Shine The Light

Halloween. Love it. Hate it. It's a hot topic among Christians. One side thinks the other side just has hangups. The other side thinks the other side just doesn't get it. Personally - I've had issues for years with Halloween. I researched the background. I know of people who are a part of Wicca and others who claim to be witches. I know some things that happen STILL today on Halloween - and me no likey...

However, this Halloween season I've really been stretched to think - what would Jesus do? Would he avoid the crowds? Would he be OUT amongst all this evil (even though little kiddos in cute costumes isn't evil, obviously)??? Several scriptures show that Jesus not only went to the demon-possessed or evil, but allowed them to be brought to Him (Matt. 8:16, Mark 5:15). Matt. 5:16 says that we're not supposed to put our light under a basket and hide it (hide in our basements during trick or treat or at the 'Fall Festival' in our churches). Instead, to let our light SHINE and bring glory to Him.

This year, LifePoint participated in the Halloween Parade here in Findlay... some guys from the praise band dressed up and sang the "Cartoon Song" while many dressed up like the cartoon characters named in the song. It was a blast - in fact, we won "best in show". Not that that matters in the scheme of things, but fun nonetheless. What did participating do? Well, hopefully it showed Findlay that we can still have fun as Christians, that Jesus is worth singing Hallelujah to and maybe, just maybe someone will come to LifePoint and hear s'more about Jesus...

If I stopped there, that would've been stretching enough... But, NO! Strangely, I didn't feel right about staying in and avoiding trick or treat like we have in the past. I know, crazy, right? I mean, I'm all cool with being in a parade, shining His light, doing a 'trunk or treat' outreach... but hang out IN the midst of trick or treat? We haven't done that since Emma was a BaBy! Kevin and I discussed all week if we would hang around at home this year. In fact, we didn't decide until Thursday afternoon that we would do it (Thursday night!). It's a hot topic in the blogosphere - like here and here. Then I read "Jesus With His Lights Turned Off on Halloween." I just can't get it out of my head that Jesus wants me to shine His light... even from my front porch. We live in a neighborhood with a LOT of kiddos - a lot of families to share His light with. So we did. On one hand, it wasn't all that... I thought there would be a lot more kiddos than we had - but on the other hand, it was fun to see the kiddos, smile, give them candy (YUM!) and hopefully make some connections with people we wouldn't have otherwise met.

My kiddos - well they were shocked and excited, and they had a great time!!

Halloween isn't the only hot topic out there. There's plenty of other issues... All things that each person must seek God's direction for and come to a decision based on His leading. I'm not saying that if you choose not to participate in Halloween festivities it's a hang up for you. I certainly wrestled (wrestle) with it long enough and did what I felt was right at the time year after year (this year included). One thing to be sure, don't be quick to judge the other side. Just because someone doesn't celebrate Halloween doesn't mean they're legalistic or narrow-minded. And just because someone does participate doesn't mean they're living in all kinds of evil. Be lovers, not haters :).

Feel free to share your thoughts on the matter - but remember - no haters!! Like Veronica mentioned at Clutchtalk, "The Bible teaches us to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." I don't know what we'll do next year. I never thought God would lead me to be doing what we're doing this year... Guess it's all part of the "working it out" - it's a process.

PS - Kevin is performing a wedding tonight - so that's how we'll be spending Halloween. How cool is that?

What if... (The Dad)

What if there was a Daddy that would love you in your foolishness as well as in your self-righteousness? What if, even though all you did was live for yourself and do (or not do) anything you felt like, there was a Daddy waiting with open arms? What if your so stuck on yourself and everything you do right, that same Daddy offered ALL HE HAS to you? No matter how STINKY we become, He's running to us.

When we read through the parables in Luke 15, we see that when the little sheep was LOST, he left everything else to "GO AFTER" the one that was lost. When the coin was missing, the woman turned on the lights, searched, and swept until she found it. Just like that, in our lostness - We don't find God - He finds us. I love that in verse 4 where it says he dropped all to go after the one that was lost. What things do you go after? What goals do you set? What things do you pursue? Man, when I want something in life, I go after it with all I've got!!

God - well, He goes after us!

No matter if we're stinky because of foolishness or self-righteousness - the Father is coming after you, and me - running - with a love so great we can't even fathom! 1st to become His child, then continually He is pursuing us and drawing us to be close to Him.

What a 'hallelujah' picture!!

What if??? (The Other Foolish Son)

What if we did everything right?

What if I...

read my Bible for 10 hours every day
ate only healthy meals and snacks... ever
exercised 5x's a week
kept my house impeccably clean
led my children in their devotion time every day
only spoke "sweet nothings" into my hubby's ear
gave all my money to the poor...

Meet the 2nd son. He did everything right, but what problem crept up with him??? Pride. Jealousy. Self-Righteousness. Just like the Pharisee who said in Luke 18, "God I thank you that I'm not like the other people, - greedy, unrighteous, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week. I give a tenth of everything I get..."

What if I did everything right? Then I'd be prideful and self-righteous. When that takes over, we judge other people, we think well, at least I don't do that... I don't know about you, but that also sounds foolish... and if we stay in foolish living, as we learned yesterday, we get stinky.

Have you ever been a little smug in your own righteousness? I know I have.

Part 3 tomorrow

What if??? (The Foolish Son)

What if we did decided what it is we would do or wouldn't do each day based on if we felt like it?


I don't know about you, but I don't always (for some of these, ever) feel like:

waking up early
doing the dishes
exercising
praying
teaching the kiddos
paying the bills
eating healthy
reading my Bible
submitting to my hubby
going to the Dr.
flossing my teeth
doing laundry
being nice

The 1st brother in Luke 15, did just that. He took his share of the inheritance and took off... "in foolish living."

That's what would happen if we took on this attitude. We'd be foolish. It would be foolish to never brush my teeth - I'd have stinky breath and all my teeth would fall out (thus keeping me from eating more unhealthy food). It would be foolish to never do the dishes - the kitchen would smell, mold and other grossies would grow, and we wouldn't have plates or bowls ready (for the unhealthy food that we feel like eating.) It would be foolish to never wash our clothes - we'd be stinky (hmmmm, are we seeing a theme here?), dirty and they'd get worn out.

Have you ever just wanted to live for yourself, do what you feel like? I know I have.

The 1st brother was foolish and where did it get him? Stinky.

Part Two Tomorrow...

Lady in Waiting for Little Girls BOOK REVIEW/GIVEAWAY!!

And the winner is......... MATT V!! Congrats Matt! You guys will love going through this book with your little 'princess'. I'll FB you for your mailing address!!

“We must accept our children where they are, and pray passionately for where they need to be.” That quote hit me like a ton of bricks, because often my reaction to ‘where they are’ isn’t praying…

When I received the book, “Lady in Waiting for Little Girls” (by Jackie and Dede Kendall) I was initially worried that my Little Ladies would be too old for this book, because my girlies are kind of over the princess thing... So, I decided to ‘do’ this book with my 9 year old, something special, a time just for us.

Each chapter focuses on a “Tiara Truth,” like obedience, security, patience and keeping Jesus number ONE in your life. These truths are shared through stories, Bible verses and hands on activities. I have to admit, I was given a ‘look’ at a few of the activities… but my Little Lady is at the high-end of the age range for this book. In fact, she’s 9, but she’s not really 9… know what I mean? That being said, I love using ‘hands-on activities” to illustrate lessons and used some of them for all three of our kiddos’ devotion time, which we learned and enjoyed very much.

Nice thing about this book, you can take as long as you want on a lesson, or breeze through it in one session. I do recommend “Lady in Waiting for Little Girls” for Moms and teachers of these Little Princesses. And sooooooooo……

Thanks to the generosity of New Hope Publishers, I’m giving a copy of “Lady in Waiting for Little Girls” away today on my blog! Just leave a comment and you’ll be in the running to win!! Not sure how to comment, click HERE. If you’re not the blessed winner today, you can purchase your own copy HERE or HERE.

Oh yeah, I’ll be picking the winner at 10pm tonight!!

Have a wonderful week, friends!!

Three Quarters Full

I've been running lately on a tank that is only 3/4 full... never quite full... definitely not overflowing...

until this weekend! God has been speaking to me through Crazy Love, through the Extraordinary Women's Conference, the Prodigal God message series @ LP and subsequent LifeGroup discussions... and ALL that He is teaching me and leading me to He tied together this weekend with A.L.I.G.N. at the Ohio Collegiate Fall Retreat... PRAISE GOD!!

I'm exhilarated that He has helped me to listen to His voice, regain focus and purpose and establish priorities of how to get there. I'm sure I'll have more to say on that... but not tonight.

On a completely DIFFERENT note... I'm a WINNER!! YIPPEEEEEEEE!! I won a drawing held by Lori Wilhite, a PW in Nevada, just because I shared the blessings of being in ministry and being a pastor's wife. That was the follow-up to PW's confessions, which ranged from jaw-droppers to knee slappers. Anyhoo, she picked a comment to win a prize pack and it was MEEEEE!! Woot! I don't know all that will be in the prize box, but she said something about CDs and BOOKS!! <<==== ME LOVE BOOKS!! (Imagine that last sentence with Cookie Monster's voice :)).

Speaking of give-aways... if you have a Little Lady in your life, say between the ages of 5-9ish... you're going to want to stop by tomorrow because I'll be posting a book review of "Lady in Waiting for Little Girls" by Jackie & Dede Kendall. When I do a review for New Hope Publishers, they don't just send ONE book... they send TWO... one for me and one to GIVE AWAY!! Ain't that sweet??!!?? So, c'mon over tomorrow to win a copy of this sweet book!!

See ya then!!

Slow Down

Edit Below:

I quit my job.

Ok, that’s old news. But, God was leading me to slow down, so I asked Him, “Lord, what do You want me to get rid of in my life?” The answer in July was my job.

You’d think since I’m not working anymore, since I’m ‘home full-time’ that we’re leading this tranquil, serene, peaceful (um, redundant) life. Yeah - no.

There’s schoolwork, church stuff, kids’ activities, a marriage, household responsibilities, family time, ministry etc. ~ Responsibilities, sports/activities, even ministry are all good in and of themselves. There’s definitely positive aspects to each one. However...

James 4:8 says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” I got to thinkin’, if what I’m doing is keeping me from drawing near to God, it has to go.

There’s a lot of things I’d like to do, but I’m taking some time to “seek first” what He wants me doing… and then the rest will fall into place (Matt. 6:33). I’ve also been challenged:

- to realize “it’s not about me” (it’s not???)

- to examine my motives (is my goal accomplishment or approval?) and

- to evaluate my effectiveness – we can do a lot of things… but we can’t do a lot of things well.

God is using many fronts to challenge me in these areas.

One is the book “Crazy Love” by Francis Chan. No, this is not a book review… but this book is radically transforming my thought process in many areas, stretching my heart muscles and opening my eyes to God’s love for me and what it looks like when someone is CrAzY in LoVe with Him. This is a must-read peeps!!

Another venue God is using to nail down this principle in my heart are some blogs I’ve read recently. Interesting these blogs pop up when He is already stirring my heart – coincidence? I think not. Pete Wilson told Angie Smith at InCourage, ““We need to ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives.” Bam! That just about sums it up!

Finally, God continually uses music to speak directly to my core. I listen to it loud. It helps me HEAR it ;). Check out this Third Day Song about slowing down… Let me know what you think…

No, I don’t have the answers yet. Still seeking. I’ll prolly post when I do. How about you? How do you manage the chaos of life? How do you decide what stays and what goes?

So, He may ask us to slow down, but doesn't ask us to STOP (and if He did, I would... for a season). I can't imagine a life not serving the Lord, my family and sharing Christ with peeps around me. Guide our hearts, Lord!

Some Linky Love

Wanted to take a moment to share some 'linky love' with ya'll...

1) TONY MORGAN just recently posted a blog about ministry 'being messy,' which is a true statement and knowing the needs we have dealt with in ONE year @LifePoint... it is messy. But then, he added a part 2, "Ministry is Messy - The Kids". I just sent this link to our KidsLife workers here at LP - what we do IS important. I thanked our workers for lovin' on these kiddos week after week and sharing the HOPE that we have in CHRIST!!

2) Stop by and meet my new friend Michelle. Wish her a Happy Bloggerversary and win some kewl give-aways!!

3) Sarah Mae has a guest blogger in who is talking about how her life slowed down... in "Time to Quit."

Das all for now....

Extraordinary Weekend

What a weekend! Friday I headed out to the Extraordinary Women’s Conference in Columbus. Thought I’d recap the weekend here on the ‘ol blog. Helps me process all I experienced...

Angela Thomas introduced the text for the weekend - 2 Cor. 3:17 Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!

• “We can be right in the presence of God, with the veil over our eyes, and MISS what He has for us.” I don’t wanna miss it!!
• “We are FREE to say how much we need Jesus.” “I’m desperate for You. I’m lost without You.”
• “There is NO POWER in smiling and pretending!” Amen! I’m not any good at that anyways ;)!
• When your veil is removed – SHOW OFF THE GLORY OF GOD! One of the most powerful parts of the weekend was when Angela had people stand and show off God’s Glory ~ in broken marriages that have been restored ~ in diseased bodies that have been healed ~ in empty wombs that have brought forth a houseful of kiddos ~ of prodigal children that have come home ~ of the lost person that has been prayed for, now saved.
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Zack, from the Columbus House of Hope, shared how this amazing ministry has helped him deal with the tragedies of his life and start a relationship with Jesus Christ. He is 16.

Natalie Grant – KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK with her bold and boisterous love for the ALMIHTY. She sang the Name, “Jesus,” and I got goose bumps. Her music points to the Father – like a powerful trumpet from a sweet lil’ flute. She NAILED it with “It is Well.” Not to be redundant, but my twitter after her concert was G.O.O.S.E.B.U.M.P.S!! To God be the Glory!

Stormie O’Martian – Saturday began as we heard about the power of prayer:

• “Find transformation through prayer and praise”
• “In God’s presence we have wholeness.”
• “WITH THE LORD YOU CANNOT GO BACKWARD!”
• “Praise and Worship is the purest form of prayer.”
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Michelle McKinney Hammond – reminded us, “I AM so that you can be.”

· “God can’t fix what you won’t admit.” I needed to hear that.

· “When God gives you what you need, you forget about what you wanted.”

MANDISA – Another musical powerhouse whose love for Jesus permeated through the Shottenstein Center to the core of my soul! LOVED HER!

• “Tune out all the voices, listen to THE Voice!
• “There ain’t no high like the Most High!”

Karen Kingsbury – You don’t have to visit my blog for long to know I LOVE to read, and my favorite fiction author is Karen Kingsbury. Not only do I love the storylines in her books, I love the storyline of her life ~ the story that points to Christ.

• “Life is not a dress rehearsal.”
• “Live in a way that is patient and kind.”
• “Real life is about the LIFE in days, not the amount of days in our life.” Oh God, give me LIFE and help me to make the MOST of every moment.

Chonda Pierce – is ALWAYS a hoot. I’ve seen Chonda several times over the years and I always BUST A GUT laughing, but then leave with something to think about. Here’s what got me thinking this weekend:

• “Jesus loves long-term. We (church people) sometimes can’t love Sunday to Sunday.” Ouch. Conviction, it’s a love/hate relationship!!
• “Rehearse in the dark what you’ve learned in the light.” When we’re having a BLAH day or season… or worse, that is when we remind ourselves with the TRUTH in God’s Word and reflect on the LIGHT He has poured into us in the past.

Top the weekend off with KidsLife @ LifePoint – where I “taught” the lesson, “I will worship God in good times and bad times” – a lesson on Job… Just wondering, was the lesson for the kiddos or moi?? And, finally, LifeGroup tonight – where we dug deeper into what was taught during the morning service… This series, “Prodigal God,” is stretching me, filling me, convicting me, encouraging me more than I could’ve imagined. Gotta spend more time alone with Jesus on what all He’s showing me through this series and the LifeGroup discussions.

To sum it up – I need MORE of HIM and less of me!!! I love Jesus more today than I did yesterday and I pray the same will be true tomorrow. Amen.

Just a NORMAL Friday

So, this morning I got up – snuggled with my Jesus and coffee – headed out to ZUMBA class, ran to the church (SWEATY AND YUCKY!) to get some things done, realized I needed some things from Walmart for Sunday… and since I’m going to be gone tonight and tomorrow, decided to run to Walmart.

On my way to Walmart, I had the thought… Wouldn’t it be nice to just have a normal day? Work 8-4. Send the kiddos to school. Eat supper. Do kiddos’ activities and homework. Have a routine. A little predictability. Go to church on Sunday. Be a normal family. Normal.

Then, I remembered a time, when we were moving home from the Dominican, that I was craving that normalcy. I prayed for normalcy. God granted my request. We had normal… and I WAS MISERABLE!

Yeah, sometimes things are CrAzY in this life we live… Ministry life is anything but normal. Our "downtime" is when regular people are working. Things can 'pop up' often. BEING the church, rather than just doing church, can be sticky. But, I’d rather be on the front lines of faith than hanging out in the land of normal!! I’d rather be stirred by God’s Holy Spirit, obey His sometimes-seemingly CrAzY call and live outside of comfortable because all that BEATS normal any day of the week.

Just thought I’d share that.

Have a blessed weekend! I’ll be relatively unplugged as I’m attending the Extraordinary Women’s Conference in Columbus with Chonda Pierce, Natalie Grant, Julie Clinton, Angela Thomas, Stormie O’Martian, MANDISA and others!! Fill me up, Lord!!

Blah Busters

The BLAHS. If you live in Ohio, you know that we barely had summer and now, fall has hit us like a ton of bricks. Cold. Rainy. Cold. Windy. It's not even looking like we're going to have an Indian Summer. Blah.

I know I have had a couple days of BLAH recently. You know, when you just can't put your finger on it. You just feel blah. Don't have any 'get-up-n-go'. Not motivated to accomplish what needs to get done in a day. Irritated with people around you, but not necessarily anything they do. Maybe accompanied by a mild headache. The kind of day you just want to curl up in your 'Snuggie' in a fetal position, stay in bed and let life go on around you.

Apparently, I'm not alone, because almost every female I've talked with lately has had a recent blah day(s). And with a minuscule summer, no transition to fall and knowing winter is right around the corner... It's too early to have this many BLAH days. I'm gonna be in BIG TROUBLE come January at this rate. So, I've been thinking about how to combat the blahs. Here's what I've come up with (for now):

• *Get dressed - Yes, we have many-a-pajama-days here at the Grubbie School of Higher Education... but when I'm having a BLAH day, one of the best things I can do is get dressed. Not only get dressed, but do the hair and splash on some make-up... as if I'm going somewhere. It's amazing how you feel when you're ready for the day - you sit up straighter, feel motivated to tackle the must-dos and wear the confidence that was hidden under the jammies.
  
• *Eat something healthy - Again, I'm all for comfort food. However, when I'm feeling BLAH, comfort food may just snowball the blah-ness. Foods that are high in sugar (brownies, ice cream) or high in carbs/starch (mashed potatoes, mac-n-chz) might provide momentary comfort, but they are going to leave you (me) feeling a new level of blah once they work through your system. I recommend eating an apple (brings same effect as coffee to help ya' wake up so they say), grab a yogurt, sip some hot tea. A protien bar is also a good choice for me - leaves me feeling full longer and tastes yummy too!
  
• *Get moving - The last thing you feel like doing is hopping on a treadmill during a blah day. But, after you get moving, aren't ya' always glad you did?? Exercise releases positive endorphins. Go for a quick walk. Do an exercise video. Do 20 jumping jacks. Anything!
  
• *Get in the Word - Talk to the Father. He is there to carry you and me through the blahs. When I beg Him for a 'Word' - He is faithful to 'bring it.' Again, when we're in the midst of BLAH, we may not feel like opening our Bibles, but He is right there waiting to speak the LIFE out of our BLAH (John 10:10).
  
• *Take a break - My kiddos are old enough now that when Momma needs a break, she tells them and trust me, they WANT Momma to take a break! I know when they're little, a break seems like a unrealistic fantasy, but even if you can sneak 15 minutes during the little one's naptime. Let Barney or Yo Gabba Gabba babysit the older siblings and take a break. A few minutes of the electronic babysitter is not going to kill them, in fact, it may just save them from a BLAH Momma!! My fav - to take a bath. Do a paraffin dip. Read. Sit in silence. Pray. Take a breather.
• *Get some rest - All day in the fetal position in bed is not rest - even if that's what I feel like doing. I try to sneak a cat-nap if I can. If that's not possible, I try to get to bed early and get the rest I need for the next day. Rest does amazing things to battle the blahs!
  

So, there's a few of my BLAH-BUSTERS. I'd love to hear from you! What do you do to try to Beat the BLAHS??

PS - If your blahs are more than blahs, more than just a day here and there, possibly depression, please seek professional help. If you have strep throat you visit the Dr. and get an antibiotic. If you are struggling with depression, by all means, tell someone. Visit your family Dr. Tell a friend. Your pastor. Anyone. These blah-busters are just that, BLAH-busters. Sometimes a lil more is necessary when it's more than the blahs.

You Say It's Your Birthday?

It's our birthday TOO!

Today LifePoint Findlay celebrated its FIRST BIRTHDAY! WOW! In some ways it feels like it's been like a month. In other ways it feels like it's been years! God sure has done some AmAzInG things this year!!

Our actual birthday is October 5th, so it makes me think of a year ago tonight... The night of October 4th, 2008.

I remember going to bed, praying... thinking... What is tomorrow going to be like? What if something goes wrong? What if no one comes? Oh my gosh, WHAT IF NO ONE SHOWS UP!?! I think I woke up 17 times that night... praying, wondering.

Well, despite SEVERAL issues we had on Saturday, October 4th, the launch of LifePoint went off fabulously. Who knew, that a year later, DOZENS have become children of GOD? Who knew that DOZENS of people that were far from God, are closer to God? Who knew that hundreds of people in the Findlay-Hancock County area would be blessed by the HAND of God because LifePoint has purposed to be a Dangerous Church and be IN the community?

Who knew how viciously we would face spiritual warfare? Who knew how glorious it is to become victorious over attacks? Who knew how HARD it would all be? Who knew how REWARDING it all is?

Who knew we would grow 158% in ONE YEAR? Who knew our LifeGroup participation would grow 400%? Who knew that people "have been looking for something like this" for DOZENS of years? Who knew we would have a PEEP DROP? Who knew we would baptize a dozen people in a Cow Trough?

I'll tell you Who knew? The same One "who started a good work in you (LifePoint) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus" (Phil. 1:6). Steve Long encouraged us with these words from Philipians 1: "I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷ It is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace..."

Worship our JESUS!!

Steve Long encouraging us in our partnership with NWOBA!
PK - Leadin' and Preachin'!!

L-Peeps going to share a testimony of what LP has meant to them and their families...
My favorite part of the service!!Me enjoying some CAKE!!!!

Corn Dogs and French Fries - THANKS CINDY!!Oh, and did I tell you there was a proposal!! HOW SWEET!!