Friday, February 20, 2009

"Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible." -Corrie Ten Boom

And my faith has sadly been so small! Let me explain:
The study with the teens was planned last Thursday or Friday, so on Sunday I asked 2 teens if they would like to come. I really didn't think they would since I didn't think they really knew me well enough to trust me, and they really didn't show much interest...or so I thought. Later, I even used words such as "not possible; not probable; I doubt it," etc, when thinking about them coming. As it turned out, when I saw them Wednesday night, they told me that they were coming, and they were excited about it! I was really amazed, but I shouldn't have been because I'd been praying about it (as were others). When Thursday night rolled around, the 2 teens I talked to came, and brought a friend! They very obviously had a good time and are planning on coming back! God is so good, and I'm so glad that my lack of faith doesn't keep Him from accomplishing His plans!

We had 6 young people (7 counting Russ' offspring), and it was really exciting to see their desire to learn about the Bible. Most of these young people don't know much, if anything, about the Bible, and are limited in their knowledge (or understanding) of God. Continue to pray for understanding! I'm so excited to see how God will work in their hearts!

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Oh for the desire to seek Your face always!

This is my prayer for this week (and beyond). I get so tired of my sin nature! Just when I think I'm understanding what God is teaching me, and trying to live it, I'm presented with a test--and more times than not, I fail. I'm just so glad that God is faithful in His love and forgiveness! He knows me better than I know myself, and even though correction hurts, I'm glad that He corrects me and draws me back to Himself. I feel like a child who, when the parent does something for the good of the child, turns away in hurt and frustration because it doesn't feel like it's good. If only I would always have the desire to seek God and not turn away!

I'm into a fairly busy week. I have several articles to write, most of which are on topics that I've not spent much time thinking about in the past, so I'm challenged to learn many new things, then write about them. I also have a list of questions to answer for my discipleship program. I love the thinking and understanding these questions demand, but I have to admit, it's been really difficult to focus the past couple of weeks. I've been exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally (and I'm sure much of it has related to my spiritual struggles of trying to put my thoughts into God's mind!). I'd appreciate prayer for peace and physical rest so that I can serve God to the best of my ability.

I'll be helping with a study through The Stranger book starting this Thursday evening. Russ (my boss) knows a couple of teens (one is an unbeliever) who have agreed to go through the book. I'm very excited to finally learn exactly how the GoodSeed tools are used (from personal experience), and I'm excited for the teen who does not yet believe! Pray that she'll allow the Word of God to change her heart! The study will be every Thursday evening for the next several weeks.

I played the piano at church for the worship time for the first time this past Sunday. It was great to be able to be a blessing to the believers. Of course I was nervous (not hard for some to imagine), but I pray that I will focus on serving God and others and not on my fears.

"In Your behalf my heart says, 'Seek My face.' Lord, I will seek Your face." Psalms 27:8

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

“The only reason for time is so that everything doesn't happen at once.”- Albert Einstein

Sometimes it feels like everything is happening at once!

This past week was rather busy. On Wednesday and Thursday morning/afternoon we went to the "pizza feed" for the public high school students. The question for the month was, "What is the purpose of the Bible?" This was a hard question, even for the Christian kids, but I was glad for it because it really made them stop and think for a few minutes. I didn't have much opportunity to talk to the teens because they're rushing in and out of lunch pretty quickly, but they were willing (for the most part) to tell what they thought about the Bible. Many tried to give generic answers, but several of us who talked to them questioned them on everything. I'm seeing the importance of Christian young people knowing what they believe and why they believe it! It's a matter of challenging them to think for themselves when it comes to spiritual things. We invited all who came to attend a special study that would help them understand what the Bible was about. That study started yesterday. We had 4 teens come, none of which were from the high school. I'm not sure where we'll be going from here, but pray for wisdom. We'll go back today and tomorrow to see if any other kids come. This is new territory for me, so I'm sorry if I sound vague. I'm anxious to be a part of one of these studies because we're using the GoodSeed materials and I'd like to see how they're used. I'm definitely sold on the approach and want to learn how to teach with them!

Thursday afternoon I had my weekly meeting with my boss for my internship program. When I first came, he gave me a list of questions to answer, and this past week gave me another. I've felt a bit on overload this week with everything, but I'm so excited to see the hand of God in it all. Not only am I answering questions, I'm reading books on writing, and a book by Jerry Bridges called "The Discipline of Grace", and also various classical literature. Several people have told me that a variety of reading really helps a writer, and it's really not a chore! I just don't always feel I have enough time to get it all in! God has been challenging me to leave all things in His able hands.

Friday I began giving piano lessons to two young girls. I'm really going to enjoy it, and I hope they will, too! It was a bit of a challenge for the first time since I had to order their books and they weren't in yet, but I guess that's part of training--learning to improvise with just a little bit.

In my last post I told of my noble snowman, Valdemar. Sadly, he died the very day he arrived. The warmer temperatures were just too much for him to bear. He will be missed.

Monday, February 2, 2009

"Before me, even as behind, God is, and all is well."-John Whittier

And this is something of which I need to daily be reminded. Why is it that when learning a new truth from God's Word I can get so excited, but when that learning is put to the test, I fail miserably, questioning God's motives and wishing the testing would go away? I'm so thankful for a God who never loses patience with me and cares enough to change me into His image. I pray that I'll pass the tests with less and less of my fleshly attitude being dominate.

Praise the Lord, I was able to get my newsletter out! My apologies to all who got it more than once! Hopefully the next time won't be quite so dramatic an event!

I woke up to more snow this morning. Not a huge pile, but more than just a dusting. It's the perfect snow for building snowmen and the like, so while I was cleaning off my Jeep before work I made a small man. He might stick around and keep me company for the next couple of months, at least. I've named him Valdemar because such a small snowman needs a big name to encourage him.

"Trials are medicines which our gracious and wise Physician prescribes because we need them; and He proportions the frequency and weight of them to what the case requires. Let us trust His skill and thank Him for His prescription."--Isaac Newton