Turkey Bound

I cannot believe one week from today I will be flying to Turkey! It has come up so fast. I now have enough support raised to cover all my fixed expenses plus a little pad for those expenses that are hard to plan for. If I'm careful, I should have enough for the whole trip. THANK YOU to all who given towards this opportunity to minister. You have made an investment that, I pray, has eternal rewards. You are sending me where you cannot, at this time, go yourself. I promise to do everything in my power to represent you well and carefully listen to what the Lord would have me to preach.

Please continue to pray for traveling safety, good health and that the Holy Spirit will really move in our services. I will preach seven services with the kids. There is a young missionary couple who are coming to help me. I'm excited to meet them. Val in an MK and has lived in Latvia, Russia and Belgium so I know she will be a huge help in the cultural differences I'll experience. I'm so thankful that the Lord has opened this opportunity to me.

I'll leave from Memphis on Saturday evening and fly all night to Amsterdam. Then onto Istanbul and finally to Kusadisi, Ephesus, Turkey (airport is at Izmir). I'll get to the resort about 8 PM their time which is noon our time. My total air time one way is between 13 and 14 hours. I'll be returning Friday from Izmir to Istanbul to JFK (three hr. layover) and then into Memphis about 10 PM. It takes about 2 - 2 1/2 hrs. to get to Memphis from Union City. My flight schedule is actually pretty good. No sleeping in airports!

I'll take lots of pictures and if I have internet access will blog from Turkey. Blessing to all!

Living in the Land of Grace

Grace...we all need it...we should all give it. BUT. I had a conversation with Pastor Mark our music pastor, and Pastor Tommy the other day that has been replaying in my head. We were commenting on an ongoing frustration in all areas of ministry. Lack of commitment and excellence. Most people who commit to volunteering at church do an awesome job. We have a team of people that ROCK! But every church has volunteers who have the best of intentions and still struggle to follow through. For years, we in the church have been living in the land of grace. "Well, if I'm a few minutes late, it's church folks and they'll forgive me." "I didn't have time to study my Sunday School lesson, so I'll wing it....everyone is busy so they'll understand." "There are two other nursery workers scheduled so they probably won't care if I don't show up."

In our quest to be grace givers, we have allowed people to serve Christ in a haphazard, second best way. I realize people who volunteer at church also work other jobs and have busy lives. But we need to decide if we can afford to let this trend continue or if we have to have those hard conversations with those who serve in ministry. I don't like those conversations...I tend to lean towards mercy, but since that discussion with my fellow pastors, I have had to ask myself if I'm willing to sacrifice my comfort or sacrifice the effectiveness of the way we reach the lost. I truly believe Jesus is coming soon so therefor, I am willing to sacrifice my comfort and help those who need it to see how they can step up and do their ministry in a more effective way. Obviously, I have to do it in a Christ-like manner but it needs to be done. In anything and everything that we do, we should be doing it as unto the Lord himself. Sometimes we have only ONE opportunity to share Jesus with someone...I want to do my best. As a leader, I need to be able to set the pace, raise the bar and speak the truth. It may seem harsh but if we keep this pattern of good enough, we will never see a pattern of excellence. I need to be able to communicate to the people in my circle of influence that every Sunday is our Super Bowl!

I'd love to hear some feedback. How have you dealt with this?

Funny Thing About "Haystacks"

First of all....I surpassed 500 blog entries and didn't even realize it. Go me. Hee hee.

Second, and to me this is hilarious, in the last several months I have had tons of hits on my blog from all over the world. Obscure, exotic, far away lands...plus every corner of the good ole USA have perused Pastor Lori's Blog because they have Google searched "Giant Haystack." Last October, our church hosted a Halloween alternative with a huge haystack filled with numbered balls that the kids could redeem for prizes. Of course, I blogged about it. Apparently there was a famous wrestler named Giant Haystacks who passed away in 1998. In the search for info on the famous Mr. Haystacks, people have stumbled upon the blog. My Site Meter has given me a glimpse of the wrestling world....those crazy people are all over the place! Anyway...it makes me laugh. Maybe someone will look at my blog and learn something about Jesus! Love that.

Teaching Kids About the Holy Spirit and The Call

Yesterday in Building 2-52, I preached from Acts 1:8. It was obviously the first time that most of the kids had heard about the Holy Spirit and the power it gives us in our lives. We had an amazing altar time in both services. To my knowledge, none of the kids were filled with the Holy Spirit as with the evidence of speaking in other tongues but I am not discouraged. Why, you may ask? Because every single kid in both services were at the altar worshipping God, going after more of Him and just enjoying His presence. It is always a beautiful sight to watch a child lost in prayer. It tears me up each time I see one of my kids on their knees with their little faces in their hands seeking more of Jesus.

It will not be the last time I preach on this powerful gift. I have just begun and I know, with God's help, I will be able to help them more fully understand why it is so important. I have a better understanding of what they need to learn. The first thing is that kids are intimidated to pray out loud. You cannot be filled without being able to worship God with an audible voice. I know most adults don't even feel comfortable enough to pray out loud but these kids will be able to do it and lead the way for all generations!

One GREAT source for explaining the Holy Spirit to children is a book that I'd like to recommend. It's called Kid Power by Tim Enloe and you can order it on his web site at http://enloeministries.org. You can get a good price by ordering 10 or more. I'm ordering some this week to have on hand. I think it's something that would really help to empower parents to teach this at home. It would be so awesome to hear about families praying together at home to receive their Heavenly prayer language.

Side note...had an amazing conversation with one of my 3rd grade boys after service. The first time I met this young man, the Lord spoke to me that He had a call on this boy's life. I have been waiting for Jonas to tell me himself. I don't ever want to plant ideas into kid's heads so I hadn't said anything to him. The Lord prompted me to ask him if he knew yet what God's plan was for his life. His eyes were so big and he very politely said, 'Yes, mam." I asked him if he'd like to tell me about it and he said, "God has called me to be a preacher." I then told him that God had told me the same thing. You should have seen his eyes get even bigger! So exciting to see kids being called at such a young age! That's the second boy in about a month who have shared their call with me. The Lord has showed me two other kids He has called and set apart for service and I'm already praying for them, that they would obey, guard their hearts and never doubt what God has asked them to do.

What's Up?

I have been a bad blogger as of late. So sorry. Thought I'd give some random thoughts, observances and rants to give you a glimpse of my life lately.

God is so amazing. I know...duh. But really, He is so faithful and forever grace-giving and I seriously am so thankful for where I am in my faith. I have not "arrived" but love that I can honestly say I have grown more in my relationship with Jesus in the past couple of years than ever before....and striving to grow DAILY. The last nearly 8 months of being in Union City, God has "expanded my territory" by allowing me to minister, not only kids, but several adults as well.

I started a "Kid's Council." It is a leadership/ministry training time for any 3rd-5th grader who would like to learn some ministry skills. We meet from 5-6 every Thursday. The kids involved understand that this is a serious responsibility and they always hear the scripture from Luke 12:48, "to whom much is given, much is required." We start our time with prayer. I am teaching the kids to pray out loud for each other. It may sound silly but I know many adults who cannot pray out loud in front of people so I want the kids from a young age to be able to speak out and minister to others. We then have a devotion from the Word of God. The kids are required to read their Bibles at home, too. We then move into training. We are currently working on leading worship and puppets. Every week, they go home with homework! It may be music and motions to learn or puppet practice but they have something to learn. It's going great right now. One of my 4th grade girls has a call to ministry on her life. I don't know if she fully realizes her call yet but she is gonna be a firebrand for Jesus!

I baptized 7 kids a couple of Sunday's ago. Wow, nothing like the feeling of helping a child step through another phase of their journey with Christ. Austin, one of the boys I baptized, came to his mom a few weeks ago and told her that God had spoke to him and told him he was gonna be a preacher! This 9 year old is so on fire for God. He didn't have his own Bible so Pastor Tommy told me to get him one from the church. He carries that Bible around like it's the most awesome thing he has ever owned. He testified during his baptism about his call. I think he may have inspired a tear or two among the adults. I know there were lots of cheers. I'm so proud of all my kids! To see them at the altar in Building 2-52 with their little faces in their hands, bowed down on their knees, going after God with all they have, gives me a feeling I cannot adequately put into words. I praise God that I am allowed to witness such things each week.

It has rained a lot here recently. I am officially OVER IT! Come on sunshine. Everyone's lawns are so wet and the grass is growing like crazy but it's hard to mow with all that water.

Randy is still unemployed. Man, we must have really ticked off the devil cuz he is sure trying to discourage us! We know God is at work, He's providing and of course, He is faithful. We will stand firm, remain obedient to His call and expect the miracle to come.

I leave for Turkey in just a few weeks. I am no where near what I need in funds but the Lord is never early nor is he ever late. This Sunday, my Building 2-52 team has organized an ice cream social fundraiser for me! How awesome is that? They are the best team ever! Some of the younger kids are asking if I'm going forever. It's hard to see the concern on their faces but I have assured them they are stuck with me!

Our friends, Curt and Mandy Cecil, had baby number four! Congrats on the arrival of Thaddeus Larkin Cecil! He's a beautiful little bugger!

Micaela is officially graduated, moved and working. Praise God. I'm so proud of my girl!

So....what's up with you?

Ice Cream Dates

Had a little BGMC challenge and these goofy girls won the contest! Micky D's, ice cream and laughter...doesn't get much better than that!

Where Have All the Comments Gone?

Is it due to Facebook? Have I become too boring? I miss comments. Sadness.

Where Have I Been?

So sorry to be MIA in the blog world but life has been nothing short of craziness the past few weeks and to top it all off, my computer hard drive crashed and burned! I lost EVERYTHING! That's what I get for trusting a computer that is only 1 1/2 years old. I will now and forever back everything up on a jump! It is so sad how many pictures I lost.

We are so proud of Micaela! We witnessed her graduating from Evangel University on Friday! It has been a long journey for her but she always had top grades and finished strong. The day before graduation, she was offered a job at...are you ready for this?...Evangel! She is now gainfully employed full time in the conference services office where she has done a work study for the past three years. God's timing was amazing. She can do graphics as a freelance and stay at the school she loves so much. She moved into her first apartment with her best friend and life is good for my girl.

I have been sick for the past 10 days but finally feeling almost normal. I'm just a little tired still. I had sinus infection. Blah!!!! It started out as a cold and blossomed into, well, I'll spare you the details.

I have lots of pics to load in the next few days. Graduation, water baptism of some of my kids, Pastor Tommy's 50th birthday party, ice cream dates with BGMC contest winners from church...

God is really stirring my heart. He continues to stretch me and it's exciting, overwhelming, humbling, inspiring, and keeping me on my knees. God has given me a vision for where we are headed in the children's ministry of Union City First Assembly of God. I can't wait to see how He is going to accomplish it all because it is beyond me. I will continue to work as though it depends and me and pray as it, of course, depends on God! I do know one thing...I may have to clone myself! :)

Only one month until I go to Turkey! Eeeek. I have my passport and have had about 1/3 of my support come in through so many wonderful friends. I have a long way to go for the rest and not much time but God is never too early nor too late. I flux between uber excited and gonna-throw-up nervous about traveling so far by myself. It will entail many firsts in my life.