Let Music Speak

I know Stephanie is the music buff, but I have found it to be a life line, per se, especially during difficult times in my life. Our kids grew up with contemporary Christian music blarring throughout the house -- I loved listening to so many different artists. Often I felt like a song was tailored made for me. The words lined up in a way that expressed my hearts' sediments. Other songs caused me to stop what I was doing (usually cleaning), and spend time in worship. Some songs carried a peppy beat providing the energy to continue with the cleaning!

Obviously, you learn artists encounter much of the same life issues that we deal with. I Will Praise You in the Storm by Casting Crowns, hits a cord with almost every believer because of the many trials that go before us. Same Girl by Twila Paris, revolutionized how I looked at my mother-in-law while caring for her. East from West by Casting Crowns just causes me to be thankful, thankful, thankful for forgiveness of sin.

My current favorite is a song by Kari Jobe, My Beloved. The love the Father has for us is beyond comprehension, and his desire, delight, and pleasure is in US (make a request to Kirsten, our local DJ at KHRT to play it)!

I encourage you to turn on your radio to a Christian setting, and absorb the benefits of the Word in song. It can change your disposition to one of thankfulness, surrender, and adoration.

Living a life of worship Part I

Romans 12:1, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices holy and pleasing to God-- this is your spiritual act of worship."

I absolutely LOVE this verse. I remember reading it often not fully grasping all that it was saying until my junior year in college. I was a Biblical Studies major at a small college in Fullerton, CA. Each semester we would write a 10-15 page exegetical paper which would look closely at a group of verses, analyze how they applied to the original audience, and draw a application to how we can apply it to our lives today. Even though it was a lot of hard work, I enjoyed writing these papers as I gathered a wealth of knowledge about the scriptures.

All this to say that I came to realize that this verse spoke on what real worship is. I'm going to be doing a series of blogs that will dig a little bit deeper into this verse and invite you to check back to dive in with me. It is by far one of my favorite verses, and I can't wait to share why. Talk to you soon. -Stephanie

Life Story

I want to go back to a life story fit for a song blog and my blessing blog. As I have reflected on both of these, I can see how related they are. If we, as believers work on blessing others, our lives would be fit for a song.

One year while hosting the junior varsity volleyball tournament at Our Redeemer's Christian School, I had an encounter with the value of a blessing. My team was playing against Bismarck in the old gym (for those of you who are not acquainted with the old gym - it has orange carpet on it - and yes, it provides for some nasty rug burns). A girl from the Bismarck team sneezed, and almost immediately Kirsten from our team said to her, "God bless you."

It was my responsibility to coach and run the tournament, and as I was placing teams into the tournament bracket, the coach from Bismarck came over to talk with me. She proceeded to tell me how much her girls liked my girls because they were so nice and kind. She then told me about the sneezing incident and the sincerity of the "God bless you" statement from one of my girls. I knew it had to be Kirsten and I checked to confirm - yep!

A simple and kind word was spoken and it made a tremendous impact on a group of girls that had no idea what their opponents were like. They drew a positive conclusion from a sincere "God bless you."

What if every time we said "God bless you" to someone, we really stopped and prayed for a blessing to pour out on them. That God's favor would be evident on their life and they would be changed as a result. All I know is that this one spoken "God bless you" made a profound difference for a bunch of girls from Bismarck.

So when I tell you to have a blessed week, I am going to pray that God will bless any and all of you who read our blogs with good health, ordered steps when trying to get so much done in a day, guidance or direction in decisions (big or small), and an opportunity to bless someone else.
When blessing others becomes a priority in our lives, I am sure it is then our life story will be fit for a song!

Light at the End of the Tunnel

On our way to Fargo to see Beth Moore last week, I could not help but notice the skyline. You could distinctly draw a horizontal line dividing cloud cover from clear sky. Even when we were a couple of miles off in the overcast, gray, and dark atmosphere, we could see sunshine ahead. As we drove further east, we came to a spot in the road where we met that division. It was really cool!

In 1986-87, my life centered around an overcast, gray, and dark atmosphere. But while I lived in that tunnel, I could not see any light - no break from the circumstances that engulfed me. My in-laws both lost their health--June, became a double leg amputee and Oliver fell over one day from a massive stroke, completely paralyzed on the left side and no speech. June moved in with us, but a couple weeks later, George, my husband, left to work out of state leaving me with June and our three children at 6, 5, and 4 years of age. My days consisted of the nursing home visits, social service office visits, disability office visits, doctors office visits, lawyer office visits and real estate office visits as their farm of 42 years was up for sale. It was a crazy and overwhelming time.

June and I spent our nights talking about the Lord, reading the Word, and listening to many childhood stories -- mostly hers and those of my husband and his siblings. We grew very close as we depended on the Lord and encouraged one another during these trying times.

One morning while clearing a path from the freshly fallen snow so I could get June and the wheelchair to the car, I broke down crying and pleading for the Lord to provide some light. He did. Later that afternoon, June received a phone call from her eldest son Dale, a pastor living hundreds of miles away. He just accepted a call to Mayville, North Dakota and the plans were to get a power of attorney over both Oliver and June so he could handle the legal issues of selling the farm and getting things ready for an auction. I can not express the relief this provided not only for me, but also for June. His move to North Dakota provided enough light for the next step in the journey. Enough light to be reminded that God did not abandon us. Enough light to have hope renewed.

If you find yourself in one of those tunnels with little or no light on the horizon, hang in there. God is faithful. 1 Timothy 2:13, "if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself."

May the son shine soon!

What walls will you tear down?

So this past weekend Tim, myself and the girls got the chance to get away one last time before school starts. For those of you who don't know my husband, Tim, is a school teacher. We went to Albertville, MN to visit his brother and sister-in-law. It was a great time just to get away, be with family, and spend some time enjoying each other.

Monday we took off to come home at about 3pm. With various stops to see some more relatives, filling up on gas, and keeping a newly potty trained toddler from having an accident, we didn't get home until about 2:30 a.m. While we were traveling home we were listening to some of the music that I downloaded from iTunes which included the new Hillsong United album Tear Down the Walls. Every once in a while with a new album there is a particular song that resonate with where I am at in my walk with Christ and become my theme. This happened Monday night while listening to the title track "Tear Down the Walls."

Take a moment to read and meditate on this wonderful message so eloquently portrayed:

Verse 1
Tear down the walls see the world
Is there something we have missed
Turn from ourselves Look beyond
There is so much more than this

Pre-chorus
And I don’t need to see it to believe it
I don’t need to see it to believe it
Cause I can’t shake this
Fire deep inside my heart

Verse 2
Look to the skies hope arise
See His majesty revealed
More than this life there is love
There is hope and this is real

Chorus
This life is Yours and hope is rising
As Your glory floods our hearts
Let love tear down these walls
That all creation would
Come back to You
It’s all for You

Your Name is glorious , Glorious
Your love is changing us, Calling us
To worship in spirit and in truth
As all creation returns to You

Bridge
Oh for all the sons and daughters
Who are walking in the darkness
You are calling us to lead them back to You
We will see Your spirit rising
As the lost come out of hiding
Every heart will see this hope we have in You

So often as Christians we don't realize how much our love has to do with leading people to God. People are watching us. Especially if they know that we are Christians they watch us even more. Are we living lives that show Christ's love? Are we showing them Christ's love? There is an old worship chorus that says, "they will know we are Christians by our love by our love...and they'll know we are Christians by our love." Yet so often when you ask people about Christians the last word they would use to describe us is love. They would say we are hypocrites, judgemental, self-righteous, preachy and many other negative things. We've all hear it said that actions speak louder than words.

I was convicted and challenged by the message in this song. Reminded that Jesus commanded us of this in John 15:12-13, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. " My prayer is that God will help me tear down the walls I've built in my own life that keep people at a distance--that keep them from seeing the hope that is within me, and that I will love people like He did.

Life Story Fit For a Song

I can not get this out of my mind--doI have a life story fit for a song? Beth Moore really brought a message home this past weekend when I attended the Living Proof Conference. The praise and worship was fantastic, but the spoken Word through Beth has caused me to think about my life.

Beth referred to Judges 4 and 5. It is the same story, just that Judges 5 is a song of what happened in Judges 4. Look it up and tell me what you think.

Unexpected Blessing

I just got back from two days in South Dakota and a lot of speaking. As I set out to minister, I am continually amazed at what the Lord accomplishes. I left Minot all prayed up. My ipod had the latest praise and worship songs uploaded on it (check out Kari Jobi -- wonderful, wonderful, wonderful), and podcast teachings from Mike Erie at Rockharbor Church in California (Stephanie's pastor when she lived there).

My plan when I went was to prayerfully change lives. I give a salvation message and speak about my testimony and how I came to make a decision for Christ. However, so often when I speak, I am the one truly blessed by the people the Lord puts in my path. Perfect strangers--yet bonded with a love that is indescribable in human terms.

I felt the same way when I went to the Proverbs 31 Conference in North Carolina. Six hundred women with an unquenchable thirst for God and a desire to bless others by writing or speaking. It was a blast to worship together, cry together, and extend friendship united on one central thing -- Jesus Christ. Everything revolved around what we are for and not what we oppose. No denominational, ethnic, or social differences. Just the love of Christ lived out in earthly tents.

It has to please God to see the body of Christ surrendered to what is most important--"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:37-40

In all honesty, whenever I try to be a blessing for someone else, the Lord instead causes me to inherit one. He is so good!

A Big Mistake!

Hey it's me, Sherry. Stephanie is getting ready to go on vacation, and asked if I would write the blog today.

Sunday night while babysitting my granddaughters, Kaiya and Allie, I decided to color my hair. What a mistake -- a Big Mistake! I choose a medium brown color shown on the box and got a "gothic" black result. I totally panicked, ran to the computer, googled died my hair too dark, and went to work trying to lighten the brassy black from my hair.

The first suggestions on the web page were out of the question because I knew Stephanie did not have any of those products just laying around the house (it was 12:30 a.m. so running to the local hair salon was not an option). I read advice about several different ways to lighten the color and started with Dawn dish soap. After leaving that solution in place for 20 minutes, I rinsed and it was still too dark. I then scoured her cupboards to find olive oil. One suggestion on the web site was olive oil and mayonnaise. Stephanie had Miracle Whip in the refrigerator but now I wondered, does Miracle Whip work or does it have to be real mayonnaise? Realizing I have nothing to lose at this time, I concocted the mixture of both and applied. After ten minutes, the oil started to drip off my hair and onto Stephanie's borrowed shirt. Does olive oil stain? Soon I rinsed off that solution and still, too dark. I did not know whether to laugh or cry. Instead, I opted for solution number three, which was dandruff shampoo because of its higher level of sulfates. Saturating my hair once more, I soaked for another twenty minutes. After rinse number of four, my hair was still too black. I surrendered to the dark, the dark hair and the dark of night, and went to bed.

Monday started off with several calls to those who I thought could help me with my dilemma. Advised to keep washing in several applications of Dawn, my hair did not lighten to my satisfaction. Around mid-afternoon, a decision to put in highlights resurrected, and a friend, of the beautician nature,(thanks Jolene!) came over to help. Bottom line--my hair is dark, the highlights break it up a bit, and it is going to be a long several months.

What a mistake -- a BIG mistake! Sin can be just like that--unintentional and dark. We can do everything possible to wash it out but there is only one solution. That is the blood of Jesus Christ. 1 John 1:9 states, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Once we admit our sin (mistakes), Christ will forgive and it is like we never sinned. Too bad that does not work on hair.

Welcome

Hi everyone,

So glad you dropped by our blog! Stephanie and I are excited about the opportunities and plans God has for us as we step out obediently in ministry. We will be taking turns posting three blogs a week. I will post on Mondays and Fridays, and Stephanie will talk to you on Wednesdays.

Stephanie and I would love to build a community of members and visitors that can stop by and leave comments about the things we will be sharing. Your insights are valuable to us.

If you have someone you would like to share this with, please feel free to forward the address. This is a great ministry tool, and we pray you will look forward to following our posts.

See you around!

Fighting for Position

Volleyball starts in a little over a week, and the girls will be vying for a position on the varsity, jv, and c teams. As my coaching assistants, Kara and Brittany help me make determinations of who will play where, we will watch our athletes fight for a position. When I think about how hard some of the girls have prepared with acceleration programs, open gyms, and volleyball camps--the time, the fortitude and tenacity, the commitment and dedication, I know breaking the news of team selections will be difficult. Someone is always hurt when denied that prized position when they have worked so hard to get one.

I wonder how much more we would hear from God if we worked as hard to get in a position to hear from Him. If giving the same time, fortitude and tenacity, commitment and dedication, what could our relationship with Him be like?

Instead of feeling like our relationship with God is one-sided because we usually do all the talking, we could know God more, we could know the direction He wants us to take, we could be very close friends. John 15:15b "I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you."

As my volleyball season is around the bend and the competition begins, I pray we will fight for a position -- a position where we will readily and expectantly hear from God -- a prized position. And the best news is we will never be denied.

No one said anything about calluses

So I picked up my guitar today having to dust off the cob webs and put new strings on. Yes, it has been that long since I’ve played. Kaiya and Allie have enjoyed plunking on the guitar while hidden in my closet. After tuning, I sat down to play a few chords of a song I had written years ago. I lasted fifteen minutes. I looked down at my fingers all sore, red, and starting to swell. They are definitely not in guitar playing mode.

I laughed as I was reminded about how disciplined a good musician has to be. It caught me off guard how this parallels to my walk with Christ. How easy it is to coast it out and rely on what I have previously learned without putting a lot of practice in to keeping it up. After a while without practice, the calluses I formed while playing begin to soften on my hands. Much like how my attitude or life can begin to conform to the things as my heart softens in my relationship with Christ. When I don’t keep disciplined in my relationship with God I find myself not being quick on remembering verses like I used to or even hearing the voice of God, because I’m not in tune like I used to be - I have become soft. Sooner or later, the guitar gets put in the closet, only temporarily, until I realize cob webs have begun to form and my calluses are gone.

The hard part about calluses is they don’t form overnight. I’m not going to be able to play my guitar much longer tomorrow than I did today, yet with a disciplined schedule of a little practice every day I know it will pay off. As for my relationship with God, I know I need to be disciplined to be in His Word each day and spend time communicating with Him through prayer. Our relationship with Him takes work just like it says in His Word.

Hebrews 12:1-2, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” In the chapter it later says in verse 11, “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

Yes, this Christian walk does take a lot of perseverance, disciple, and plain hard work, yet this verse reminds us that it wasn’t easy for Christ when He was here. His road was so much harder than mine. He endured beatings, fatigue, the weight of the world on His shoulders and ultimately death. When I think about that a few calluses aren’t so bad.

Bringing Home Mary

I (Sherry) have returned from a Proverbs 31 Women's Conference in Concord, North Carolina. What an amazing blessing not only for me, but for several of the women I got the priviledge of brushing shoulders with.
Today, as I reflect on what impacted me the most, outside of making new friendships, is leaving Martha behind and bringing Mary home. If you know about the Martha/Mary story in the Bible, you know where I am headed.
When I finished the 2008-2009 school year, I discovered myself burned out beyond imagination. You hear about people burning out but surmise that it does not include you. You can do it all. That superwoman syndrome over and over. Right when you feel you released your cape, you find yourself flying once again from this to that and that to this. When will we learn ladies?
I know my Martha has been complaining to God with many "Tell them to help me Jesus!" tantrums. Instead, I now leave Martha in North Carolina for a couple of weeks so that I can sit at the feet of my Jesus. Will you join me?