Kendra Lee

Stop by & See What's Happening in the DR

2010-05-15T18:35:00.000-04:00

www.thegrubhub.wordpress.com

I'm MOOOOOOO-ving

2010-05-05T22:20:00.002-04:00

Well - the time has come for 'Kendra Lee' and 'Something Relevant' to come together... (For those of you that don't know, those are the names of my and Kevin's blogs.) That being said... we're moooooooo-ving to 'THE GRUB HUB". The "Grub Hub" will be a place where Kevin and I can share our hearts, have some fun and at times be completely random...

So, change your readers, create a new bookmark and STOP ON BY to The Grub Hub!!

See ya there!!

PS, if you didn't click on the link... the addy is http://thegrubhub.wordpress.com :)

A Twig

2010-04-12T14:38:00.008-04:00

When God called Jerry to help start LifePoint, he wasn't greeted with boatloads of encouragement. In fact, someone asked him, "You're really stepping out on a limb here, aren't you?" His response to that question was simply, "No. I'm stepping out on a twig." I loved that :).

He was uncertain what all it meant for him and his family; leaving a church they had served in for years, what kind of time would he (and his family) need to commit, what kind of spiritual warfare he would be stepping into, being stretched beyond anything he could imagine. But, he did it. He stepped out on that twig. He stepped out in faith. Knowing it was what God was calling him to - he took the step then simply trusted that God would take care of the rest. He has.

Funny talking about taking a step of faith comparing it to something so small, so weak and brittle as a twig. When faith is talked about in the Bible, Jesus uses something even smaller... a mustard seed. Have you ever seen a mustard seed? It's about this big (*). Smaller even. Luke 17:6 and Matt. 17:20 both tell us what impossible things we can do, if we have faith the size of a mustard seed.

That's not a lot of necessary faith, friends. All we have to do is muster up an itty-bitty bit of faith, step out on that faith and He does the rest. It's a super-cool deal!

In fact, the other times a mustard seed is mentioned in the Bible it's when Jesus is talking about the Kingdom of Heaven. According to Matt. 13:31-32, the mustard plant starts out as an itty-bitty seed (*), but grows so much that it even becomes a home for birds and such. One step of faith can have innumerable benefits for the kingdom.

Faith, the size of that itty-bitty seed, has more power than we can fathom.

Is God asking you to step out with some itty-bitty faith today?

Hang In There, Moms

2010-04-06T12:56:00.005-04:00

This is a letter to my bloggy-friends that are young moms - or moms of young'uns.

Dear Young Mom,

Hang in there! You may feel like you have NO time for yourself, or that you are stretched beyond your capacity, or maybe that what you do day-in and day-out is insignificant.

Let me just take a moment as a mom of slightly older kiddos - to encourage you. I'll never forget when I was in the thick of four, three and one. I was ~~tired~~ EXHAUSTED. I was frustrated because there were things I wanted to do (ministry-wise...) but couldn't at that time. I felt helpless/clueless of how do deal with parenthood (from tantrums to toddler devotions... where do I start??). When I was sharing with someone older, wiser - you know, a been-there-done-that-kind-of-friend, her response to me was, "Just wait. It only gets worse."

Shoot me now.

Seriously. That comment was just about a one way ticket to the loony bin. My kiddos are not grown or out of the house, but we are out of the baby-toddler-preschool fog... and friends - IT WILL GET BETTER!! Not that babies, toddlers and preschoolers aren't wonderful. Each childhood stage has its joys and its frustrations...

Some of the joys to look forward to:
- Bathing themselves
- Feeding themselves
- Entertaining themselves
Are you seeing a trend here? With each step of independence for our young'uns, there's less dependence on the Mama. (Duh! - I just reread that... thank you Captain Obvious.) My point in telling you is I can let the kiddos play outside and not have to watch their every step. Or, I can insist on a quiet activity, so Mom can chill (read, be alone, pray, blog ...) I can serve more at church. (They can serve too :-)).

Not that we don't have frustrations, ya'll, at this stage. We've hit hormones... Need I say more? But, I love the growing personalities, independence and even being freed up a bit. So, ladies, there is hope. You will be able to breathe again.

In the meantime:
*Enjoy the ride. They are young for such a SHORT time. What you do every day is UBER-significant in their lives.
*Accept help when offered! I stunk at this! I DID need a break, but often didn't accept when people offered.
*Take a break. Maybe, there is no one around to offer a hand... then schedule yourself a break :). Take a warm-relaxing bath during naptime. Let the kiddos veg in front of the TV so you can do your devotions. (Not hours and hours of digital-babysitting... but it IS OK to use the TV to keep your sanity!!)
*Meet with other moms. I looked forward to MOPS every month!! Don't know if you have MOPS in your area, but maybe meeting another mom for a coffee/playdate. Ladies - we NEED each other!
*'Member your strength comes from the LORD. Being a Mommy is NOT anything we can do in our own strength.

Finally - if you're stressed to the max right now, picture me on the sidelines cheering for YOU... You can do it! It will get better! Keep on! You're doing GREAT! HANG IN THERE!!

The Greatest Story

2010-04-04T21:57:00.004-04:00

It is the greatest story... EVER. I believed in it and marveled at it even when I didn't have a personal relationship with THE Main Character (but now I do). Jesus' death and resurrection.

Easter has LONG been my favorite holiday... so much so that my hubby actually proposed to me on Easter morning, 1993 - during the BRUNCH at the Lutheran Church :). There is JOY surrounding the message of the Resurrection. Hope. LIGHT! Peace. Did I mention HOPE?

I don't care what church you walk into on Easter morning, it's ELECTRIC. Whether you're singing "Up From The Grave He Arose" or "Christ is Risen, Allelujah", or "Rise and Sing" (Our God is RISEN, and REIGNING) or "God is ALIVE!" the truth and power of these words are life-changing, joy-bringing and hope-lifting! I pray you celebrated JESUS with all you had today. He is so worthy of it!

Had a FANTASTIC morning at LifePoint. In the main service they went from the dark, solemn hour of the cross to the joyous miracle of the resurrection via song, video and the WORD. We were planning on having school-aged kiddos sit with their parents today, and not have 'Treehouse', but yesterday I felt a prodding of the Spirit to show the Jesus Film for kids. So glad I did. One little girl looked over at me, about half-way through the video, and asked, "Is this a true story." I told her that yes, it was in fact the truest story ever told! With tears in my eyes, I realized that she has never heard it. WOW! We take for granted that EVERYONE has heard THE STORY. Later in the video, when Jesus was getting beaten, the same little girl asked me, "Why isn't He doing anything back?"

Oh honey, because He loves US. He knew He had to endure that... so we would have a way for eternal LIFE, a way to God the Father. He didn't fight back so He could die, only to live again. Thank you, Jesus!

Finally, at the point of the movie where the nails were hammered into Jesus' hands, several kiddos covered their faces. The cross was cruel. The cross hurt. It should've been me.

But the ending... Oh, the ending! He didn't stay in the tomb! He AROSE! He's alive today!!! He's calling to each one of us to come to Him and accept what HE did to cover our sins.

If you'd like to show this movie, here is some info about it. It's a GREAT video, and even had the kids leading an invitation at then end.

This is the BEST story EVER!

Some still haven't heard. Will you tell them?

Finally, here are some shots of our family today... I haven't updated pix in a while. Happy Easter Everyone!!

Our whole fam... dogs included!

My kiddos, how I love them!

Me n my Amazing Cousins!

The kiddos and their amazing cousins!

We are so blessed!

Peep Recap and Easter Prep

2010-04-03T17:34:00.002-04:00

Today was LifePoint's 2nd annual Peep Drop! We had amazing weather (70 degrees), an amazing crowd (4000+ people) and amazing FUN (inflatables, peeps, candy, sno cones, popcorn)!!

However, the peeps did NOT drop from the sky :(. Right about the time that we started lining up at the softball fields, the wind picked up. And picked up. And picked up. The helicopter pilot told Kevin that he couldn't take off until it died down... so the PEEP DROP was delayed. When we realized that it wasn't going to die down, L-Peeps put peeps on the fields and the kiddos still got to leave with peeps. Plus, they got candy on their way off of the fields.

There were a few disgruntled people, but 99.99% of the people in attendance understood - and had a great time with all the other FUN stuff to do!! Kids got to get their picture taken with a live PEEP, play on the bouncies, get their faces painted and left on sugar highs. You're welcome parents :).

Praises

*Thankful for all the commuity support we got in pulling this off!
*Thankful for the problem of TOO MANY PEOPLE! (We already have some ideas for next year how to better streamline this event ie. timed drops by age group, some events outside, MORE prizes, peeps and candy!!).
*Thankful for the MANY LifePoint Peeps that totally rocked the socks off this community being bouncy thing bouncers, prize-give-awayers, crowd control, candy giver-outers, peep-passer-outers, greeters, parachute-putter-togethers, snack-makers....
*Thankful for our CEF friends that shared the gospel with 200 kiddos!
*Thankful that we were able to put the PLAN OF SALVATION in the hands of 1000s of people and invite many to church for Easter! Draw them, Lord!

All that... and tomorrow is EASTER! Can't wait to share the BEAUTIFUL story, from Creation to the Resurrection, tomorrow at LifePoint! It's going to be amazing. How could it not be? It's the most amazing story ever... TRUE STORY to boot!

Finally, here's what 1000s of people got to read today. Maybe you've never heard this story:

The Gift of Easter

Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Cor. 15:3-4

A - Admit that you've sinned.

B - Believe that Jesus is God's Son and Died for YOU!

C - Confess that He is Lord of your life!

Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be SAVED! Rom. 10:13

If you don't have a home church and live in the area, please join us tomorrow at LIFEPOINT, to celebrate the greatest story ever told.

She Doesn't Know

2010-03-26T08:47:00.003-04:00

The seductive woman in Proverbs 5 gets a pretty bad wrap. She's portrayed as a smooth talker, bitter, sharp and dangerous as a double-edge sword, and rightfully so. It was written as a caution to you and me, because she is all of those things. We do need to be careful and on guard around her (and any other beautiful 'thing' Satan lures us with)...

But, verse 6 holds a punch that I never noticed before. It says, "SHE DOESN'T KNOW that her ways are unstable."

How often do we see a lost person acting lost? We often expect people who don't know Jesus to act as if they do! The Seductive Woman in Proverbs 5 (or any other person without Jesus) is doing what she does, because she doesn't know anything different! We have to allow grace for that. God did for us before we knew any better.

What the Seductive Woman needs is some serious Jesus lovin! His love and goodness leads someone to turn away from their sin. (Rom. 2:4)

I'm not saying we should pursue 'dating evangelism' or 'let our guard down' to witness to her, but definitely seek out opportunities to share with her the grace that God is ready and waiting to extend. And, if/when God draws her, meet her with that same grace and NOT a hammer or a whipping stick.

I'm going to leave you with this thought I saw on a friend's Facebook status yesterday:

"Truly saving someone isn't about knocking them out and throwing them in a dark room. It's about helping them find their way back to the right side" -Clark Kent

Well said, Clark.

Dominican Trip :)

2010-03-24T13:16:00.002-04:00

I mentioned earlier... I’m going to the Dominican Republic!! This will be my 2^nd trip back since we’ve moved back to the US after our 2004-2005 stay there and I’m always so excited to get back there. I will be leading a team of awesome college students from BGSU Crosswalk. AND, I’m bringing Julia along! She is so excited as this will be her 1^st trip back since we’ve been ‘home’. We’re going with SCORE INTERNATIONAL.

We are going May 11^th - May 18^th. Some of the things that we’ll be doing are orphanage ministry, village ministry, Vacation Bible School and lots of evangelism. Of course, we’ll be eating lots of rice and beans too :). With all that’s happened recently in Haiti, I’m guessing some of our work will be geared toward those needs as well. Even when we served in the Dominican Republic, more than 50% of those we worked with were Haitians living in Dominican Sugar Cane Villages. To see some of what we did when we were there full time, click HERE. To see some highlights of the 2008 mission trip there click here, here, here and/or here.

I appreciate your prayers in advance, as well as throughout our trip. Secondly, if you feel led, I am raising some financial support to get there. My trip will be about $1100. If you think you’d like to financially support me on this trip, there are a couple of ways you can do that:

1) Send in a check to SCORE International, PO Box 9994, Chattanooga, TN 37412 and write “Kendra Grubinski” in the Memo Line

2) Go to www.scoreinternational.org , click GIVE (tab on top right), scroll down to “trip participant” and enter amount, click “add to cart”, then click “go to checkout”, enter your information and put “Kendra Grubinski” under “specify donation.” I know it sounds complicated, but once you’re there, it’s not :).

I love, love, love what God has us doing now… but I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these kinds of opportunities to serve other places as well. God is so good!

The RETURN of the PEEPS

2010-03-14T18:11:00.005-04:00

Hey Ya'll - LIFEPOINT FINDLAY'S Peep Drop is returning for 2010!! Partnering once again with the Findlay Rec Department - we'll be dropping PEEPS from the sky Saturday, April 3rd. The event runs from 10am-1pm at THE CUBE (3430 N. Main St. Findlay). All the 'extra' activities (snacks, bouncy thingies, prizes etc.) will be held INSIDE the CUBE, but the actual PEEP DROP will still be on the baseball diamonds! Hope to see you there!!

Can't Help But Think...

2010-03-02T06:50:00.002-05:00

People have been saying this for years, centuries even. We're living in the latter days.

Is it just me? I can't help but think we're getting closer to that day. Just like birth pains come (Mark 13:8). Then come closer together. Then some excruciating pain (destruction/distress v. 29)... then THE event (~birth of a baby~).

Earthquakes? Famines? Destruction? Nation against nation? Have you SEEN FOX News lately?

No one knows the day or hour (Matt. 24:36) that IT is going to happen, but I can't help but think that we're closer than we've ever been.

Looking forward to this day!! "They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." Matt. 24:30-31

So what do you think? Closer than we've ever been? Or, just another natural disaster? (Are we ready?)

PS - Check out this tweet from @davidjeremiah "Heaven is real, Christ is coming, and we should discipline our thoughts accordingly" I think that just about sums it up.

Because I'm the Pastor's Wife

2010-02-25T09:32:00.001-05:00

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard in the past 16 months things like, “Of course, she’s the Pastor’s wife.” Or “What does Kendra think, as the Pastor’s wife?” Or “It’s totally different because you’re a pastor’s wife.” And on. And on. And on.

So, I’ve come to set the record straight. (:)) I don’t do the following things because I’m the Pastor’s Wife:

*Spend time daily with Him in His word and prayer
*Expect certain things from my kiddos. Train them up. Spend time with them
*Want to grow in my marriage
*Lead Bible Study
*Avoid certain activities
*Go on Mission Trips
*Keep house
*Blog
*Attend LifeGroup or other events affiliated with the church
*Worship (as a full-contact sport) at home and at church
*Try to live a life pleasing to Him

I do them because I love Jesus. I am His child. I am a sinner, radically saved and changed by His grace and I need Him…

Every.Breathing.Moment.

I don’t need Him any less because I’m the pastor’s wife.

I obey Him because I love Him… and I also know that obedience brings blessing (BONUS!!).

I serve Him because I love Him… and I’d be serving Him if my husband was a Nasa Scientist or a Trash Collector.

PS. And I’m not perfect. I miss devotions sometimes. I grumble/complain too much. I often have clean clothes in the dryer :/. I yell at my kids (SHOCKER!) at times. But, it is my goal to GROW in each of these areas, because I love Him.

What about you? Have people ever had assumptions of you based on your role (in a church? in a school…)? Your job?

Life Verse

2010-02-22T22:08:00.002-05:00

"But by God's grace I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not ineffective. However, I worked more than any of them, yet not I, but God's grace that was with me." 1 Cor. 15:10

That's my life verse.

God gave it to me at a time of my life that I was finding out who I was in Christ, not who everyone thought I should be, or do, or act.

It's a reminder that anything GOOD in me is from Christ and anything that He gives me the grace to do is effective - for Him.

And I'm just me. I am what I am. Thank God I have Him and His grace.

Do you have a 'life verse'? What is it and why?

Buckets of Hope for HAITI

2010-02-19T10:14:00.006-05:00

Feeding the People of Haiti one Family at a Time

LifePoint, along with SBC churches across the country, is participating in BUCKETS OF HOPE for Haiti. We’ll be filling (New) buckets with rice, beans etc. to feed Haitian families. One bucket will feed a family for over a week! Here is what you can fill your bucket with:

*New Bucket (available at Walmart, Sherwin Williams…)

*2 – 5 lb. bags of long-grain rice

*2 – 2 lb. bags of dry black (or red) beans

*1 – 48 oz. plastic bottle of cooking oil.

*1 – 5 lb. of all-purpose flour (not self-rising)

*1 – 20 oz. cylinder of granulated white sugar

*2 – 1 lb. box of spaghetti noodles

*1 – 40 oz. plastic jar of smooth peanut butter

*1 – 2 gallon Ziplock bag (to put around the oil)

*$10 donation for shipping (checks made payable to SBCO)

If you live withing driving distance of LifePoint (LifePoint is a regional drop-off site), please plan on participating in this VERY PRACTICAL way to help the people of Haiti. If you are in another region of the country, this is going on Nationwide (check out www.namb.net for more info)! Please deliver the buckets by March 15^th.

If That Ain't Love...

2010-02-17T10:46:00.004-05:00

So my hubby went shoppin for Valentine's Day... Here's the card he got me...

And the inside....

If that ain't love....

The Heart (Pt. 3) You Want Me To Love WHO??

2010-02-16T06:30:00.000-05:00

Again, these are reposts from my Xanga from 2008, but it's amazing how much I needed to revisit them two years later. I pray you are blessed...

OK, I’m back! And I’m glad that one’s over (part 2)! That was a tough one to put in cyber-ink. Oh, like this one’s gonna be any easier :).

“Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God.” 1 John 4:7

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Lev. 19:18, Matt. 22:37

“I give you a new commandment: love one another.” John 13:34

Why do you think God put it in the Bible so many times, “love one another”?? Well, I would venture to guess that maybe He knew it would be a struggle for us. I repeatedly tell our children, “If you can’t love one another here at home, how are you ever going to show Jesus’ love to people in the world???” God is asking us the same question… “If you can’t love one another… how is anyone going to see Me in you???”

Proverbs 17:17 says, “A friend loves at all times.” That’s fine. I’ll find my way out of this one… You ain’t my friend anymore! Ha! Not so fast. Here’s the really tough one: “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I tell you, love you enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Matt. 5:44-46 Luke says it another way, “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” Luke 6:27-28.

“If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar…And we have this command from Him: the one who loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:20-21

You want me to love WHO??? Ok, I don’t know if I can classify anyone as an enemy, but I definitely have a few (that I know of, maybe more…ignorance is bliss :-) that don’t particularly like me… and God wants me to pray for them and love them?? Uggghhhh! The definition of enemy in the Strong’s is enemy, foe, one acting hostile. Do you now or have you had someone act hostile towards you, physically or with words???

So, what are we supposed to do??

*Love your enemies.

*Do good to those who hate you. Take some action, good action! You might have to get creative in this one.

*Pray for those who mistreat you. God does amazing works in our hearts when we pray for others!!

*“Show family affection to one another with brotherly love. Outdo one another in showing honor.” Romans 12:10

You may say, there’s no WAY I can love______. You have NO idea how this person has hurt me… Let’s see what God’s Word has to say about this… “With God all things are possible”. Mark 10:27

Keep in mind:

**Loving others lets Christ shine in us! Matt. 5:16

***Loving others shows we belong to Him! 1 John 4:7-8

****Loving others makes us obedient 1 John 2:3-6 (He commands us to love)

We are not responsible for other’s actions or reactions, but we can do our best to love because that’s what He wants us to do.

The Heart (Pt. 2)

2010-02-15T06:25:00.000-05:00

So I revisited these "HEART" posts from my Xanga in 2008, and decided to repost the 3-part series... I wrote this in Feb. 2008, but I swear I could've written them last week.

“Take the Shackles off my HEART so I can dance!!!” I know, the song isn’t worded like that, and I took the shackles of my FEET a long time ago (Praise the LORD!), but it was brought to my attention (thanks to my Teacher, Comforter, Leader, Counselor and Guide, the Holy Spirit) that I have shackles on my heart!!! Yes, last week, the Lord really shook me up with His Word, and I haven’t been able to blog about it yet, because it truly sent me reeling. Now, though I will do my best to share with you, and I pray it will speak to you also. I know I am not alone on this one…

“One natural result of constant contact with negative influence is a hard heart. In reality, our hardness of heart is nothing more than a fortress we’ve constructed around a frightened heart. We build layer upon layer of protection to prevent being hurt. Tragically, the same fortress that won’t allow the hurt in- also won’t let the love out. Our fortress of self-protection becomes our prison.” – Beth Moore

What is the constant negative influence in your life? Hard times? Rejection? Downright nastiness from someone? Reality of life? My Counselor took me all the way back to 3^rd grade, to when I was alienated by my little group of friends, kicked out of the group so to speak and how terrible I felt about it. I thought about times my expectations weren’t met by those I loved in my teen years and feelings of rejection by those I loved most. And most recently, in the past seven (now nine) years of ministry, how I have seen firsthand how even Christians, can be so incredibly hurtful at times. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am loved by my husband, my kids, family and am blessed with friends! This is not a “woe is me” blog. I am SO incredibly blessed. Yet, I realized, I have built a wall of protection around my heart so that I can say, “YOU CAN’T HURT ME, SO DON’T EVEN TRY! Yup, and on top of that, I’m not gonna even let you get close enough to hurt me… so there! I will block it out, I will not think about what you have done or not done, I will focus on other things…” But the truth of the matter is, it DOES hurt when you are rejected, mocked, insulted, misunderstood, mistreated, ignored, betrayed…

God didn’t ask us not to feel, but He does ask us to let Him be our Fortress! He will walk with us through the pain. His presence may be the only thing going for us at times, but He is enough!

“I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” Psa. 91:2

“You are my rock and my fortress; You lead and guide me because of Your name.” Psalm 31:3

“He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth…He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.” John 14:16-18

“My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Ex. 33:14

I will leave you with an excerpt of my prayer from my journal that day. To me this is a risk, and a real “step out of the boat” because my relationship with God is so intimate and personal, but I feel led to do this and maybe it will encourage you.

“Jesus Christ, You are my Fortress, my Shelter, my Protection. God, soften my hard heart, strip away the protective barriers of my heart so I can feel. Yes, I will feel the hurt, the betrayal, the pain, but I will also be able to love like never before. Help me God, go take the risk to let down my defenses, deal with my fears and resentment in Your presence and glory! I don’t want to be imprisoned any longer. Let me walk this troubled road in Your presence, by Your grace and not in my own fear-coated false strength. God, thank You for showing this to me. Please forgive me for the wall of pride I have built in order to protect myself from pain! Help me to love like never before, take risks, expose the real (sinner, full of faults) me. Help me not to live in paranoia of how something may come back to bite me… it may, but I can run to You and rest in You when it does. I love You! You are amazing!”

The Valentine Conflict... (AKA The Heart Pt. 1)

2010-02-13T22:58:00.006-05:00

Valentines Day. It arrives in just an hour. A day filled with hearts and candy and flowers and teddy bears and love and red and pink and...

Or not.

This day is often DREADED by the one who doesn't have a significant other... Some may not want to even leave the HOUSE because they'll drive by the restaurants knowing VALENTINE'S DAY DATES are happening inside... and they're not part of one. February 14th is often NOT a day one wants to be SiNgLe... especially if you don't want to be SiNgLe!!

Then, there are those that ARE in a serious relationship, married even, who dread Valentine's Day for whole 'nother slew of reasons... There are sometimes romantic expectations for the big V-Day that won't be met, or will be met - met with disappointment. Forced romanticism... Or, maybe the marriage is NOT in a mountaintop season (no marriage is ALWAYS on the mountaintop) and one spouse or both don't feel like celebrating the big LOVE DAY...

OK - This is not supposed to be a "Johnny RainCloud" post on Valentine's Day... but looking realistically at Valentine's Day, sometimes it's not all hearts and candy and flowers and teddy bears and love and red and pink and...

But...

God is love and He created us for 1) relationship with Him and 2) relationship with others. Because He loves us. We can always be sure of His love.

The following is a repost from Valentine's Day 2008 (back in my Xanga blogging days), a reminder of God's LOVE. How He treasures you. Single or taken. Mountaintop or valley. You are loved.

It's such a beautiful thing.

Love is such a beautiful thing, and yet not something we always feel. Maybe you don't feel loved today... I thought I would take a few minutes, to remind you (us) of how great our Father's love is for us...

- God

"I have loved you with an everlasting love." - God (Jer. 31:3)

"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19

"No one has greater love than this, that someone would lay down his life for his friends." John 13:15

"For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16

"Love is from God." 1 John 4:7

"God is love." 1 John 4:8

"Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10

Let's hold tight to the promises of love, that even when we don't feel love (from a family member, "friend", even when we don't feel loved by God) He does love YOU! You are special to Him. You matter to Him (and probably to a lot of others too )!

Oh, The Places We'll Go!

2010-02-04T19:11:00.004-05:00

2010 has so much in store for us, I can hardly contain myself. Right now, we have THREE Missions Trips on the books for the Grubbie Family.

1^st is a trip with the BGSU Crosswalk to the ‘inner city’ of Greenville, South Carolina to work with CCM Ministries. Our Emma is going to accompany Kevin and the team as they do some light construction, work in a city mission, help with an after-school program and do some evangelism. We decided that I would sit this one out in order to stay home with the other two kiddos and hold down the fort (ha!).

3^rd (yes, I know I’m going out of order) is a trip to Honduras this fall with our friends at Casa Hogar Vida Ministries. Casa Hogar (House, Home, Life) offers housing, community services and health services and education for the AIDS population in Honduras as well as an orphanage for those affected by AIDS. Unfortunately, people with AIDS in Honduras are greatly discriminated against, but Casa Hogar has stepped in to show the love of Jesus to those suffering with this disease. This trip is slated for October and at this point we are still praying who exactly is going, but probably myself and Kevin (sans kiddos).

2^nd – I’m going to the Dominican Republic!! This will be my 2^nd trip back since we’ve moved back to the US after our 2004-2005 stay there and I’m always so excited to get back there. I will be leading a team of awesome college students from BGSU Crosswalk. AND, I’m bringing Julia along! She is so excited as this will be her 1^st trip back since we’ve been ‘home’. We’re going with SCORE INTERNATIONAL.

We are going May 18^th - May 25^th. Some of the things that we’ll be doing are orphanage ministry, village ministry, Vacation Bible School and lots of evangelism. Of course, we’ll be eating lots of rice and beans too :). With all that’s happened recently in Haiti, I’m guessing some of our work will be geared toward those needs as well. Even when we served in the Dominican Republic, more than 50% of those we worked with were Haitians living in Dominican Sugar Cane Villages. To see some of what we did when we were there full time, click HERE. To see some highlights of the 2008 mission trip there click here, here, here and/or here.

1) Send in a check to SCORE International, PO Box 9994, Chattanooga, TN 37412 and write “Kendra Grubinski” in the Memo Line

I love, love, love what God has us doing now… but I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE these kinds of opportunities to serve other places as well. God is so good!

Winners - Claim Your Prizes

2010-01-31T22:51:00.001-05:00

Hey Ladies - We had THREE winners for the "Passion for Purpose" devotionals, one of which is giving her book to another commenter...

The only problem is that the winners didn't leave email addresses, and their links, well they didn't take me anywhere (ie. their blog).

Here are the winners again:
AND THE WINNERS ARE:
3) SHELLY Who has offered to give her copy to NVBluEyeSweetie... NVBluEyeSweetie, please email me your contact info :)
21) TERRI
19) JENNY (the 1st Jenny)

Ladies - please email me (kgrub94@gmail.com) your address and I'll get that in the mail asap!

If you weren't a winner today, you can find "A Passion for Purpose" on Amazon.com or NewHopePublishers.com ;)

Ok, if you know any of these THREE winners, please contact them and let them know they won....

If I don't hear from the winners, I will do a new drawing Tuesday morning.

Thanks, ya'll!!

"A Passion for Purpose" Book Review & GIVEAWAY

2010-01-28T09:57:00.008-05:00

AND THE WINNERS ARE:
SHELLY
NVBluEyeSweetie
Julie Johnson

Ladies - please email me (kgrub94@gmail.com) your address and I'll get that in the mail asap!

If you weren't a winner today, you can find "A Passion for Purpose" on Amazon.com or NewHopePublishers.com ;)

Wish I could've given you all a free book!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Well, GOOD MORNING everyone in blogland. I have some exciting news... This is NOT just a 'book review and giveaway'.... This is a 'book review and give THREE copies of the book away!' Yippppeeeeeeeee!!!

So, here goes.

First of all, take a look at the cover (pictured to the left). They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but that is not the case with this book. The brightly colorful, unique and lovely cover does represent what you'll find in the pages of "A Passion for Purpose." There are FIVE amazing authors bringing God's word to life highlighting spirituality, scripture study, worldview, relationships, communication, ministry and leadership. It's a daily encouragement for Missional Living.

"A Passion for Purpose" is a great tool:

a) for someone who is just beginning a walk with God but is not sure how to begin having a devotion ('quiet') time.
b) someone who wants to start or end their day with something to ponder from the Word.
c) to keep in your car and be encouraged as you wait in the 'kid-pick-up-line' at school, wait in the waiting room at the Drs. office etc.

There are 365 devotions in "A Passion for Purpose", but they're not dated - so no worries starting in in February :). Ladies, you'll be blessed if you read this devotional book.

Wanna hear something cool?? When we were on deputation, we stayed at many peoples' houses along the way. One night, we actually stayed with Tricia Scribner (one of the authors of "A Passion for Purpose") and her family in North Carolina. Her husband, Randy, was very involved with our organization, Score International, and made the arrangements for us. I was excited to see her name on this book, and I thought... "Is that the same Tricia Scribner???" Sure enough, it is! In addition to being a great author, I can testify that she makes a fabulous breakfast!! :)

OK - Regarding the GIVEAWAY - Thanks to the nice people at New Hope Publishers, you can comment below to be registered to win one of THREE copies of "A Passion for Purpose!" I will do the drawing Friday at 4pm EST.

Happy commenting!!

Questions for Pastors' Wives

2010-01-21T19:19:00.004-05:00

Enjoyed another CHAT today hosted by the fine ladies of LEADING AND LOVING IT. Today was the 1st time we 'chatted' via Facebook, whereas previously we have 'met' via TOKBOX with webcams and all. I loved the interaction with this great group of pastors' wives, but it was a little bit difficult to get fully engaged in the conversations - because - well, there were many conversations... By the time I read what was going on, we were moving on. (Course, it didn't help that I was on our SLOW desktop :).

So, I thought I'd answer a couple of the questions posed today and offer the comments section to any pastor's wife out there (or anyone really) who'd like to comment. Or, if you'd like to, answer the questions at your blog and leave your blog address in the comments section.

Here we gooooooooooo......

Do you have or have you had a mentor and/or do you plan to do any mentoring?
Well, I've not had a mentor per se. I've heard some people say 'Beth Moore' has been their mentor and I would say that to be true in a sense for me. God has used her Bible teachings greatly in my walk. But, when I think of a mentor, I think of someone that is personally involved in mentoring. I did learn a lot from the pastor's wife at our 1st ministry, but again we never set aside an intentional time for mentoring... I would love to do some mentoring at some point, with whatever staff wives the Lord will bring along or other wives starting out in the ministry. I don't know that I have a whole lot to offer, but I can share what I've learned along the way :) and hopefully encourage other women as they serve the Lord where He's placed them. I would also like to see a network of pastors' wives here, up north. The guys have their networks, but I think it'd be great for the ladies too!!

Did you know you were marrying a preacher/pastor?
HA! Um, NO! I did answer this question briefly on the chat which was possibly a shocker to those I was chatting with... "Kevin and I didn't even know CHRIST when we got married!" Yup! It's true! We both accepted Christ when we were 24, THREE years into our marriage. This May we'll be celebrating 16 years of marriage, 13 of those with Jesus. Sometimes when I think about it, I just shake my head. Really. I.Just.Shake.My.Head. Never in a million years would I think I would be a pastor's wife or Kevin a Pastor. Makes me giggle even now! You can read my salvation testimony HERE and the CALL and our early days in ministry HERE.

Anyhoo, how about you? Have you had a mentor? Been a mentor?

If you're a pastor's wife, did you know you were marrying a pastor?

What Do You Think?

2010-01-19T06:33:00.003-05:00

Do you wonder what people think about you? What does God think about me? True value. What determines my worth? Makes me better or makes me worse?

Not my career. Not my house. Not my bank account. Not my debt.

Not how many Facebook friends, Twitter followers I have or how many Blog comments I get or don’t get.

Not how my children turn out or don’t turn out.

Not my husband.

Not my friends. Not my ‘not friends’.

Not my church.

Not my successes. Not my failures.

Not my hairstyle, my dress size or my skin tone.

Jesus Christ alone…

We can be falsely lifted up by praise of ‘man’ and feel awfully good about ourselves for a time, AND we can be inaccurately torn down by criticism of ‘man’ and get pretty discouraged by that for a season. Both can be dangerous places to sit.

“I tell everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he should think.” Romans 12:3

Same is true about seasons of success and seasons of failure. We can let them define us. Taking credit for our successes or beating ourselves up for our failures means our eyes are on US, and not on GOD… Again, that is a dangerous place to sit.

“But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be a loss because of Christ.” Phil. 3:7

Realizing who we are in Christ – that our worth, our value, anything GOOD in us – comes straight from the Father, keeps our focus on Him and shines the spotlight on Him. And, all the times we mess-up and fail, we can know and trust that He still loves us, treasures us and values us. Even in our failures, when the spotlight of our hearts points back to Him, His glory supersedes our shortcomings. All that makes it matter less and less what others think, good or bad, and makes it matter more and more what He thinks.

“But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course and the ministry I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20:24

Book Review – The Family God Uses by Tom & Kim Blackaby

2010-01-16T20:15:00.003-05:00

Well, RACHEL BOLDMAN... You must be on a roll... 1st you win a ticket to BLISSDOM... and NOW you've won a copy of "The Family God Uses" by Tom & Kim Blackaby!!! CONGRATS!! (Email or DM me your contact info and I'll get the book out to ya' asap!!)

Following the principles of his father’s book “Experiencing God” Tom Blackaby, along with his wife Kim, share how your family can ‘see where God is working and join Him.’ According to Blackaby, the ‘family God uses’ a) has authentic faith, b) strives to live righteously and c) strive to seek and serve Him. Who doesn’t want this for their family?

While I found many practical and helpful insights from this book, I did not find it easily readable at times. However, it is worth trudging through to get to those nuggets of inspiration and application so readily presented throughout the book. For example:

“God’s priority is for church leaders to be spiritual leaders in the home first and out of that, to be better able to lead God’s people.” (emphasis mine)
“Families who take seriously their relationship with God and their involvement with His people will begin to incorporate the mission of the church as their family mission.”
“Families and churches work together to bring the good news of Christ’s love and sacrifice to those who have not heard it.”
“There’s no better way to demonstrate our love than when we serve. Every Christian should be service-oriented.”
“Service shows our gratitude to God for all that He has given us physically, spiritually, socially, etc., and demonstrates to others our love for them and for God at the same time.”

The book concludes with ideas of how your family can serve together as well as some ‘family time reflection’ starters. I do recommend “The Family God Uses” as a resource for the family that is seeking and willing to say YES to God’s invitation to join Him in His work.

The kind and generous folks at New Hope Publishing have graciously donated a copy of “The Family God Uses” to be given away on my blog! Yea! Who doesn’t love a GIVEAWAY?? If you’d like to try to ‘win’ a copy of this book, simply leave a comment below and you’ll be in the running! I’ll be doing the drawing Monday (the 18^th) at 10pm.

If you aren’t the ‘lucky winner,’ stop by New Hope Publishers and get 30% off with this promo code NHWEB.

Happy reading!!

PS - New Hope Publishing does send me a free copy of books that I review for them, whether my review is favorable or unfavorable.

Dark Suckers

2010-01-06T22:18:00.003-05:00

Good evening and a Happy New Year to you and yours! I started this new year attending the Passion 2010 conference in Atlanta with a group of college students from BGSU... If I blogged a recap of all God did, all He is working in my heart and all He IS - the world wide web wouldn't be able to hold it all... let alone my 'lil 'ol blog. So, I will share the WORD that was jumpstarted in my heart at PASSION 2010 throughout the whole year, probably. For a mini-recap, you follow my twitter posts... For today, I thought we'd start off 2010 with a guest post from my non-blogging, iron-sharpening, Barnabas, living, breathing, blessing of a friend Kim D. God spoke a WORD to her last month and when she shared it with me, I told her, "That would be a great blog post!" She, however, at this time has no desire to have a blog, but is willing to make a guest appearance here @ 'Kendra Lee.' (GEEZ, I sound like Matt Lauer on the Today Show... ha ha!). Without further ado, Kim D. with "Dark Suckers."

Recently I shared with some friends that I work in a place filled with pessimistic people. At the end of my day I drag myself home, unsettled and weighed down by their negative debris clinging to my soul. It seems as though I am being consumed by the very darkness I am asked to shine in. I am beginning to feel as though the darkness itself is pressing down on me like a great weight.

I cried out to the Lord, “How can I stand under this great weight? How can I overcome the darkness when the power of it seems so immense?”

As I waited for an answer my mind began thinking back to a lecture I once heard on darkness, light bulbs and scientific theory. The theory is that darkness has mass and is faster than light. This theory could be proven with the ordinary light bulb (more correctly known as a dark sucker). Please bear with me as I quote from a copy of the lecture;

“The basis of the dark sucker theory is that electric bulbs suck dark. Take, for example, the dark suckers in the room where you are. There is less dark right next to them than there is elsewhere. The larger the dark sucker, the greater its capacity to suck dark. Dark suckers in a parking lot have much greater capacity than the ones in this room. As with all things, dark suckers don't last forever. Once they are full of dark, they can no longer suck. This is proven by the black spot on a full dark sucker. A candle is a primitive dark sucker. A new candle has a white wick. You will notice that after the first use, the wick turns black, representing all of the dark that has been sucked into it. If you hold a pencil next to the wick of an operating candle, the tip will turn black because it got in the way of the dark flowing into the candle. Unfortunately, these primitive dark suckers have a very limited range. There are also portable dark suckers. The bulbs in these can't handle all of the dark by themselves, and must be aided by a dark storage unit. When the dark storage unit is full, it must either be emptied or replaced before the portable dark sucker can operate again …. Finally, we must prove that dark is faster than light. If you were to stand in an illuminated room in front of a closed, dark closet, then slowly open the closet door, you would see the light slowly enter the closet; but since the dark is so fast, you would not be able to see the dark leave the closet.”

Does this in any way resemble an answer to my cry? By all means. It is the very answer I was looking for! The theory of dark suckers may at first seem logical, and perhaps to some, profound. To those who understand light, the theory is absurd and allowed to be pondered only for amusement sake.

In Matthew 5:14, I am informed that ... I am the light. Now think about John 1:4 -5 “In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it!

My weariness reflects a heart that believed the “dark sucking” theory, and not the life illuminating truth. The world would have me believe that darkness triumphs over light, and that I will one day be filled with the darkness I am trying to remove.

The darkness can not be removed through my feeble efforts, neither can it consume me! In time I know that I will be a darkness illuminator specialist by the power of the Holy Spirit reflecting the light of the world, Jesus, through me. At the start of my day I will seek the Lord to empower me. At the end of my day I will seek the Lord, to have Him wash the debris of this world from my soul, to clean my light bulb (my heart). Then I will delight to see the darkness fleeing from His great light living in me.

So tell me, friends, can you relate? Have you at times been a 'dark-sucker'? When the darkness, the negativity, the weight of the world, trials, cares, come upon you (me) and we just suck, suck, suck the dark? Thank you, Kim, for reminding us that we are the LIGHT - and that His light has power over darkness.

My Soul Doth Magnify

2009-12-22T09:32:00.002-05:00

REPOST from December 2007 (Xanga)

Mary. Sweet Mary. Mysterious Mary. Mary, the mother of Christ, the Messiah. Potentially the most misunderstood woman in history. Many movies, books, stories depict Mary, Jesus’ birthmother in a variety of ways, but truly none of us really know her. Luke 2:19 says (and yes, I busted out the ‘ol King James for this one… love the wording), “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”

What can we possibly know about Mary? How could we even relate? She kept them in her heart. We don’t know all she felt. We couldn’t possibly comprehend the depths of her fear and anxiety of the responsibility of carrying and then raising the awaited Messiah (let alone the trepidation of possible persecution for what would be perceived as a sin). We can’t fathom her immense joy of the miracle within her, knowing she had “known” no man, and yet there was a baby growing inside her; a physical, living MIRACLE from the Living God!

I think about us women. We are so quick to hop on the phone (computer, cell phone txt), to share our worries, our joys, our sorrows, stresses, praises... That in and of itself isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The Bible tells us to “bear one another’s burdens,” to “rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” I have a couple of girlies that bear my burdens in prayer, rejoice with me, weep with me (and even beat me over the head with a broom when I need it… you know who you are). I am so blessed to have, even if just a few, friends like that, yet my 1^st call shouldn’t be to my friends, or even to my best friend, my hubby… My #1 speed-dial should be my Lord, my Jesus! (Ok, He may have to be #2, because #1 is already pre-programmed by Verizon as my voicemail… and there are times, that I would love to get a clear ANSWER from God on my voicemail… yet He hasn’t chosen to communicate to me via that mode of communication as of yet). He is the only one who will truly understand!

Yes, when you are pregnant, and you share pregnancy stories with the girlies, there’s some relating, but still, YOU are soooooo different than anyone else, that no one truly completely gets you. Or, as parents, and we share different parenting struggles; can we relate? Yes, but never completely. Every circumstance and family dynamic is completely unique. What about when something sooooo awesome happens, to the point that you jump up and down for JOY in your living room, but when you share it, it’s like people don’t get it. They may get a little, but it’s YOUR experience. I can’t say I blame Mary for “treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them.” Sometimes when we share with another person, and the reaction, while enthusiastic, isn’t quite what yours is (because it’s YOUR experience,) it brings the excitement down just a notch. Mary was wise to treasure them up with her Lord. Maybe, sometimes things are just for you and Him. He understands every burden, He bore them. He is elated with every blessing, He provided it! Run first to the Father. Treasure some things in your heart that are just between you and Him. Praise Him in your SOUL. “My soul doth magnify the LORD, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior!”

Keeping Christ in Christmas

2009-12-17T06:16:00.002-05:00

Today's final decorating sharing, part of Lisa's Blog, is about how we keep Christ in Christmas. One of our family's FAVORITE thing to unpack for Christmas is the LARGE nativity scene that was a wedding gift from a cousin. My Mom had the stable custom-made to fit the pieces!! It truly is amazing. We wrap some lights around it so it shines like the stars that night in Bethlehem many years ago.

Only problem is, when you take a close look at Baby Jesus, He is completely without one arm and the other arm is dislocated at the elbow :D. Oh well! I guess that's what happens when He's been packed and unpacked for 16 years!!

The other activity we enjoy each year is telling the Christmas Story a little each day through this Advent Calendar. Each day we add a piece to the board and there is a little snippet to read. It's a lot of fun, and helps keep us focused throughout all the craziness of the holidays.

What do you do to keep Christ in Christmas?

Remebering Loved Ones @ Christmas

2009-12-16T15:13:00.004-05:00

There's so much wonderfulness about Christmas, the treats, the parties, the gifts, the Gift! However, truth be told, the holidays are some of the hurtingest times of the year. You can't but help notice the White Elephant of who's NOT there, the feeling of 'it's just not the same', ... the loved one(s) that have passed away.

I read on FaceBook a few days ago about a friend who had just finished "decorating the tree by candlelight" in honor of a loved one. A few years ago, my aunt passed away. Her silliness and her love is something we all miss. The year she passed, my cousin (her daughter) got everyone this angel ornament. I love this ornament and I can see it from where I sit on my 'green chair.' It reminds me of my sweet Aunt, where she's at, and the hope what we share that one day we'll see each other again.

I also have this lighted village that she made a few years before she died and getting it out each year brings back those special memories.

How do you honor/remember loved ones past during the holiday season?

Redefining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado (W/ Max Lucado)

2009-12-14T10:19:00.001-05:00

Imagine you’re at summer camp as a teenager (or tween). You don’t want to leave because you’ve had a great time, learned some awesome things and had an amazing camp counselor. Your counselor, although just a few years older than yourself, has listened to what you’re going through, shared how she got through it and gave the best advice that wouldn’t be heard from any other venue. She she’s super cool. Meet Jenna Lucado and “Redefining Beautiful.”

Jenna, with some help from Daddy Max Lucado, shares her heart on everything from not fitting in, figuring out who you are, boyfriends, disappointments and seeing yourself as God sees you… beautiful. She focuses on relationships; your relationship with God and your relationship with your Dad, and how that influences the other relationships in your life. I’m now reading this book with my 11 year old girlie, who may just be a little bit under the target age range for this book, but she ‘gets’ most everything Jenna is talking about.

I do recommend “Redefining Beautiful” for those young ladies – maybe in the 13-17 age range. Your young lady will feel like she’s at summer camp with a truly amazing camp counselor and walk away understanding what true beauty is and where it comes from.

Here’s a snippet of Jenna Lucado on YouTube talking about “Redefining Beautiful.”

You can find “Redefining Beautiful” at Amazon.Com, Christianbook.com, or directly from the Thomas Nelson website.

DISCLAIIMER: I did receive this book for free in exchange for providing my thoughts, positive or negative, (review) on this blog.

Deck The Halls

2009-12-09T21:37:00.010-05:00

OK - time for some Christmas fun... Joining in the Thursday "how we celebrate Christmas' fun at Lisa's Blog, here's a bit of how we decorate at the Grubbie Household :).

This is the third year we have ventured out for a real tree. We go to Kaleidoscope Farms, sip some hot cider, eat some warmed peanuts, take a horseride and pick out the perfect tree. It's a lot of fun!

They even let Joey help chop (saw) down the tree!

Best part about getting our tree there, is they drill the hole in the trunk and we can come home and plop it right in the fancy, dancy tree stand! We can get to decorating without all the hassle.

Our ornament supply was scarce when we returned home from the Dominican four years ago, as we had only kept those ornaments that were special. However, in just four years, we seem to have built up our ornament inventory quite nicely :). The kids get all excited remembering whose ornaments are whose and how we set up this decoration or that. All the while, we have wonderful Christmas music playing (loudly) in the background. I *heart* Christmas music!

Stocking aren't hung by the chimney... but don't they look nice on the railing??

<--- Joey's year to put the star up!!

The Finished Product - TA-DA!

What are some of your holiday decorating traditions??

Being Intentional

2009-12-07T22:16:00.005-05:00

The last post was not exactly a warm-fuzzy, ear-tickler, kind-of post. Sorry. Kind of. (On a side note, I find it interesting that intense posts like that don't generate comments. Which is cool. I'm not posting to see how many comments a post can generate, I post what God's burning on my heart... but I twittered/FB'd a link to the post yesterday and got 1 comment and 1 FaceBook *like*. A few hours later I twittered/FB'd that my kiddos wanted spaghetti noodles with maple syrup for dinner and got 14 comments. I'm pretty sure that speaks for itself. I know I'm not the only one who has not personally led someone to Christ (outside of church walls/activities) in 2009...) Don't worry, I have warm-fuzzy coming (Christmas stuff) and even some book reviews and give-aways just in time for Christmas... but for now... I just can't help but think that someone could be standing right now in the fiery flames of hell because I didn't tell them about Christ. And it's bugging me. And it should.

I have been praying about how to be more intentional in sharing Christ. Here's what I have come up with so far. Now, it can be tricky for a 'stay-at-home-mom' in a one-car family to be out 'there'. And when I am out, it's often for church stuff. But, I'm not going to use that as an excuse... Because I am out there sometimes. And I need to be more intentional about being 'out there' when I am.

*At The Gym: Gotta be honest here, when I go to the gym, it's earbuds in, Jesus music playin, cardio pumpin, decompressin time for me. Me time. I don't make eye-contact. I don't want to talk to anyone. I want to be in my own little world. Do we need time (me time) to decompress? Yes. But, as I stated before, I'm a SAHM in a 1-Car family (almost said one-horse open sleigh... but that's for Thursday ;) - I can decompress at home, when I have to be home. I want my gym time to be more intentional. In the next few days/weeks, I'm going to turn the earbuds down (so I don't ear-butt someone outta heaven), make eye contact (smile even), be friendly, start conversation and we'll see how the Lord will lead. I will twitter/post results - and I do want to be held accountable. (DID I JUST SAY THAT?)
*At Home: Now, duh! Of course we are intentional about Christ under our own roof. And, yes - I understand and embrace the fact that my primary ministries are pouring into my pastor hubby and kiddos. And another yes- all five of us have individually accepted Christ and been baptized... But, I have neighbors. I have neighbors that I don't even know their names. We've lived here four years. I want to be more intentional with my neighbors. I don't need a car to share Christ with my neighbors. God, open doors. Starting with mine.
*Via The Kiddos: My kiddos are involved in sports and activities. And at those sporting events, those kiddos have parents. Here's the hesitation... no one wants to be the parent everyone avoids because you know they're going to shove Jesus down your throat every time they see you... At the other end of the spectrum, I don't want to miss an opportunity because I was worried about what the other parent may think of me. May I remind you, he was 41. I went 24 years without hearing the truth about salvation in Christ, by faith alone. I want to be intentional with the opportunities I have.
*Lifestyle Evangelism: Do I want someone to look at me and think there's just something different about her? Yes. Is that enough if I never share what the difference is? No. Listen, any milli-watt of light that escapes through me is God alone, and I don't want there to be any question as to the source of the light - or simply be thought of as a 'good person.' Lots of 'good people' have gone to hell... and are on their way right now. (See... not warm-fuzzy, but true). Anyhoo, I ain't all that good... but Jesus is good and He lives in me! (That's warm-n-fuzzy!) I want to be intentional in my lifestyle.
*Via My Blog: I pray that my blog will be a reflection of God's truth, and the hope that we have in Him, that it will spotlight Jesus. It's my hope and heartbeat if someone stops by here that it's no mistake, and that God will breathe into them exactly what they need to hear at that moment. I want to be intentional with my blog. God has given us these voices, albeit written, sometimes video, to point to Him.

How 'bout you? I'd love to hear how you do it and have my eyes opened to even more possibilities to share in my own life!

How are you intentional about sharing Christ?

What Are We Doing?

2009-12-06T16:26:00.002-05:00

NO!

DAD!

NO! NOT MY DAD!

NOOOOOOO!

"DAD, I HAVE SO MUCH TO TELL YOU!"

DADDY!

A week ago, I sat in an ER room waiting to be seen and those were the cries I heard in the hallway. With tears in my eyes, all I could do was pray.

Gut-wrenching. Sorrowful. Shock.

He was 41. He didn't make it.

I have no idea of the spiritual condition of 'Dad.' I do know this though, we Christians sit around playing games while people are dying every day without Christ.

Satan wants us playing games.

How many people have I lead to the Lord in 2009? Outside of the church walls, not a one.

How many games have I played? I'm so sorry, Lord. I've allowed myself to get sucked into the games. Too many.

What now? I can't change yesterday, but I'm standing here saying, "Lord, Here am I. Send Me. Redeem the time."

What will this look like? I have no idea. I'm not going to make emotional promises I can't keep. I will pray for opportunity. God will lead. I will follow.

Taking the words from Casting Crowns, this is my heart's cry:

"Until the whole world hears, Lord, we are calling out
Lifting up Your name for all to hear the sound
Like voices in the wilderness we’re crying out
And as the day draws near, we’ll sing until the whole world hears!"

Lord, help us.

What Are You Reading?

2009-12-02T07:01:00.000-05:00

No, not a book review post, although I do have three (THREE?!?) coming up here in the next week or so... But, I thought I'd take a moment to see what people in blogland are reading...

My next three review books are:The Family God Uses by Tom & Kim Blackaby, A Passion for Purpose by Kimberly Sowell, Edna Ellison, Joy Brown, Tricia Scribner & Marie Alston, AND Redefining Beautiful by Jenna Lucado (with Max Lucado). I'll save my thoughts on these books for their respective blog posts :). Stay tuned.

On the FICTION front, recently finished Shades of Blue by Karen Kingsbury. As you know, I'm a fan :D! I open the 1st pages of one of Karen's books and am instantly transported as an eye-witness into the storyline. Reading "life-changing-fiction" by KK is relaxing to me, a way to breeze through a book, and yet while not a non-fiction, instructional book - always leaves me with something to think about. It's not called "life-changing-fiction" for nothing! Cannot wait for Take Three and Take Four coming out in 2010 to close out those series. If you've never read a KK book, she has stand-alones as well as series. If you're in for the long haul, start with the Redemption series. You won't be disappointed.

Also recently finished and am re-reading with the hubs, Crazy Love by Francis Chan. This book has revolutionized, is revolutionizing my life. It will change how you look at God, and cause you to examine how your life looks and how your life should look as a believer and follower of Christ. It's a major 'put your money where your mouth is' kind of book. MUST READ. I do not say that lightly.

Finally, I'm reading Mom, I Hate my Life by Sharon A. Hersh. Having an (um, two) emotional tween(s), a friend highly recommended it to me. I've just started it (as you can see I've had my nose in some other books lately), but I pray God will use this as a parenting tool in my life and that of my precious girlies!!

So, that's what I'm reading. What have you been reading lately?

Blindsided

2009-12-01T06:39:00.001-05:00

Saw the movie “Blindside” Friday night. STRONGLY recommend it! After the movie, I twittered the fact that I loved it… and wanted to see what other people were saying about it so I did a #blindside search on Twitter.

Then I read this: @billybush (I have no idea who @billybush is, but) said “Sandra was amazing. Tim was pitch perfect. Quinto Aaron rookie of the year. #blindside will restore ur faith and keep cynicism at bay.”

Keep cynicism at bay. Bam! And like that, my eyes were opened to something that has been creeping up on my own blindside… cynicism. Where did that come from?

Well, cynicism can sneak up when:

You’ve been lied to… makes it hard to trust
You’ve had your heart broken… makes it hard to love again
You pour your life into someone and they turn their back on you… makes ya’ not want to do it again
You’ve been abused… enough said
You’ve been promised something again and again and it’s not come through… makes it hard to believe anything
You see people spend, spend, spend, but don’t have “enough money” to even tithe to the church or give to a need… well, that just makes ya’ mad
You lose a friend… makes ya’ cautious to make new ones
You get criticized… makes ya’ want to go under the radar and not rock any boats
You see people who claim to be ‘in need’ but have all the latest gizmos/gadgets… makes ya’ not want to help
You’re waiting on God for something… makes ya’ feel like it’s never gonna happen
You donate money to something/someone and it doesn’t go toward what you intended… makes ya’ not want to give

So, we can leave it at that, – CYNICISM – or we can look at it for what it really is (SIN-A-CISM) and ask God to help us with it. Cynicism has its roots in judging, doubt, discouragement and even anger… If you find yourself blindsided with your own cynicism, like I have, here’s a plan to combat it and be victorious over it.

Confess your sin, ask God to forgive you and clean ya’ all up from your cynical mess (1John 1:9). Next, take a peek into what God’s Word has to say about all that you could be cynical about…

He calls us to give; cheerfully, and abundantly to those in need. If we seek the Lord and give as He leads, then what the person/people do with what has been given is between Him and them. Don’t stop giving!

He calls us to love and forgive. Again, we’re not responsible for others actions/reactions to us, but we are called to love… and to forgive. We’re called to love and not to judge.

He calls us to step out by faith in action. ~~If that brings criticism~~, When that brings criticism, love ‘em anyways.

Finally, praise Him. Praise always takes the focus off of us, and onto Him. It’s by far the best cure for a cynical heart than anything I could ever think of!

Don’t ya’ love it that the Holy Spirit’s covering our blindside? I’ll take Him over the left tackle any day of the week!

Black Friday

2009-11-30T20:43:00.003-05:00

Was anything but black :D. We were blessed to have my lil' brother home for Thanksgiving. It's a 1st of many years due to serving overseas and living far away... But, on top of that, he got his kiddos for part of Friday so we were able to get all the kiddos together for the 1st time ever. At the last minute, though, one of his boys wasn't feeling well, so he stayed back, but 8 out of 9 ain't bad!! One of these days we'll get them all together!!
What a joy it was for Mom & Dad (Grammy & Papa) to be surrounded by most of their grandkiddos (8 out of 9)! The kiddos had a blast as well!! God is good!

Relentless Love

2009-11-25T06:29:00.001-05:00

Can we ever fully ‘get’ how deep, how wide, how great the Father’s love is for us?? At church – we recently completed a series that is still ROCKIN’ my SOCKS off, “Prodigal God”. This series has us in Luke 15, but not just the Parable of the Lost Son, but also the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin.

I loved when we took a look at how the man would “go after” his lost sheep and the woman would ”search carefully” for her lost coin. Go after. What a picture these parables portray, that Jesus would “go after” each one of us, relentlessly. I love David Crowder’s new song on the “Church Music” CD that goes, “You’re love is relentless and I’m glad for it, I’m glad for it!!’ His love IS relentless!

The antithesis of Jesus’ LOVE, though is the Pharisee’s tendency to (un)righteously judge. See, Jesus accepts sinners ~ we (Christians with Pharisaical tendencies) tend to judge or even categorize sin. Jesus restores sinners ~ we have a hard time restoring people back into the body after repentance. Ouch. Do we forget that we were lost, and He sought after us? We don’t find God – He finds us.

His love trumps our sin. His loves restores us to Himself.

So, processing all that… I’m seeing that:
Love trumps sin.
Love trumps a broken friendship.
Love trumps a strained familial relationship.
Love trumps judgment.
Love trumps annoyances.
Love trumps _________.

What if instead of cutting oneself off from someone, we love them? What if instead of condemning or criticizing someone we love them? What if when treated with unkindness, hate even, we love instead? What if instead of being appalled, irritated or offended by one’s action, we love them?

Revolutionary love. Reactionary love. Relentless love. I’m not there, not by a long-shot – but my eyes are opened - and by His grace, I yearn to grow in this area.

God’s love is relentless, shouldn’t ours be as well?

Tom-A-to & Tom-AH-to

2009-11-23T06:22:00.001-05:00

Kevin and I have different personalities. For example, when I might freak out about something, he remains calm and level-headed. Or, if I get swept away with “to-do’s”, pressures of life etc. he encourages a break, a healthy break. He helps me focus on what’s really important which often isn’t the Math homework, the dirty floors or the perfect meal… HA! I, on the other hand, help him at times focus on his “to-do’s”, get organized and manage his schedule. Or, if he’s swimming in some discouragement, I can bring him some encouragement. It’s cool, really, how it all works. God uses our personalities to compliment and help each other.

The same is true about spiritual gifts. Kevin has unquestionable faith and he’s blessed with the gift of evangelism and leadership. His unwavering faith becomes a pillar of strength when the waves are crashing all around and his leadership is inspiring. I get to do some encouraging along the way, often see things for how they really are (discernment), and again – our gifts compliment each other. God did not make a mistake in bringing us together.

That’s just how it’s supposed to be within the body of Christ. Like stated in Romans 12, God gives us different gifts (and personalities) to bring them to the table (your local church) and put them to use for God’s glory – to build up the body and grow the Kingdom. It backfires, though, when a) we don’t bring those gifts to the table and b) we expect everyone else to do things just like we would. It’s funny. We have a relatively new volunteer in our Kids Ministry. She got things set up in her room, different than how I would do it. She has a different personality, nothing like mine. We have a ‘program’ that we use there, and honestly I was worried about how it was all going to come together. Can I tell you this? She set up her room (not like me) and it was AWESOME! She taught her class (not like me) and it was AMAZING! Her class looked nothing like mine would – and now I say, “Praise the LORD!” She may say “tom-A-to” and I may say “tom-AH-to”, but both tomatoes turned into an amazing salsa!!

God knew what He was doing when he put the warning in there in vs. 3, “not to think of himself more highly than he should think.” Just like I do things one way and the other teacher does things another way, I shouldn’t think that my way is the only way, or the best way. No. Celebrate the diversity of personalities and spiritual gifts that God brings together in the body. He does it to bring balance, to function together as “many parts in one body.”

So, bring ‘em – bring your gifts to the table and enjoy the supernaturally mixed-assortment that God has brought together!

Unfriend

2009-11-19T23:25:00.005-05:00

So, have you heard the latest? We have a ‘word of the year’! Did you know we had such a thing in America??

I heard the news report this week on KLOVE. Yes, the New Oxford American Dictionary’s ‘word of the year’ is UNFRIEND.

Unfriend was defined as a verb that means to remove someone as a "friend" on a social networking site such as Facebook.

Unfriend.

In regards to social networking, being “unfriended” can be a bummer, but even more so is being “unfriended” in real life.

We’ve all experienced it. My girlies have come home crying because someone “unfriended” them in the neighborhood… and what am I to tell them? “Those poopy, snot-nosed, stinky-breathed girls! You don’t want to be friends with them anyways!” No. I didn’t say that. (GRIN.) What I was thinking was, “Well, get used to it… because ‘unfriending’ doesn’t stop at childhood.” Sad, eh?

Heartbreaking, though is when “unfriending” happens within the body of Christ. I have ‘unfriended’ people and have been ‘unfriended’ for STUPID things like preferences, hurt feelings, not agreeing on something, miscommunications… I’ve been unfriended for following God’s direction in ministry.

Jesus must sit up there in heaven just broken-hearted at our foolishness. Yes, there are times when we should ‘unfriend’ someone for a season, someone that is blatantly sinning and unrepentant, however the purpose even in that is to restore the brother (sister :) in love and with gentleness.

What happened to,”A friend loves at all times?” Prov. 17:17

Or, “Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God.” 1 John 4:7

“If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And we have this command from Him: the one who loves God must also love his brother.” 1 John 4:20-21

“Above all, keep your love for one another at full strength, since love covers a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8

“If possible, on your part, live at peace with everyone.” Romans 12:18

What are we showing the world when we “unfriend” each other within the body? Maybe we should put on the mind of Christ and let His love supersede our foolishness.

Just a thought.

Games We Play

2009-11-10T16:02:00.001-05:00

We talk the talk and don’t walk the walk.

We stay busy. We please ourselves. We get entertained.

We gossip. We backbite. We criticize. We point fingers. We lie.

We take sides.

We are self-righteous. We are prideful.

We are lazy. We make ourselves known.

We fight. We divide. We spit in Jesus’ face.

We want things our way.

We wrap ourselves in self-pity. We weigh ourselves down with troubles of this world.

We weigh ourselves down with these games.

We withhold ourselves from serving, our resources from giving, our talents from blessing.

Lord, forgive us. Sometimes we know not what we do. Sometimes we do. Forgive us.

Overwhelmed

2009-11-07T20:34:00.004-05:00

Someone asked me today, “Kendra, do you ever get overwhelmed?”

Um. Yes.

He was asking a simple question, but truly there’s a loaded answer…

Yes – I get overwhelmed with:

*Responsibilities at Home – “watching over the activities of the household” (Prov. 31:27), dealing with five unique personalities and working to “live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18), keeping everyone clothed, fed, entertained, educated and hopefully trained “in the way they should go” (Prov. 22:6), loving, submitting and encouraging my hubby… Yeah. All that gets overwhelming.

*Ministry – Yeah. bearing the burdens of many people – overwhelmed with how much heartache there is in one body and wanting to meet every need, trying to stay positive among negative people, the fact you’re never really ‘off the clock’, frequently facing criticism, feeling under-qualified and inadequate, trying to keep people encouraged and growing in their faith, wanting to be the hands and feet of Jesus to those He’s called us to serve, never really getting enough help for the above said tasks, there’s always more “to-do” than time on the clock… A recent USA-Today Article (discussing depression/suicide among pastors) describes being a pastor “a high-profile, high-stress job with nearly impossible expectations for success.” Yeah. All that gets overwhelming.

*Personally – wanting to live a life pleasing to the Lord, trying to be a godly, faith-filled example to my family and others, knowing how much I fall short that, fears of failure, expectations I place on myself, wanting to be healthy physically and spiritually, hoping to fulfill my purpose in life and follow His calling, sitting still enough to hear His voice so I can clearly hear His leading and obey it, desiring to be a good wife, mother, friend, daughter, sister etc. Yeah. All that gets overwhelming.

BUT – more than being overwhelmed with my inadequacies, struggles, burdens and responsibilities, I am overwhelmed with the promises of God!

*He promises to set me FREE – 2 Cor. 3:17

*He promises to be WITH ME – Deut. 31:6

*He promises to MEET MY EVERY NEED – Phil. 4:19

*He promises to be MY STRENGTH – Psalm 28:7

*He promises to ENABLE ME in whatever He calls me to – Ex. 4:11-12

*He promises me that I’m not the same person I was – 2 Cor. 5:17 – HE HAS MADE ME NEW!

*He promises me that He CARES FOR ME – 1 Pet. 5:7

*He promises to PROTECT ME – Psalm 32:7

*He promises to HEAR MY PRAYERS – Psalm 6:9

*He promises to FORGIVE MY SIN – 1 John 1:9

*He promises to LOVE ME – 1 John 4:19

*He promises to LEAD ME – Psalm 23:3

*He promises to SATISIFY ME – Isaiah 58:11

*He promises to DELIVER ME – Psalm 144:2

*He promises to help ME LOVE OTHERS – 1 John 4

Yeah. I’m overwhelmed! I’m overwhelmed with His goodness. I’m overwhelmed with His grace. I’m overwhelmed with His love.

I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom in his wedding suit or a bride with her jewels. Isaiah 61:10

GIFTMART

2009-11-03T10:21:00.009-05:00

GiftMart - What is it and HOW can you be involved???

What

is GiftMart?

GiftMart is an outreach to the families of Lincoln Elementary School here in Findlay. We’ll be gathering NEW gifts until Sunday, December 6^th that we will then package together and sell them for $2 to parents/guardians of children at Lincoln on December 12th. All the money raised at GiftMart will go BACK into the school, toward needs that they have (ex. shoes, coats, school supplies etc.).

You can get involved!!

1) GiftMart Donations being Accepted

GIFTS (1200 needed – in order to do 3 gifts per child) - As you start (continue) your holiday shopping, grab a few extra things to donate to GiftMart!!

We also will need:

Giftwrap

Tape

Ribbon

Hot Chocolate

Baked Goods

Monetary Donations – will go for the craft the kiddos will make while their parents are shopping, GIFTS, supplies etc.

2) Volunteers Needed –

GiftMart will be Sat. Dec. 12th - 10am -2pm @ Lincoln Elementary School in Findlay!!

Man the GiftMart

-Check Out

-Check In

-Security

Refreshment Table

People to Bake for the Refreshment Table

Craft Table

Gift-wrap Table

If you, your church or business would like to get involved, please contact http://www.blogger.com/kendra@lifepointfindlay.com for more information. Monetary donations can be made online at our website or by mailing to LifePoint Community Church, 1400 6th St., Findlay, OH 45840. Please indicate "GiftMart" on the memo line.

Shine The Light

2009-10-31T06:53:00.009-04:00

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)

2009-10-30T06:53:00.002-04:00

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)

2009-10-29T06:46:00.002-04:00

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)

2009-10-28T14:27:00.006-04:00

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!!

2009-10-26T06:21:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-25T22:32:00.004-04:00

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

2009-10-20T22:01:00.004-04:00

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

2009-10-20T13:36:00.004-04:00

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

2009-10-18T22:25:00.004-04:00

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.

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.”

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

2009-10-16T14:49:00.001-04:00

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

2009-10-09T22:02:00.004-04:00

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?

2009-10-04T21:36:00.006-04:00

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!!

I Curled my Bed Head :)

2009-09-29T19:22:00.003-04:00

So, last Sunday, church day, my phone alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. as usual (which I, in typical snoozer fashion, immediately turned off), however my bedside alarm, which is set for 6:45 a.m. did not go off. Apparently someone (could’ve been me, but I don’t remember it) turned it OFF! I start waking up when my husband turns to me and says, “KENDRA! IT’S TEN TIL EIGHT!” What??!!?? We usually leave for church at 8. He says to me, hopeful, “Please tell me you took a shower last night!?!” Nope. No shower last night. I did a quick “sniff sniff” inventory and decided that I could get by with skipping a shower, nothing a little Bath-n-Body Mango Orange lotion to smell nicey nicey wouldn’t cover… then I went into the bathroom and saw my hair. Can you say ROOSTER? My hair is now short in the back and it was standing STRAIGHT up!! Well, I have a straight iron that gets really hot, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

Sure enough, and to GOD be the glory, I curled my bed-head, had a relatively successful hair day, all things considered. A few other morning fiascos occurred – but I determined to “put on the mind of Christ” by the time I got to church and was getting my KidsLife classroom ready.

Now, if you looked at me on Sunday, you would’ve seen curled hair, clean clothes and eventually even a smile (God is good, right?). You would have no idea that I busted out of bed like a turbo-blaster, herded the troops in the most ungentle, sergeant-like, Marine Corp basic training kind of wake-up call and rolled out the door, make-up in hand to finish getting ‘put together’! Let me tell you, my ‘sons’ were not rising up and calling me blessed :D Prov. 31:28.

Isn’t that how it is with our hearts? We can gel, curl and spray til we look good. We can cover up with Mary Kay creamy foundation, luscious black lashes and some spunky lipstick. We can dress to the nines, (what does that mean, anyways??), paste on a grin and even throw out a couple of Jesus lines to ‘play the part’.

We can do whatever it takes to look good on the outside.

Dress this way.

Eat this – don’t eat that…

Avoid this activity. Do that activity (to be seen).

Talk this way.

Attend that church.

Hang with them. Don’t hang with THEM!

Budget impeccably.

sMiLe…

Read your Bible!

PRAY!

Serve!

TITHE!

We can look good… real good. We can get to a point that we are ‘holier than thou’ instead of becoming holy, for He is holy (1 Pet. 1:16). We can become the Pharisees in Matthew 23 that are “whitewashed tombs which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity.” We are quick to “think more highly” our ourselves (Romans 12:3) or call out other people’s sins (Matthew 7). We can even “justify” ourselves (Luke 16:15).

One thing, though, God (in His mercy) won’t let us stay in that state for long. If we’ve got yucky fruit on the inside… we’re going to produce yucky fruit on the outside “for the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart” Matt. 12:34. We can fool people, for a while, but we can’t fool God – He sees even “our secret sins” (Psalm 90:8).

We’ve all got some bed-head or at least have bed-head moments. We don’t have to curl our bed-head and cover up our blemishes. We’re not alone. The Bible says, “There is no one righteous, not even one” (Romans 3:10). In fact, our best efforts at righteousness are only “filthy rags” or “polluted garments” (Isaiah 64:6). We don’t have to ‘have it all together’ around our Christian friends. Instead, simply make it a habit to input GOOD (Jesus), so our heart overflows His goodness. He is our righteousness and anything good is us, is from Him! We can worry less about what people think or how we look to them, and more about what He thinks and how we look to Him. Remember, He restores us in love and by His goodness (Romans 2:4). We’re the apple of His eye!

So, ya’ got some BED-HEAD? (ME TOO!!) I still love ya’. And even more importantly, God does!!

Full Armor Of God - Joey Style

2009-09-23T10:43:00.004-04:00

Teachable Moments

2009-09-20T22:07:00.003-04:00

Is it wrong to say I'm glad my son sinned? Well, I'm not glad he sinned, but, I am thankful for the opportunity for discussion that arose because of his brokenness. He was sorry for his sin, crying even. Then, he asked, "Mom, what happens if I sin after I get to heaven? Is God gonna kick me out?" That opened the door to talk about heaven, God's grace and His goodness. We read 1 John 1:9, and the promise that when we sin, and we're sorry about it, we can confess that sin to Jesus and He forgives us. Not only that, He cleans us up and helps us not to do it again! Not that we should just sin, knowing He's going to forgive us, (Romans 6:1), but wanting live right because we love Jesus. We're going to sin, we're sinners. Thank God we have GRACE through Jesus Christ.

Yes, we can be thankful for brokenness.
When we are broken, He can heal.
When we are broken, He can convict.
When we are broken, He can forgive.
When we are broken, He can speak.
When we are broken, He meets us there.
When we are broken, we can experience teachable moments.

Thank God for brokenness and teachable moments.

Fearless - by Max Lucado

2009-09-08T07:35:00.001-04:00

AND THE WINNER IS...........

Comment # 3 belonging to JILL!! Congrats Jill - I commented on your blog. Email me kgrub94@gmail.com so I can send out the sweet booklet!!

In typical Lucado fashion, Max hits a home run with his new book, “Fearless,” which is available TODAY online or at a bookstore near you. “Fearless” held my attention from the time I 1^st cracked it open until its finale. If you’ve ever heard Max Lucado, online or live, you can almost hear him speaking as you read this book, with a southern accent and heartfelt compassion where biblical truth collides and connects with the ordinary person. There’s a chapter in here for everyone! What are you afraid of? Not mattering? Not protecting your kids? Life’s final moments? Global calamity? All that and more is presented in “Fearless”. This book is easy to follow, yet chock full of truths that once embraced, helps us to realize “It’s not the absence of storms that sets us (Christians) apart. It’s when we discover in the storms an unstirred Christ.”

Here are some quotes that stood out as I read “Fearless.”

“Fear is unwilling to share the heart with happiness.”

“Fear corrodes our confidence in God’ goodness.”

“Fear, mismanaged, leads to sin. Sin leads to hiding. Since we’ve all sinned, we all hide, not in bushes, but in 80 hour work weeks, temper tantrums and religious busyness. We avoid contact with God.”

“When you feel unforgiven, evict the feelings. Emotions don’t get a vote. Go back to scripture. God’s word holds rank over self-criticism and self-doubt.”

“Make sure the hull of your convictions can withstand the stress of collisions.”

“Courage does not panic; it prays.”

I highly recommend this book. In fact, I plan on reading it again, chapter by chapter using the study guide available in the back of the book. Whether read individually or used as a group study, “Fearless” will rock the fear out of you and help you to focus on the Rock of courage – Jesus Christ.

……………………………………………………………………..

Like I said yesterday, today I will be giving away the booklet “Imagine Your Life Without Fear” by Max Lucado. If you’d like to be in the running for this life-changing booklet, please leave a comment below. I know not everyone who stops by here is accustomed to leaving comments, so if you need instructions, click HERE. At 10pm EST, Tuesday night, I will run the random integer thingy to pick a winner. Then, I’ll contact you to get your info so I can mail you the booklet.

Today and Tomorrow

2009-09-07T09:19:00.004-04:00

It's so incredibly peaceful this morning. The house is QUIET, everyone's sleeping in on this drizzly Labor Day morning... which translates to extended quiet time for ME! It's so serene I didn't even want get my tail off my Green Chair even though the morning's 1st cup of coffee made it quite necessary ;). Probably only have a few short minutes at this point, because pretty soon everyone will be up and we'll be getting ready for a Mexican Fiesta here a la Casa Grub! See, my hubby is not just the hubby of yours truly, or the father of three Grubbie kiddos, or just the Pastor of LifePoint Community Church... he is also the Salsa King of Tomato Island! Yes, Kevin embarked this weekend upon making SALSA and 3 TUBS of Pico de Gallo... mild (should be named MEDIUM), HOT and INSANITY! Can you say habanero?? There's no way we can eat all this fresh salsa by ourselves... so everyone's invited :). Should be a blast!!

Also, wanted to mention that tomorrow I'll be posting a book review and will also be doing a give-away! I've read Max Lucado's new book FEARLESS, which releases tomorrow! As part of this review, Max, along with Thomas Nelson Publishers, included a booklet, "Imagine Your Life Without Fear ", to give away on my blog. Now, I know that 95, ok 99% of you who stop by my blog don't leave comments (and that's ok :)), but in order to be eligible for this giveaway, you have to leave a comment. Maybe in the past you have had nothing to say or MAYBE you don't know how to leave a comment. If you fall under the latter, allow me to help ya' step-by-step, so you can qualify for this amazing booklet.

1st of all, go to my blog. Oh wait, you're already here :)
Click on "Fearless by Max Lucado" (blog-post title)
Read the review ;)
Scroll down to Post a Comment
Click it :)
Write your comment in the "leave your comment" box
Do the word verification
If you have a Google Account (google reader, gmail, etc) sign in with that
If you have Wordpress, Typepad, LiveJournal or AIM sign in with that
If not, you can use your name (1st name only if you choose) and an url (ie. if ya' have a blog)
Unfortunately, anonymus will not work for the give-away... cuz' I won't know who you are.
After everything is done, click "publish your comment".
***Comment may not show up right away because I do review them before posting. Yours will be posted... no worries :)

After 10pm on Tuesday, I will use the Random Integer thingy and it will pull up a WINNER. If you are the winner, I'll have you email me @ kgrub94@gmail.com to get your contact information - so I can get the booklet to you. Yea! How exciting!!

Here's a video preview of FEARLESS to whet your appetite!

Oh, look! 3 out of the 4 are up now!! Have a wonderful Labor Day!

Have Your Stinkin' Cake...

2009-09-05T09:39:00.004-04:00

...And Eat it TOO!!

Sometimes when I read the Word of God, I think, really?? God did that?? I’m hanging wit da Israelites in NuMbErS now-a-days. They weren’t real happy. Life wasn’t exactly greener on the other side of the Egyptian fence. It was hard. Seems like they have forgotten that the LORD just recently DeLiVeReD them from slavery and oppression. Apparently, that wasn’t good enough. Does this strike a chord with anyone out there other than me?? How quick am I to forget ALL that He has done for me! How quick am I to complain about something being ‘hard’ when the ‘hardship’ was an affirmative answer to prayer!! How quick I am to be of the mindset… it’s never enough! The Children of Israel always wanted more than they had. God provided them supernatural MANNA that “tasted like a pastry cooked with the finest oil”, however, they weren’t thankful for that. They wanted more.

So, He delivered. He ordered up some quail. In fact, He ordered enough quail to that it piled up THREE FEET around “in a day’s journey in every direction”!!! Can you imagine, quail up to your thighs as far as you could see?? God said, “I will give you meat… for a whole month – until it comes out of your nostrils and becomes nauseating to you!” Can you believe He said that? It’s in the Bible… Numbers 11:20! I have to admit, I was a little taken aback by this… maybe because I just want to see my loving God getting angry. However, this isn’t sinful, human anger – it’s righteous anger. He is a God of love. He is also just. He is a holy God.

What if the Lord gave us everything we wanted? Would all the money in the world really solve our problems? Would being able to do anything we wanted to do bring satisfaction? What would happen if we, instead of griping about what we don’t have, spend some time being truly thankful for what we do have? Maybe we should:

Be satisfied in His provision
Be thankful for His provision
Be humbled by His provision

When we pray, sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it’s no and sometimes we just have wait a bit. He does love us and He does care. He does actually do things for our own good. Let’s turn our griping into praise. He IS worthy of it.

Looking back… WHAT IF...?

Provision:

What if early on in planning the church plant someone gave us all the necessary money to get done what needed to get done? Than we wouldn’t have seen God move supernaturally and provide for our every need along the way. We would’ve missed the blessing of His provision. We wouldn’t have gotten a $10,000 sound system DONATED to us! I could give a ba-zillion examples… but you get the idea!!

What if during the planning of the church plant, or back when we were on deputation preparing to go overseas, and we had no regular income someone dumped a boatload of money on us? Than we wouldn’t have learned to become dependent on Him and Him alone. He has PROMISED to take care of all of our needs (Phil. 4:19), not necessarily new cars and filet mignon, but food, clothing, shelter etc. He wants us to trust Him for that… and be thankful for it! Had we never had to ‘struggle’ we would continue on in our thanklessness and self-sufficiency. He used these times to increase our faith and showed Himself Faithful.

Sickness

What if Kevin would’ve never gotten “sick” and had a hospital stay in 2007 with a 6-week recovery afterward. Than he wouldn’t have sat still enough for God to speak to his heart and confirm what the next ministry step He wanted us to take was.

What if I never had a breast lump(s) and subsequent lumpectomy in 2001? Than I wouldn’t have drawn nearer to my Jesus for peace and strength that He so deeply wanted to give me.

What if I didn’t get shingles in 2002? Than I wouldn’t have known the Lord’s loving chastisement for bitterness in my heart that He so greatly wanted me to repent of and lay at His feet, for my own good!!

Relationships

What if all my BFFs were still my BFFs? Than I wouldn’t know that Jesus wants to be and is sufficient as my BFF. I wouldn’t have been humbled in order to work on some pride issues I ~~had~~ have going on. I wouldn’t know that even though circumstances change, friendships change, JESUS NEVER CHANGES. I wouldn’t have looked introspectively at how my actions have hurt others and learn from those mistakes.

What if my marriage was perfect? (ha ha) Than we wouldn’t know that when we truly seek Him 1^st, everything else falls into place (Matt. 6:33). We wouldn’t see God move in each other to grow our love in ways we never knew imagined. We wouldn’t take the time, with each other and with God to make things better…

What if my kids never rebelled? Than I probably wouldn’t pray as much. Just bein’ real. Seriously, having children greatly increases one’s prayer life… and the Bible does tell us to pray constantly. (1 Thes. 5:17).

None of these situations are fun or enjoyable… but praise God we can look back and see His purpose through them. He is the God of LOVE, and that has never changed. He loves us through the trials, and only allows them for our own good (Romans 8:28). Someday, I hope I can get to the point where I “count it all joy” (James 1:2) when I’m actually IN the trial, and not just afterwards, looking back, knowing He is doing a work in me through that trial.

What about you? What trials have you faced that you can clearly see God was doing a work in you?

Sometimes We Use Books

2009-09-04T08:19:00.007-04:00

I've heard the phrase, "We do 'school' all the time, sometimes we use books." That can pretty much describe our evening last night!! Yes, we started 'school' last week (with books) but what the kiddos experience was learning even if they didn't realize it. We went to some friends, because they have lotsa' tomatoes... and Kevin is getting ready to make salsa (YUMMO!). They ended up inviting us over for dinner (fresh jalapeno poppers with cream cheese wrapped in bacon, homemade mac-n-chz and turkey sloppy joes!) Then, we picked from their garden, buckets of tomatoes , jalepenos (BIG ones), some cabbage and other goodies. We saw all kinds of veggies, some squash we had never seen before, learned about squash bugs :(, what you can compost and more about gardens. The kiddos went to town, and in typical Grubby Kiddo fashion - quickly made themselves right at home! They played for hours on a dirt hill... I mean hours. I'm not sure all they played, but I heard "Mom" being called several times and they weren't talking to me... and I'm pretty sure there were Ninjas on the hill as well ;). They played together; with each other and their imaginations! It was a blast watching from a distance!!! Also, they played in the chicken coop and interacted with the hens and a rooster. There they learned about pecking order :o). They had two energetic, fun dogs that they played with as well. It made me miss country living for a bit (just not all the country upkeep...).

Today, I'm letting them sleep in a bit, because we got home so late, and we will crack open our books for 'school' at some point. But, last night was a fantastic reminder that they (we) can be learning outside of our bookwork... and sometimes that is what they will remember forever! With my background of teaching in 'traditional' school, it's tough for me to break away from the books, the routine, and papers and pencils. I definitely want to embrace the full spectrum of education, from developing their imagination, playing (working) together to being aware and learning continually from 'stuff' around us, not just what they get in books.

Learned about ANIMALS at the Petting Zoo at the Creation Museum

Feeding a horse/zebra... and a donkey/zebra... who knew??
Julia and her camel!!

Emma with the Donkey thingie!!

Learning about being a family... by being with our family :)

Learning about Noah's Ark, by being in Noah's Ark.

Learning about Dinosaurs, when you're getting eaten by them!

Love THIS pix!

Learning about the Garden of Eden... IN the Garden of Eden (Creation Museum)

Learnin' about Scooby Doo... ok, I just like this PIX :D

Back to the Basics

2009-09-03T12:25:00.007-04:00

It's softball season and you're on a losing streak. Time to take a step back, work on making throws, following through on your swing and teamwork/communication. Fall football season is now upon us (GO BLUE!!). When the results aren't what they could be, it's time to run some passing drills, work on defense and maybe time some time in the gym to build muscle strength. Back to the basics. Focus on the foundation. Time-OUT!

Just like on the ball field, sometimes we have to get back to the basics at home, in our faith and with our relationship with God. Here at the Grubbie abode, we have seasons where we need to re-focus - back on loving God and loving each other. Kevin and I have to make an effort to have 'our time' and we work at spending more time with the kiddos... not just in quantity, but quality. It's hard to work on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control (Gal. 5:22-23) when life and busy-ness make things 'out of control.' Discipline takes time (discipline = teaching), pouring into your children (training them up in the way they should go - Prov. 22:6) takes time and growing biblical character takes time. It's hard to build the 'fruit of the Spirit' when it's just go-go-go all the time. Sometimes you just have to stop, pray, take time to discuss things, enjoy each other, experience 'teachable moments' and connect.

The same is true for us in our faith. Maybe you're new to the whole "God-thing". Maybe you've been a believer for a LONG TIME. No matter where you're at in life, it's always good to get back to the basics. What about you? Are you facing a trial or a schedule that seems out of control? Do you find God seemingly distant? (If you do, you're not alone. Psalm 10:1) Are you struggling with your life's purpose? Do you feel like nobody cares? Allow me to share some of the 'basics' of God to encourage you.

*1st and foremost, know this: HE LOVES YOU!!! Everything about God boils down to love. It's easy to question your circumstances, but in light of His love, we cannot question His love for us. Check out these verses:

*Jeremiah 31:3 I have loved you with an everlasting love...
*Romans 5:8 But, God proves His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
*1 John 4:16 And we have come to know and believe the love that God has for us. God is love...
*John 3:16 For God loved the world in this way, He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.
*1 John 4:19 We love because He first loved us.
*You are the apple of His eye Psa. 17:8
*He delights in you!! Psa. 18:19
*He cares for you!! 1 Peter 5:7

*Secondly, after understand His love, take time to talk to Him. Pray. Prayer is simply talking with a Friend. Talk to Him in the morning, in you car as you're driving to work, while you're washing dishes, before you close you eyes at night. He is the BEST venting/sounding board!! He's a good listener. He truly CARES. You don't have to dress-up your words - be yourself. He created you!! He knows you. Talk to Him and then be still... He whispers back :).

*Finally, get to know Him. Phil. 3:10 says to make it your "goal to know Him." Open your Bible. Read through the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). Attend a church. Go to a Bible Study. Soak Him up like a sponge!! He's there waiting. Deut. 4:29 says "you will search for the LORD your God, and you will find Him, when you seek Him with allyour heart and with all your soul."

There ya' have it... the basics. Make time to talk with Him, get to know Him and please, please, please know He loves you!! Enjoy this tune by David Crowder - 'bout sums it up!

"Everyday Greatness" by Stephen Covey

2009-08-28T10:46:00.002-04:00

“Everyday Greatness” by Stephen Covey is an intense, yet light read. It is chock full of life principles however portrayed through stories of ‘everyday’ people. Stephen’s goals for this book were 1) for the reader to relax and enjoy 2) be an inspiration to “get more out of life” and 3) encourage passion to be a “transition person” – one who “breaks the flow of bad - negative traditions…” Covey breaks things down to: The Choice 1) to Act, 2) of Purpose and 3) for Principles.

Stories about Lincoln, Disney, Dickens, and even Dolly Parton are among some shared throughout this book, as well as ‘everyday’ people, and left me feeling moved, inspired and even challenged at times. From intensity and integrity shown in “Girl Against a Blizzard,” to the simplicity and applicability of “Two Words to Avoid – Two Words to Remember”, as well as the practicality and refreshing reminder of one’s need for renewal in “Lessons of a Quiet Cove,” this book provided inspiration and motivation. “Everyday Greatness” opened my eyes to principles to further develop in my own life including (but not limited to): Charity (“love in work clothes”), Integrity, Empathy (“listening with the intent to understand”), Perseverance, Simplicity and Renewal.

Although lacking in spiritual depth, this book would be a great resource for pastors/speakers researching a certain character trait or principle as each chapter can stand alone as a resource. In addition to the stories, each chapter ends with quotes and further thoughts on the principle. Everyone is on a quest of answering the question, “Who am I?” and, “Who do I want to be?” This book provides insight to character one can develop in response to those questions.

Check out “Everyday Greatness” HERE or on Amazon.Com!!

Why I Love This Man!!!

2009-08-25T23:19:00.006-04:00

He is Intensely Dedicated: To God. To us (me and the kiddos). And to the Lord’s work. He allows God to direct him, set his priorities, and pursue them. He engages wholeheartedly the work God has called him to – strives for excellence in all he does. In addition, he steps away from ‘work’ to pour into us (me and the kiddos).

He Listens: When I make a suggestion or when we need to ‘discuss’ something, he listens. He values me and wants to know what is important to me as his wife. He wants to meet expectations. He takes responsibility. He even listens when I don’t say anything – do you know what I mean?

He Has Excruciating Faith: Seriously, try being married to this guy. He is sold out, dag-gonned determined to follow hard after God and willing to press on to whatever He calls him to. Let me tell ya’ what that equals for me = never a dull moment!! But, I wouldn’t trade it for the WORLD! I’ll take Roller Coaster Top-Thrill-Dragster over the Lazy River any day of the week! He runs things past me to which I say, “Yeah right, that could never happen!” or “Are you kidding me!?!” But, nevertheless, God trusts him with vibrant vision and has blessed him with the excruciating faith to follow through. Good thing he knows when NOT to listen to me ;-). His is a rock and his faith strengthens my own.

He Does NOT Give Up: To a fault, I will throw in the towel all too quickly when things heat up, get a little tough or get broken seemingly beyond repair. Not my man! He’s willing to do whatever it takes to grow in his relationship with God, to keep our marriage strong(er), train up our kiddos and lead a ministry (ministries). He finds a way to ‘make it work’ when it seems like something isn’t going to. He’s a thinker. He’s a go-getter. He’s a git-r-done kinda guy.

He Seeks Accountability: 1^st of all, he meets bi-weekly with a fAnTaStIc group of guys that pray, plan and process all that LifePoint has going on. However, in addition to them, Kevin purposed to go a step further and has a couple of godly, faithful men that provide accountability for him on many levels – personal devotion time, balancing ministry and family, keeping a short sin account… He knows his weaknesses. He knows where the devil is attempting to cause him to stumble, he knows he’s not above the potential to fall and he knows he can’t handle it alone! Do you have any idea what that means to me as his wife??? It is such a demonstration of his love for me and I am thankful for a man that seeks accountability – and I’m humbled and grateful to the men that provide it – THANKS!

He Knows how to Have a Good Time: Kevin is often the life of the party! He welcomes anyone into our home – after 1 visit to our house – you’re no longer a guest – make yourself at home! When you’re with Kevin, you will laugh and you will feel loved. He plays a competitive game of Settlers or Nerts (but takes defeat (by me) graciously… he he!!)… Well, you might not feel ‘loved’ when playing Settlers or Nerts with him… but you are :D.

He gives people a chance. He gives people the benefit of the doubt. He is patient. He doesn’t rush into decisions, but is quick to act on them as God leads. He leads our home with loving, yet firm, authority. You can see Jesus in him. He’s a mover and a shaker. He loves his Mommy. People are drawn to him. He’s a passionate preacher. He’s a compassionate soul-winner. He speaks the truth in love. He loves tremendously. He gives courageously. He lives worthy of the calling of Christ on his life. He's not afraid. He’s totally cute (even after ALL these years)! He still has a smooth jump shot. He endures 'chick flicks' just to hang with me. He’s a friend to many. He’s a God-follower.

The dude’s not perfect – I didn’t marry Jesus – but he’s a man who strives to be like Him every day. What more could I ask for?

How Did This Happen???

2009-08-24T11:54:00.005-04:00

Julia used to be 4 - playing "Little Kickers"... now, she's almost 11 playing U-12!! What in the world!!!???!!!

What to Wear

2009-08-21T09:31:00.002-04:00

I am not a legalist. However, as much as I am against pharisaic legalism, I have an intense desire to honor and please the Lord. I will fight against rules ‘for rules’ sake’, but at the same time I will be obsessive about following my Father’s loving direction.

If you’ve been a Christian for any amount of time – the ‘issue’ of dress has come up. What to wear? If you’re still reading, (God bless you by the way,) don’t worry – this isn’t going to be a list dos and don’ts. I cannot answer this question for you, but Jesus can. God did not give us the 10 commandments, or any of his commands/direction in the Bible, so that we can live under His thumb. Rather, He loves us so much and cares for us and gives us guidelines for our own good, to help us out. The Bible is a love letter to us, and even the (seemingly) restrictions are undergirded with love. (Did I just say undergirded?)

We are raising two young ladies, tweens if you will. This transition from kid-hood to young adulthood has driven us to pray together, research and study together and “work out our salvation” in regards to the matter of dress. Again, not so Miss Julia and Miss Emma (and Miss Kendra) can have more rules… but with the goal to pleasing the Lord in this area.

Some questions we ask ourselves… Is it too short? Is it too tight? Is it too low? I have a bathing suit that I bought online while living in the Dominican Republic, so I couldn’t try it on ahead of time. When I did, it revealed that it was indeed quite low and quite revealing of zee ta ta region (French accent). Recently, I put that suit on to see if I would be comfortable in it at the pool. I was not. It was low. But, what answered the question with even more clarity was when one of the girls came into my room, and her eyes about popped out of her head because the suit drew attention to that area. I didn’t wear it. You can feel when eyes are drawn to you. Ever talked with someone who was having a hard time maintaining eye-contact?? You know what I mean! I think sometimes we know when we’re wearing something, if it’s going to draw attention or not. Christian Ladies, we have the Holy Spirit living in us. If we’re sensing that something is not appropriate – CHANGE!

Because of my love for Christ and for my brothers and sisters in Christ, I do not want to be a stumbling block. We have the right and freedom to dress however we want… but “be careful that this right of yours in no way becomes a stumbling block to the weak.” 1 Cor. 8:9. As we decide what to wear, why don’t we also “decide not to put a stumbling block or pitfall in your (my) brother’s way.” Romans 14:13.

One can argue that it’s not our fault if guys can’t control their eyes! Really? It is no secret that most men struggle or have struggled with “lust of the eyes” at some point in their live. (Read Every Man’s Battle). Do we want to build up our brothers or tear them down? Anne Jackson recently blogged about this very topic. One thing that was humbling, convicting and eye-opening were the comments that men left answering the question, “Do women dress too sexy?” Here are a couple of them:

“My sister, when it comes to being tempted visually, I am your much weaker brother. I would humbly ask, as you exercise your wonderful freedom in Christ, you would demonstrate grace and help me in my quest to live a life that honors our great God. YOU can help ME in my weakness.”

“Dressing modestly is a way to love and cherish our brothers and sisters in Christ…”

For more on what men had to say – see Anne’s blog.

So many times ladies coming out of legalism - ankle long skirts, pastoral robes to swim in ;) - swing to the extreme of the pendulum in exercising their “freedom” – butt-hugging, SHORT shorts, protruding cleavage… Let’s find a happy medium here ladies – and the Holy Spirit is that fantastic guide. It’s not black and white. Let Him guide you through the grey area. That’s His specialty.

“Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do (or wear), do everything for God’s glory.” 1 Cor. 10:31