Priceless Bday gifts!

I LOVE my kids...and it is always so cool how the simple things make a HUGE difference...Chloe, Jaden and Luke each made me bday cards...they are sooooo very unique and just touched me. Then Luke made me another card and put $1.12 in it! It was sooo cute...he went to his bank and gave me $...And drew a picture of a big storm and a tornado! Quite the interesting bday card I must say!

In the morning, Jaden made me close my eyes...he led me to the garage...I was expecting something that he built or a stick...some sort of contraption! When he told me to open my eyes...I looked up and he had straightened the WHOLE garage! AND IT WAS A MESS BEFORE...HOW cool was that!!?? It really looked good and organized...VERY COOL!

It reminded me again that sometimes...no OFTEN it is the SIMPLE gifts...the ones from our own hands...the ones where we invested part of US in it that make the most impact.

I'll never forget those gifts...the time that Chloe took to make a sign and then a card for me...Luke's card with $$ in it and then Jaden-using up HIS play time to help me and clean up the garage...PRICELESS!

Trust...hard to build...EASY to destroy!

I have been thinking a lot about trust...both the building of trust and the destroying trust...It started with Coach Tressell and his issues at Ohio State...not telling the truth...and trust...a career based on integrity has been brought into question...I have had MANY talks with husbands and wives...where trust was there, but through choices made...it was destroyed...children with their parents...workers with their bosses...students with their teachers...workers with their bosses...and on and on...it is soooooo hard to build trust and it just takes a few moments to destroy it all!

I also believe that trust can be rebuilt...that relationships can be restored...and sometimes even made better than before. A poor decision or MANY poor decisions doesn't have to ruin a life...it may ruin a season of life...maybe even a LONG season of life...but IT DOESN'T HAVE TO DEFINE who you are, who you will be or what your legacy will be.

Live is a way that allows you to build AND KEEP that trust...make choices today...maybe in this VERY MINUTE that allow you to build trust with others. AND make sure you are doing it when no one is watching you too!

I've Waited...

"Back in the day" we used to sing a song over and over and over again called "I've Waited on the Lord on high...I've waited and he heard my cry." For the past year that was my song...waiting...waiting and often not really patiently waiting for God to move in me...to restore my love and passion for him...his church and people that need him. Slowly...often VERY SLOWLY...he has done it!

We all go through dark times...the trouble for me was when I was out of the dark time of my life I expected to jump RIGHT TO spring and summer seasons! But (as this winter proves over and over this year!) the winter season is a process...but when it is finally over beautiful things happen. I really sense that right now in my life...Spring has just sprung...Even though I'm VERY tired from our new little girl...there is just so much growth happening...I like it!!

One of the last to things to jump into the Spring season of life for me was a passion to lead...I LOVE to meet with people...to hear the their story...what God is doing in their life...to encourage them on that journey...to walk through struggles and victories with people...AND I LOVE casting a picture of what God longs to do through people and his church...BUT for a long time that has been dried up in me...it has felt like a long winter season!

BUT...over the past couple of months something has been happening in me...a restored vision and passion for what God is and wants to do through me and HIS church...and frankly...it feels REALLY-REALLY GOOD! I CAN'T WAIT to go to work...Instead of longing for a day off...I can't wait to dive in...can't WAIT to meet with people...Can't wait to see what God is up to next...It feels soooooooo good to be in the Spring time of life...so good!

It is a pretty good bday present!!

Past vs. Present

vs.

This week is going to be a TOUGH one! My hometown teams are in the NCAA tourney and they are playing each other! Zippy from Akron U. takes on the Mighty Leprechaun from Notre Dame!!!! (I know...the Zips Mascot is a Kangaroo!! Really!?!?!?!)

I grew up in Akron...I remember watching Bobby Huggins throwing off his suit jacket on the Zips sidelines...NOW...I live a few minutes from ND and our church is walking distance away!! People park in our parking lot for Irish football...So...a decision has to be made...deny the original hometown or my current one...

GO IRISH!! I have to go with the Irish on this one! The Irish are my #2 team after the Buckeyes...so sorry Zippy...the Irish are going to SHOOT ALL OVER YOU!

As for the rest of the tourney...I have long said that I'm a Buckeye fan, but as long as the Irish and Bucks don't play...I pull for the Irish...SO GO IRISH...right up to the final game and LOSE TO THE BUCKS by 1!!!!

Weekend Reflections

We closed out the Upwards hoop season on Saturday with the closing ceremony...I was quite impressed with Trinity Church's new lighting in their gym...really makes the place feel like an auditorium...very nice! The director shared a story from the funeral he attended the day before...a funeral for a 30 yr. old young woman...She loved Jesus so the funeral was a celebration he said...that is still so young to be gone from here...But the CHALLENGE he gave was moving...bottom line...we really don't know how many more days we will get here...have we chosen to follow Jesus AND are we making the most of our life. Whoa...deep and powerful!

Then Sunday morning comes and we finish our "I am Legacy" message series...We all long to hear the words "Well Done!" from our Savior...from God...are we living in a way to hear those words? How are we investing our lives? How are we influencing others closer to Jesus? Hopefully we are influencing others close to him!

The bottom line is...we have to...HAVE TO...HAVE TO...do things with love! Toooooo often we do the right thing to check another thing off our list...but we must work to do it out of love for God and other people...YEP...even those that are hard to love! AND YEP...that isn't always easy!

We finished off our morning yesterday with our first Chili Cookoff...I said I wouldn't eat much Chili because I'm a spicy-food wimp...BUT I did anyway and am paying for it today! BUT it was worth it...some REALLY good Chili! It was a really fun afternoon...there were people still hanging out 2+ hours AFTER service was over! Good times!

Whoa...this is powerful

I was just about to head to bed when I ran across this blog a good friend of mine posted...THIS is celebrating the Word of God...it is just moving..."Lord, renew my thirst for your Word..." Click the link and CHECK THIS OUT!

www.sambarrington.wordpress.com/2011/03/11/a-passion-for-the-word-of-god/

Leviticus

Read through Leviticus...A LOT OF LAW! Something NAILED me though...all of those offerings and sacrifices...all of the rules that God had...HE WAS SERIOUS! If his people didn't come prepared...if they didn't come in a certain way...they just might die! Imagine that...GREAT CARE had to have gone into preparing a sacrifice...

I was deeply challenged as I read that a few weeks back...challenged to make sure that in all that we do here...prepping for a Sunday morning...that we make sure we are giving God our personal best...nothing less!

How are you doing with this? Are you giving Christ your best...at home...work...in personal time with him? Are you falling deeper in love with him? Man...back in the day they lost their lives for a lack of prep...may we ALWAYS give God THE best of us!

Sunday Reflections

A year ago I spent the first Sunday in March in my chair at home...created my own service...I had had a rough week and had the morning off...I remember listening to "I Will Rise" and being deeply moved...that although my world was suddenly changed...as my Savior rose from the grave...I would rise up out of the circumstances I was in...

I have had that same feeling...same sense in our church...that God is up to something...the past 6 weeks have been some of the VERY BEST at Grace...AND THEN there was the first Sunday in March 2011...TODAY...WOW! God is doing some incredible things at our church...in the people. It is sooooooooooo good to be involved in it!

Today started ROUGH...I couldn't find my keys...got out late...but there was NO WAY that was going to stop me from bringing my best! I had spent Saturday night praying...listening to some music and reviewing my message and holding my little girl...AND I was preaching on Legacy...and BEING YOU! I was letting Satan win that easily...

When I got to church...right before the worship team practiced...I was up in the sound booth giving them my Powerpoint...Jerimae started to talk about what God was doing in his life...JUST MOVING! POWERFUL! People started coming for the service and we had several visitors again...fun to watch people talking and interacting...there is a REALLY REALLY good spirit at church...

WE celebrated Jamie today...he has been drummin' with us since about the beginning...God is moving him to a different ministry and we had the chance to pray for him...he has been SUCH a huge encouragement and servant here!

WORSHIP WAS AWESOME! I realized that we pray A LOT during our services...I really like that...Think about it...if we are going to worship God...we should spend significant time talking to him!

Then Anita kicked off the message with a video and sharing about the youth doing a 40 Hour Famine to raise money for food for starving children. She IS the message I preached today...she is ALREADY living it! PERFECT way to kick things off!!

Our message today focused on LIVING as God has wired YOU to live...not how others think you should live or how YOU THINK others want you to live...God has uniquely wired you...crafted you...giving you a unique set of talents, spiritual gifts and abilities...STOP WAITING and go live!

Ended the message talking about that day...when all of us will be sitting on the Judgment Seat of Christ...those that have made Jesus Lord will be the only ones there...and it will be there where how we lived is judged...good and bad! DON'T HAVE ANY REGRETS when you get there! LIVE TODAY...find that one thing that you can do great for God...and do it...

The cool part of this message is that I can list examples of people in our church, like Anita, who are living this out!

The excitement of what God is doing is GROWING at Grace..."Thanks God for allowing me to be involved in it!!"

Lessons learned from Kickball!

Since it is ISTEP week (Indiana's standardized test)...I took my choir class into the gym to challenge them in California Kickball...it is a REALLY fun game and you get to RUN A LOT! I love to play with my classes...they realize that Mr. Boucher can do more than teach music!!

ANYWAY...our team went into the last inning with a slight lead...those choir kids can play! But then something happened...there was a call that some of our team didn't like...only instead of "asking" about it after the play, they started to argue the call DURING THE PLAY! This allowed for 15 runs to score. YES 15 runs...see in Cali Kickball...1/2 of the team runs on each kick and you don't stop running! (YEP...I've scored more than once on 1 kick! IT IS FUN!!) We ended up losing the game...of course I JUMPED AT the teachable moment there...The bottom line is...a close game ended in a blowout...NOT because of the bad call (if it was really even a bad call!) BUT because our team lost their composure!

HOW OFTEN does this happen in life?!?!?! Something happens to us that we don't like...maybe it was even unjust...BUT we respond sooooo poorly that we miss opportunity after opportunity...they just run right by us! We have to GET OUR HEADS above the mess...keep an ETERNAL perspective, so we don't let something even worse happen because of our response or lack of response!

OH...the things we can learn from a little game of kickball!!

Track it cause the facts don't lie!

Over the past couple of months I have noticed that my energy is not where it was...being a heart patient this concerned me some so I went to the facts...I tend to over analyse things so I went to the facts...I'm still exercising...I have been keeping diet...my cholesterol is actually better than what it was...BUT THEN I went to the HARD facts...you know...the ones that you write down!

For the past year I have been keeping a log of my exercise...I log my time-distance-pace-heart rate avg and max-inside or outside running...Late last week I looked over my log for the past 3-4 months and realized that I have been exercising...but not nearly as much or for as long! SO THE FACTS showed me that reason for less energy is that I have been exercising less. My doctor told me early on that I can keep an intense pace if I keep up with my exercise, diet and rest.

SO...I am now reworking the "rhythm of my life" so that I make sure that I am taking care of my body the way I need too.

This has made me wonder...how many times do we "adjust" the facts in our minds...do we make ourselves believe we are ok when really we are hurting ourselves? How often do we make excuses or plain out lie to ourselves...believing that the way we are living is "all good." I challenge you...take a look at the HARD FACTS in your life...make sure that what you THINK is actually reality...if it isn't...take the steps to make the changes needed...you sure will be glad you did!!