Just been so busy…

So I had this BRILLIANT idea to have 2 Senior session on the same day!

…at the same time.

I thought it was a brilliant idea…..I really did! They are bestfriends anyway, how FUN to do them together! 2 birds=1 stone….but what I did NOT take into consideration was that now I have TWICE the amount of editing to do in one short week. And it’s kicking.my.butt.

But oh so worth it…

And this week has been crazy all by itself….sick kids…..emotionally needy babysitting kids that just need a lot of extra attention…..and I had the “SUPER” idea to do some rearranging and fall cleaning.

Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

And, I have mentioned it in awhile, but I’m still reading the Bible through in a year. I’m finished with the New Testament except for Revelations. I’m saving that for last. No, I have no idea why. I’m almost done with Jeremiah and quite frankly, I found it quite depressing. It’s nothing but: You didn’t listen and these are all the ways I’m going to smite you for it.

I mean no disrespect at all, but I have been seriously struggling with it! It’s like being constantly scolded all the time! Bad parents do it to their kids, and it’s bad! I was feeling scolded and honestly, I have not been enjoying it at all. To be REALLY frank, I was trudging through.

(I know, that’s rotten)

So Tuesday night when I was reading, and I found myself with the attitude of “I’m just reading it because I said I would.” I had a verse pop into my head from the New Testament:

1 Corinthians 10:11

These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

And that has cured my “trudging” problem through Jeremiah. It’s better to listen to correction the first time….trust me….

I encourage everyone to read through the entire Bible! I cannot tell you how proud of myself I am! I LOVE to read! SERIOUSLY, love to read! Anything, everything….I love it. So to make the commitment to God to read NOTHING but the Bible until I have it entirely read through….and actually DO IT…..I’m pretty stinkin’ proud of myself.

Anyway…..I’m here. Just busy. Work. Work. And when that’s done, there’s still more work to be done. But I haven’t abandoned anything or hushed. I’m still reading other blogs as well, just can’t seem to update MINE! LOL

We’re DANGEROUS!

In the previous post, I mentioned following several Youth ministry blogs, and on Rethinking Youth Ministry, they were discussing churches playing it “safe”. As a church, as a Youth ministry, we should be anything but safe! Or as they called it:

Dangerous!

I’ve been really thinking of this ever since that particular post, and that discussion came up. Is my church dangerous?

And I’ve come to the conclusion, it is. We are very dangerous! Let me tell you about our Pastor and Youth Pastor:

-They are both missionaries. Gordon has an incredible heart for the Hispanic community and goes to Mexico as often as he can. More often than not, he’s taking fellow church members with him. Jeff has a heart for Cam0dia, Bangled3sh, Burm@ and goes a few times a year to teach pastors there. They learn and then take it back to their homes, towns, villages….where we would never normally be able to reach! (both of their wives are equally amazing and have the sweetest hearts! Thanks Gloria and Jan!)

-They have a boldness for Christ and a desire to see people saved, one that is incredible….and contagious! Gordon walks the streets by the church and talks to business owners about Christ in a very friendly, non-judgemental way. And he inspires all of us to do the same! Jeff leads the Youth in “fishing trips” to different places and encourages us to bold in our faith. He teaches the teenagers to be unashamed of their faith in their everyday lives and to share with friends and classmates. (He says he’s too “old” to be teaching Youth, but it’s that maturity that has encouraged the spiritual maturity in our teenagers!)

-They helped a Hispanic church to grow by offering our own church building for them to meet in! They have helped us a church family to reach out to this new church and we have embraced them proudly with open arms! My favorite services are the ones combined with the Hispanic church with the wonderful lunches afterwards! We have stepped outside of our own comfort zones to meet the needs of fellow Christians.

-They are encouraging us to go farther by embracing others from different “tribes, nations, people, and languages” and we have Sunday scriptures read in different languages! We have a class Sunday nights teaching us about different religions and cultures so as to better understand them and share Christ. (When world views collide by Ergun Caner, INCREDIBLE study, by the way!)

-They have both encouraged us a church family to be more diligent in our Bible reading, scripture memorizing, and prayer lives. And they have lead by example.

-They are humble men that know that their salvation comes from Christ alone, and not because they are “special, holy men”. (Quote by Gordon) They don’t say “sinners” because that implies they are somehow better than the unsaved. They know that they are just as sinful as anyone else, they just have found the Savior that saves us by His grace.

-They began a ministry that feeds the homeless once a month and encouraged the church to become involved!

-Our church is helping to support a new Youth ministry starting (and I don’t shamelessly plug it whenever I can because my photos are all over the website…that would be shallow. I plug it because Michael is a good guy!)

-Our church supports an incredible Youth camp every summer for our Youth (Faithweek, seriously, no camp like it, anywhere! You should check it out. )

-And like our Sunday School teacher in the new Young Couples class: we want to build not just a class, but a community….because church should go farther than just Sunday morning.

So, do I think our church is “safe”?

Not a chance. And I’m so proud!

Thank you to Gordon, Jeff, and Chip, for your amazing leadership! You have made a wonderful difference in the lives of our church family! Happy Pastors-Appreciation Month!

church

The above picture will take you to our church website where you can listen to the podcasts of the sermons!

Week 40-excited!

Week 40 – Photo Challenge Theme “Excited!”
Our Definition: eager, active, enthusiastic, animated

I had the PLEASURE of taking 50th wedding anniversary portraits for the sweetest couple at church! While I was taking the photos, she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead, and all the while there was this private conversation going on between husband and wife. I am not sure what she said to him, but he suddenly got this very excited, animated look on his face. I’m not sure all of what HIS reply was, all we heard him say was “lap dance” and the wife blushed and then giggled. At that point, both their daughter and myself were seriously in a fit of laughter! LOL I had the best time with this amazing couple! So when I learned the theme of this week, I knew I had to use this photo!

Please check out iHeartfaces to see all the amazing photographers!

I WON!!!

I’ve been following a blog for awhile now on Youth Ministry, named Rethinking Youth Ministry. They had a contest last week for women in Youth ministry…….

…and I WON!! WOOHOOOO

I almost didn’t enter. I’m just a Sunday school teacher. I wasn’t sure if the contest was for ministers or Big Youth People (like IMPORTANT people, high up, educated….), so I actually took a minute or two to decide to enter or not.

I’m not a theologian like Gordon or Jeff. I will never have deep, philosophical discussions with Luke or Craig. I will never have a Youth ministry like Brad or Michael. And I will never attend any sort of seminary.

I am just a Sunday School teacher to Youth girls…..ages 11-18. I don’t speak, or have any desire to speak, Greek. I second guess myself all the time.

But what I do know, is God placed me certain places at certain times for certain reasons to be there for someone, to be the first person to ever tuck someone in, to just sit and cry with someone, to let someone know it was OK and God still loves them, and I was there to let someone know that they were loved, for the first time in their life. I may not be a very intelligent person, but I like to think my heart makes up for it. I may not be able to debate the Bible with anyone, but I will always be there to let them know that Christ died for them…….. pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and dig into that Bible and find out about the God Almighty that sacrificed so much for you. I can do that.

I will not be perfect. Ever. I will make mistakes and stick my foot in my mouth all the time. But I am very serious about what God has asked me to do. I do take it very seriously. I’m not in there for my kids, I am not in there because it’s “cool”, I am not in there to further my career in ministry, I’m in there because God called me to do it. And I am always looking to do my job better.

So thank you, Brian and Jacob for doing this giveaway! I will put the books to good use!

Letters of Intent

Dear Egg #1:

I know that you are a big, bad teenager. I get it. You are 10 seconds away from having all the knowledge in the world, surpassing my own feeble intelligence, and do not need the nagging, smothering parents breathing down your neck right before you declare your ultimate independence. Point taken. Let me help you with a little something before you go, and no, it won’t be spit on my thumb to wash your face, I promise:

1.) I am NOT your maid. When I go into your room and happen to pick up clothes off your floor, trust me, it is NOT an invitation to continue throwing your clothes on your floor.

2.) I am NOT your personal servant. I don’t mind fixing plates for everyone when I make dinner. I love you and the first plate is ON ME! But after that, unless you want spit on your 2nd helping, don’t ask me to get it. I do love you though.

3.) Laundry service is done during the DAY. Again, I love you and I want you to wear clean clothes. Trust me. However, the washing machine is afraid of the dark, and once the sun goes down, it goes into hiding. Laundry service starts promptly at 8:30 every morning, if you need something washed, please tell me the day BEFORE you need your crap clothes washed. I promise I will have it washed the next day (waiting for YOU to fold them and put them away. )

4.) You are NOT driving til you are 16. Stop asking. You have 2 years to go.

5.) You canNOT take PE every year til you graduate. I know it’s an easy class, but it will NOT get you into college. Start thinking of your future because with all this maid service you want, you’ll be needing a GREAT paying job to pay someone to do it. And I KNOW you love history, but somehow, I do not believe you will make a “Maid-service-paying” salary on a History major. I’m just sayin’.

And let me end this by saying, I am so proud of you. You are a compassionate young man and by far superior to so many of the teenagers I see at your school. Don’t grow up. Give me a few more years maybe….you can go to a local college right? And live at home? Just give it a thought…you have 4 and half years left to think it over…..

Love, Mom
**************************************************************

Father God,

I KNOW You created everything and I appreciate it. Your wisdom in all things seriously blows my mind. But I just want to know why that yummy, NEWBORN stage lasts WEEKS, but the teen years go on F.O.R.E.V.E.R! I trust Your judgement, but I have some questions for You when I get there…

Please give me patience.

Love,
Dana
*************************************************************

Dear lady that didn’t like her picture:

I thank you sincerely for your business. I appreciated it. (Past tense) But, if you ordered a photo (more than ONE of that particular picture, as a matter of fact), it is not really my fault. You saw the photos. You had 3 full weeks to decide on 24 different photos. You ordered the photos. Trust me, I did NOT switch photos after you ordered them. Photographers really don’t do that. I will fix whatever you think I need to fix, and I’ll even pay for it (the first time), but don’t be insulting please. I’m a nice lady.

The End.

************************************************************

Dear Brother:

PAY YOUR BILLS.

Love,
Your sister that is going to kick your BUTT if Mom has to go without something again. Seriously. Don’t make me come over there.
***********************************************************

Julie, thank you for letting me get this ALL off my chest. I will have more next week. You rock!

Public Service Announcement

This True Story Tuesday I have a warning to everyone out there. This is a serious matter that needs to be addressed. Life or death here, people…focus….

It has come to my attention by my 11 year old son that THIS popular toy:

…..is NOT safe!! I KNOW! I was just as shocked as you are! My boys BOTH had this! BUT, it appears that:

Did you catch that? Don’t be alarmed if you didn’t, I’ll take a better picture for you:

This is a TOY and will not be of any sort of useful protective gear against any warring neighbor kids with swords, arrows, or morning stars.

This means, if the Battle of Thermopylae ever breaks out again, your child is NOT safe wearing that particular device!

This has been a Public Service Announcement. You’re welcome.

Thank you, Chandler, for pointing out this useful fact to me. I heart you. You have potentially saved thousands of unsuspecting battling children from danger.

My favorite things…

iHeartfaces is having a “Life in Pictures” entry with a theme of “My favorite things”. And since I don’t suffer from diarrhea of the mouth and shamelessly share everything on here anyway….here’s a few of my favorite things:

Obviously, my first love is Christ Almighty. I love that Christianity is the only religion that is based on a personal relationship with Him, not one of duty or fear or heritage. I love that my faith is based on God’s GRACE, and not on anything I could do to be good enough. He loves me right where I am. He made the ultimate sacrifice, so I didn’t have to. All I have to do is believe. Sadly, I have no pictures of Him. I have pictures of people in His Presence though, which is almost as good:

My honey is another of my very favorite things. We are very different, and yet, somehow, our 18th wedding anniversary is coming up in February, and we still like each other. I love his sense of humor, I love his devotion to our children, I love his honesty and integrity….

I love my children! I am so proud of them! (Gosh, I still need to fix that photo and get those people out of the background! HAHAHA)

I love my parents! They are utterly amazing: their faith in God, their love for each other, their parenting, their friendship, their example, and their HEART! I could work my whole life and still not be half the people my parents are. (Just don’t tell her I used this photo AGAIN. She doesn’t like it. LOL)

I dearly LOVE FALL! It’s my FAVORITE season!

I LOVE new babies!! I love their smell, their squishy bodies, their squooshed up faces….and I love friends who let me hold theirs and take all the photos I want to!

And of course, I love photography. I love the (almost) instant gratification of it! (compared to painting I used to do) I love every aspect of it (minus the cost of new toys….that kinda bites)!

(Gosh, OK, I have to admit it: I really like poison dart frogs too. Is that odd?)

Some of my very favorite things I do not have a picture of….Pepsi. Pepsi is my personal drug of choice. I don’t drink. I don’t smoke. I don’t do any sort of drugs (other than Excedrin migraine….you are my friend….), I do Pepsi. Yes, I’m aware how bad it is, and how it may kill me, but I’ll go out with a smile on my face….and a Pepsi in my hand. And Pam promised me she’d stick one in my coffin after I’m gone….one for the road. Thanks, Pam. I heart you, too. I love Willow tree angels….dearly love these things. Sadly, I am the mother of boys, so I have few. I love beautiful, delicate teacups and saucers as well….but again, sadly, I am the mother of boys, and they are packed away, along with my tea set from China Mike gave me on his last mission trip there. I secretly love opera, but don’t tell anyone. I love quiet. And I love sleep…that may be my favorite…

Thanks Amy and Angie for this theme this week! It’s nice getting to know the people BEHIND the cameras!

When a teacher says….

It’s that time of year again! Time for progress reports and parent-teacher conferences! Good times…..good times….

So in honor of these time-honored, parent-stressing events, I thought I’d share a little INSIDE information before you head into the class and sit in desks that are meant for 5 year olds. That’s how much I love you.

As a former teacher who gave up her luxurious life in the classroom to teach at home because I generally hate working with catty women to ensure that children in my care would receive the utmost in care and personal, one on one attention. (Yes, it was preschool, don’t hate. I had to do report cards AND parent teacher conferences too!)

Teachers have a language all their own….a sort of CODE, a secret code…and I’m here to fill YOU parents in on it.

If a teacher says this, this is what they mean:

Spirited: busy, may need meds to corral these children.

Creative: does odd things we can’t explain; may include eating paper and/or glue or painting their own bellies under their shirts.

Great imagination: again, does odd things, could be Einstein or Picasso, but we’re leaning toward Charles Manson.

Occupies himself/herself: plays alone, could be he enjoys it, could be his “creative imagination” and he’s secretly planning to eat the cat, other kids are afraid of him/her (or the other kids are just total snobby snots, and in this case, we encourage your child playing alone. Trust me).

Seems unmotivated: lazy, get a reign on this before he fails the 8th grade. Err…I mean…any grade…{cough cough} not Austin at all…..not at all…..

Sweet: a.) kiss up, or b.) other kids are such boogers and your child is the only bright spot in my day. Save me.

Doing just fine: who are you again? Which kid is yours?

Lots of friends: won’t shut up during class. I’ve bought a muzzle.

Talks too much: muzzle didn’t work, I’ve brought in horse tranquilizers. Good Lord, where’s her OFF button? {cough cough} Never written on my report card. Ever. I was a golden child….ahem.

Self motivated: could be good—your child works on his/her own which leaves me time for Dana the girl who won’t SHUT UP! Or,
bad—bossy, thinks they are too good or too smart for me. I’m onto this one….

Really, really great job: I’m onto you parents…I know your son/daughter didn’t do that science fair project on molecular construction. At least you could have made it believable with a solar system or a volcano!

Short attention span/Immature: shut the TV/Video games off for awhile, I’m starting to hear static coming from your child’s head.

We don’t need a conference: CONGRATULATIONS! I am so monstrously busy with the other blokes that scored between mushroom and common house fly on their CCOT tests, that I don’t have time for yours.

We need to schedule a conference: a.) the horse tranquilizers didn’t work and this is an intervention before I wire Dana’s your daughter’s mouth shut, or b.) a child is missing and your “creative” son may have ate him.

Now that you are brought up to speed on our secret code, jot them down and bring them to the next parent teacher conference. But never ever tell where you learned it. They can make people disappear…..

True Story Tuesday!

It’s been relatively quiet…errr…translation: I haven’t done anything stupid enough to mention. So I thought I would share my incredible Sunday with everyone!

Chandler was saved several years ago, but he was never baptized. We wanted to leave it up to him to decide and not influence his decision in any way. I may meddle in everything else, but this is not an area I want to inappropriately pressure my children.

So several weeks ago, Chandler and I watched a Nicholas Cage movie (of all things) that brought about a discussion on Heaven and salvation, etc. It was one of those comfortable conversations that I felt able to ask him why he’d never wanted to be baptized.

He was scared.

Awwww…then I felt bad. LOL He said he didn’t know what to do or where to go to do it and he was scared of looking dumb. My poor baby…..

So I walked him through what he would do first (go down front), then the day he was baptized, he would bring a change of clothes, a comb for his hair, and his Dad would go up with him to the room leading to the Baptismal. (It’s called a baptismal right?) Gordon would be with him and he would tell us everything we needed to know.

So Sunday morning, my youngest son was baptized! Yes, I was just a little proud….

Before they went down, Gordon prayed over him. Yes, I may have welled up pretty bad over this one. I love my Pastor!

Gordon knew how nervous Chandler was, so he stayed with him and guided him through it all. It was the sweetest thing!

I’m really trying to pay attention and catch everything, and then I noticed Mike on the opposite side of me….all teary eyed…..OMGosh, yes, at that point I cried.

At this point, Gordon was talking about Chandler. He had taken Chandler along with him during our “fishing” trip to the mall to share our faith with people and Chandler is just one of those young people that isn’t afraid to do it! He doesn’t mind handing out tracts at all! And because of this boldness, Chandler won the prize for the first person to hand out all of his tracts: the NEW David Crowder CD and let me just say……ummmm…..A*MAZING! LOVE it! It’s one of those CDs you can pop the entire thing and just let it play. (Thanks, Jeff!)

(I still chuckle over his little foot bobbing up! LOL)

I LOVE my church! I love my Pastor! I love our church staff! Seriously, if you need a church home and you live in the Tulsa Metro area, come! It’s just so different…. Eastwood Baptist Church

Who is Jesus?

This was the question put to us this weekend. Who is Jesus to us?

This past weekend was one of those weekends that you need a week to recover from, but also one of those weekends that turned out so much better than you anticipated.

If I can be completely honest… I was not looking forward to this weekend. 24 hours with young teenagers, overnight, up late, up early, all day plans…..I figured I had offended Jeff in some way (probably this blog ) and this was his payback. An overnight with all the Youth will fix me right up…..tire me out so I would have no energy to blog….I know his evil plan…..

So all day Friday, I was planning for the weekend: packing overnight bags for all the kids, sleeping bags and pillows, making sure I had enough spare cash for Saturday…..and mentally, I was praying for some act of God to prevent having to do this. (I’m not proud of my reluctance, I’m only being honest about it. I’m a tired woman with too much on my plate…)

And I am totally ashamed of myself. Yes, it was work, but most things I do are, it was just a different kind of work. It was bonding with teenagers new to the department. It was getting to know them and their personalities. It was laughing over silly stuff and begging Jeff for chocolate chip cookie dough (thanks Jeff!). It was seeing these new, very young middle-schoolers worship Christ in a way that is different from Sunday morning. And it was seeing them learn how to share their faith…..and then seeing them apply that newly obtained information in public…losing their fear, and jumping in with both feet!

Like we learned from Michael, we can’t walk the walk, talk the talk, but not DO the dance! And anyone can go to a mall and share with strangers, but what about going to school (or work) and sharing your faith there? Your walk and talk must be held up by the dance you do. (Sharing your faith)

Living our faith, sharing WHO Jesus is to us, living a life the way Peter said to live….the world will hate us!

It’s funny that Michael would say this, the last few weeks, I’ve experienced that. If you ask any random person, they are all “Christians”…or what I lovingly refer to them as: country club Christians. But to actually put it to the test, get into an actual conversation with some, you quickly learn they have no idea what being a Christian means. When you hash it out, get down and dirty with it, you see who is really doing the dance, and who has no clue. I’ve had that opportunity lately to honestly have that conversation with people that have professed their faith, but when you shoved all the churchy stuff aside and let the truth swim to the top…..they are only Christian on the surface: a country club Christian happy to live life as they please knowing their fire insurance policy is up to date.

Word of advice for those afraid of offending people: do not point out the above fact to them. They do not like it very much, and you will no longer be welcome in their circles. Thank you, that “country club” may have revoked my membership…..

Anyway, I digress….

This weekend was perfect. It was exactly what we all needed. Thank you, Jeff for doing the work to pull it all together and letting me come play. Thank you, Michael, for allowing God to move in your life and spill out all over us who were priviledged to hear you. And thank you, Gordon, for taking Chandler under your wing and letting him watch and learn how to share his faith with boldness the way you do.

And when we were done on Saturday with all our Youth plans, I was able to go with this incredible Youth speaker, and shoot him and his team…

(Need a Youth speaker for a great Disciple weekend like this one? Check out Michael….he’s a good, GOOD guy!)

And yes, now I’m ashamed I wasn’t looking forward to this weekend. But as a reward for not bailing….or killing anyone….

….THIS was my reward….

…seeing and photographing my youngest son be baptized. Oh yes…Jesus is good to me, even when I don’t deserve it! (Look at that little foot bobbing up out of the water!) LOL

Do the dance!