Story of Redeemer's

There has been a chain of events over the past two years that have all played out to put us in a position where Kory has been offered and accepted this new position. It all started right after we moved to Oregon.

We had only been here a couple weeks and we didn't have internet at our apartments yet, so we drove to Roseburg and were using the internet at Starbucks one afternoon. Over the next hour or two, we heard a couple next to us who was talking to another man about some issues he was struggling with at that time. It was very obvious to us that the couple were ministers and as they got up to leave, Kory did something very out of character for him.

He got their attention and let them know he overheard part of their conversation and he assumed they were ministers. We explained we just moved to the area and Kory was a youth minister in the area and he just wanted to meet them and tell them they encouraged him. Well, it just so happens that they were youth ministers who were in the process of transitioning into different ministry roles at their church. However, they were in the process of creating a Youth Minister Alliance for all the youth ministers in the county. So Kory gave them his contact information and we parted ways.

A couple months later, Kory received an e-mail about the first meeting of this new Youth Minister group. They met on Saturday mornings so Kory & I began going to meetings and loved it! Sadly, they have since started meeting during the week, so I can no longer attend, but Kory goes every month and we've built some great relationships as a result of that. In fact, one of my closest friends here is a gal who I met through that group.

So last Fall, the group (DCEF 2.0) was hosting a county-wide youth rally to coincide with See You at the Pole. Kory & 2 other youth ministers spoke at the event and fun was had by all. Unbeknownst to us (that's a fun word!), the middle school minister from Redeemer's was at that event and heard Kory speak. So when their winter middle school retreat rolled around and they needed a speaker, Redeemer's contacted Kory to ask him to be the guest speaker for that weekend.

Kory had to be gone my birthday weekend to speak at that retreat, but we both agreed it was a great opportunity and so he did it. He had a wonderful time at the retreat and came back singing the praises of Redeemer's and even said he would love to work for a church like that!

A couple days later, Kory received an e-mail from the Middle School Youth Minister saying, "Hey, we're looking for a High School Youth Minister. Know anyone who might be interested?" Kory wasn't looking for a different job, but this one seemed to kind of fall in his lap. Again, we decided this was a great opportunity and he should at least look into it. He applied for the position and several interviews and meetings later, here we are, about to move so he can work as the High School Youth Minister at Redeemer's Fellowship.

It's amazing to look back and see how that one simple conversation in Starbucks led to all this! Now, I certainly believe God could have worked this out in a different way if He wanted to, but I love knowing that simply following God's prompting can lead you to very exciting opportunities in the future!

Submission

As a highly opinionated and fairly independent gal growing up, I was always fiercely opposed to the idea of a wife submitting to her husband. I hated the idea that the man was in charge and the wife, by sheer virtue of being female, was supposed to do exactly as he said.

Obviously, that's not exactly how God designed marriage, but that is how I interpreted it, and if I'm being honest, that is how I saw a lot of Christian marriages being played out. I saw wives who had to ask their husbands permission far more than I liked and I saw husbands who decided just how often the wife was allowed to leave the home.

The other day I was listening to a podcast on marriage and the speaker said something about the man being the head of the household. His take on it was that God doesn't say he "should" be the head of the household, he says he IS. Scientists don't sit around discussing if water SHOULD be wet. It just is and they accept it and make all their other decisions and calculations around that fact.

Next he talked about how God is really the Head of the household (Big H) and that means He's the big man in charge. The man is the head of the household (little H) which means he is just held to a higher responsibility regarding the lives/souls of his wife and kids (eww...responsibility? Who wants that? No thanks! I'll gladly give that to the man!)

My final thought on the matter was actually really sweet. I realized that I don't mind submitting to Kory. I trust him and don't worry that he'll take advantage of my vulnerability or boss me around or make me do things his way in the name the position God has given him. I actually love knowing that I can submit to a man who I love and trust fully and completely. I WANT to serve him and do what's best for him. I know he'll do the same for me and I don't have to worry about my needs being met because we're mutually looking out for and taking care of each other.

Maybe God knew what he was talking about after all? How about that!

What is God doing?

I believe God can do ANY thing. I believe God can perform miracles. I believe NOTHING is impossible with God. However, I am pondering a few things I've seen recently on Facebook. God is helping people run a mile in 3 minutes, lift more weight than ever before, He stopped time so my friend could get everything finished and get their homework turned in on time...and I just wonder if we are attributing more to God than He is really doing. Do I think he can do all of those things and more? Absolutely.

To my knowledge, He has never allowed me to run at super sonic speeds or held off my sickness so that I could complete a big project at work. Is it because my faith isn't big enough? Am I doubting his power and so I am not seeing these miracles in my life? While I won't say these events definitely aren't happening, I will step out and say I'm skeptical.

I know God cares about my life and my heart and the way I live. I'm not sure God is concerned with how fast I run. Yes, God gave me this body, working legs, my health, and beautiful nature to run in. I am very grateful to Him that I am able to exercise and live a healthy life. I should eat and drink and run and shop and sleep and play and chat to the glory of God. But I don't know that the miracle he will perform in my life is to get me a great parking spot or to save me a size small sweater in the color I've been wanting forever. Perhaps He has bigger plans for my life and He's hoping I'll join him in redeeming lost souls, bringing hope to the hurting, and loving the outcasts of society. Or maybe he's really just worried about my exercise habits :)

Loving Christians

Today at work I overheard two gentlemen talking while waiting for the fax machine. I heard the older man say, "The Christians are the ones who pulled me off the street, let me eat their food, gave me their own clothes, paid for me to see a doctor, kept me alive really. I was homeless and dying of pneumonia and if they didn't take care of me, I would be dead right now. You want to talk about real love, these people didn't know me at all and they saved my life. Then they introduced me to Jesus who could really actually save me in the way that matters."

I was tearing up at this point and trying not to let him see me eavesdropping on his conversation and crying at his testimony. This man then went on to talk about his baptism and the church he currently attends and times he has been homeless since then, but how his faith in God has sustained him through it all. It was SO encouraging to me to hear a story of Christians showing Jesus' love and changing someone's life. We don't hear these stories nearly enough so I just wanted to share it with all of you so that you will hopefully be encouraged to show that same love today.

The Privilege of Communion

When did communion become an obligation? I must confess it has been one for me as long as I can remember. I grew up in a small-town, conservative Church of Christ. If we missed Sunday morning worship, it was vital that we make it to Sunday evening services so we could take communion. We HAD to take communion every Sunday; it was our duty. (This blog is not about what communion was intended to be or if our modern communion is really what Jesus had in mind. That is another blog for another day.)

I remember one particular youth retreat my senior year of high school. The youth ministers decided that we would have a midnight service on Saturday night. Instead of waking up Sunday mid-morning for worship, we would do it at 12:00 a.m. and therefore, it would technically still be on Sunday. Several churches had a long drive home and this way, we could just wake up and head home first thing in the morning on Sunday. Now, you would think that I would have been satisfied with this arrangement: communion on Sunday, worship service on Sunday and getting to sleep in a little longer. I was not satisfied at all. In fact, I was very upset. I remember going down front Sunday evening to take communion at church because I did not have communion during regular Sunday morning services. I had a long discussion with my parents about my stern disapproval of what happened that weekend regarding communion. 

I participated in communion 3 times from September 2008 until April 2009. I attended many different churches while in Europe, and only received communion once while there. The other two times were in Artesia while I was home for Christmas.

I will admit the only reason I am sure that we took communion last Sunday is because I noticed they were using a different kind of cracker. These were easily broken into tiny squares. "Where are the Matzos? I love Matzos! Dang it. I hope all churches don't stop using those. They taste so good! I wonder if it would be ok to just buy those in bulk and eat them for a snack? Hmm...I mean, there is nothing actually sacred about the cracker. How would I go about buying some Matzos?" Yes, those were my thoughts during communion on Easter Sunday.

As with many things in life, I didn't appreciate it until it was taken from me. I was really excited to return and have the opportunity to take communion. I promised myself it would be more meaningful than ever before. Two weeks have gone by and I fell right back into the routine of passing the trays and thinking about how much I hate the taste of grape juice.

It is a privilege and an honor to participate in communion. I have been given this privilege hundreds of times in my life. Most times I have failed to recognize the opportunity that lay before me. I can't promise I will never take communion for granted again, but I do know that I will try extra hard this next week to appreciate the opportunity I have to commune with my Savior and fellow Saints.

Happy Day

You know those days where you just wake up excited and feeling good? Maybe you haven't ever had one of those. If so, I'm sorry, you have a terrible life. You should do something about that. Today was definitely one of those days for me! :) I am happy, the sun is shining, I'm living in London and God is good!!

I think I've mentioned it about 40 times already, but I'm going to Joshua Radin's concert tonight and I am just flat giddy with anticipation! I LOVE this guy! Now, this is definitely a musical crush. I don't think he's the best looking man to ever live and honestly I'm not even really that attracted to him. I just love his music and think he's incredibly talented. His songs are SO real. I can't tell you how many times I have felt like one of his songs was my current life anthem. In case you're wondering, right now it's "I'd Rather Be With You" ;) So to prepare myself for the awesomeness of tonight, I have been listening to his music non-stop for the past several days. Today I was watching a clip of him on Ellen and I heard her say his name and I was floored. I have been saying his name wrong all along! I felt so foolish. It is pronounced RAY-den. Not rah-den. Wow, it's like I don't even know this man anymore. I am glad I found this out before I was at his concert though. I have a few hours left to mentally prepare myself to see Joshua Radin, not Joshua Radin.

We are now going on 4 straight days of sunshine in London. I probably shouldn't say anything or I'll jinx it, but I am so excited I can't even contain it! I have to tell the world!! Before this week, I can't even remember 2 days of sunshine in a row. It has literally made me such a happier person. Sunshine is good for the soul. I don't know how people live in Seattle or Alaska or these places that get no sun for months at a time.

Oh my goodness gracious!! I just looked out my window (yes, I have the windows open and the curtains pulled back and it feels AWESOME!) and I saw the tree right in front of our house. I have never noticed it before but it looks JUST like a face on one of the branches. I took a picture so you can see it also. Now that I've noticed it, I can't believe we didn't see it before!

Here are all the branches of our funky looking tree.

Doesn't this look just like a human face?? Crazy! Now look on the
left side of the first picture and you can see it really well.

Wow! That just made my day even better!! :) Isn't God funny? I have come to see little events like this in my life as reminders of the God I serve. He is creative, he is clever, he cares about the little things in life and he is RIGHT HERE with me. If we were to really open our eyes and be watching for the little things God is doing all around us, I wonder what we would see? I bet it would be even more awesome than tree bark!

And so it begins...

I have recently decided to enter the world of blogging. I have been sending out updates on my life for the past 8 months or so that I've been in Europe and I have really enjoyed it! So, I think blogging will be much the same for me. I am still working on this page and have a lot of tweaking left to do. It's definitely a work in progress, but I'll be working on it over the next couple days and hopefully get it looking just like I want.

I am currently living in London and will be here for about 3 1/2 more weeks. My time here has been amazing! I am so excited for our friends to come see us in the next couple weeks. We'll get to show them around London and hopefully do some really fun touring with them as well. We're also planning to hit Rome for a few days right before we head back to America.

My plans for the future are really unknown right now, but that doesn't really scare me anymore. I am excited about the wide-open possibilities! I know God has a big plan for me and it's all working itself out so I am just eagerly awaiting the day when He reveals it to me. This trip has most definitely been a faith-building experience for me. It was a huge leap of faith to come here with no job or place to live or anything, and God has taken care of me in every way possible. I have really learned the value of Trusting in Him completely. It is such a freeing way to live--trusting instead of worrying, believing instead of stressing, praying instead of planning.