The Heart of Worship

I am so proud of my kids. I have noticed in Sunday morning worship that our altar times have been evolving. One by one, more of the kids are physically pressing in and going after God in preparation to hear from His Word. I have been explaining that sometimes we need to get ready to hear from the Word, like an athlete prepares to compete, we can take steps to help and prepare to receive whatever He is saying through the preaching of the Word. One of the preparation steps can be worship. Since we have moved rooms and now have a larger altar area, the kids, without my teaching or instruction, have been laying prostrate before the Lord. Do you know how it touches my heart to see kids going after God in such a humble manner? To look down and see some lying flat or in a fetal position with their faces buried in their hands and cutting themselves off from all distraction so they may hear what God wants to speak into their lives. Sometimes, I have to look away to keep my focus because if I don't I'd be a blubbering idiot at the sight of something so pure and innocent as children worshipping their Savior. This past Sunday, as we were winding down our altar time, I asked the kids if any of them wanted to share something that God had spoke to them. Several kids raised their hands and told us what God had spoke. It was awesome to hear what they said but even more incredible that they are "getting it" and are developing that listening ear that many of us are still working on. I believe to hear the voice of God it takes practice. Practice to be quiet after we petition and practice to not rush but wait until He speaks. That is growth that every pastor loves to see; adult, youth or kids. It is exercising their faith and stretching them to not only listen but then share with and encourage other kids. Have I mentioned that I love my "job"?

Let Me Give Honor Where Honor is Due

Pastor Michael preached about honoring people in your life in a message based on Mark 6:1-4. In the scripture, Jesus had returned to His hometown after performing numerous miracles and He was not met with honor and thankfulness, He was dishonored by their lack of faith. I've been thinking about who in my life that I should be showing honor and gratitude towards. Of course, my family, parents, and those God has placed in authority over me. But I've been thinking about some people who have influenced me and helped mold me into the woman of God I am today. Without their effort, time, trust, empowerment and love I have to ask myself if I would be where I am today. Not that I have "arrived" but would I be in this place, at this time and on the track of evolving into more of a Christ-like person? Can I look at the people who have been in authority over me at some point in my life and honor them when we didn't always agree or we needed to part ways?

So today, I give honor to some people who greatly deserve thanks from my heart. The first pastors who allowed me to sorry all over some kids in my febble attempt to be a "children's pastor" were Pastor Ray Sorenson and Pastor Jerry Hochstetler back in Ankeny, Iowa. Pastor Ray recently went home to be with the Lord and I wish I could have expressed to him one last time how much I appreciated him. He was a unique man with a heart of gold. Pastor Jerry was instrumental in me hearing my call to full time ministry. They encouraged me to get in there and just follow the Holy Spirit's leading and love kid's to Jesus. They believed in me.

I give honor to my precious friend, Laurie Rich. She is the most amazing children's pastor I know. She did not know me from Adam but she patiently answered many questions when I was starting out. She shared ideas, she always listened, she treated me like an equal in ministry even though she had much more experience and anointing. I still think of her as a close friend who I can tell ANYTHING to and she is always one of my biggest cheerleaders.

I give honor to some of my closest friends and fellow children's pastors who have encouraged me, inspired me, taught me, prayed for me, spoke with honesty to me, gone before me and made a way, allowed me to steal their ideas or have just been a great listener. Kevin Umphress (I learned a TON of stuff from this guy), Brian Bopp (believed in me when I needed it the most), Lori Warning, Brian Dollar, Jason Noble, Jim Wideman, Dick Gruber, Kevin Geer, and Brandie Broadhead to name just a few.

I give honor to the other pastors I have served under. Pastor Raymond Weets, Pastor Mark Oberbeck, Pastor Josh Singleton, Pastor Dave Beroth, and Pastor Tommy Hall. Several different men, different preaching styles, different personalities, different leadership styles but all men of God that taught me what it means to serve the body of Christ and grow in my relationship with Jesus. I honor you all and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your investment in my life helps me to do what I do today in Whitehouse, Texas at WFA.

I give honor to my current investor, Pastor Michael Fleming. I have been here a short four months but have seen this man growing daily in all areas of his life. He's one of those guys that is not satisfied with the status quo and I love that! I'm thankful to have the opportunity to grow some more under his leadership and to follow his example. I give honor to his wife Angie. She is an amazing woman of God with grace, wisdom beyond her young years and a sweet, humble spirit. I give honor to Pastor Danny and his wife Celeste. They work so hard and give their lives completely to ministering to our students. They also lead us into worship every Sunday. And they will make you laugh harder than you ever have before! I give honor to Big Mike and Yvette Durbin. Big Mike is a volunteer pastor here overseeing our tech department and is Pastor Danny's right hand guy. Big Mike and Yvette willingly give their time, talent and treasure to minister here and do it with all of their hearts.

Who do you need to show honor to this day? Give Jesus the first place of honor! Show your spouse and children honor. Honor your parents as the scripture teaches. And to those in authority over you...honor...even when you do not agree. God has placed them in your life and to not show them honor is to dishonor God!

The Power of Words

I hope that when I die, the word encourager is spoken when describing me. I try to be that whenever I can but I do think that I need to work harder to do it more often. I am a person who's love language is words of affirmation. If you don't know what I mean by "love language" you need to read the book The Five Love Languages.


There is such power in spoken words. I can be totally bummed about something and one small encouragement from someone will bring me out of my funk. What if we all intentionally encouraged at least five people a day? I believe it would change the world because of the power of spoken words.


Think about this....what if someone said to you, "I believe in you!" Our student ministries pastor, Pastor Danny, recently preached a series to the youth entitled "I Believe in You" and he was amazed at the number of kids who said no one, not even their parents, had ever told them that. In my opinion, as a parent our kids should constantly hear "I love you", "God loves you", and "I believe in you." I wonder how much rebellion would be squelched if we could intentionally say those things to our kids?


Okay, so not every has the same love language as me but you name me one person who doesn't like to hear, "great job" or "I appreciate you" or "you are a blessing" at least once in a while! Often times we think about nice things people have said or done for us but we don't verbally let them know how it blessed us. It's like when we say, "I don't have to tell my spouse I love them...they just know it." Well, stop that right now! They do need to hear it so start telling people the nice thoughts you have about them!


The Bible is full of encouragement. There is no way I could even list all of the verses that just contain the word encouragement let alone the verses that are meant to lift us up. But remember this, not everyone reads the Bible. That friend who doesn't know Jesus is probably not being encouraged by the Word of God, so you need to be Jesus with skin on and say the words they need to hear. I will share this scripture, though. Proverbs 18:20-21.


I am so blessed to have people in my life that encourage me. The power of words, good, bad, life, death. I want to be a life-giver.