Bethany Dillon & Matt Hammitt - Clinging To The Cross

I have been listening to this song lately and it really hit hard the other day. Such simple words but it's exactly what I need to do in my life. Cling to the cross and let go of earthly things. Whenever I move across country there is a period of adjustment for me. At first I think it's going to be easy to handle, but after several months it hits me how much my daily life has changed. I tend to hold on to earthly things to help me through this period and not my heavenly Father. So, today I'm clinging to the cross.

Family Trip to Disneyland

Back to Blogging

Six months have gone by since my last entry, so I think the time has come for me to start again. So much has happened in that time and most of you have been updated through Facebook, email, and such. I'm not going to cover everything that's been going on the last six months, instead I will start with now. School is in full swing for the year and my oldest kids are starting to get into the new routine. Goodbye summer and sleeping in! Hello to early mornings! Sidney is in fifth grade (which is way too close to Jr. High already!) and Lucas is in third. Both are adjusting well to the new school and new teachers. The truth is, it's like we never left. All of Sidney's friends are in her class and she couldn't be more excited. Lucas has met a new friend that he instantly bonded with. All of my good friends still work at the school and it's been nice to see them again. God is so good to us. I am amazed that God cares about these little details in our lives. I am grading for all the upper grade teachers this year so I can be at home with my Bubbers. James is very busy with planning, meeting, planning, studying, planning, and delivering pizzas! He has also started a men's Bible study with Kris and I'm starting a women's Bible study in a few weeks. The last few months have been filled with building relationships and reconnecting with old friends. God is working in Escondido and we are excited to be a part of this journey!

I serve an AMAZING God.

To look back on the last year, I am overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions. I am excited about our new journey with The Branches Community Church of Escondido. I am in awe of how God is working out every little detail. We have a potential venue to meet at, financial support from our beautiful friends and family, 16 families who have felt this call of God on their lives who are coming out to California with us, and numerous other answers to prayer. God has gone before us to prepare this new community of believers. I feel a deep sense of hurt and loss over leaving Farmland, but I am puting this in God's hand. I have no doubt we are supposed to leave at this time. I have had so many wonderful experiences in ministry while serving at Farmland Friends Church. I know all these experiences are to prepare me for what's next. How good it is when God prepares us for our next journey. Through all these emotions, I am comforted that God is always constant and he never changes. I am eager to see more and more of His glory shown through the building of his body in Escondido.

"I have set the Lord always before me." Psalm 16:8

Wax Museum Fun!

Branson Fun!!!!

What I love about winter. . .

Warming my hands on a mug of hot chocolate

Listening to Christmas music

Hot showers on a cold morning

Wearing my warm fuzzy socks

Making cookies with my kids

Snowball fights with my oldest son even when there's only a 1/4 inch of snow on the ground

Wearing zip up hoodies and my knock-off Ugg boots

Christmas shopping to find the perfect gift

Singing Christmas Carols at a nursing home (love it when their faces light up and they sing along!)

Helping others when they least expect it

Snuggling under my favorite blanket (thanks Tammy!) and watching SYTYCD

What are your favorite things about this season?

Not too bad

While we were at Kansas at my brother's house we attempted to get family pictures of all of us. Here is the best one. Not great but at least we are all smiling. : )

A Heart of Gratitude

Click on the title to read a great excerpt from a blog by Erwin McManus.

Give Thanks

I'm am thankful for a God who loves me and my beautiful family.

Balance Beam by Francis Chan

I don't want to stay clinging to the balance beam. I want my Savior to say, "Well done, my faithful servant." When Jesus was on the earth he didn't do what was comfortable, he was always found in uncomfortable situations. He wanted His Father's name to be known to the world. I want my Father's name to be known wherever I am and that calls for many uncomfortable situations. I say "Bring it on!" God is not calling me to stay in my nice, safe bubble. God is calling my family and I to go share His love with a new group of people. I'm excited!

have your way Lord

Lord of Lords

This song has encouraged me recently. It's not a song with deep meaning, it's just a simple love song to our Lord. My favorite line is, "Let not the things of this world ever sway me, I'll run 'till I finish the race."

The Power of Creativity

This is long overdue. I promised to write about creativity in ministry a while back and I was reminded of this when I went back to read my old posts. Ha! Sometimes I wish I was a super hero who had the power to remember everything I'm supposed to remember at exactly the right times! Back to creativity. Our church had some creative minds working this last Sunday for Operation Christmas Child. We wanted to do something different as a whole church that would make a big impact for Operation Christmas Child. My team and I decided to have the whole church pack shoe boxes this year. The creative part was trying to figure out how 400 people could pack shoe boxes at the same time. We decided to set up tables out in the hallways of the Children's Ministry and let people walk from table to table putting items in their shoe box. It worked really well! I think everyone had so much fun, especially the kids. One sweet girl came up to me and said, "I've packed 7 boxes and I'm going to pack another one!" I LOVE to see the kids in our church get excited about helping others. What a great Sunday and what great, loving people we have in our church. Thank you to everyone! We packed over 220 boxes this year!

We Love Fall!

Our Fall Festival at The Branches was so much fun this year! My favorite part was the pie eating contest. Gotta love stuffing your face into a pie for fun! Sidney was a Volleyball player, Lucas a ninja, and of course Will was Nemo. Will actually liked wearing his costume and he got to go trick or treating for the first time.

OPERATION CHRISTMAS CHILD PACK A SHOE BOX SUNDAY NOVEMBER 8

Don't forget to bring your shoe boxes, gifts, and $7 donations to Farmland Friends Church by November 1! Help give the gift of hope to children in other countries. This gift goes beyond candy and toys, it's the gift of the message of Jesus Christ. What could touch a child more than meeting their physical needs and spiritual needs in one simple gift?

Click on the title to see a video of kids recieving gifts!

Jump In!

Will is walking!

Sorry about the quality of the video, my camera's batteries were almost done. I'll have a better one later.

moments of weakness

I guess in every person's life there comes a time when you have to tell the truth even if it hurts. Lately, I have been dealing with my own insecurities and what other's think about me. I can say out loud as much as I want that words don't hurt me and I don't care what others think, but inside I am cringing at the thought of someone not liking me or my family. I put way too much emphasis on what other's think sometimes. It's one of my downfalls. God has reminded me time and again that we are not called to be popular, we are called to bring the truth to the world, His Truth. My weakness is to say the right words to make everyone get along and I am constantly fighting that. God doens't want me to compromise His truths just to get everyone to like each other. God has given me so many opportunities to stand for the truth and sometimes I fail. I want God to work and shape me. Part of this transformation is the way I view myself. Thankfully God never gives up on me and my faults. He uses these moments to shape me. It's up to me how long it will take God to form me into the woman he wants me to be.

The Power of Creativity

I know this is the end of the day, nontheless I wanted to start a new series on my blog devoted to creative ideas in ministry. I was reading a Children's Ministry Magazine called "K" and came across some great creative ideas and ways to get our creative minds moving.

Creative Idea #1

"Ideas generated in unexpected, unusual places are unexpected and unusual. when you operate within a process that imitates (or better yet, exaggerated) these circumstances, you significantly increase your creative capacity." from the book Holy Wow by Jeff White

How to get the creative juices flowing:

Ask hard questions. Why is this the best way? How do I know this is the way it should be? Why not? Relentlessly question everything.