the best conference call ever

i just got off the phone with a classroom of twenty 5th/6th graders - and it was so much fun!

my brother, a 5th/6th grade public school teacher put me on the phone with his class of 20 students. i was called on to share ideas about how to write a blog.

my brother is piloting new ways to use technology in his classroom this year and one way includes the students writing a blog each day - they can write about a conversation they had during the day, something new they learned, or simply just how they are feeling. his goal is for them to write more often, and as they write, he hopes they will develop their voice and their unique writing style.

what if we encouraged kids in our ministries to write blogs at home during the week about what they had done at church, how they were applying the lesson, or even any further questions they had? it might encourage further conversation between parents and children about the lesson.

my brother is also piloting a way for his students to use twitter each day. he encouraged them to pick a user name and then explained the specifics of how to tweet. each day they are expected to write 140 characters about something they did or learned during the day. his goal is to utilize another medium for them to continue thinking about what they did. after 3 days of class, these are some of the tweets:

mtrpanhead: we went on wordle and it was awesome! we are also learning sign language.

CubsQueen: i'm having so much fun talking with my old friends and meeting new ones. i think this will be a fun school year.

chicoski34: centers are pretty cool and different. i had a good time.

what if  we encouraged kids in our ministries to tweet at the end of a sunday morning program about something they learned and then encouraged parents to read the tweet and ask the child more about it?  it might give parents an easy way to start a great conversation with their children.

we continually strive to challenge children in taking their faith deeper - what are your plans for utilizing technology to accomplish this goal in this new ministry year?

prayer is for the faint of heart

my husband and i are not a husband and wife ministry team.

we are 2 individual people with different talents who sometimes like to serve together, just so happen to be married, and occasionally accidentally wear matching outfits.

ok, now that we've cleared that up... yesterday my husband and i served together as the liturgists during our contemporary worship service at church.

during the worship service, we led the congregation through the prayer of confession, and the prayers of the people, and the lord's prayer, while still remembering to collect the tithe.

but ironically enough, or coincidentally (i can never remember the difference between those two words), or maybe we'll just say it was a divine act - the topic of the sermon was "easy answers that should be questioned.. god hears our prayers." and our pastor gave this fantastic sermon on how complex and complicated prayer is, and it was such a lovely sermon, so honest and real, and one of my recent favorites.

but the ironic (or divine) part was that my job as liturgist was to lead the people in a time of prayer immediately following her sermon. how was i supposed to simply take prayer requests after that sermon, and how was i supposed to lead when i've been personally experiencing a rough time of prayer?

so i tried a new approach (a new approach for me anyway) - i was honest and a little vulnerable.

i shared with the community about how i've been praying the same prayer for a long time, and most days it feels like god is not answering and really not even listening, and that prayer for me lately feels exhausting, and complicated, and defeating.

but i asked the congregation to consider believing, if even just for that day, that god was amongst us, listening to us and offering answers to our prayers. i asked the group to offer bold and risky prayers in a testament that we believed god would answer.

and they did - they offered beautiful prayers, one prayer specifically took my breathe away making it difficult for me to go on, and after all of the prayers were requested, my husband prayed aloud and something changed inside of me.

i'm thinking that maybe it's less about god answering my specific prayers and more about my perspective in the way he answers those prayers. we've prayed for a baby in our life, and while we don't have our own just yet, god gave us a beautiful niece who we love with our whole heart. an answer to our prayer.. a baby in our life.

today i have a new perspective and a new hope in prayer.

i love my birthday

the last 2 posts have been a bit heavy so i thought i would lighten things up for the weekend.



it's almost my birthday (september 1) and i love my birthday.

i love my birthday because:

1.) i love planning parties and

2.) i love presents (both giving and receiving)

i fully blame my parents for this addiction to my birthday. as kids, they gave us themed parties that were over the top each year, and bought us the most creative and wonderful presents, and encouraged us to celebrate our birthday for the whole weekend, and even forced us to celebrate our half birthdays (for those who didn't grow up in my family - your half birthday is 6 months from your actual birthday) because my dad said waiting to celebrate your birthday only once every 12 months was way too difficult.

last year i turned 30 and it was a bit dramatic and difficult, but after a birthday dinner with family, and another party with friends, and a weekend in vegas with gina, i felt better.

this year i turn 31, and i'm really excited about it. although this past year has at times been confusing and complex, i have loved being in my 30's - i feel more confident than ever about who i am, what i'm good at and what i'm terrible at, and how to prioritize so that i'm only involved in things that i'm good at.

so i'm glad to be turning 31 - if it means another step closer to fully becoming me.

and of course, i'm excited about the party and the presents, too!

my job ≠ me

thank you to everyone who sent kind emails, tweets and commented in person about my last post. it made my heart grateful and reminded me that faith is a communal activity.

i'm learning more about my faith everyday, and today i'm mindful that how i feel about my job is often a measurement for how i feel about my faith. i equate a large part of my identity and self-worth to how successful i feel in my job.

so in a season of feeling less than fully satisfied in my job, i feel less than satisfied in my faith.

i know that my job is not the whole sum of who i am. i am creative, and innovative and a team leader, and i like fashion and cooking, and decorating my house, and real estate, and telling jokes. but i forget that not all of that can be expressed in my job, it's ridiculous really, but i still expect it. my job must be all and everything to me.

and when a job becomes a ministry it only makes faith more confusing, right? we work hard, and with excellence and sacrifice to serve and love others - often forgetting to serve and love ourselves.

what if we really did acknowledge that our job isn't the full sum of who we are - and that ministry is a calling, and at the same time just a job in which we use our skills to get a paycheck.

my job ≠ the fullness of me

so today i'm committing to finding my faith in things that are lovely and beautiful and exist outside of my job.  things like shopping at anthropologie, and trying new recipes, and listening to my husband's laugh, and enjoying the perfect cup of coffee, and babysitting my niece, and reading the absolute perfect book on a summer day, and volunteering my leadership skills at my church. because i'm determined to become fully me.

our god is an awkward god

i love the classic worship song "our god is an awesome god" by rich mullins.

Our God is an awesome God
He reigns from heaven above
With wisdom, power, and love
Our God is an awesome God

but lately my interactions with god have felt more awkward than awesome.

i’m currently having a small crisis of faith, due to some situational things in my life, and it's forcing me to re-think my personal faith. some days my faith feels awkward, like all the ways i've learned to relate with god have slightly shifted and i can't seem to find my footing.

some days it’s ugly, and confusing, and almost every single day i wish i was through this season of life, but i'm not yet, and so in the mean time the best i can do is learn, and grow and most importantly re-define my relationship with God.

i'm realizing that a relationship with god is complex – and that i can no longer pretend otherwise.

i'm continuing to find hope that i'm not the only one who has ever not understood god and his ways. he appears to desire a certain sense of mystery, and the stories of his people from the beginning of time, until now and almost certainly for the rest of time, will be about the mystery and wonder of god, his plan and his timing. i admire that about him - i too like a certain sense of mystery about myself, but i do wish for just a small reveal of his master plan - please just pull back the curtain a tad so that i can see some of this great wisdom, power and love.

i'm not sure what my faith will look like on the other side of this small crisis - but i am confident it will look different, and hopefully it will be less awkward.

today i find hope in n.d wilson's words from his new book "notes from the tilt-a-whirl"

"step outside your front door and look at today's stage. speak. god will reply. he will speak to you. he gave you senses. use them. he will parade his art. he will give you a scene, a setting for the day. he will give you conflict to overcome, opportunities for your character to grow or fail.

but do not expect him to speak in english. and do not expect him to stay on whatever topic you might choose. his attention is everywhere and no story should be easy, as every reader knows."