sabbath! i love fridays

(i thought that first picture really illustrated rest. its from a time in Spain and the second is of recent times here!)

Friday's are my day off. Today is Friday! I look so forward to Friday's because i get to rest. I get to take my hands off my work, off the ministry and put it to the side.

I think I really overworked myself this week... and i was thinking this morning how overworking is a form of distrust. Because it's not believing God has it all in his hands so i need to take control and do all these things. But really I need to rest, to put it in his hands to trust him to do what he is gonna do anyways.

In Exodus one of God’s biggest themes is REST. The sabbath. Having one day of no work, no business, just pure rest. And he was so serious about making sure that they rested that it said, “anyone who works on the Sabbath will most certainly be put to death.” ~Ex 31:15

SO I started wondering why it is sooooo important to God that we rest, like a whole entire day of each week to rest. I think it is for the same reason that we like to be so busy and over work ourselves. Because busy-ness distracts us from God, from the deeper questions and difficulties of life. Over working makes us feel like we are productive and got life under control. But when we have it all under control we don’t really have to trust God.

Maybe God wants us to rest so that we will leave our work alone to actually be with Him, for Him to show us that the world actually won’t stop if we do, and to deal with things and trust Him and His work rather than ourselves and our work.

Overworking comes from distrust and leads to a drained spirit which comes from letting the weight of the world fall on me... which in turn makes me less productive and less available.

I love that God modeled this for us. "And God blessed the 7th day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done." ~ Genesis 2:2 God took part in the Sabbath, God rested. I wonder what God's rest looks like??

After Friday's I know I always feel rejuvinated, re-energized, and restored. He fills me up so I can go back into another week ready to give out of His abundance and the new energy and trust he gives when we submit to his command to REST.

lessons on leading

So the other night a bunch of us went to dinner. Afterwards we planned to go to this party that Mary told us about... she said it was on Allison Ave but didn't know how to get there. I said, "oh! i know exactly where that is, its in my neighborhood!" So since we had like 20 other people that wanted to go with us to the party I just told everyone to follow me.

We drove down Allison Ave looking for the house number and soon hit a dead end with out having found the right house. So me, in my flustered-ness made a U-turn in the middle of the street. 20 cars behind me made a U-turn in the middle of the street. So then we saw that Allison Ave actually continued on in another direction, so we followed that one, looking down that street. It wasn't there either, more U-turns. hahahah the stream of headlights was just hilarious driving all around my neighborhood.

We hit a few more dead-ends and ended up loosing more than half the group before we actually found the party.

That night I lead people astray.

So at church and in my job i have been placed in a position of leadership. I feel weird being a "leader" i don't know... i know ive been a leader in ministry before for people younger than me. But now i am leading people in their 20's like me.

Craig Strickland, our senior pastor has offered to mentor me in leadership. That is huge! I feel honored and privledged to learn from such a great leader like him... but I also feel scared when I think of this verse: "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." ~ Luke 12:48 I've been given so much by being offered this mentorship.

Sometimes doubt creeps in though. What if I fall, what if I fail, what if I lead people astray?

That night I learned a lesson about leading...If people are willing to follow you, you've gotta know where you are leading them to.

I have been thinking about how to apply this in ministry, really re-evaluating where exactly are we leading these people and how to be sure we know the destination we want them to go.

But maybe it's less about where I want them to go... and more about who I am following and where he wants us to go.

Jesus says, "...he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...he goes ahead of them and HIS sheep FOLLOW him because they know his voice." ~ John 10:4

I am following Christ, I know his voice, he has called me by name. And as a leader maybe I'm just bringing others along the way...

Back in July of 2006 in Pittsburgh this is what I learned and wrote about leadership. "This week I learned the kind of leader I want to be by watching the way Robbi Fischer and Nick Dusenbury lead us. They lead out of humility and intimacy with God. I loved working under Robbi because I know with out a doubt that he believes in me. I want to be encouraging, believe in others and lead out of humilty and knowing Christ in an intimate way like Robbi and Nick"

Craig said my mom is the "most well-rounded leader". I've watched time and time again people ask my mom why her ministry is so successful. She says, "we pray". They say, "yeah.. but what do you do? what is your plan of action?" "we pray." yeah but what is your strategy for growth?" "we pray". My mom leads out of prayer. She brings others along the way in seeking God through prayer. In prayer we know his voice. In prayer we grow in intimacy with Christ.

I have so much to learn... but these are things I have observed, learned and thought about recently. I want to lead out of prayer and intimacy with Christ as we follow his lead.

momentary troubles

a weight of glory.

so the theme of "praying expectantly" has come up a few times in conversations and at bible study over the past few days. Last night Tabitha and I were talking about that again. I told her I was reading back over my prayers from last year and I prayed for certain things with such expectation and certainty that God would do it. I was so bold to ask God to do what I was asking that summer.... That summer, I even thanked him because, "God I believe that you will do it this summer".

He didn't.

He did nothing that summer... or it seemed in the moment.

I was telling her this and she said, "yeah Molly, but you know if God would have answered your prayer the way you wanted him to and expected him to none of this would have happened. The Young Adult Community wouldn't have started. All these friendships wouldn't have formed. Our friendship wouldn't have formed. People wouldn't have found this place of community centered around Christ. Some of these people wouldn't have come to know Christ thru this ministry. All if it would've gone your way...

ha well, yeah im thankful for a friend who can put things in perspective for me. It is true, if I would've got what I wanted that summer... like the job at Elevation, i wanted more than anything. I prayed every day that they would call me and I looked at my phone every 5 minutes expecting them to be about to call me... for weeks. I never got the call.

So I'm still trying to figure out the praying with expectancy. But I do know I can pray for whatever and expect God's very best. Maybe me staying around Memphis wasn't what I was expecting when I was praying so "expectantly" but He kept me here with his very specific plans and purposes, which were greater than what I'd ever hoped for.

And through that very painful summer for me, my disappointments in not getting what I thought I wanted.... he brought about something he intended to do all along. Start this ministry for people in their 20's in Memphis.

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal weight of glory that far out-weighs them all" 2 cor 4:17

My troubles last summer were momentary and light compared to the greatness of what he has done and is doing now. Im so thankful to look back and see a glimps of what all he was producing with my pain last year. Looking at it now, it was all so worth it... God was working on things for eternity, not for my pleasure for the moment.

"so we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." ~ 2 cor. 4:18

room of mirrors

(the pictures have nothing to do with the blog... just some fun ones from recent times)

soooo lately i've been noticing how easy it is to grow discontent... It's like there is always something more that we want. For me, i think about how for so long i wanted a job, not only a job, but a job that used my gifts and passions. Now i have that job, and I love it. So why do I find myself wanting more? It becomes so easy to loose sight of what I have, all i have that is so good in my life and search for even more. I begin to loose sight of Christ and my eyes wander to other people and see what they have and think, "if only i had that... then..."

Comparing yourself to others is one of the most life draining thing you can do to yourself. The bible says, “Envy rots the bones.” Jesus said, “I came that they may have life and have it to the full.”

You begin to see what you don’t have and your eyes become fixed completely on self. It is like you are in a tiny room that is so small you can’t even take a step. The walls are mirrors all around you. It gives the illusion that it should be big, spacious and full, but in reality it is only reflecting your own image over and over until you cannot look beyond your self. You cannot see others. You cannot love others. Life is sucked dry.

I am familiar with this room, I’ve been in it many times. There are many doors through which you can enter: pride, envy, selfishness, etc, but I have only found one through which I can exit. The door of Praise.

When I look up and see God who saw beyond himself enough to send Jesus, his son to die for me, I can’t help but praise him for that kind of love. When I begin to focus on all that he has given me, I can’t help but thank him. When I see how much he values me, I give thanks for the way he has made me and designed my life. Then I see clearly that none of this is about me, it is all about him. All he gives us and all he has done for us is to enable us to give back, to love him and love others, to serve others, to be free. In this realization you no longer have anything to envy rather you find that you have everything to give.

“That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.” ~ Gal 5:26 MSG

“Worship God if you want the best, worship opens doors to all his goodness.” ~ ps 34:9 MSG

the gospel

The message at YAC this sunday was so good. we're going thru a series in Galatians. this week was on Galatians 4 by my dad. Here were a few really big take aways for me.

"If you read 1 peter 1:12 it is saying that the gospel is something on which the Angles long to look into. Angels are pretty smart beings, the don't have sin in their lives, they are very wise, their knowledge of God is beyond our comprehension... so you've got to ask the question, what is it about the Gospel that would keep the angels going back to the Gospel to find new things in it? There has got to be more to it than this is just the way to get your sins forgiven."

He said for many of us we add to the Gospel. We say Christ + something else makes us feel okay with God and okay about our selves. That is self-salvation. That means that what Jesus did has no weight or power if we add to it. That is really distrust in the truth that our salvation comes by grace alone. "in other words, we feel better or worse about ourselves before God based on how well we have or haven't done in the Christian life"

my performance + other's opinions of me = self worth

"For if you and i are trying to make ourselves look good for God, ourselves, or others by saying this or that, or trying to maneuver the spotlight of people's opinions... you actually in doing so are cutting yourself off from Christ. why?? because you are no longer depending on God's grace, but upon your own self effort. You are essentially saying Christ is not sufficient enough, i need something more.

Christ + something else(something that comes from me) = ok-ness with God

Paul says it is Christ + nothing = right-ness, ok-ness with God.

So he challenged us to "strip ourselves of all the other things we use to justify ourselves, to understand that what Christ did on the cross so much so that it overwhelms every other competing desire of our hearts, and to pray that God would fill our hearts with the Holy spirit that he will reveal to us the riches of being a son or a daughter of the most high God."

He summed up with saying this isnt something that you can come back with in a week and have it down. it is a life long learning process.

simple, true and to the point. so good for us to hear! and really think hard about.

happy birthday dad

so ive decided to start posting on here again more often. today seems like a fitting day, this is for you dad! Happy birthday, I love you. here is part of a blog i posted about my dad a few years ago... its still so true

"If there is any reason I have a good concept of God as my father it is because of the way the love of dad has pointed me to the way God loves his children. I feel so thankful to have grown up under the example and love of my dad. By us watching him, he made his children fall in love with family and with God, there probably isn't anything greater than that! Through out our lives I have watched him follow God in the the closest way and taking our family along in each step of faith in His journey for us. It encourages me to do the same with my own life.

In my dad's love I have experienced what it means to be enjoyed. Dad has sacrificed himself in so many ways for us. Even as far as allowing himself to be the one we "give a hard time" when joking around. Some how he created an atmosphere of rest and fun in our home. When I remember growing up, the first image that comes to my mind is us sitting around the dinner table laughing and enjoying one another. "

It is so cool that God has lead me back to Memphis and to work at Hope where my mom and my dad both work. I always joke and say im following in the family business! haha! Almost every day I go to my dad's office and i get to sit and learn about ministry from someone who is so experienced and who God has used to impact so many lives for the Gospel. I feel so lucky to get to learn from him as I am still so new at this job.

One day I went in there crying, so stressed by the pressures of numbers and programming and he said I want to show you something: he pulled out his trash can. It was full of hundreds of papers from a huge binder. He said Molly, I spent years planning, stressing, sleepless nights over this ministry program and do you know what? it eventually came to nothing, but do you what lasted? My relationships with the people. then he began listing the names... This stuff didnt end up mattering, the relationships are what matter. Remember that." That was a powerful moment for me. My dad is soooooo wonderful and I get to learn from a great man. I'm so proud to be his daughter.

I love you dad, happy birthday!

what I am learning these days

December and January have been a whirlwind. I began a new job at Hope. It is so wonderful! I get to do what I love. But with it comes great challenges: the urge to take on way more than I can handle, over working, growing a ministry, the pressure of number goals, and people please like crazy. Two Sundays ago I felt so excited when more people than ever had come to the the young adult community. The following sunday our numbers went to a new low. I was discouraged, very discouraged.

But today I thanked God for bringing so few people last Sunday because he has done so much in my heart through that. Through it he has also given me a new vision, passion and perspective on ministry, himself and myself. As I see more of my weakness, I see more of his grace and patience with me. I also see more of his strength and his heart and his love as we walk through this together.

For Christmas my dad gives a uniquely special, thoughtful gift to each of us. Along with it comes a heart felt letter which usually makes the whole family cry because they are so full of love and thoughtfulness. "Molly, what I'm giving you was so very foundational, directive, and formative for both your mom and I in our early years of ministry, that I want you to have it as well, I hope it will be every bit as foundational and instructive and tangibly practical for you too as you learn to lead people in Christ." It was a cd set of teaching on leadership by Howard Hendricks. I have been listening and learning ALOT from it since I received this gift.

So with that teaching, the example of my parents, disappointments, some verses in Colossians, and God's treatment of me, He has infused new perspective in me.

God is showing me how he cares more about the quality of my character than the pace of my growth. He cares more about our relationship and our love than how many emails and phone calls I do in a day. He cares more about my heart than my appearance. He cares more about the quality of endurance built in me than the finish line.

And so similarly, as far as ministry goes, my perspective is changing from quantity to quality. From numbers to hearts. From tasks, plans, and projects to discipleship, spiritual growth, prayer and relationships. My mom always says, "there are only two things will last forever: the word of God and people." I want to invest in people. I want to make disciples who will go out and make more disciples, who will bear fruit and invest in more people who will then go out and do the same.... and so on and so on. I want to know and love God more. I want to be formed into the image of Christ more than I want any of the other things that come or go in ministry... to invest in what will last, people, the hearts of people.