“…life will present us with hundreds of opportunities in a single week to take a look at our internal world, to walk with God there, to become more fully his.  Don’t let your internal life go unshepherded.” - John Eldredge, Walking With God (p. 192)

The tendancy in our society/lifestyles is to only check the internal world when something is seriously wrong, but whatever is going on in the internal world is what drives or controls that which we do on the outside.  How I deal with my kids is a result of what’s going on inside, how I respond to the “idiot” driver at the intersection is a result of what is going on inside, what I say when I feel threatened by someone is a result of what’s going on inside, and how I plan my schedule is a result of what’s going on inside.  As Eldredge said so well, we have so many opportunities daily to do a quick or deep internal check.

I have realized that the analogy of shepherding doesn’t really help most of us, because we have never had sheep, been on a sheep farm, been to a petting zoo, or even worn wool!  BUT we have all had or been coaches…a coach seems to be the closest common analogy to a shepherd.  A coach encourages, resources, challenges, celebrates, and even gets in our faces from time to time.  A coach identifies things that we need to do differently as well as put us in positions to let our strengths shine and be used for the greater good.

Are you coaching your inner life on a daily/weekly basis?  I am so thankful for friends of mine who help me coach my inner world, who push me to make the hard decisions and celebrate the strengths God has put in me.  Let me encourage you to not let your inner life go UNCOACHED so that you are more fully his, for the greater good!

Today in Insight we completed our series “God of Our Emotions”, a 6 week look at portions of the book of Psalms, exploring how we can connect with God through all of our emotions.  Sometimes we think that it is only the “good” emotions that God relates to us with, but we read the highly powered emotional language of the Psalms in which the writer is bringing everything he has to God and letting God speak into them.  So we took Joy, Anger, Sadness/Depression, Hope & Desire, and today was Awe & Wonder…

What makes you say Awesome??  What takes your breath away each day??

“All together now—applause for God! Sing songs to the tune of his glory, set glory to the rhythms of his praise.  Say of God, “We’ve never seen anything like him!”  Take a good look at God’s wonders— they’ll take your breath away.”  -Psalm 66.1-2,5 (The Message)

We had an activity with the students to draw/paint/write/etc on large mural paper about something that makes the awe inspired and here are a few of their inspirations:

What causes you to be awe inspired…small or big, everyday or every so often??

And there were much more great inspirations!

“Our assumptions control our interpretation of events, and they supply a great deal of momentum and direction for our lives.” (John Eldredge - Walking With God)

It is amazing how many times recently the realization of mine or someone else’s assumptions has been part of conversations.  We each see life in very different ways than others simply because we come to the exact same situations with a whole different set of assumptions.  This can get you going down the wrong path very quickly and lead to conclusions that are WAY off and dangerous.

One of the biggest of these assumption categories is making assumptions of other people.  Whether it is their motives, desires, or beliefs, they are coming with assumptions and we are making our own assumptions.  To complicate things more we communicate a lot these days through more impersonal ways like email, blogs, facebook, twitter, IM, etc.  This is why I think the best policy is to always assume the BEST of other people.  Mandy and I seek to do this in our marriage, and have to sometimes ask each other, “are you assuming the best of me?”  Our staff team at work has a covenant with each other to always assume the best of each other.  When people criticize me, I dig deep inside and ask God to give me the ability to assume the best motives and intentions…and when I do that, it usually is right AND I learn a whole lot more from the experience.

Thinking about it, I realized that our justice system is based on assuming the best. “Innocent until proven guilty”  Some might say that this is a naieve approach which sets people up for being taken advantage of.  And there are certainly people who, knowing I try to think the best, will seek to take advantage of a situation.  But assuming the best doesn’t mean that you don’t gather the facts and seek the truth about a situation.  And it is key to always be ready to have your assumptions corrected and act accordingly.

So, our assumptions range from what we think about God, to our life, to other people, to the mundane…but these assumptions all have a profound effect on the outcome in a given situation!

It may be difficult, but try it to have your assumptions challenged or extend an “assume the best” attitude toward a coworker, spouse, or friend, and see how many problems are solved!

Well, I am seeking to re-start regular blogging for ministry, personal musings, family life, and more. So to get back started I am thinking that I will share a page from the journal…in fact as I read over my journal, I think I will take selections on a regular basis and share what is appropriate and helpful here.  So here is a thought from just the other day.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes,that it may bear more fruit.” (John 15.1)

I was reading this passage (read the whole passage now) and meditating on the imagery and pondering the abiding concept…when something really jumped out at me, and this is what I wrote down:

2/26/2009

Love - Abide - Fruit - Joy - Obey - Ask

Vine + Branches = Fruit - Pruining = More Fruit + Asking Receiving
or
Vine - Branches = no Fruit = Throw Away - Withers - Burned Up

My focus must be on abiding in Christ, living in Him, dwelling in Him, trusting in Him, existing in Him, clinging in Him, falling in Him, placing all of who I am in Him… Living with the reality that without him I can do nothing; Not giving in to the facade or mirage of our world that calls on human power, thought, and effort to accomplish. 

I must also allow and recognize His pruning…ouch…wait I liked that relationship…ouch…I needed that ministry…ouch…why did you cut that off, it was so fruitful…Oh, you are going to bring MORE fruit??…Right there where you cut??…I don’t see how God, you just cut it off!

I’m scared God, but I ask in your name Jesus for greater fruit, for deeper love in you and deeper love of others, for stronger support in abiding…to produce fruit that will not be mistaken for anything else than from you to bring others to worship you fully, to experience complete love, to enter into the fullness of total freedom through Christ alone.

You are most glorified by the greatest amount of fruit that is possible to come from my life, and I have maximum joy with abounding fruit.

But my single focus and pursuit is abiding in you Christ!

Today I went to the school for two different things.  First I was the secret reader in Addie’s class.  We had a great time talking about pretending and dress up before reading Skippyjon Jones - the crazy Siamese cat who pretends to be a Chihuahua - by Judy Schachner.  If you have not read this you should.  Skippyjon has a bit of trouble obeying his Mama, so a little commentary is needed to round out the story.  But his imagination is awesome, and reading it is fun due to the spanish accent you must read it with.  “Holy Frejolies”

Secondly, I was at the school to help Emma’s class in the library.  While there I got to see Emma’s teacher Mrs. Norton.  Mrs. Norton took the opportunity to tell me that Emma recently wrote about a Christmas memory and the story was so dear that Mrs. Norton decided to share it with another teacher.  Emma brought her writing home today.  Here is her writing:

“My memory about Christmas is when Jesus was born on Christmas Day.  I love Jesus so much.  Jesus is the real meaning of Christmas not presents and tress. I believe in the true Christmas meaning.”

Merry Christmas!

In November we celebrated not only Thanksgiving, but Emma!  It was Emma’s seventh birthday.  We celebrated by taking her, her two sisters and one friend to see Disney on Ice.  She kept asking me “is it going to be like a movie, or are they really going to be there?”  I watched her face when the first characters took the ice and it was classic!  She was so excited.  We had a super time celebrating her!

For Thanksgiving we traveled to Raliegh, NC to be with Brian’s brother Alan and his family.  It was our first opportunity to meet Lily and to see their new home.  It is always a blessing to be able to be with family, especially since our family is spread out over many states!  Owen really liked Alan and Michelle’s dog Maddy, who is a chow dog.  I am pretty sure Owen thought she was a lion!!  Owen would roar at her everytime he saw her - precious memories.

While in Raliegh we got to meet up with some special friends at the park who were visiting family in Raliegh as well.  Our girls were delighted to get to see the Despres and play with Sophie.

If you would like to see some of these special moments, check out the newly updated gallery.

I came across the following clip of a challenge that Ed Young of Fellowship Church (main campus in Grapevine, TX) and when looking into it further found that his challenge has received some national press, and many people weighing in their opinions.

It seems that when you consider it in context and what they are encouraging in their church that this is a really healthy way to focus on building up marriages.  Check out the comments from he and his wife on his blog.  My biggest concern when I heard this was thinking about all the marriages that have much emotional pain in this area of their relationship and how it wouldn’t go well without some major counselling…I pray (as he and his wife are also) that many will seek wholeness in their relationship through this challenge and that many will be encouraged towards greater intimacy in marriage.

This made me think of the Tommy Nelson sermon series on Song of Solomon that Mandy and I listened to on our honeymoon roadtrip.  Those are great messages, revealing the heart of God when it comes to marriage and sexuality!  What a blessing that God created!

…Now, how about that challenge!?

I am enjoying Beth Moore’s Bible study Living Beyond Yourself, a study on the fruit of the Spirit listed in Ephesians 5:22-23.  A few weeks back I had the opportunity to teach the beginning week at Study and Share.  Below is the podcast of the lesson:

 

 No Fruit Without the Spirit [36:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (163)

This week my thoughts turn to peace as I prepare to teach on this fruit next Tuesday.  It is always such a joy to be able to study and apply God’s Word and then have the opportunity to share it with others.