God's Got Me

Well, welcome to today's episode of "A crazy view into the life of a sleep-deprived mother of four, but no need to worry, God's got me."

I am very excited for our children to be involved in the Christmas pageant at our church.  I know this church has a Christmas pageant, but we were not attending this church a year ago, so this will be our children's first year to have the opportunity to participate.

Our church is currently hiring a Director of Children's Ministry and the position has been vacant for four months... so as we creep close to the Holiday season, I have been getting very nervous that I've received no word about the Christmas pageant.

So, on Monday I contacted a friend who teacher Sunday school and asked if she knew if anything was in the works.  She said she has heard nothing.

So, I emailed the church office.  I greeted the secretary by name, I said how excited I was for our children to participate in the Christmas pageant and how I would love to help in any way I could.  Could she please share any planning details with me or let me know how I could help.

That was Monday.

I heard nothing back.

Finally on Friday I received a reply telling me that the church was not going to do a Christmas pageant this year but they would do a Christmas Eve service which would be open to the whole town of (she named a town 15 miles away).  She said there were no plans to have the children do any sort of show for the Christmas Eve service either, but thank you for the offer to help and she would save my information for the future.  Signed, a different name than the secretary I emailed.

I was really bummed for less than a minute to hear they weren't doing a Christmas Pageant.

Then I started connecting some dots.

Why would the Christmas Eve Service be for a town 15 miles away?

Why would a different secretary email me back.

Oh, well because I emailed the wrong church, that's why.

I emailed the church we were attending a year ago, a church that does not put on a Christmas pageant and has as much smaller Christmas program than the church where we currently attend (which is 1 mile from our house)

Both church offices have an email that starts with:

office@new....... .com

They are about the same length, but just a few letters different there in the middle.

I am incredibly glad that this church did not take me up on my offer to coordinate a Children's Christmas Pageant for the church where we no longer attend, 15 miles from our house.  I am a little worried about their saving my information but I haven't quite figured out how to explain the mix up and ask them to disregard my email.

All that being said, God's got me.

He knew where my incorrect email was sent -- and, Praise God, He did NOT put me in charge of a Christmas Pageant 15 miles away.

And, now that an email has been sent to the CORRECT church office, hopefully I can get some details in how to help with a Christmas Pageant that WILL happen this year at the church where we CURRENTLY attend, which is 1 mile from our house.

Oh my.  Thank you, Lord for having my back.  I clearly need it.

So Convicting

The other morning, I was reading in Billy Graham's book Hope for Each Day, and I came upon a story that has stayed with me and continued to convict my heart.

Hope For Each Day
November 20
Abiding Peace

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. Isaiah 41:10

Whenever I think of God's faithfulness in the midst of suffering I am reminded of my dear late friend Corrie ten Boom, the remarkable Dutch woman who (with her family) hid Jews from the Nazis.  After being imprisoned in Ravensburk, the infamous concentration camp, Corrie traveled the world telling her story of suffering, forgiveness, and joy.

For thirty-five years she never had a permanent home, but when she was eighty-five and in declining health, some friends provided her with a lovely house in California.  It was a luxury she never dreamed she would have (and one she never would have pursued on her own).

On day her friend, the late movie director James Collier, was visiting.  He said, "Corrie, hasn't God been good to give you this beautiful house?"

She replied firmly, "Jimmy, God was good when I was in Ravensburk, too!"

Most of us will never experience the horrors Corrie knew.  But no matter what we face, we can depend on God's promise: "Fear not; for I am with you."

In my head,  I know that God is good and faithful in all circumstances, but I am so much quicker to recognize it and praise Him for it when times are good, joyful, and peaceful.  When I am stressed, overworked, tired, grieving, or upset, God is good.
When I am relaxed, rested, joyful, thankful,or happy, God is good.
God is good in the storms of life as well as the calm seas.

I need to consciously begin seeing God's goodness and faithfulness in ALL circumstances... not just the happy ones.

Duck Dynasty

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My husband has discovered a new reality show that he loves.  While he has been the cause of my becoming addicted to many shows since we've met, this is one that, I'm definitely not addicted to... but despite my best efforts to pretend otherwise, it really is a funny show about some really great people.

The premise for this show is a family business in Louisiana that made their fortune making and selling duck calls.  The father started the business and now his three boys run it.  The show includes the father, three sons, an uncle and other employees (ALL of which have beards and most of which have long hair), all their wives (who are GORGEOUS!) and the grandchildren.

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These men are as redneck as they come, but they are also intelligent enough to make some really funny jokes.  Almost everyone on the show is college educated, and one of their warehouse workers, I just learned is earning his masters degree.  You would not guess this upon first view of the show.



The best part of this show are the strong family values and the faith in God.  The show itself is not a ministry or weekly sermon, but most shows end with the entire family sitting around one table, and the father saying prayer thanking the Lord for their blessings.

When Chris and I started digging a little deeper, we learned that these men are incredibly strong Christians and have been preaching the message of the gospel throughout the country (or at least the South) for many years.


This show is good for laughs and lessons.


This show might be worth your time to check out.

We Saw Gary Smalley!

When Chris and I were in St. Louis, we attended his old church and were THRILLED to find out that the guest speaker for that Sunday was Gary Smalley.

Well, I should rephrase that -- I didn't know who Gary Smalley was prior to that service, but now, having heard him and looked into his ministry and books, I became THRILLED that we got to hear him preach.  Mr. Smalley has a great ministry especially focused on marriage and parenting.

Mr. Smalley should be a stand-up comedian.  For me, it was kind of an adjustment sitting in church and having everyone ROAR with laughter all around me.  Mr. Smalley said that when you laugh, an endorphin is released in your brain and it makes you want to hug someone around you... if that person is your spouse, so much the better.  He said that your brain cannot tell the difference between a fake laugh and a real laugh -- the same endorphin is released.  So, he encouraged us to laugh, even if its fake.

He said that he and his wife of 48 years are total opposites.  I'm always intrigued when couples who have been married for many years say this about each other because the longer I'm married to my wonderful hubby (a whopping 13 months), I am more and more convinced that we are total opposites.

He talked about daily doses of forgiveness and getting rid of anger every day.  He said he believes that the leading cause of all the American diseases is anger.  On the way home from church I commented to Chris and my in-laws that I think the leading cause of all the American diseases is obesity.  Dad Miller said that if people are coping with their anger through food, they could be one-in-the-same.  Its an interesting thought... they do, after all, call it "Comfort Food" for a reason.

It was wonderful to hear Mr. Smalley talk and I certainly hope to hear more of what he has to say in the future -- both on marriage and parenting.

America: A Post-Christian Nation

Chris and I were privileged to attend parts of ACQUIRE THE FIRE Christian youth conference in Denver this past weekend as I posted here.

Because Chris is an Honor Academy alumna, we had the chance to talk to other Honor Academy alumni and talk to the main speaker and founder of the event, Ron Luce, behind the scenes.

Ron Luce addressed the youth several times throughout the conference and he is a very dynamic speaker, but I've got to say, my most inspirational moments of the weekend came in a 10 minute casual group conversation with Mr. Luce and the Honor Academy alumni.

Mr. Luce began talking about a decrease in the amount of long-term missionaries from America to other countries.  If I'm remembering the numbers correctly, there has been close to a 30% decrease in the number of long-term missionaries sent from the United States in the past ten years.  By contrast, there has been a big increase in the number of long-term missionaries going forth from South Korea and Brazil... and according to Mr. Luce, both of these countries have had great economic growth in the past ten years while America has suffered economically in the past ten years.

Mr. Luce said there has been an increase in the number of short-term missionaries going abroad from the United States -- almost like taking a month-long missions trip is on peoples' Bucket List.  But when there are less long-term missionaries learning the language, the culture, the customs and building long-term relationships with the people, short-term mission trips are much less effective.

I then asked Mr. Luce what his opinion was of domestic mission work in this traditionally Christian nation.  Mr. Luce's immediate response was that, "We are past being a Christian nation."  He went on to explain that America has entered a "Post-Christian" era and, as Soldiers of God, we cannot think of America as a Christian nation.

We stressed the extreme importance of domestic missionaries because America can no longer be held to the standards and expectations of a Christian nation.  America has become a post-Christian nation, and missionaries here need to treat their fellow Americans just as they would a group in Asia who had never heard the gospel.

Mr. Luce said that when church leaders and evangelists minister to a Christian nation, there is a shared sense of values and expectations, so the ministry sometimes becomes about hammering home a message.  Meanwhile, when missionaries go to a foreign land where they know very few have heard the message of the Bible, the ministry becomes about serving and loving the people where they are and sharing the message of the Gospel as they build relationships with people.

What a change of perspective this was for me about America.

After growing up expecting that my neighbor, my colleague, my friends have heard the Gospel... suddenly to think that I live in a society that does not know the Gospel.  My ministry is not to hammer home a message but to love and serve in a foreign land because I do not live in a Christian nation.

What do you think about this idea?
Does it change your perspective at all?