Starting Where I Am

Our Sunday church service was wonderful, and I was very glad to be a part of it. There was a spirit of worship, and I was able to stand back and see God work in several ways. We have been talking about our calling. So many people get hung up on this word. It tends to make people think of being in ministry when, in fact, it can be as simple as doing what you are doing where you are. Donnie and I and about 15 other people were part of a presentation where we shared our calling. We had to write our calling on a large piece of cardboard and hold it up for the congregation to read. I shared that mine is to be a stay at home mom (which I am) and a future writer (which I am working on and have been for a very.long.time.) When we got there and were running through our presentation, Hannah came to me frantically reminding me that we had KidsJam (aka Children's Church). I had traded with a friend and didn't realize that our time was so soon. I had nothing planned. Nothing. And we had the older kids (1st through 3rd grade). If you've never worked with kids you may not realize that no plan means they will eat you for lunch. My topic was peace, and suddenly I felt anything but peace. I had about 15 minutes to pull together something. I prayed (begged God for an idea) and I grabbed my Nook and searched my Bible for peace, finally settling on the story of Mary as she annointed Jesus feet with oil. When we left the auditorium I realized what a large group I had. Preparing to be eaten, I got everyone settled and started into the lesson. We started with a game of Hangman and talked about peace and what came to mind when we thought about peace. The more we got into the lesson, the more I realized what a sweet peace was there. The kids were attentive and everything flowed amazingly well. It was one of the best lessons I had ever taught. After the lesson was over we returned for the end of the service and there was a challenge by our pastor to take our calling out into the world. He ended the service with a candle lighting service and it was beautiful. It was beautiful not because of all the candles being lit but because of what it signified. I was standing at the end of a line and one of our youth came by and asked me to light her candle. After a few minutes passed, one of the kids I just taught asked me to light his candle. Then in just another minute, Allie, my youngest tugged on my shirt and asked me if she could hold my candle. It was amazing to watch that...to realize we are not only called to take the light out of the church and into the world but we are also called to pass it down from generation to generation. My final moment in Sunday's service was a message that has changed the way I look at my blog. I was thinking about the word "future" on my card, and I was bothered by that. I want to write one of these novels floating around in my head. Then God spoke very clearly to me. "Start where you are." That leads me to my blog. This is where I am. Yes I love sharing the funny things I see and hear in my day to day life, and I will still share those. But I also want to use this as a way to share some deeper thoughts, some insights God has given me, and some things to prayerfully encourage someone. I hope you will look forward to reading! Please check back and leave a comment!!

Funniest Threat I've Ever Overheard a Momma Threaten

Our town has its very own redneck entertainment every Friday night - amateur wrestling. Only don't tell the die-hards I used the term amateur. I do still have to live here. Friday night I was leaving the Fall Festival with my kids when there was a family in front of us. The oldest child looked to be about 6 and was wailing, just crying hysterically. This continued all the way to the parking lot. Now I will admit, I had an "If that was my child..." moment. She said nothing to this child and I began to wonder if she was just going to ignore her forever. But we were nearly to the car when the momma looked over to the kid and said, "Do you wanna go to wrestlin'?" The little girl nodded. "Then hush," came her reply. I have threatened a lot of things, but that has to be the funniest thing I've ever overheard.