We Are Homeschooling Again!

Thank you Jesus! THIS is exactly how school should be.

Look What I Saw When I Logged On...

Congratulations! Your degree/certificate has been officially conferred for the BSED/E program. Your complimentary diploma/certificate and transcript will be processed and mailed to you within the next few weeks along with any additional diplomas/transcripts you may have requested on your diploma/certificate application. If expedited shipping was requested they will be processed and sent as requested. Note: Diplomas and transcripts are mailed separately.

HEE Hee YAY!!! Today, I became a graduate student.

I submitted my first assignment. Then I realized my second assignment is a 4page paper and threw up a little in my mouth.

Reach Out a Little

This weekend, our church hosted an outreach in the park hoping to simply love on others. Those are my favorite sort of out reaches. Where people don't understand what they are supposed to do once you give them something. On the way home, we asked the kids to share their favorite part of the morning. Here was my story:

This little boy (about age5-6) was dressed in his little shorts and wife beater, hair in a super awesome long pony tail. He was bowling on the side walk using a little set of pins. I offered to help him by setting the pins up so he could bowl and be amazing. He was hitting strikes and super excited. I say, "go get on that skate board and knock the pins over with your body."

With wide eyes and sheer excitement he asks, "CAN I!?"

To which I reply, "YEEES!"

So he does and he knocks them all down with whoops and hollars and happiness. He gets set for round two while I reload the pins, only this time he is sitting on the board. As he starts to take off, he sort of falls backwards, and I say, "WHoooah! maybe you should be wearing a helmet."

He says with a straight face, "I'm not wearing any underwear."

So I blink in confusion and promise not to look, and he ends our conversation with, "my dad never told me to put them on."

HAHAHAHA! Outreaches ROCK!

Stuck in the Middle

About January of this year God began talking to me about all sorts of things. Some good, some new, some reruns that I have not quite worked out, and some that are just plain scary, but ALL that are exciting. Let's face it; when God talks to you, it's amazing.

So, he kept saying these things to me, and about a two weeks ago, I realized he wasn't changing his tune. So I prayed and asked if I was missing out on what he was wanting me to hear. Nope. Loud and clear, I tell ya. He did add a little something at the end.



I looked around and realized I was already somewhere along in the journey I thought I was sitting still and waiting for. I kept thinking, "Man, when this starts, this is going to be awesome." or "I am so excited for this adventure to begin." or "I love that my family is going to experience something new, and God is going to use us." God said, "um...look around you Clown (he often refers to me as Clown, because my inabilities make him laugh in love). You started this journey months ago!"



It was like that story of Paul when the scales fell off his eyes. I was able to see so clearly! I have been working so hard at being at rest and waiting on God (which, if you have met me more than ten minutes ago, you know I am no good at) that I missed EVERYthing he is doing right now and a few minutes ago and a few weeks ago and for the last few months. I was able to look back in a healthy (not like Lot's wife) way and see that I have taken a number of steps in obedience and I am mid-process! I am not waiting for my work to begin! I am in it! God is using me! God is asking, very little things, but he is asking, and I am responding, in very little ways, but I AM responding.
It's also not unlike Bob Wiley's experience being a sailor. AHOY! I'M SAILING! I just let the boat do all of the work!

The end result of what comes of all of that is irrelevant all of a sudden. I am no longer living with my eye on the prize of what's in it for me (for at least 6 hours of my day HA!) and I am focused on living for just right now. This is a new way of living for a girl who exists in a world where only planners go to heaven. (Sorry for your luck)

So, I guess my question is, are you waiting for your journey to begin? Did you know that you are already on it? look around for a minute and take stock in what God is putting in front of your face. You are usable right now. You just need to be available to say yes.

It's true that your journey could be really sucky right now. So what are you going to do about it? I don't know about you, but I like to think God isn't a kidder when he makes promises. So I believe him when he says I am going to get double my reward for the troubles I see in life.

Pastor said something profound today (not limited to or excluding all the rest of the profound things he said today) that I heard already recently. He said, "the bible tells us we have not passed this way before." I don't think that passage means that we are in uncharted territory. I think it means we haven't gone through this crazy life and struggles with the faith in God that we could have had and now look how different it can be! That's encouraging to me, cause alone, I am pretty sucky. But with the teeny tiny faith I hold securely, God is gonna be right there to use it, double it, and give me more. GULP! BABY STEPS INTOOOO THE ELEVATOR!