RVL

I don’t know that there has been any other teacher who makes me want to know the Word of God in all of its fullness more. 

Yep, I mean it. Not even Beth Moore.

Calm down. Some of you are going to need to take a moment and collect yourselves after an outrageous statement like that.  I mean it.

I don’t work on Mondays, so I opted to spend the first six hours of my day today listening to Ray Vander Laan teach at the Institute. He was guest lecturing today – from 7:30am-1:45pm. There are not many things that make me want to get up that early on a day off to sit in a six-hour lecture, but RVL…well, it was worth every minute.  I know I’ve mentioned him before, and this video can’t even begin to touch his knowledge of Jewish culture and history, and if you are looking for a perspective-changing Bible study based on Jewish culture, history, and geography – ANY of his will be exactly what you are looking for. Check out the video: RVL on Columns, Oracles, and Discipleship.

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Blizzard randoms.

In celebration of the fact that March is ending with a blizzard (A real one. Not just an I’m-from-Georgia-and-this-is-more-snow-than-I’ve-ever-seen-in-my-life one) and a snow day, here are a few weekend randoms.

1. In the past twenty-four hours, my roommate and I have watched Elf, The Preacher’s Wife, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I have rules about not watching Christmas movies until the “Brrr!!” months (Sept-Dec), but snow days are the exception. It has been delightful.

2. I’m finally adjusted to the altitude and running regularly. I have a 5k race on the schedule for May, and it feels good to finally be able to breathe when I walk up a flight of stairs.

3. Great new book I’m reading right now: Sitting at the Feet of Rabbi Jesus: How the Jewishness of Jesus Can Transform Your Faith. Excellent so far.

4. I am teaching on Sunday night at our student services. It’s not the first time I’ve taught…but I’m feeling really uninspired by the passage I was asigned to teach from Acts. Good lesson. Just maybe not the most captivating to twelve-year-old minds.

5.  Have you seen this YouTube video? BESTVIDEOEVER. Not kidding. SO funny. Too bad the parents are under fire now from some lame child rights activist who think it’s exploitating the child. Ridiculous. I will watch it again just to show my support for the parents. And because it’s really funny. 

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She needs a name! **updated**

**UPDATE**

After driving everyone around me nuts with the decision process, she has a name.

Aspen.

To be official (and to appease certain unnamed members of the family)…Aspen Allan.

What do you think?

_________

Great news! There will be a new resident on Kaleb Grove in the near future.

I bought a puppy today. Jealous much?

She is really cute. REAL cute.

I will bring her home in three weeks. 

In the mean time, I’m struggling to think of a clever name for her.  So I’m open for some suggestions. Things to keep in mind:

1. I will vomit on you if you suggest something along the lines of Precious, Pooky, or Cuddles. She may be little, but come on. She needs a real name.

2. This has to be something that can be yelled easily. 

3. My last dog’s name was Mozart. I’m sure you can do better than that.

Any suggestions???

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Floating…Part 2.

I very literally could not have finished this post last night. About ten minutes before I ended yesterday’s post, my left eye just closed on its own and I could not get it open again until I gulped down my first cup of coffee this morning. It’s late again tonight, but the hope of a weekend on the horizon makes the idea of tomorrow morning much more tolerable.

How can I get back to the fullness? How can I position myself to grasp everything the Lord has for each day?

I’ve started at least ten paragraphs now trying to figure out how to say this. I give up trying to explain myself well. It’s too late to try.

I spent some time with the  Lord this morning, cutting a covenant with Him to spend the next forty days being more intentional with my time. I’m going to cut back on the amount of time I spend in front of the television and fiddling around on Facebook, and I’m going to be intentional to seek out more than the mundane.  I’m cutting back on the zone-out activities that take little thought or effort, and I’m going to use that time to dive into some good books, catch up on a few Bible studies, invest in some key relationships.

And I want to use the time to search for the fullness. I believe that spiritual dry spells are mostly a choice. Yes, there are times when God is silent in our lives or when His work isn’t exactly dramatic. But He’s still working even in those times. He hasn’t quit or slowed down or changed. We have. And I think it’s my choice whether I want to float through day after day of shallow life, collecting blessings here or there as they come to me, or whether I want to seek out the fullness and abundance that God offers me even in the most routine activities. So I’m making a choice. A choice with some tangible sacrifices…including limiting my TV time to once a week.  But in the Kingdom, a living sacrifice is a spiritual investment.

He is here. His fullness is and the joy of walking in it are mine for the taking. I’ll keep you posted along the way.

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Floating.

I just don’t even know where to start.

Which is the exact reason for why I’ve been missing for blog-world for two weeks.

It’s been a pretty crazy few weeks for me. First, finals…and deadlines that were barely made. Next, Winter Camp…and the post-weekend recovery coma. Then, home to TN for a wedding and a whirlwind family visit. Now, starting a new class and wondering whether or not I should get my hopes up about this nice weather outside. Chaos. Managable chaos…and total exhaustion.

And even though I should have closed my laptop and gone to bed at least an hour ago, I’m just sitting in my room, trying to make some semblance of organization with the thoughts swirling around in my head right now.

I just feel like I’m missing it sometimes.

Like right now.

What am I doing with my days?

I’ve had this nagging feeling for the past couple of days that I am really missing out on a lot of the depth of abundance that is offered freely to me. I’m living where I want to live. I’m doing the job I want to do. I’m getting closer and closer to finishing this degree. I am figuring out a new season of life one day at a time.  And I’m completely missing the deeper possibilities that flow in and out of  every day.

Do you know that floating feeling? That feeling when you realize that you’ve really sunk into a mind-numbing routine, when you are just floating through life at random? Go to work. Come home and crash. Sleep. Go to work. Socialize. Come home and sleep. Go to church. Go to work. Come home. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

It’s all fine and well. Nothing is up or down or right or wrong. It just is. And in the midst of floating through day after day of shallow life, I feel like I’m missing the depth of relationship and joy and abundance that God so greatly desires to give me. Like I’m living in His will but not in His fullness. You know?

I want the fullness. I want more.  I want more in my relationship with the Lord. More in my ministry. More in my community.

And I’m thinking it’s going to take some tangible changes for that stuff to happen.

More tomorrow. And more this weekend. Hopefully, I’ll have some new pictures up from the past few weeks soon.

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Livin’ on a prayer…

There are nearly 200 rolls of toilet paper in the backseat of my car right now.

There are also cookies, Sour Patch Kids, two gallon-sized bags of trail mix…oh, and Spam. LOTS of Spam.  

And don’t forget about the 80s rock costume in my bag.  Let’s just say that it is very likely that some heinous pictures of said costume will probably be floating around on Facebook by Monday morning. 

I’m so excited….and I just can’t hide it. I’m about to lose control and I think I like it.

Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Pointer Sisters, anyone?

I’m leaving for our 80s-rock themed Winter Camp in about six hours. I’m heading up there a day early to set up and get everything ready for the big arrival tomorrow night.  We don’t do a summer camp here, so this is the biggest event we do all year with our students. While I really don’t know what to expect the weekend to be like, I do know that we have planned every last minute of their time with themed games, competitions, gross Spam eating contests, and all kinds of time for students to really dig into the story of the Prodigal Son. It should be a wild ride…and since I’m officially done with my first round of classes for this semester, I’ll try to post some good pictures and details when I get back on Sunday. In the mean time – prayers please??? I’m in a room with 16 middle school girls. Eesh.

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