Preparing for Deeper Still

Emma and I, along with my mom and Nikki Poppins, are leaving Friday morning to meet up with a few thousand women in Louisville for the final Deeper Still. To say I'm excited to see some of you there is an understatement. :) I can. not. wait. to hug some necks and see some sweet faces. However, I would be lying if I told you I wasn't a little nervous.

At the December Deeper Still in Birmingham, God began to prepare my heart for a process. A process that would be long, difficult and at times make me question if I really believe Him to be faithful.

On that Friday evening in December, Kay Arthur ask us to be willing to pray "God, whatever you say to me, I will do." (I shared more about that here.)

I learned quickly that if you pray that with a sincere heart, God may ask you to do something that seems a bit..well...lifechanging.

On that Saturday morning, God confirmed my theme verse for 2011. Isaiah 45:3

I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the LORD, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.

I really thought that after several difficult years, 2011 would be the year that we would begin to see the treasure from that difficult season. That has happened, BUT.

God had us walk a road that we would have never chosen on our own. In the last six months, we made the very difficult decision to sell our home. God was in each and every detail.

It has been a wild ride that ended last Friday. Six months to the day from that Friday night in Birmingham.

On Friday, June 3 Chad and I sat across the table from the new owners of the house we had built. We cheerfully signed the closing papers and handed over house keys and garage door openers. We walked away confident that we had done what God had told us to do. I can not even begin to express the feeling of freedom we felt leaving that attorney's office.

Has this process been hard? Yes. At times it felt like it would never end, but God.

God has been so faithful to guide us step by step through this process. His Word came to life in a new way. We can look back and trace His handiwork.

So, we closed on Friday. On Sunday, Chad and Chloe left with our karate team on a mission trip to Alaska. They are having a blast and God is doing some neat things up there. :)

In two days, we will be sitting in Freedom Hall in Louisville, celebrating what God has done and asking Him to speak to us again. I know He has plans and a personalized message for each one there.

For me, I'm thrilled to experience this with my Mom and Emma. (It will be their first and last Deeper Still!)

I'm excited to see so many of you.

But most of all, I want to hear God. I can not wait to open God's word and hear what He has to say to us. (But yes, I'm a little nervous!!!)

This is the verse that I have been thinking about as I prepare for Deeper Still.

Psalm 119:114

You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in your word.

Because I believe that verse, I can confidently pray "God, whatever you say to me I will do."

I know those are dangerous words, but I know I can trust Him.

Get Out of the Road!

I've been talking to my 8th grade girls about listening for God. My heart wants them to grasp that they CAN hear Him speak to them. Last night, we focused on one verse, Psalm 46:10.

You know it. "Be still and know that I am God." (NIV)

We looked at two other translations. One was the NASB:

"Cease striving and know that I am God."

I liked that one, but The Message really hit me between the eyes.

"Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God."

This is the translation I will be concentrating on for the next two weeks.

This morning as I was getting dressed, I thought about the first part of this verse. "Step out of the traffic". A command and a warning that I need to pay attention too.

My "traffic" may not be a physical threat, but spiritually speaking, the "traffic" (activity) of life can bring major trauma to my spiritual life. I have got to watch where I'm stepping and avoid stepping into the traffic of life.

Stepping out of the traffic removes distractions and allows us to do what the second part of that verse says. "Take a long, loving look at me, your High God."

He really is more beautiful than we can imagine. More faithful than we can comprehend. He is holy and just and at the same time, approachable and tender.

So this summer, I am getting out of the road and settling into a study that I know is going to challenge me and I pray change me. I'll be walking through it alone. Scratch that, I will not be alone! The Holy Spirit will be busy teaching.

I am excited to see what happens when I take a long loving look at my most High God.

Previews

Previews. Sneak Peaks. Glimpses into something that is to come. Not the whole story, just enough to make you want to see more.

I was reminded by a friend's Facebook status just how cool movie previews can be. They were there as a family to see the fourth installment of a particular movie, but her son was just as excited about the previews. He could have left after those previews and been happy.

God used that status as a warning to me. You see, summer vacation is here. As much as I love the free time of summer, I know it's a dangerous time for me. When I read that status, I felt God say to my heart,

Be careful this summer that you do not allow our time together to be a like a short preview. No sneak peaks this year. Hang in there for the whole message


On my next LifeWay list is a journal and a particular study I know God is telling me to do this summer. I'm not going to allow myself to settle for a preview!

No sneak peaks, I want to invest the time and see the featured presentation.

One Thousand Gifts - 7

This weekend Chad and I celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary. Chad was officiating the triathlon in Knoxville, so we spent the weekend up there. Because of his schedule, I found myself with about four hours of alone time Saturday afternoon. It was wonderful and it gave me a new thankfulness for intercession.

My Gifts this week all kind of revolve around the weekend.

85. Being alone in a quiet hotel room with no distractions. Perfect study environment

86. Reading the Word, and praying it over people I care about.

87. 17 years of marriage.

88. Dinner at a new restaurant. (And LOVING it!)

89. Shopping and coffee with my sister while Chad worked the race.

90. Unexpected cold snaps in May!

91. Trusted babysitter who loved on our girls while we were gone.

One MAJOR gift today, is

92. SUMMER VACATION!!!! :)

Finishing Well

Since our move a little over a month ago, the girls and I have struggled to fall into a school routine. For three girls who LOVE a schedule it has been hard. We have ALL had meltdowns, tears, and expressed our desire to just be done!!!

Last week, when I realized how close we were to being done for the year, the girls and I had a morning meeting. The topic? Finishing well.

It would have been easy to just say, "The year is practically over. Let's just do enough to count it as school and be done with it!" Believe me, the thought crossed my mind! However, that is not a lesson I want my children learning.

We talked about how the pouting was just making us all miserable. That our poor attitude was affecting the quality of our work, and our work? Well, that is our calling and an offering to the Lord right now. We say most every morning as we begin school, "Lord, bless the work of our hands today. We are doing this for your glory." Our poor attitudes were not bringing glory to God.

When I say "We", I mean me too. This mom is ready to be done too! My girls were following my lead. I may not have been outwardly complaining, but my actions were speaking louder than words.

I've had a big reminder lesson about how my tone, attitude, work ethic, etc. dictates the atmosphere in this house. My children will adopt my attitude. Good or bad. This week, I had to apologize last week's less than positive attitude.

Finishing well has become our goal. This week has been a totally different week.

We have accomplished WAY more in three days this week than I anticipated. The quality of their work is what I know they can do and has exceeded my expectations. Don't get me wrong, we have had our moments, but we are quickly adjusting our attitudes and doing our best to be patient with each other. :) That finish line is getting closer by the minute!

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I started this post on Wednesday before blogger went wonkity. Today, Friday afternoon we have officially finished our 180 days of school!!!!

And yes, we finished well. Hard work and perseverance paid off.

I now have an 8th grader and a 5th grader!!!

Happy Summer Vacation girls! I love you and am so proud of your hard work!!

One Thousand Gifts - 6

Our heads have been in our books, and our focus has been on finishing well. (That is a post for another day.) Because of the girls diligence we are two days away from summer vacation! THAT is a gift! :)

71. Watching Chad or my girls do something they love.

72. Nasa Tweetup (Chad attended this a couple of weeks ago and lived a dream.)

73. Watching the Royal Wedding with my girls. Complete with fine china, coffee and pancakes at 5:30 in the morning.)

74. Sunday dinner. (This summer we are bringing back the Sunday dinner with friends.)

75. Protection of our area during the recent storms.

76. Basement Rompus Room.

77. Freedom to worship Christ.

78. Giving away outgrown clothes.

79. Silly dances with the girls.

80. Squirrel that keeps visiting our back porch. He walks the banister right up to our back door and looks in.

81. Cool weather in May.

82. Open windows-Warm sun and cool breezes. Airing out the house.

83. Blue skies after so many cloudy days. Taken by the thought that the blue was always there, my view of it was just blocked by the clouds for a little while.

84. Anticipating God.

Be Careful What You Pray

"Whatever you say to me, I will do."

That is a dangerous thing to say to God. :) But I did. I even wrote it in INK in the front of my Bible study workbook in January.

It has been the hardest study I have ever done. Hard because the obedience it demanded from me was not a "feel good", "Sweet Sally Christian" thing. It cut to the marrow and hurt a little bit. Well..it hurt alot. (But, oh boy was it worth it. God really does bless obedience.)

I believe that ALL Bible study, when done with a properly positioned heart will demand obedience that will bring about change. Even when what He is asking you to do is uncomfortable, unknown and maybe even terrifying, a heart willing to spend time in the Word of God will not be the same.

What he asked me to do was trust my husband. Trust that what Chad was hearing was God's plan. I didn't want to do it. What Chad was hearing God tell our family to do, would force me to destroy an idol.

I wanted things to stay the same and fought both God and Chad in this thing.

Each and every time I opened my workbook, it sent me to the Word. It was there I was face to face with truth that I had been worshipping an idol that had to come down.

Over the last few weeks, the idol came down, and God has filled the space it took up. It has been a process. A process that has demanded perseverance.

I wish I could tell you that I was confident and happy through this whole thing, but I wasn't. It was hard work. At times, I questioned Chad, God, my faith...

But.

As I watched Chad walk in obedience, I realized something. God had answered my prayer that Chad would be confident as spiritual leader in our home. He (Chad) was confident that we were to walk a specific path and he was at peace.

Hebrews 10:35-36 says "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

In the last three months, I feel like we have lived my SSMT Verse #9. Deuteronomy 6:23 "He brought us out from there to bring us in and give us the land that he promised on oath to our forefathers."

One month ago today, we moved. A move that was full of emotion for me. It wasn't "my" plan, "my" idea or "my" desire. It was God's plan. God's idea and God's GIFT to us.


Tonight, I sit in the home (land) that God has brought us to and can tell you...

I wasted so much time trying to hang on to the idol I had created. My focus, my grip, my affection was clinging so tightly to that idol that I could not acknowledge just how miserable that idol made me.

Nothing compares to where He has us. Yes, this physical place is awesome, but the spiritual place is...

full of Him.