refreshing truth in Romans

"But now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight--not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God's sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done." - Romans 3:21-22


This is how we live and love with great zeal. We have a different way of being right in His sight. Our hope isn't in ourselves. Our trust is in Jesus. We're all saved the same way, no matter what we've done.


Reading these verses tonight was like the moment you realize you've been holding your breath. That gulp of oxygen that just tastes so sweet.


Lately, there's been a lot of "go" and a lot of "do" in my life. But the big picture is to love God. Trust in Him and the details fall out...or just fall away. There are so many moments, rich in relationship, that I miss when I focus on the obeying and the doing and the going and the now. 


Life works because of Jesus.


Here's to trusting HIM.

vacation

The weekend just closed, but I'm excited for vacation. Not necessarily summer already, but vacation. Time to refuel. Time to read. Time to write. Time for long walks. Time for naps. Time for...anything, really.

My time right now is so tightly scheduled. Busy, full, productive. Fun, even. But my heart is crying for some rest.

Last night, I turned on my headphones and painted for awhile. An 8"x 8" canvas of the four seasons in the Palouse for a friend. Today, well, I'm still waiting for time today.

Accidentally burned up three hours at the gym. Oops. And now its 11 pm.

Morning comes SOOOO early.

The verse that always captures my focus back to Christ in moments like this week:
"Cease striving and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10


I don't need vacation to have time. Just need to cease striving. Just need to know that He is God.

great things

Trusting God for great things this year!

That's all I got right now...

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." - Proverbs 3:5&6

motto

"...apart from me you can do nothing." --Jesus, quoted in John 15:5

This verse ushered my heart into relationship with Jesus. First, in the summer of 2001. And again tonight.

Nothing I try or do is ever "good enough". My efforts don't lead to greatness. I'm wired to be selfish. That's sin nature.

But praise be to God who works all things for His glory. He invites us into relationship with Himself. He's the vine we draw our strength from. He nourishes us to bear the fruits of His righteousness.

a day on the mission

Last night we had a second night of leader training for our youth team. Seventy people showed up. To me, that's a lot of people. Like the crowd that Jesus talks about in Matthew 9.

Our groups director and the lead pastor for our church shared their vision for youth ministry this year. A vision of 70 sent out to invite, love, disciple students. Being vessels of God's Spirit to see our community change. It's the vision I've been praying for the last two years. It's coming!

After the meeting, I was pretty fired up. Tried working out...but not tired enough to sleep. (Maybe because I'd taken a 3.5 hour nap that afternoon?) So, I listened to a sermon podcast from MarsHill church in Seattle. Thank you Holy Spirit, for another message about the 70 commissioned by Jesus.

So, this morning, I wake up with these messages bubbling over from my subconscious. Talked with the cashier at Safeway this morning, and she invited herself to church with me.

Spent the day talking with students, learning about their families. Cheered for some highschool soccer players at a cold, windy stadium and their parents let me into their world for awhile. Tackled some tough boulder problems at the gym, starting to feel part of the community.

Buzzed in to the grocery store to pick up cookies for Open House and dinner for myself. A homeless guy was standing at the entry to the parking lot with a sign that read "God bless you." So, running late, I picked up the boxes of cookies for my classroom and rationalized with God why I didn't need to buy dinner for anyone other than myself.

Of course, in God's bigger plan, compassion always wins. Buying extra eggrolls, I ended up being overcharged and had to go to Customer Service to get my bill straightened out. Convinced the homeless guy would be gone. But, instead he'd met up with a friend. Laughing at the TWO eggrolls I'd just purchased, I walked the bag over to see if he & his friend had dinner yet.

This is how I know that today was on the mission: "Praise the Lord! This is just what we needed. Praise the Lord!"

That's what the man said. I don't remember if he said thank you, because the point was: I wasn't the one he should thank. Jesus is. And then I got to go to Open House.

Wow, what a day.

"Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." - Matthew 9:38

This is what mission tastes like.

Today, it tastes like coffee, chalk and eggrolls. Haha, this joy runs deep.

a book I want to read soon!!

This may still be plagarism, but here's some straightforward analysis on the giftings of the Spirit. It's from the APEST website, based on Alan Hirsch's book The Forgotten Ways. (I'm putting it in quotes and leaving a link at the end of the citation, just to give credit where credit is due!)

"APEST Descriptions

APOSTLES extend the gospel. As the “sent ones,” they ensure that the faith is transmitted from one context to another and from one generation to the next. They are always thinking about the future, bridging barriers, establishing the church in new contexts, developing leaders, networking trans-locally. Yes, if you focus solely on initiating new ideas and rapid expansion, you can leave people and organizations wounded. The shepherding and teaching functions are needed to ensure people are cared for rather than simply used.

PROPHETS know God's will. They are particularly attuned to God and his truth for today. They bring correction and challenge the dominant assumptions we inherit from the culture. They insist that the community obey what God has commanded. They question the status quo. Without the other types of leaders in place, prophets can become belligerent activists or, paradoxically, disengage from the imperfection of reality and become other-worldly.

EVANGELISTS recruit. These infectious communicators of the gospel message recruit others to the cause. They call for a personal response to God's redemption in Christ, and also draw believers to engage the wider mission, growing the church. Evangelists can be so focused on reaching those outside the church that maturing and strengthening those inside is neglected.

SHEPHERDS nurture and protect. Caregivers of the community, they focus on the protection and spiritual maturity of God's flock, cultivating a loving and spiritually mature network of relationships, making and developing disciples. Shepherds can value stability to the detriment of the mission. They may also foster an unhealthy dependence between the church and themselves.

TEACHERS understand and explain. Communicators of God's truth and wisdom, they help others remain biblically grounded to better discern God's will, guiding others toward wisdom, helping the community remain faithful to Christ's word, and constructing a transferable doctrine. Without the input of the other functions, teachers can fall into dogmatism or dry intellectualism. They may fail to see the personal or missional aspects of the church's ministry." -www.theforgottenways.org/apest/ (c) 2009 Leadership Vision Consulting, Inc.

Last week, I was running out on Bainbridge Island when God gave me a picture of my life: a ninja star. God made me with a discerning spirit, to know and proclaim His truth. He shows me His will in powerful, clear ways. His truth cuts to the heart of matters. The Bible describes His Word as "sharper than a double-edged sword" and it can even "pierce to the division of joints and marrow, of soul and spirit." (Hebrews 4:12). Sometimes God uses me to help people see His truth that clearly.

The rest of the conversation during that run, though, had to do with the ways God is still refining my heart. "Why, then, would I need to be gentle?" I asked, out of breath and sweating. Next, God placed in my mind the picture of a ninja star with jagged edges, metal burrs. My own judgement, harsh words, or quick temper can get in the way of razor-sharp truth. Without the gentle humility of Christ, the burrs of my life could get stuck in people's lives. I need to be refined in gentleness.

A verse that always fills my heart with hope is Psalm 18:35--"You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; And Your gentleness makes me great."

Praying always for a clearer picture of His will. Asking, too, for gentleness to live out this sweet life of love and worship. In Your name, Jesus, Amen.

class of 2016

I LOVE  MY STUDENTS!

This year has great potential. This Thursday, I get to meet many of my students' families at Open House. What a privilege!

So far, we've determined who the hottest person is in each class (based on hand temperature, of course). We've gone on naturalist adventures outside. We've talked about goal-setting. We've defined science and scientist. And I've had to talk about a lot of school policy (I don't really like talking; I like doing better :/ )

But this year... I've just got this steady confidence that God has such bigger plans for this year than I can imagine, even. Revival is coming. God is changing hearts, slowly at first... There is a definite difference in the attitudes of our school staff this year compared to the other years I've been at our school. Thank you Jesus. Now bring healing to every heart that will accept it!

This weekend is just making me more excited about school. Some good friends are back in town and it's fun to cast vision about Kitsap county. How powerful to pray over the students of our community!!!

I've used the weekend so far to......

• Meet up with friends at (quite a few) pubs. 
• Run a 10-mile roadrace over the Tacoma Narrows bridge. 
• Lock myself out of the new house for a few hours. 
• Recover from the roadrace in my friend Kendra's hot tub.
• Celebrate two weddings in two days! 
• Walk Greenlake with a dear friend and ministry partner.
• Meet my new roommate Shannon's family (they're staying at our house tonight)
• Comment on all of the 9th grade notebooks my students trusted me with for the weekend :)

And tomorrow...climbing on REAL ROCK!!! 

So, life is pretty fantastic at the moment. Did I mention it was sunny today? 

My class of 7th graders are the class of 2016. It seems so far away! But, I feel so privileged to have this year together with them. What an honor to be trusted with the future leaders of our community! Can't wait to know more about who they are and how they work. 

(Idealistic? Maybe. But I hope to always hope for the future!)