03.28.09
classroom conversations
A student was sitting in my room eating breakfast.
He looked up at me and said, “When is Barack Obama coming here?”
I told him that I didn’t think that was going to happen any time soon.
Then he asked, quite seriously, “Is Obama real?”
Haha…I assured him that yes, Obama is real and asked him, “Who is Obama?” just because I was curious about what his answer might be.
“The first president of the United States.”
Well…..no…
——————————————————-
My assistant principal came in and was speaking privately to me, out of earshot of my kids.
AP: “Did you see the TAKS scores yet?”
me: “No, do you have them?”
AP: “Yes, you should come by my office sometime to see them.”
me: “Okay.”
AP (as she is leaving, she says loud enough for the class to hear): “Because there is a surprise!”
student: (VERY excitedly) “Is it a horse???”
me: “Well, I HOPE it’s a horse!”
TAKS people should start sending a surprise horse with the test results. That would be great! Maybe someday…
————————————————-
student that I don’t know: “Miss, do you have any lotion?”
me: “Yeah, come on in and get some.”
student: “My legs so ashy, I look like Peter White!”
me: “Who?”
student: “Peter White. Peter Pan. Peter White.”
What???
03.27.09
Chicken Pot Pie!
Chicken pot pie is one of my very favorite foods. I used to eat them for breakfast.
So I went on a mission to invent my own chicken pot pie recipe that involved no measuring, which is my preferred method of cooking.
After one failed attempt (way too dry), I have successfully made a chicken pot pie that was delicious and involved NO measuring!
Here it is:
Start with 2 Pillsbury pie crusts. I don’t waste my time making homemade crusts because these are SO yummy and take 0 seconds and involve no measuring. Boo measuring!
Boil 5 chicken tenderloins until they are cooked through, then dice.
Microwave 2 bags of SteamFresh Mixed Veggies. These have corn, peas, green beans, and carrots.
Mix the chicken and veggies into a bowl with one can of cream of broccoli soup and one small (the smallest, I believe) tub of sour cream. And LOTS of cracked pepper. Stir it all up…
Pour it into the pie crust, top with the second pie crust, pinch the edges (I press with a fork), trim, poke 4 slits. The mixture fits into the pie crust PERFECTLY. You will have a perfectly flat pot pie in the end.
Put it in the oven for 30 minutes, let it cool, and then eat it!
NO measuring involved, isn’t that great??
03.23.09
Scripture Memory 3/15/09
I know…I am late posting this.
Ephesians 4:29
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Far too often I find myself telling “white” lies, and I justify it in my head.
For example, I think, “This story is too complicated, so if I just change a few small details, it will be easier to explain.” But then it is not the truth!
Far too often I find myself boasting and promoting myself.
I really want people to like me, so I tell them things that I think will impress them. I think this stems from a deep-seated insecurity that most women have. So this requires a change in heart. First, I must beg the Lord for humility. Second, I must remember that my value is found in the Lord, not in others’ estimation of me.
Far too often I find myself exaggerating because it sounds better or more sincere.
For example, I will say, “I LOVE Survivor!” Well…it is my favorite TV show, but LOVE? I really overuse this word. It kind of loses its meaning after being associated with a TV show or food or clothing. I have recently started trying to reserve this word to describe only people and God. This has been really hard for me, and most times I don’t even catch myself doing it. But I know that with God’s grace and diligent re-training, my exaggerating tongue can be tamed.
Other less prevalent (but still lurking) sins of the tongue include gossip, criticism, and angry outbursts.
Instead of this “corrupting talk”, I am asking God to train my words to be beneficial to OTHERS (“building up”, “grace to the hearer”) rather than focused on myself.
Honey (do do do do do do…oh, Sugar, Sugar…)
If you were to visit Poland, you would be offered coffee or tea about every ten minutes.
Because the instant coffee that they love is NOT awesome, Mariola, my Polish mother, always drinks tea with honey. She goes through a jar of honey every two weeks.
Before meeting Mariola I was not big on honey, but she taught me to drink tea with honey, and now I like it so much!
In fact, in my classroom I have an electric kettle so that I can make tea at any point in the day, whenever I need a little pick-me-up. And ever since I have been back in the states I have been searching for LOCAL honey in a JAR. The kind you squeeze from the plastic bear that comes from Iowa just doesn’t cut it for me any longer.
Local honey has local pollen in it which helps prevent allergies. But the catch is where to find local honey. I have seen it for sale on the side of the road back home, but never in there area where I live.
I have mentioned this to my aids, inquiring if they know where local honey can be found. My search always ended there and I would have to settle for the plastic bear.
But a couple weeks ago for my birthday, I got the best surprise! One of my aids had found jars of local honey being sold in the deli corner of the local Brookshire Brothers, NOT on the aisle with all the plastic bear honey. And they bought it for me for my birthday! Isn’t that the most thoughtful gift??
It is very light, which means it is not bitter. You can see the pollen in it, so I have high hopes for preventing my pollen allergies from flaring up. It is in a jar so I can scoop it out with a spoon (my preferred method of honey-depositing). It will eventually crystallize, which is my favorite kind of honey… I am just so excited!
yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…
03.22.09
Final Thoughts
Last year when I went on Beach Reach, my relationship with the Lord grew exponentially.
This year…same story.
He taught me new and different lessons than last year.
I learned that evangelism is not a matter of boldness or manipulating conversations, but submission. When God clearly opened a door to have a conversation about the Gospel, would I submit and walk through, or would I shut the door? This week I did some of both, and I was reminded that submission is good because He is good.
I learned about battling in prayer. Before I went on Beach Reach, I prayed that God would teach me how to battle in prayer. Seriously, God answered this prayer times 100. A new sweet friend who went on the trip with us has a chronic health condition that doctors cannot diagnose or fix, but she has learned that it is better to trust in God than to trust in men. When an episode would begin, we would pray and read scripture over her, acknowledging that God has authorities over our bodies and over the spiritual realm. We thanked God for weakness because then His strength is made known. We would battle in prayer for her. Eventually the coughing and wheezing would stop and her strength would return. He taught me about battling in prayer.
He also taught me that His Gospel is powerful. I learned that I don’t need any creative conversation starters or illustrations or methods of evangelism. His Gospel is powerful.
One night two girls got onto the vans, and a girl named Kristi sat next to me. It was their first van ride, so I asked if she had heard why we were doing this. She said no, so I told her that we are all Christians, and we know that God loves us freely, so we want to love people for free.
She started telling me about her religious beliefs, which essentially consisted of feeling guilty because she doesn’t go to church. I asked her what she believed about Jesus, heaven, and hell, and she just told me that she felt guilty because she didn’t go to church.
I asked her if she would mind if I told her what the Bible says about those things.
She said, “Sure! I have no idea!”
So I shared the Gospel with her – that God is holy, and can’t be around sin. People are sinful, and can’t get to God. So God made a solution because He loves us and WANTS to be with us. He sent Jesus who never sinned. When Jesus died, He took the punishment for our sin so that we could enjoy the benefit of His sinlessness. The second we acknowledge this as truth, God saves us. Then He changes us.
I asked her if she had ever acknowledged that before.
She said no.
I asked if she had a relationship with Jesus.
She said, “No, but I want one!”
I asked if she wanted to start one right now.
She said, “I can do that now? How??”
All you have to do is acknowledge that the Gospel is true, and He will do the rest. So I prayed through the Gospel, and she repeated after me.
Okay…I often sat in an evangelism seminar where you practice telling people the good news that Jesus saves, and I always think, “Real conversations never actually go like that.” But I was reminded that people WANT to know what is true. People WANT to understand God. People WANT to know how to have a relationship with Him. People may act resistant, but mostly it is a defense mechanism. People WANT to get to God. Most people just don’t know how.
We didn’t talk about where she went to school, where she was from, what her major is, what they had been doing, anything…just the Gospel. And God saved her. Pray for Kristi, that her relationship with the Lord will grow intimate, that there would be believers to mentor her, to answer her questions, to hold her accountable, to help her get into God’s Word.
That conversation was seriously NOTHING that I did. I can take no credit for creatively turning a normal conversation into one about the Gospel. I can take no credit for convincing anyone to do anything. God is mighty to save, and I am so humbled that he chose to use a weak vessel like me to be the bringer of that message.
Thank you for all of your prayers! You were as much a part of this trip as I was, and I am so thankful for having family and friends who love me, support me, and pray for me as I chase after the Lord.
03.18.09
How He Loves
Last night was a great night of ministry.
We gave a lot of rides to people and had a lot of conversations with people about the Gospel. Richard rededicated his life to follow Jesus. Drew talked the whole ride about how God was trying to get his attention. Ben and Shaun heard the Gospel for the first time and asked a lot of questions. It was a good night.
This week I have been begging God to keep me humble and remember that I have nothing to offer him. All of my works are as useful to Him as filthy rags. So when He moves, He gets the credit. Last night He moved. Last night He reminded me about how He loves.
The last ride we gave was unscheduled, and 2 hours past the time we were even scheduled to be giving rides. But we saw a shirtless guy walking down the road carrying a girl who had had too much to drink and had passed out.
We stopped and offered them a ride, and he got in, telling us that he really appreciated it, and that she did too.
I just asked for their names and if I could pray for them. He said yes. So I prayed for Mike and Eileen. We didn’t know if they even knew each other. We didn’t know if she was safe with him. We didn’t know anything about the situation, we just knew that it was bad.
As soon as I started praying, Eileen starting sobbing and sobbing. Our instinct was that she was scared – possibly of this guy. We wanted to make sure that she was safe. I sat on the floor in the front row next to her and dried her tears and asked her if she was safe with him, and she just nodded, but clearly very unsettled.
Mike explained how he loved her, that he noticed she had too much do drink, so he left all his friends at the club, gave her the shirt off of his back to wear, and carried her miles down the road until we saw them.
We got to their hotel, let them out, and wanted to believe that she was safe, but one of our guys really had a bad feeling about what was happening and asked if we could stop. He and I got out and talked separately to each of them. As soon as I approached Eileen, she hugged me so tightly, as if holding on for her very life, and continued weeping.
I kept asking her if she was safe, and she assured me that she was. She said that she was just so ashamed that she had been so drunk that she passed out and a van full of Christians had to pick her up, because she is a Christian and had walked away from the Lord.
I realized, she was not crying from fear. She was grieving. She was completely broken and humbled. This girl was “a broken and contrite spirit”. She just kept asking me to pray for her.
Of course, I obliged. I prayed for her, talked to her, quoted scripture to her, whatever the Lord brought to my mind, I said. She kept thanking me and telling me that I was such a good person, but I assured her that the only good thing in me is Jesus.
I affirmed that her response to sin is right. God grieves when we sin. We should grieve, too. It breaks His heart. It should break ours. Then, from the grief, He offers reconciliation and redemption and forgiveness and restoration.
Standing there holding her I remembered how He loves. That he was loving her. I was just the vessel He had chosen to use. Not because of anything I am, but because of who He is. She and I talked about and prayed about brokenness, and that only Jesus can take a crappy situation and turn it into rejoicing.
She couldn’t understand why God would forgive her. She couldn’t understand why God loves her.
I remembered how He loves. He doesn’t love us because we are good or we deserve it. He loves us because of who He is.
His love is extravagant.
His love is strong.
His love never stops.
His love is intoxicating.
His love changes people.
His love is demonstrated.
His love upholds us when we are broken.
His love is unexplainable.
His love is sacrificial.
His love meets our needs.
I remembered how He loves because He loved Eileen like that last night.
And He loves her like that today.
And He loves me like that today.
She got into our van passed out drunk. By the end of the night she was quoting scripture. Only God can do that.
As I held her, she assured me that Mike takes good care of her, and I felt confident that he would. Our teammate with Mike was across the parking lot asking all the right questions to assure that Eileen would be safe. Then he shared the Gospel with Mike.
Love is meeting needs. Meeting physical needs – safe van rides. Meeting spiritual needs – the good news that Jesus saves.
Eileen begged for prayer. Now I beg you. Pray for Eileen, that she will begin to understand how He loves and realize that following Him is well worth the cost.
03.16.09
Beach Reach Update
Our condos have internet, woohoo!
Last night was our first night of official Beach Reach ministry. I was a passenger in a van from 9pm-3am, and we gave a lot of rides. We had some fruitful conversations with a few people, and I wanted to give you guys some more detailed prayer requests.
Brandon is agnostic. He acknowledges that rhere is a God, but not that he is a higher power. He gave me permission to share the Gospel with him, but his heart is really hardened. He became kind of combative, so I just asked if we could pray for him. Again, he said yes, but then when we did, he became combative again. I think he wanted to hear what we had to say, but also wanted to present a front that he didn’t care. Pray that his heart will be softened and that he will continue to call for free van rides.
Johnathan was in our van for a really long time. He had been ditched by his friends, so he was alone. He was pretty hilarious and pretty easy to talk to, and just absolutely believe that the van ride was free. We got to share the gospel with him, and that God loves him freely. I think he will definitely call for more rides in the future, so pray that he will continue to be open to conversations about the Lord.
Wesley and I had a great conversation about his spiritual beliefs, and I got to share the Gospel with him. He said that he had never understood salvation as anything more than just going to church. He said that it was definitely something he would think about when he was older and done having fun now. We talked about the fact that there is a cost to following Jesus, but that the life he gives is absolutely worth it. I think he will also definitely call for more rides, so pray that the people in whatever van picks him up will continue to present the Gospel to Wesley.
Thanks for your prayers! Tonight I will be driving a Van Undertow from 9-11:30, and then we will be in the prayer room from 11:30-2:00.
03.12.09
Leaning back, swinging forward…
This week has been a doozy. Lots of things to process. Re-realizing that my kids’ lives are sad and hard. Time spent praying for my kids. Praising the Lord for my job that IS ministry.
When you swing, you have to lean back in order to swing forward. Without first leaning back, you would just be sitting still. It is kind of like life. Looking back propels me to continue forward. Remembering God’s faithfulness in the past compels me to believe that His faithfulness will continue. Because I lean back, I will swing forward.
I look back on the year so far with my kids and see how God has pursued them. And I am confident that He will continue to do so, even during dark times.
——————————————–
Last year before Spring Break I was scared. I was going on a servant evangelism trip. I was scared, but God moved in my heart. For some reason I thought it was unnatural or offensive to talk about my relationship with Jesus. That is crazy! Athletes talk about sports, musicians talk about music, journalists talk about current events…so it is only natural for Christians to talk about Jesus!
Leaning back, I see how Jesus changed my heart towards evangelism. Now I swing forward…
Tomorrow Spring Break begins, and I am excited! I am returning to Panama City Beach to serve spring-breakers.
Eating out for every meal for a whole week is expensive, especially for college students. We will host free pancake breakfasts every morning and midnight.
Driving drunk, riding with strangers, catching expensive taxis, or walking along busy roads are the only transportation options. We will give free van rides from 9pm until 2am.
People will be abandoned by their friends, cheated on, stolen from, and feel generally down until they drink away their sorrows. Last year I asked many people, “So, has this break been really fun or more stressful?” The unanimous answer was, “STRESSFUL!” We will have a room full of people dedicated to praying for spring breakers.
People who have been deceived into thinking their good works will save them will be soul-searching. People who have been deceived into thinking they can never be good enough will be soul-searching. We will be speaking the Truth in love. Only Jesus saves!
Last year a young man came to know the Lord in our van. Lots of others heard the truth that Jesus saves them. One guy told my teammate, “That is the clearest picture of salvation that I have ever heard.” Another guy understood for the first time that it is not about “how many spiritual things you do every day”, but about the relationship you have with the One who saves. Last year God moved in my heart. This year, I return in confidence that God will continue to refine me.
Pray for me!
- For a heart of service, not self-promotion
- For boldness to speak the Gospel
- For those who hear, that their hearts will be open
- For the safety of the people in the van I will be DRIVING (Yes, they asked me to be a driver. And I said yes. Scary, I know.)
- For my nerves as I drive a huge-mongous vehicle
- For me to stand up under spiritual attacks and persecution
- For our team to be united in Christ
You can even follow along with us each night here. The people who work the command center coordinate with people in the prayer room to post specific prayer requests for specific individuals as they are happening each night. Technology is neat.
I have to bring my laptop because my next seminary class begins on Monday, so I have some work I will be doing during the day (when I am not playing on the beach or napping, of course), so I might get to post an update during the week.
If not…see you in a week or so!
03.09.09
Shreveport Visit
A few weekends ago (the aforementioned “weekend of fun”) I made good on my Christmas promise to Grandy – to come for a weekend visit to Shreveport. It was a great time!
There were several highlights.
First of all, it was Wojtek’s first road trip!
Sometimes he just laid there very quietly.
Other times he…
…kinda went crazy.
Saturday morning we went to visit Grandaddy. Even though he has Alzheimer’s he is still just as sweet as ever. He made a few jokes, and was very happy to have visitors. It is very sweet how he depends on Grandy. He loves to see her, and she goes to visit him twice a day. They are very devoted to one another.
And my relatives from Bryan suprised us by being in town on the same weekend, and stopping by to see Grandaddy at the same time as us!
Then we had lunch with my Aunt Robin and went to see her new lake house. It is so beautiful! Aunt Robin is a very fun and free-spirited person. I love being around her.
I also got to see my cousin’s wife and kids (but sadly not him). His wife, Naomi is British, so automatic cool points. Her accent is adorable. Since the last time I went to Shreveport, there has been a new addition to their family!
So I got to see the older two kids (Molly and Josh) as well as my…2nd cousins?…I don’t know what you call them…my cousin’s kids (Owen and Emily). I love the babies!
That night Grandy and I went through some family heirlooms and read a few entries in Gram’s (my great-grandma) diary. HILARIOUS! She faithfully wrote 3-4 sentences every single day for about 5 years. She always referred to Pa (her boyfriend/fiance/husband during the course of this diary) as “my ‘honey’” or “my ’sweetie’” or “my ‘darling’” or other adorable little pet names. She never referred to him by is actual name. I loved one entry in particular. It went something like this…
This evening my “honey” and I went to church. Then we came back to the house and…oh those kisses!
Haha, my Gram, the epitome of modesty, using the “dot dot dot”. Reminds me of Mamma Mia! Hilarious!!
The next morning we went to Simple Church, which has two services in the movie theatre, and one service in Buffalo Wild Wings. It was great – they really draw a crowd that would not typically feel comfortable in church. I was especially excited that Naomi and the kids came with us. The sermon was legit – it was about love and sacrifice. After church was lunch as Fuddruckers, and then good-bye and the long drive home.
It was a great weekend of relaxing and enjoying family!
03.04.09
breathing fire
I recently bought Mrs. Renfro’s Mango Habanero Salsa.
It sets my mouth on fire.
It makes me cry.
It empties my sinus cavity.
It makes me run to the fridge for a glass of milk.
I realize that all that stuff sounds bad…but I can’t help it…I am smitten! No other salsa will ever compare!
It is just sweet enough, that no matter how much pain it inflicts upon my tongue, I always want just one more bite.
Yum to death!
