. As I think and pray and listen, God will reveal to me the answers. And in the revealing I will get to know Him better.

Always a good thing.

Changing the World - One Life at a Time

EDITED: I wrote this post last night and have decided to include it on Works for Me Wednesday.

...rather than my black beans and rice burrito recipe...

Yes, the following is what works for me this Wednesday - realizing that changing our world is done one person at a time, one act of love at a time. For other great WFMW tips see Shannon's Rocks in My Dryer.

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I've been following the Compassion International Blog Tour. Amazing stuff has been chronicled over there and I encourage you to check it out. I consider the people who do these type of ministries to be my heroes.

But there are people in my own little church who are equally my heroes. I want to give them and the God empowering them my own bit of praise.

• D & J leaving this Friday for their umpteenth medical mission trip, this time to Belize. Next month to Honduras.


• D & E, already a family of 6, who just brought home little A from Ethiopia because they felt God called them to make a difference in the life of an orphan.


• S & H who are in the midst of the adoption roller coaster, going through depression and doubt, because they feel called to bring home a little orphan girl from Vietnam.


• The 20 odd kids in our little church who raised $700 to buy 10 goats and share the love of Jesus with needy families.


• E who is graduating this spring and starting her ministry journey with CAMA, as a single woman. Brave girl.

I am privileged to call these people my friends. I worship with them almost every week. And they, in the power of Christ, are changing our world...one act of service at a time.

Jesus and Paper Clips

Continuing our study of Jesus Calms the Storm, our kids will be doing science in Children's Church on Sunday. They will experiment with waves, momentum, and paper clips discussing fear and the storms of life. Hopefully they will more fully understand the peace that Jesus gives us in our storms.

Here is the paper clip experiment they will do, based on water surface tension:

Paper Clip Float

• Drop a paper clip in a cup of water. What happens?
• Tear off a piece of paper towel that is slightly larger than the paper clip.
• Place the piece of paper towel on top of the water.
• Gently place another paper clip on the piece of paper towel. Wait a few seconds. Now what happens?

Explanation:
If you drop a paper clip in water, the paper clip sinks. But if you put the paper clip on a piece of paper towel after about 30-45 seconds the paper towel sinks and the paper clip floats. This is because water particles are attracted to each other in all directions, making them "stick" together.

However, because there are no water particles above them, the water particles at the surface "stick" only to particles next to and below them. This makes the surface act as if it had a thin "skin". This is called surface tension. The paper towel helps you to lower the paper clip onto the surface gently without breaking the surface tension.

Comparing:
Do you ever feel like the first paper clip? “sunk” when there’s trouble or a problem? If you’re the second paper clip and the paper towel is Jesus, how does Jesus keep you “afloat”?

You can find great teaching ideas just like this one at rotation.org!

Overheard

This account comes from my son's children church teacher...

Upon discussing God's desire for us to share and viewing a picture of children sharing their toys, Jodan says...

"I have a hard time sharing my toys. I think I need to talk to God."

He immediately folds his hands and prays silently while the stunned class looks on.

With a big smile, "OK. I feel better now!"

Where did this child come from?????

Oh that I could do business that quickly and simply with God!

God's Love and Baby Showers

Here we are. 17 sisters in Christ, all alumni of the Walk to Emmaus retreat, showing Agape love to Crissy and her baby on the way.

That picture is the culmination of a strange kind of day. One where God amazed me with small things.

God did nothing huge and flashy today. But his intimate involvement in even the smallest details reminded me of His deep love.

How so?

• A hair cut. I haven't had one in 6 months. But everything worked out and today I got my long awaited hair cut.
• Ginny's gift for the shower. I had no clue how I was going to get it. She "happened" to run into Brian at the store and gave him her gift right then and there!
• Confusion about meeting place and time for the carpool. I gave up and was headed to the car to go home, so disappointed. And at that last second in came my ride.
• Debbie, my ride, immediately included my daughter and set her up with a movie in the car. I hadn't even thought of taking Else Annah. But she made the day complete.
• Such blessed conversation on the way.
• A reunion with Walk to Emmaus friends at the shower. Food for my soul!
• The light on Crissy's face when we walked in. Some of us travelled quite a bit to get there. Worth every mile!

Even in the one negative, the 1/2 hour wait for my ride, I realized how much I'd looked forward to today. The last second "rescue" helped me value all that God had done to give me this day.

Sometimes...a lot of the time...I focus on one really big prayer request. I pray, I beg, I plead. I hold up my empty bowl and wonder why He isn't filling it.

When all the time He's been trying to show me His love with a bushel full of small things.

Thank you, Father, for taking my focus off my pitiful, little, empty bowl and for helping me to see the overflowing bushel right beside me.

Jesus and Marbles

Marbles, paint, posterboard shapes, metal pans, and magnets. That's what our 2nd through 6th graders will get to play with this Sunday in Children's Church. All in the hopes of learning about Jesus calming the storm.

How so, you might ask. Can you control where a gloppy, messy marble rolls while tilting your metal pan?

Neither can I.

Nor can I control the storms in my life. The disciples surely couldn't control the storm on the Sea of Galilee.

Some of these children find themselves in the midst of pretty scary storms: divorce, abuse, neglect, lack of self-worth, and bullying just to name a few.

Those rolling, messy marbles will make a beautiful design on each child's posterboard shape. And while the marbles roll we will discuss how Jesus can bring calm and beauty to our storms.

If we let Him.

This idea and more like it are available at rotation.org.

Memorizing Scripture - WFMW

Scripture memory is not one of my strong points. Whiling away the hours at the computer IS.

So rather than fight my issues, I try to find ways to embrace them. Or least find some redeeming quality...

And how do I do that with the computer? Why by using "The Scripture Memory System," a downloadable program at memoryverses.org. And, bless my frugal heart, this program is freeware!

It works likethis: I type in the verse I am learning. The program quizzes me in multiple ways and keeps a score. After scoring high enough repetitively, the verse is moved to "review".

All verses are tracked and shuffled. I can quiz myself on the whole lot or just portions.

There's even a voice feature. This little parrot guy will fly down and say the verses to me. He sounds a bit creepy. But, hey, you auditory learners might just love that feature.

This simple program has helped me learn many verses. And helped me feel better about my screen-time when I should have been scrubbing the floors...

Or cooking dinner...

Or folding laundry...

Or sleeping...

But hey, no guilt here. There's no higher calling than memorizing Scripture!

Oh...there is something in the Bible about moderation isn't there. Shoot.

Check over at Rocks in My Dryer for What Works for Me Wednesday. You find lots of cool tips...maybe even additional ways to legitimize your computer time!