Forever Changed

January 8, 1993 was one of the greatest days of my life. Ellen was born into this world and changed my life forever. I thought I'd take a moment to share just a bit of what makes her so special...

LN, you are forever God's girl. You unabashedly share your faith with those around you in such a unique way. Being passionate about outreach at the age of 15 is uncommon and a special calling on your life. You have a presence about you that says, "I'm me! I'm confident and content!" You are incredibly musically gifted and are using these gifts for the glory of God. You are incredibly intelligent and well on your way to an amazing career in whatever you choose. You will be thankful one day for your love of books and your love of writing. It's only a blink of an eye and you'll be all grown up, but one thing I know for sure...My life has been forever changed because God blessed me with you on this day 15 years ago. Happy Birthday, Baby! I love you.

Who Am I? Pt. 2

Yesterday I promised you that my next post would be more positive and I'm delivering on that promise today. Diving into my core values required examining what stirs up a righteous anger within me and what brings me bliss. To be honest with you, examining what brings me bliss was a bit more difficult to put down on paper than what angers me. Hmm...Wonder what that says about me? This list sparks something within me that I can't explain. Anyway, here's what brings me bliss:

1. Just being with Chris and the kids. There's no greater feeling in the world than being Chris' wife and the mom of the three craziest kids in the world!
2. Singing. Actually music, in general, brings me bliss and fills a place deep within me. Sounds cliche, but I actually "long" for music.
3. Writing and performing monologues. It's almost like preaching, only I get to pretend to be someone else! I can spend hours writing. I just get lost in it.
4. Creatively planning an event or a service to draw others nearer to Christ. What a humbling, yet exciting opportunity.
5. Seeing someone connect with God for the first time. Seeing the look in their eyes when they realize that Christ loves them and wants a relationship with them.
6. Helping someone make a connection (an introduction, a ministry opportunity, a small group, a volunteer opportunity, etc.) at church.
7. Seeing someone take the next step on their spiritual journey.

What brings you bliss?

Who Am I?

One of my goals for 2008 is to be purposeful and in the middle of God's will for my life. I want to be intentional in everything I do and part of that is knowing who God has designed me to be. If I want to know His purpose for my life, I need to know how He has designed me. By the way, if you haven't read Chazown, by Craig Groeschel, run out NOWWWWWWW and get it! It's on my Greatest Books I've Ever Read List and I think you'll enjoy it too. Craig says that to find your core values, start by making a list of what angers you. What stirs up a righteous anger within you, not just a pet peeve or an irritation. Here's some of what I've found (after much soul searching) stirs up a righteous anger within me:

1. When the "church" focuses on itself and not the lost. When worship services are designed to make Christians comfortable and fed...this is a huge one for me!
2. Hypocrisy, on any level. Dishonesty goes with this one.
3. Plastic people.
4. Aimlessness/unintentionality...is that a word?
5. Rambling discussions...okay, that's just a pet peeve, so it doesn't count!
5. When Christians are more interested in being self-righteous and "holier than thou" than in really reaching the world around them. For example, it gets me when we draw attention to movies that we think are "atheistic" in nature. Do we not realize that, as a group, we're calling more attention to these movies through our public protest? Or when we say we can't go to a certain establishment because "Christians" don't go there. Hello! Where are the lost?
6. When traditions (the way we did it last year, the way we've always done it) becomes more sacred than Scripture!
7. Doing things halfway. You know, not your best, not your first fruits, just your leftovers.

That's all I'll share for now because I sound like Spongebob Angry Pants! I promise my next post will be more positive! I'll even share what brings me bliss!

Happy New Year!