Making the Most of Every Opportunity

I LOVE this post by Dane Ortlund about reading the Old Testament. Check it out here . Here's a glimpse: What are other ways we might read the Bible? The Gold Mine Approach  – reading the Bible as a vast, cavernous, dark mine, in which one occasionally stumbles upon a nugget of inspiration. Result: confused reading.  The Hero Approach  – reading the Bible as a moral hall of fame that gives us one example after another of heroic spiritual giants to emulate. Result: despairing reading.  The Rules Approach  – reading the Bible on the lookout for commands to obey to subtly reinforce a sense of personal superiority. Result: Pharisaical reading.  The Artifact Approach  – reading the Bible as an ancient document about events in the Middle East a few thousand years ago that are irrelevant to my life today. Result: bored reading.  The Guidebook Approach  – reading the Bible as a roadmap to tell me where to work, whom to marry, and what shampo...

I'm not sure if this post is me processing, confessing, or just sharing things I'm learning. Please forgive the awkward writing style that reflects the confusion. Today I was in Luke 8. I've been praying and processing through some circumstances and my heart in them. As I read Jesus calming the storm, I was struck by 2 things: 1- there was real danger. Luke didn't say it was perceived that the storm was sinking the boat. He says the boat was filling and the disciples were in danger and they knew it. That's how I've been feeling. One circumstance I often grapple through is our finances. We aren't in trouble, but our daily needs are met through churches and individuals that give to our ministry, and at times, they give less than they committed to. Some even have to stop giving for various reasons and seasons which means we need to leave the studio to go meet with more churches and individuals. Since we set our salary based on needs, I'm always trying to...

‎"Let's live and speak so that men and women might know that Jesus Christ is a great Savior, the Son of the Most High, and the never ending King of Kings" -John Piper (on Luke 1:30-35)

Have you ever read a really familiar passage of Scripture and been hit by one chunk of it all fresh and new? This happened this week and it's been an amazing experience of Him. Hopefully reading this with my highlight will show you: And Jesus came and said to them,   “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.   Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,   teaching them to observe all that  have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ” There it is! "Behold, I am with you. Always!" I have loved this chuck of Scripture for so long. I've heard many sermons, read much commentary, and even posted this on my wall for a long season. It has spurred me on and guided me in how to tangibly share Christ in my home, neighborhood, and the world.  It's been a constant vision and goal as we prayer...

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.    Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.”-   Ephesians 5:15-1 7 Today I'm remembering one of the first men in my life- my grandpa- Stan Fink. We lived a town apart, just across a bridge from each other. I saw him several times a week for most of my life. He was known by most as former editor of the Atlantic City Press. But to me, he's the guy who wrote amazingly personal and wise letters to all who he loved, made up silly games for my sister and I to play, had the cookies stashed in tins under the sink counter, and watched the stock market close every day. He babysat us regularly (long after my grandma passed away), bought us nice things or wrote checks with generous amounts as gifts, picked us up from school, signed me out of school and took me to get my cast removed in 5th grade,  came to all my concerts, s...

I'm still processing through my encounter with a woman in the Walmart parking lot. Maybe you've had these encounters too... We've had people at rest stops who say they lost their credit card and can't get home, men at gas stations asking us to fill their tanks, teens in parking lots asking for donations (and offering a "gift" out of their trunk) to teach at risk kids about drug abuse, and, most often, women (sometimes with a child) crying and telling us how mean everyone has been as they ask for $4 to catch a bus home. It happens a lot. Definitely once a month, sometimes several times in one week. My thoughts are not about whether the stories are true or not. I don't know the motivation, but I'm usually guessing it's a "scam" (though I hate that word). It's where my heart goes that bothers me... and I believe God continues to allow these encounters to lovingly draw out my own pride and sense of entitlement. I usually give money, bu...

I blogged last month (read the posts  here and here ) about our choice this Christmas to give up receiving gifts and instead seek Christ together and give to the least of His people. Have you wondered if our Christmas day was odd without getting gifts? It was hands-down the most incredible Christmas I've ever experienced. We kept our traditions of writing things we love about Jesus on paper ornaments (but skipped stocking stuffers attached), eating birthday cake, and reading/acting out Luke 2 and Matthew 2. I just felt overwhelmed by the truth that Jesus IS THE treasure our hearts seek. And He so freely gave Himself to us. I'm so beyond thrilled to be His and the time we had to reflect and pour Him into our kids all morning served as a sweet reminder to me of Jesus as THE gift.  And then we went online to give through Gospel for Asia. That was so much fun and such an amazing feeling. We really are so very rich and it felt so right to spend our riches giving to meet...

Some of you have asked me to share how my surgery went. I'm sitting here almost a week later staring at my precious third baby boy thinking how sweet God's gifts to us are. He's small and cute and perfect. Our family is so much fuller because he's here and it makes it seem silly to talk about anything else...but onto the surgery and what I learned: We need the church - I felt so overwhelmed by fear at just the thought of going into surgery and yet God so covered me with His grace and strength through the love of friends and family. So many sent Scripture to encourage me, blog posts to help prep me, and lots of hugs, prayers, and kind words. It reminded me that we need each other. In a time of really weak faith, I had an army of faith-filled friends and family fighting with me to hold me strong towards God. It was Ephesians 6 (armor of God) lived out in community and it was an incredible (and humbling) experience. Sometimes the things you fear DO happen - When I st...

Awesome sermon : "Dr. Russell Moore preached a powerful sermon at Covenant Life about when Satan tempted Jesus to jump from the temple. Ever wondered why that would have tempted Jesus? Russell shows how we face the same temptations to demand by sight what God has given by faith and to vindicate ourselves." Here's the sermon !

I shared yesterday that we aren't giving each other any presents this Christmas. Not even stockings. And we are thrilled to do it. You can read more about how God lead us through our 6 year old's discomfort at receiving gifts on Jesus' birthday in my last post ... but here's where we left off: How can we give Jesus gifts on His birthday??? Though there's an obvious celebration we have as we eat cake, sing, read his birth story, remember Him, and seek hIm together, what about giving a gift? Here's the answer God gave Andy and I as we sought Him:  “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when...

This year, we aren't giving each other any gifts. Not even stockings... Not one wrapped present for us to open Christmas morning...  and we're SO excited!!! Want to know why???? ‎"The aim of God at Christmas is to make the goodies of the world lose all their attraction in comparison to the surpassing glory of the divine Name. The essence of Christmas purity is not what you stand against, but what you stand in awe of, the glorious name of God."- John Piper We have been floored by a simple question Jimmy asked and it’s literally reshaping Christmas for us. Here goes “Mom. I love getting presents, but I don’t feel right getting them on Jesus' birthday. Shouldn’t we be giving to Him?” The wisdom of that kid hit me like a brick. At first I started sharing how our gift giving is out of love for each other and reminds us of THE gift of salvation that came because Jesus came to earth as a lowly human baby…  But I couldn't shake his logic and then I started readi...

Last year, I shared that we'd be trying an advent tree. It consisted of 25 daily Scripture readings, each symbolized by an ornament we hang on a felt tree to help set our hearts on Jesus during the busy, Christmas season. We had three weddings in three weeks in three different states, and as a result, traveled so much last December. Having this small, foldable, easily stored felt tree to pull out at each stop brought a little consistency to our trip and gave us our own little tradition that carried through each different place. We hung it from hotel lamps, on a nail near our friend's back door, on a dresser drawer knob at grandma's, and finally, on our living room wall at home. We loved it and are doing it again this year (though without the travel), so I thought I'd post some pictures of it: day 25 ornament is a gift, and there's the Scripture card several ornaments and their cards Day 1- Holy God and sinful man. putting the last ornament on the...

I'm praying through what to share this Christmas season and thought it might be good while I'm processing all God's showing me to just take today to link to last years series... You can see -our advent calendar -Christmas Eve / Day traditions - my thoughts on Santa -a good book/dvd/Christmas craft list -ideas for sharing Christ with family -and a clip from the Jesus Storybook Bible...: Read them all HERE at last year's Christmas season posts .

I read an awesome post on one of my favorite marriage blogs,  the Romantic Vineyard  about Christmas during a season of lack . They are going through a series on hindrances at Christmas and shared really openly about their own season of lack and God's provision for them in it. It was so sweet for me, because I know Christmas when money is tight or when we have no paychecks. We have had many of them. In fact, our last 4 years have almost always included short or no paychecks in October/November. This year, though we are able to pay our bills, we are once again in a season of financial lack as we look right past Christmas and anticipate paying for my csection and the arrival of our precious third son a week or so later. God has met me in such incredible ways and lavished His grace on me as I've confessed my fear (that it'll become more than a season and could lead to debt) and my dependence and trust in man (we receive any pay based on churches and individuals who give...

One new thing I wanted to add into our school day this season is a weekly advent event/craft/ reading to engage in looking back at the prophets who proclaimed the Messiah was coming and show how Jesus fulfilled that and to look forward to when He'll come again in full reign on earth. I needed simple, since we're in kindergarten, but engaging, because I'd like it to become a tradition in school years to come. My friend Virginia Knowles has a wealth of knowledge and love for Christ and does an awesome job pointing her kids to Jesus. She shared many of her Christmas traditions on her blog and I found our weekly "look back and see Jesus" time there. She shared an awesome and simple  4 night family advent blogpost . You could do this in a four day period or once a week over four weeks. We just did #1 this week- learning about Immanuel, "God with us" and being reminded by the Christmas lights in our neighborhood that Jesus is the light that pierced through...

I've heard several friends mention that they make a "Jesse Tree" each Christmas and i had NO clue what that was. Ha! So I looked it up. The tree gets it's name from a passage in Isaiah:   “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.”-   Isaiah 11:1-2 So, it's a tree that points to Jesus as the fulfilled Messiah. People do all sorts of different versions and it's fun to see how families remember. Some people find cute toys/trinkets that remind them of certain aspects of Him (like a small toy fish to remember His miracles, toy tools since he was a carpenter, nails and a cross to remember His death, etc..) Others have a more formal tree with actual glass ornaments and different Scripture painted on them. This year, we are doing one that just seemed ...

A friend posted a facebook status that has just SO amped me up to live for Jesus fully. I wanted to share her wisdom with you (bold/underlines are added to highlight my favorite parts): ‎"Self-love, self-acceptance & self-promotion. Love yourself. Be true to yourself. Live to yourself..."...we live in a culture that so lacks balance...we preach this message to thousands of women who are starving themselves, surgically enhancing themselves and desperately trying to fit the far-from-realistic model of altered "feminine beauty" our culture promotes.  This message brings only momentar y solution to their intense sense of insecurity... because it is not  how the Bible tells us to view ourselves. We are precious to God, and adored by Him...But we are not him...   We are called to deny ourselves (Mark 8:34) Die to self (Gal. 2:20) to do everything not for our own recognition but to bring praise and glory to God! (Phil 3:4-10) You want to know the secret to be...

Since I posted some ways to engage hearts and not just entertain our kids on rainy days, I thought I'd go ahead and share the Bibles and family devotional we use.  1) Young Kids Bible Storybook-  Jesus Storybook Bible - such a great bible storybook for even the smallest child and you can watch videos of it online too! Here's part of the Christmas story video: 2) School age full text Bible-  ESV Seek and Find Bible - great full text bible with LOTS of pictures for young readers! 3) Awesome Devotional-  Long Story Short : Ten Minute Devotions to Draw Your Family to God, Marty Machowski- Great family devotional that dives into the Word!

I shared in my first post that I desire to do more than just entertain my kids on long indoor days. I want to engage their hearts and pour Christ into them. I know many of you are facing the same long days we do with the same desire for your time to be spent pouring into them. So here is another handful of ideas for yucky weather indoor days spent for the glory of God: 1) Pray for family members. Then make construction paper cards to encourage them with things you love about them. Decorate the cards with stamps, stickers, markers or whatever you have around. This is also a fun time to call people you love and tell them you love them. 2) Teach your kids about the important role a person that loves them has and make a short video to thank them . Example- Teach how God calls the husband to love his wife, provide for his family, etc. Share how God loves what a hard worker Daddy is and we are so thankful for him. Pray for Daddy and then plan and make a short video (usually on my phone)...

I've been writing about ways we can seek God's glory intentionally as we eat out. Feel free to go back and read the rest of the series. I mentioned thinking about daily life intentionally in Post 1, pouring into family while eating out in Post 2 , and eating within a budget in Post 3 . This last post is the part of our eating out that we love the most: pouring into others . We love good food. But the food is only one part of our experience eating out. Our favorite part is building relationships where we can encourage others in Christ. Eating together is a great opportunity to build relationships with people and eating out has given us relationships with restaurant owners/ employees that we met because we love their restaurant. We have grown in so many relationships with people by eating together regularly. Eating together after church became a regular habit in a group of friends we had when we were first married and it was such wonderful weekly fellowship. Once our group s...