Got to see one of my favorite bands, Red, in concert. Loved it!! More about that later, but I will leave you with a picture ;)
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
And the Old Shall Become New
Today I decided to browse through some of my old blog entries and I came across this tidbit from September 2006 regarding contentment, almost 3 years ago:
***This week, [pastor] Craig said,
"The reality of the Christian life is that you have to go through it. You can know about contentment, study it, hear it, recite it, and take a test on it, but to actually be content, we must go through the trails and trust God. The world looks for contentment in things, accomplishments, titles: are you married?, do you have a degree?, a nice car?, a cushy job?, etc.Who cares!! The real question is do you know Christ? Do you trust Him in all areas of your life, even when things are difficult? What gives us true joy is Christ, not stuff. The apostle Paul learned the way of contentment and trusted God to meet his needs (Philippians 4:10-13)."
I feel like I'm on the verge of something, but I don't know what. Growth? Maturity? It's like there's a final step that I have to take and I don't know what it is. But I'm glad that I'm learning a lot through this trial. God has made it very clear that He wants me to go back to New Zealand. He will provide the funds, even if I don't find a job until January. He's got it covered and I must trust Him and not despair, even when I feel sad and discouraged.Easier said than done. ***
So apparently three years ago I was in a similar situation of discontentment in life, even regarding New Zealand. I guess this is a lesson that I will continually need to be learning in life.
***This week, [pastor] Craig said,
"The reality of the Christian life is that you have to go through it. You can know about contentment, study it, hear it, recite it, and take a test on it, but to actually be content, we must go through the trails and trust God. The world looks for contentment in things, accomplishments, titles: are you married?, do you have a degree?, a nice car?, a cushy job?, etc.Who cares!! The real question is do you know Christ? Do you trust Him in all areas of your life, even when things are difficult? What gives us true joy is Christ, not stuff. The apostle Paul learned the way of contentment and trusted God to meet his needs (Philippians 4:10-13)."
I feel like I'm on the verge of something, but I don't know what. Growth? Maturity? It's like there's a final step that I have to take and I don't know what it is. But I'm glad that I'm learning a lot through this trial. God has made it very clear that He wants me to go back to New Zealand. He will provide the funds, even if I don't find a job until January. He's got it covered and I must trust Him and not despair, even when I feel sad and discouraged.Easier said than done. ***
So apparently three years ago I was in a similar situation of discontentment in life, even regarding New Zealand. I guess this is a lesson that I will continually need to be learning in life.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Of Sno Cones, Life and Creativity
There's been a lot going on these past few weeks.
The Summery:
Learned how to operate a popcorn machine, a sno cone machine, and a funnel cake machine, for the WSEM festival and the Warehouse District festival. I was truly blessed at both...by the smiles of the kids and families who were excited to get free food at the WSEM Festival, and by some of my church family at the Warehouse District Festival through great conversations and relationship building. Serving the city...
Did VBS in the inner city two weeks ago and was tremendously blessed by the ministry and the kids. Challenged as well. It was also really good working with Cedar Hill people again.
Went to Growth Group leader meeting that helped me see the heart of what the growth groups are for. Yes, I will be co-leading the women's group with Kindel. Excited to get more involved in church. Excited to study Romans. Hard out praying for Nexus (coffeehouse outreach idea of Gateway) and what God wants to do with that. Challenged and blessed there as well.
ON a side note, my old church voted in a new pastor and I'm really excited for them. Pastor Green seems like an amazingly excellent person for Cedar Hill and what God will be doing there. He will be a great leader in reaching out to the community and bringing a vision back to the church! I know that some people wonder if I will be returning to Cedar Hill now that there is a pastor. I'd just like to point out that I'm not as flaky as that. God called me to Gateway. If he called me to stay at CedarHill I would've. I care about them too. I care about City Bible church in New Zealand as well. We're all the body of Christ so no worries. What difference does it make if I'm with the hand or the foot or the shoulder? It's all the body of Christ and I weep and laugh with all of them!
Went to the Fest on Sunday and had a lot of fun even though it was really hot! Loved seeing local bands more than the headliners. State Fair was amazing!! Check out their music: (http://www.myspace.com/statefairmusic) Always a little sad when I go to the Fest because it always reminds me of the pharisees...there's nothing we can do to earn Jesus' grace, and no amount of rituals we can perform...I just pray that God leads people who are seeking directly to him, not to people and things around him... I really appreciated Matthew West's testimony. We arrived just as he was giving it. I love his music too. Urban picnic with Gateway on East 4th was fun too, though I got there just in time for the outdoor movie ;)
Writing some new music that really reflects the heart of where I am at today with things. Removal from total devastation to total acceptance and my dependence on God in regards to not returning to New Zealand this year and this feeling of being 'stuck' with no direction.
Thinking about what the vision of my life is...Learning that Jesus is enough, no matter where I am at in life. That I should seek his presence instead of his presents. Not Jesus + New Zealand. Not Jesus + a job. Not Jesus + a blessing. Just Jesus. And he is enough. I need to live that out daily.
So there it is. Below is the progress of my painting. I only have God the Father and the Holy Spirit so far. Need to paint Jesus still. I still don't know what direction this picture will end up, but this is a sideways view of how I initially painted it.
The Summery:
Learned how to operate a popcorn machine, a sno cone machine, and a funnel cake machine, for the WSEM festival and the Warehouse District festival. I was truly blessed at both...by the smiles of the kids and families who were excited to get free food at the WSEM Festival, and by some of my church family at the Warehouse District Festival through great conversations and relationship building. Serving the city...
Did VBS in the inner city two weeks ago and was tremendously blessed by the ministry and the kids. Challenged as well. It was also really good working with Cedar Hill people again.
Went to Growth Group leader meeting that helped me see the heart of what the growth groups are for. Yes, I will be co-leading the women's group with Kindel. Excited to get more involved in church. Excited to study Romans. Hard out praying for Nexus (coffeehouse outreach idea of Gateway) and what God wants to do with that. Challenged and blessed there as well.
ON a side note, my old church voted in a new pastor and I'm really excited for them. Pastor Green seems like an amazingly excellent person for Cedar Hill and what God will be doing there. He will be a great leader in reaching out to the community and bringing a vision back to the church! I know that some people wonder if I will be returning to Cedar Hill now that there is a pastor. I'd just like to point out that I'm not as flaky as that. God called me to Gateway. If he called me to stay at CedarHill I would've. I care about them too. I care about City Bible church in New Zealand as well. We're all the body of Christ so no worries. What difference does it make if I'm with the hand or the foot or the shoulder? It's all the body of Christ and I weep and laugh with all of them!
Went to the Fest on Sunday and had a lot of fun even though it was really hot! Loved seeing local bands more than the headliners. State Fair was amazing!! Check out their music: (http://www.myspace.com/statefairmusic) Always a little sad when I go to the Fest because it always reminds me of the pharisees...there's nothing we can do to earn Jesus' grace, and no amount of rituals we can perform...I just pray that God leads people who are seeking directly to him, not to people and things around him... I really appreciated Matthew West's testimony. We arrived just as he was giving it. I love his music too. Urban picnic with Gateway on East 4th was fun too, though I got there just in time for the outdoor movie ;)
Writing some new music that really reflects the heart of where I am at today with things. Removal from total devastation to total acceptance and my dependence on God in regards to not returning to New Zealand this year and this feeling of being 'stuck' with no direction.
Working on some art. I'm currently painting a 20x24 painting of the Trinity
Challenged and blessed too. I don't generally do specifically 'Christian art', but this piece really speaks to my soul!
Thinking about what the vision of my life is...Learning that Jesus is enough, no matter where I am at in life. That I should seek his presence instead of his presents. Not Jesus + New Zealand. Not Jesus + a job. Not Jesus + a blessing. Just Jesus. And he is enough. I need to live that out daily.
So there it is. Below is the progress of my painting. I only have God the Father and the Holy Spirit so far. Need to paint Jesus still. I still don't know what direction this picture will end up, but this is a sideways view of how I initially painted it.
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