I MUST BE CRAZY!!!

That is what I have heard most of this week when I tell everyone what is going on around here. We are taking both kids in on Thursday to have their tonsils removed. To compound the problem, Wayne is most likely working this next weekend and we have almost completely gutted our kitchen for a month long remodel project. I say a month with much optimism. I didn't realize how much I rely on my stove and oven. I forgot that you can boil water in the microwave since we never use the microwave except for hot dogs. I am going to start tiling the floor in the next two days and my dear ole husband thought it a good idea to tile both the dining area and the kitchen. If you have ever been in my house you know that our kitchen is really large...12x24 to be exact. Since I like to tile and I voluteered for that part of the project...he changed his mind about carpeting half thus reducing some of his projects in there. Actually we work really good together in these home improvements. So...IT WILL BE FUN....IT WILL BE FUN...IT WILL BE FFFFFUNNN!

I thought that since I haven't done my weekly sermon update from last week's sermon I thought I would squeeze it in before tomorrow. I would like to say that everyone has been asking about the lack of sermon but I think all of the preaching has left some of my loyal readers with nothing to say...surprising from some...I must say.

This weeks' sermon was titled "What are you going to do with your dash?"
Dash? you might ask. Yes, dash...the one that seperates the year you were born and the year that you die. Like my dad's dash 1945-2007. It is so little but so significant. Are we letting the world pass us by from our "EZ" chair or are we out there doing something with our life? God has given us that dash between birth and death for more than just the "EZ" life. He wants us to be open to his calling to do something big. If we look at the different people from the bible that were called to something big by God then you will see it is neither easy or comfortable. Take Noah for example...God didn't say...I have this boat over there that I have loaded animals and I need you to get on...No he said...I want you to build a boat (ark and you need to collect the animals. He did it in faith of a promise that was unseen. I am sure he was ridiculed by on lookers and mocked about his faith but he stood strong and did what the Lord had asked him. He answered that intial calling. But the calling doesn't just stop there. God gives us reassurance that if we remain faithful that he will reward us for our faithfulness. Becoming a Christian doesn't remove our suffering but many know that if they didn't have the reassurance of God during their suffering their suffering would have been unbearable.
Lately I have been straining to hear the calling for what I am to do with my dash...I want to make an impact, I want to be remembered for more than just someone's daughter, granddaughter, mother or wife. I want my life to impact someone. Wayne and I both have this awesome opportunity to go to Africa to help with the mission work that is going on there. We are excited and a bit fearful. Not afraid but apprehensive of how this will change our lives. Some have asked why Africa...well the truth is...why not Africa. I feel like people in other countries don't have the opportunity and resources that we have here. We have been blessed with so much and we are ready to give back. I don't want this "mission" work to stop in Africa. I want to reach out to those around me. I watched this really neat video a couple of weeks ago in my bible study and it has really been a reassurance for me that what me and Wayne are doing is the right this (There is that reassurance after the call that the pastor was talking about). The video was of Reggie McNeal at the M7 leadership conference for Nazarene leaders. He was talking about how we "the church" have a tendency to yell from our steps "COME TO OUR CHURCH...WE HAVE THE ANSWERS...BE LIKE US AND YOU WILL GET TO HEAVEN" What we need to be doing is getting out in our community and becoming friends with the community and examples of Jesus. He said maybe all of the "churchy" people are already in church. That makes sense to me. Maybe we are going about this all wrong maybe we need show by example and then if they come to our church they are there to further their knowledge of the bible and it's teachings.

Ok...I think I will end there. But let me leave you with a passage that has sustained me a few times in the past. ***It is a bit long but I couldn't share it unless I shared the whole thing.

Psalm 139

1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
2 You know when I sit down or stand up.
You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.
3 You see me when I travel
and when I rest at home.
You know everything I do.
4 You know what I am going to say
even before I say it, Lord.
5 You go before me and follow me.
You place your hand of blessing on my head.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;
if I go down to the grave, you are there.
9 If I ride the wings of the morning,
if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your strength will support me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
and the light around me to become night—
12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! ****THIS IS MY FAVORITE LINE
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!

19 O God, if only you would destroy the wicked!
Get out of my life, you murderers!
20 They blaspheme you;
your enemies misuse your name.
21 O Lord, shouldn’t I hate those who hate you?
Shouldn’t I despise those who oppose you?
22 Yes, I hate them with total hatred,
for your enemies are my enemies.

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.