The path...

Today I registered Isaac for kindergarten. After miles of paperwork and a few deep breaths I still stand slightly overwhelmed. Where did the 5 years go? I remember when he was a baby thinking that I had time. All of this time to instill all of the things I want him to know. Here we are 5 years later and I feel like even though I have more time obviously I still  haven't done my absolute best with the time I've already had. Now I'm not beating myself up... just kind of a reality check about being intentional with everyday.  In The Message bible, Hebrews 12:12 says... "Don't sit around on you hands! No more dragging your feet! Clear the path for long-distance runners so no one will trip and fall, so no one will step in a hole and sprain an ankle. Help each other out. And run for it!"  My dreams for Isaac are so great and I know to teach him to be his best I have to be my best. 

Blessed.

First of all I have to mention that my husbands blog today is hilarious! So if you haven't seen it yet go to www.chrisbengtson.blogspot.com

Now to my not as humorous day but quite fun. We had a youth all-nighter last night and stayed up late watching movies we projected onto our wall and then got up (not so early to me but I think early to the youth kids) and went to hike Mt. Pisgah! Now this wasn't just any little hike... I mean it was uphill... and I had my 5 year old son in tow. Nonetheless, we reached the top and man  was the view awesome. It's not like it was the most amazing thing I've ever seen, but when you can just see so far over the surrounding area it's pretty breathtaking. We ate lunch and played around then Chris had us find a spot by ourselves and just spend sometime thinking of God. It's pretty easy to sit in amazement of God when you are sitting in His amazing creation. I love the outdoors. The other thing that impressed me was that even with a group of youth kids up there the only thing I could hear was the sound of the crickets. It was very serene and I couldn't help but feel extremely blessed.  

Ladies Night

Tonight was ladies night at church and we played bingo... Now this wasn't just any bingo game it was cut throat! There was prizes stealing galore! It was crazy. Just thought I would share. 

Tomorrow night is youth small group and overnighter then hiking on Thursday.

Discipleship...

Today Chris' sermon was about discipleship. By the way webster says "to disciple is to teach; train."   It was all great information and really encouraged me that you don't have to be a pastor or have a degree in the bible to disciple someone, and how it's very important that each of us intentionally disciple people... but the thing that really stuck out to me was when he said "Really, we are all already discipling (teaching and training)  someone whether we believe it or not" There are people watching us as individuals learning by how we react to things and how we handle situations... It's an interesting  perspective that I hadn't been very aware of recently...  I disciple my kids daily and I'm not sure who else... now my challenge is that my life is lived in a manner that is what I would intentionally teach and train others...

Skiing could be dangerous...

Last Thursday the we had a youth lake day with inner tubing and skiing. What a blast! I am still sore... the neat part was Isaac got to ride the tube with daddy and had a great time. Allie even rode on my lap in a tube for awhile.  Awesome time with the youth and our kids. Our fun kind of ended when Cody (one of the youth boys) kind of kicked himself in the back of the head with a ski... not sure how it happened but needless to say I got to drive him into urgent care for 6 staples in his head... (the procedure is on youtube now, check out what happens when you waterski, parts 1,2, and 3 I think)   

Friday and Saturday we had a youth event called Teen Encounter. It was an amazing experience. I think our group really encountered ourselves, each other, and God. 

Lastly, today was Isaac's 5th birthday! Wow! How is he 5 already! At church he invited all his friends (everyone) to his birthday party (which is not yet planned....) So we had to do some explaining and now need to do some planning. We did go out to Red Robin and he got a ice cream sunday and sung to by our servers. He was smiling so big. Anyways... I should go to bed now. It's been a long few days. By the way I led Sunday morning worship today for the first time... and I didn't even pass out :o) God is really helping me understand how to be confident in Him when he has called me to do something. 

Trust

Tonight I went to the adult bible study instead of youth small group (the youth were leaving the church campus so I needed to stay with Allie). I think God intended it to happen that way because Pastor Kevin talked about trusting God. Since God has been dealing with me and my fears, the "trust" word fits right into this journey I'm on. Sometimes it takes a person pointing out what it really means to trust God for you to realize that you may not be trusting Him in every area. At the end of the service people shared verses that people struggling with trusting God in certain areas could use to strengthen their faith/trust, and rehearse God's promises to us. So here is the one that I will be clinging to for now. 

 1 John 4:18 "There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life- fear of death, fear of judgment- is one not yet fully formed in love."

Fun Stuff...

Last night we did a fundraiser for our Philippines mission trip and it went really well. We had Filipino food that was delicious and a great guest speaker who was very funny and informative. I'll write more about our trip soon. 

Tonight we had a scavenger hunt with a bunch of friends and got to run around town doing and finding crazy things. Like pictures of the Geico gecko, a tomato slice from subway, a picture with a waiter... picture on a motor bike...(yeah I just climbed on a random one in a parking lot... totally got an extra point for that) and did you know that Taco bell charges 10 cents for a paper cup? They do.  Anyways it was a lot of fun and I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends. (by the way, my team lost.... but we had fun :o)

Here I go!

So long story short, God has really been stretching me and growing me in the last two weeks. First, at youth summer camp I got to dive off  a big 'ol zip-line superman style. I did it a couple times and found out that I'm a bit of an adrenalin junkie. Now I don't often hear God's voice clearly and immediately know it's him (most of the time I second guess or think it's just me) but that night during the worship part of the service God very clearly said to me "Will you jump for me?" I think "of course God I always want to be in your will, whatever you want God I'll jump..." Then I get a vision of leading worship (leading the church congregation in songs to the Lord) in my mind...to be completely honest the thought of this scares me to the point of nausea...so I say to God, "Is that really what you want? I just don't feel good enough to lead worship... but if that really what you want I'll do it." and God says, "Will you jump for me?" So yes... To add to it, the camp speaker spoke on "Here am I Lord, send me."  and even said something about how God uses people who feel inadequate. My situation exactly :o) Then everywhere I go, every blog I read seems to be tailored around the same message. Even yesterday Pastor Kevin's sermon was on dreams and how we need to be obedient in even the little things God asks because it eventually brings us to the overall dream God's way. So here I go. I'm going for it. With all my trust and confidence in the Lord... 

Weddings Galore

Last night we went Nick and Shayla's Wedding (Shayla & her Dad pictured) which was of course absolutely beautiful. The kids even made it through the ceremony part without freaking out and did pretty well through the reception. Then today we actually had two weddings to go to but could only make it to one, which was our friends Mike & Amy (Also a beautiful wedding). Chris officiated the ceremony which meant three things: 1. We were going to be there for about 6-7 hours (so we got a babysitter :o) 2. He was able to be a part of their special day which is an honor... and 3. I was the "pastor's wife"  Now I'm not saying that as a bad thing but someone said something that made me think. The person (with no ill intentions at all) said, "Now the job of the pastor's wife is to just sit there and smile" Innocent comment of course but I got to thinking how often we put expectations on people and that I want to look at people the way God does not by the title the world gives them. I also want to always smile because I am truly full of God's joy... not just because it's my job.

The patience of a father.

This morning while making breakfast Chris decides it's time for our almost 5 year old son to learn how to make scrambled eggs. (I of course am thinking he is crazy) Anyways, Chris first showed him how to do it, then let him attempt it on his own, then helped him do it until Isaac was comfortable or able. Isaac was so eager to learn and please his Daddy by meeting his expectations and making him proud. It made me think of how we should be with God. He is patient with us as we learn but are we always eager? I have been learning this in my life, I thought it was easier to just not try because then I couldn't fail, but God has so much more for us. 

As we sat and ate breakfast, Isaac said "Daddy, you're being so nice to me!" He, at 5 years old realized his Daddy was teaching him because he loved him. That's how I want to feel when the Lord teaches me.

I'm officially a blogger!

The whole idea of blogging is such an interesting concept. I get to ramble on about my life, loves, and passions to an invisible something or someone and pretend they are listening. Very exciting stuff. Nonetheless, I will talk to you, and tell you what God has been teaching me, my kids are attempting, or just randomness that comes to mind :o) Here we go!