I have big ideas.

“And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith.”

Matthew 13:58

 

Boy, I sure don't want this scripture to be what God writes about me.  My devotion for the day was on faith.  It talked about how God wants us to have a big vision because having a big vision reflect our faith in a big God.  All this talk about vision got me really excited. 

 

This is one of my gifts.  I'm a visionary.   I have big ideas...see how things should come together...like to figure out all the details...enjoy the troubleshooting part of a new project....love to get it started.  Then...I want to hand it all off to someone else so that I can start on the next thing. 

 

Sometimes this is a good thing.  Sometimes it works because I have worked hard to follow God's path and not my own.  Often times God has called someone to take over when I'm ready to hand things off because some people are gifted with the follow through...but not so much with the ideas to get things up and running. 

 

And then sometimes I forget to include God's plans in my vision, so there is no one called or prepared for the position that I think is needed.  Somtimes it's just fun to start something new and I get to many irons in the fire.

 

So my devotion today made me excited and yet made me want to be cautious.  You see, I am in the middle of planning a summer mission trip to work with a church in Chinle, Arizona.  The church is located on Navajo Nation, an Indian Reservation.  Last summer I went there with 3 other women from the church.  We were put together with other families from California and Colorado.  This year we are planning the whole trip ourselves and it will only be members from our church going.  This is huge and I am nearly BURSTING at the seams with ideas!  I have a vision that has been taking shape for the last several months.

 

During my reading and quiet time today, I think God was warning me of two things:

 

Number One:  This one is pretty obvious...whatever vision I have should glorify Him.  I can glorify Him by having faith that he knows best and by letting him be in control.  I need to get rid of any selfish ideas or thoughts of control.  This isn't my trip.  It's not about what I want.  It's not about my comfort.  It's not about what's easy for me or puts me in the limelight.  First it's about my Savior and second it's about the people that I am going to serve.  Everything I do for this trip should point right back to God.



Kids we got to spend time with during
Bible School last year in Arizona.

 
Number Two:  God's vision is bigger than my own.  Today I read, "Expand your vision of what He wants you to do by tenfold, maybe a hundredfold. Do not sell your Savior short. Why settle for a few who might find Christ, when you can trust God for hundreds, even thousands who will grace the gates of glory because you believed Him in a big way." (Boyd Bailey)  God can do and wants to do infinitely more than I can even begin to imagine!  This is so exciting because I already feel like my vision is big!  What a Mighty God we serve!





  

I Refuse

Do you ever get news and it feels like someone dropped a rock into the pit of your stomach?  Or you feel like you could just throw up at any second?  My husband got a call today and when I heard about it...that was the way I felt.  It's the way I still feel. 

It was a call to tell us that someone was in a car accident and passed away this afternoon.  This just happened, so I don't want to share who this person is...I want to respect the family's privacy.

While I was totally surprised by this phone call, what really bothers me is that I'm fearful for this person's eternal home.  I know that only God knew her heart and that she could be in heaven, but I also never heard her claim salvation.  It leaves me wondering.  It also leaves me with a heavy heart.  You see, this is a person that I knew.  A person that I would sometimes see on holidays or when we went out of town to visit.  This is a person that I sat in the same room with over Thanksgiving weekend.  She knew that I am a Christian.  But never once did I bring up salvation to her.  Not once...in eight plus years.

As I was contemplating this after the phone call I tried to justify myself.  I told myself that I personally knew of several people in her life who have a relationship with Christ.  Those people were closer to her.  They should have/could have shared with her.  Or that she had been a part of several family members funerals in the past several years so she had contact with pastors at that point...they could have/should have shared with her.  Maybe these people did and maybe she had made a personal decision to accept Christ, but regardless....it doesn't let me off the hook.

It is my mission, my job, my calling, my responsibility.  Because I know Jesus as my Savior.  Because I have accepted God gift of salvation.  The gift is free, but with it comes the responsibility to share it. 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." 

Matthew 28:19-20.

I failed.  What scares me more than simply failing is my desire or should I say lack of desire.  I should be so filled with the love of Jesus that it oozes out of me.  I should be so overwhelmed by his love for me...by his grace...by his mercy....that I can't help but share it with others.  God is soooo good and yet so many times I keep him to myself.  That's not what I want.  That's not what God wants from me either.

So tonight I've asked God for forgiveness.  I am going to pray for this persons family like you wouldn't believe.  That's the least I can do now.  And I am going to pray that God will fill me with desire to share the gospel with those who don't yet know Him.  I pray that He would burden my heart for those who don't yet know about his love.  I pray that he will change me.

I've heard the song "I Refuse" by Josh Wilson on the radio lately.  Wow.  This is my prayer.

Log Cabin Quilt - Almost done!

Eli is already enjoying it.

I started quilting several years ago when Denver and I moved back up to Northern Indiana and Denver became the pastor of a church here.  My mom and the other ladies here have a Sewing B twice a month.  Some of them quilt, some knit or crochet, some scrapbook, some do needle work, and sometimes we just all get together and talk.  It's always a lot of fun.

Log Cabin Quilt Top

I knew nothing when I started, but my mom and the other ladies have taught me a lot.  I really enjoy it now and I'm learning to mix and match things to make my own patterns.  I just make what I like.  I've made several bedsize quilts, lap quilts and baby quilts, but I've never kept one for our family until now.  This one is going to be for our family room.  I finished the top of this log cabin quilt last night.  It still needs a border before I quilt it, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

I also have a baby quilt that is ready to quilt.  I'll post a picture of it after I give it away as a gift.  I wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for the parents to be!

If you live in the area and want to join us for our Sewing B's, please let me know and I'll get you the information.  We'd love to have you!

Reading and Chocolate Cake



Ben doing schoolwork.
(I didn't take any pictures of him reading.
I thought it might make him more nervous.)



Since Ben started Kindergarten he's been bringing home little paper books every week or two that he's supposed to read to us.  He reads it to us, we sign the paper and then we send it back to his teacher.  It's been exciting to see him start to read, but mostly the words have been sight words.  He just memorizes it and then repeats it back for us at home.  Often times I've had to remind him to actually look at the book while he is "reading" the it to me.  While I'm glad that he's been learning these words and know that it's part of the process, I've really been looking forward to the next step.



Caleb loves chocolate!



 Today was the day.  Today Ben came home from school, sat down on the couch with his daddy and pulled out a book that he really had to read.  He made mistakes.  He needed help.  But he read the book.  He can read!  Now while I was excited about this, Ben wasn't so much.  He gets easily frustrated when he gets something wrong and would much rather be doing math.  He always tells us, "Mrs. Csenar says that I am really smart at math."  I don't think that it's that he doesn't like books....he's just afraid to be wrong.  He's one of those kids that doesn't really want to try something in front of others until he's absolutely sure that he can do it well.  I can relate. 

Eli helped too!



Anyway, I was so proud of him and wanted to give Caleb and Eli something fun to do while Ben was reading, so we decided to bake Ben a chocolate cake to celebrate.  The younger boys had a great time and Caleb even managed to keep the cake a secret from Ben until the cake came out of the oven.  This is a major accomplishment since Caleb was wearing the evidence all over his face! ha! 

After dinner the boys had their cake.  I surprised them by getting out all of the leftover sprinkles from Halloween and Christmas.  The each got to put their own sprinkles on their pieces.  Of course they wanted to put some of each sprinkle on their little piece of cake, but they loved it!



Laughter and Animal Sounds

Do you ever look forward to getting together with people because you know that when you're around them you are guaranteed to laugh a lot?  I mean, it's important to have friends and people that listen and support you, that offer you sound and biblical advise, but it's also wonderful just to laugh and have a good time.

I get to laugh every Wednesday night during Youth Group.  When I first started working with the group they laughed and had a good time, but most of the time it seemed reserved.  They wouldn't do anything that might make themselves look uncool or just silly.  In the last several months things seemed to have changed.  They seem more comfortable with each other...more willing to let loose...to laugh together and to do crazy fun things.  For example, tonight we played a game in which everyone in the group had to pick an animal sound.  During the game you have to make your animal sound plus the sound of an animal that another person picked.  That person then makes their sound plus the sound of another...and on and on.  If someone doesn't respond quickly to their sound then they must go to the back of the line.

Michiana Community Church of God
Youth Convention 2010



Can you imagine teens and sponsors making dog, cat, pig, cow, lion, and duck sounds?  Now add in the fact that some people picked whales, walruses and dragons and added motions to their sounds.  It was absolutely hilarious.  It was also quite funny to see the faces of the adults as they peeked into the room to see what was happening.

I am so thankful that God has put these teenagers and sponsors into my life.  I am thankful that he has given the students confidence in themselves and that He has brought them closer to himself and to each other.  And I am thankful for laughter.  When is the last time you really laughed?