Kenny Chesney got it right when he sang the song "don't blink". If you haven't seen the music video and don't mind being vulnerable to getting choked up, you should check it out on YouTube.
If you will go with me for a minute.....close your eyes (after you read this of course) and think back on your last 20 years. I personally just blinked and think, "where has it gone?"
It was 26 years ago I was moving into my college dorm on the fifth floor and I blinked and now I'm moving my daughter onto the same college campus in the dorms on the 6th floor.
It was 20 years ago this month that Steve and I drove to our church to "try out" as youth pastors and then I blinked and we are now the lead pastors. In those 20 years God did so much. I wish I could write a book for you to see the growth that took place, the struggles and triumphant victories. I know if you took a moment, you'd have the same story to pen on paper. I encourage you to do some reflecting.
It was one year ago that I started this blogging thing and then I blinked and here I am the Writing/Language Arts teacher in 2nd grade this year! Who would have thought? I never thought of myself as a "writer" or that my thoughts were even important enough to share with people, and yet God and my friend Jill saw something different.
If there is one thing I've learned in these 20 years (I've learned way more, but only sharing one) it's that I don't have to know the future, only that it will get here soon enough. My responsibility is to do something with the present. I will blink again and I want to be at peace with what I did with each moment, word, action, adventure, opportunity....
I'm taking this opportunity to thank God and all who have been a part of the last 20 years. Each one have played an active part in my story. God uses people to fulfill his plan.
Loving where I am,
The Mrs. Pastor
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Thursday, August 7, 2014
You Don't Scare Me!
I live at "that" house where there is NO WAY to kill the wasps. Seriously, they find every crevice in the rock on the front of the house. They even sneak their way into the bushes and prickly cedar trees (evidence in the winter). They leave early in the morning and return around 5ish each evening....that is weird that I even know that. They have frequently tried to threaten visitors and even house sitters while we've been out of town. One friend doesn't even use the front door anymore, instead it's the garage or back door.
This brings me to this spiritual comparison (which has been argued by my friend since she is allergic to wasps). The wasp is not leaving but I don't even flinch because IT'S MY HOUSE....well maybe a time or two when it buzzed right next to my ear. Now, before I go any further, just know we've gone through more cans of wasp spray than I would like to admit. My point is that the wasp doesn't decide what I will do or where I will enjoy my resting spot. It doesn't decide when I will water nor if I will take my morning stroll to enjoy my flowers. It doesn't touch me.
There is a different kind of wasp after us all. It has residency, maybe not in your house, but near it. We have to have a resolve that we are God's most precious gift and NOTHING is strong enough to move us. We might flinch because it's so close to us, but we won't move...as a matter of fact it will make us mad. It will propel us even more to draw strength and power from God's word.
Now, please don't stop reading because my last example is action packed (but possibly rated PG for violence) So if you're an animal activist of moles you might NOT want to read any further.
These moles have taken up residency with our family for YEEAARRS. Let me make a side note, we have a manicured lawn....you know, with the lines all going the same direction. Steve actually caught it when the girls were small but NO WAY would they let daddy kill the animal. So daddy put it in the ditch with the culvert. The little fellow must have been so thankful for saving his life that he even invited more friends. It was when one of them thought they had the freedom to dig under our house, find a hole under MY TUB, and fill the area completely with dirt, that NOW I was freaked out. How did I know this you might ask? I look down and see some dirt and open the doors under the tub and it's PACKED with dirt....I SCREAMED!
My point to this story is that now the threat came INTO my house. NO YOU DIDN'T! The war was on. I'm happy to say....this summer, one early morning, I go out to see that my little "frenemy" did some damage. It was fresh, so I knew it was near. I did what any strong , proverbs 31 women would do, I got the hose and stuck it in the hole to drown that puppy. I knew it would be crawling to the surface for air so I got the shovel and waited.....in a few short minutes I saw it's beady nose....I was shaking.....I was scared (me? kill an animal) BUT THEN the spirit of David just took over and I hammered that thing. This was MY HOUSE!
So friends, don't you let anything, anyone, any circumstance threaten you. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy BUT GOD came to give us LIFE and LIFE ABUNDANTLY! Thanks for hanging in there with the story....You really needed the anaolgy.
Now go and drown out the mole and wack him with a shovel!
The Mrs. Pastor
This brings me to this spiritual comparison (which has been argued by my friend since she is allergic to wasps). The wasp is not leaving but I don't even flinch because IT'S MY HOUSE....well maybe a time or two when it buzzed right next to my ear. Now, before I go any further, just know we've gone through more cans of wasp spray than I would like to admit. My point is that the wasp doesn't decide what I will do or where I will enjoy my resting spot. It doesn't decide when I will water nor if I will take my morning stroll to enjoy my flowers. It doesn't touch me.
There is a different kind of wasp after us all. It has residency, maybe not in your house, but near it. We have to have a resolve that we are God's most precious gift and NOTHING is strong enough to move us. We might flinch because it's so close to us, but we won't move...as a matter of fact it will make us mad. It will propel us even more to draw strength and power from God's word.
Now, please don't stop reading because my last example is action packed (but possibly rated PG for violence) So if you're an animal activist of moles you might NOT want to read any further.
These moles have taken up residency with our family for YEEAARRS. Let me make a side note, we have a manicured lawn....you know, with the lines all going the same direction. Steve actually caught it when the girls were small but NO WAY would they let daddy kill the animal. So daddy put it in the ditch with the culvert. The little fellow must have been so thankful for saving his life that he even invited more friends. It was when one of them thought they had the freedom to dig under our house, find a hole under MY TUB, and fill the area completely with dirt, that NOW I was freaked out. How did I know this you might ask? I look down and see some dirt and open the doors under the tub and it's PACKED with dirt....I SCREAMED!
My point to this story is that now the threat came INTO my house. NO YOU DIDN'T! The war was on. I'm happy to say....this summer, one early morning, I go out to see that my little "frenemy" did some damage. It was fresh, so I knew it was near. I did what any strong , proverbs 31 women would do, I got the hose and stuck it in the hole to drown that puppy. I knew it would be crawling to the surface for air so I got the shovel and waited.....in a few short minutes I saw it's beady nose....I was shaking.....I was scared (me? kill an animal) BUT THEN the spirit of David just took over and I hammered that thing. This was MY HOUSE!
So friends, don't you let anything, anyone, any circumstance threaten you. The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy BUT GOD came to give us LIFE and LIFE ABUNDANTLY! Thanks for hanging in there with the story....You really needed the anaolgy.
Now go and drown out the mole and wack him with a shovel!
The Mrs. Pastor
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