Doing This Life Thing Together

So May has flown by and is about to be over. We're moving into the crazy months of Youth Ministry and getting everything prepared for summer! Over the course of May we've had tons of meetings, my kindergarten graduation program, finished up the school year with field days and parties, Jacob completed his 3rd semester of seminary, my cousin had her first baby, we had 5 different graduations to attend and we put on our annual Senior Recognition Sunday & Luncheon.

Sometimes (actually a lot of times) it's so stressful for us to transition from one month to the next, especially from busy May to crazy summer! I, in particular, get so caught up in making smooth transitions, getting out all the information to the parents in amply amount of time, planning ahead for deadlines, and organizing, organizing, organizing. So nothing was new this month either...I caught myself many times praying "God go before me, guide me, strengthen me and calm me down!" And of course, without fail, He did exactly what He promised He would. Deuteronomy 31:8 "The Lord Himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

I find such comfort in knowing He's already walked before me and knows exactly what's going to happen next. There's no need to be anxious about the next event or discouraged because things didn't pan out the way I was hoping...His plan is perfect despite my mess ups. While He does walk beside us during every big event or new transition I find God telling me in the midst of the chaos, "Rachel, slow down long enough to enjoy the blessings of your life." I get so caught up in just getting through the week or finishing up the next big event that I forget to just enjoy living this life.

Well one such example happened this last weekend...

I had been getting everything organized the week before our big Senior Recognition Sunday, making sure everything was in its place, bought and done. Saturday night rolled around and I was laying in my bed going over and checking off everything in my head. Both slide shows were finished, the kids gift cards were bought, the cake was taken care of, the decorations were pulled out, organized and ready to place on the tables, the food was in the wonderful hands of Mrs. Mackey, I had gotten a hold of all the kids to make sure they knew when to be there, everything was checked off and then it dawned on me that I hadn't gone over what I was going to say to them during the open mic time.

I started thinking about our seniors and all the different memories I held with each one. They all possessed such different qualities and attributes, but the one thing that remained constant in each memory was the all the laughter. Most of these kids I've known since they were in 6th grade and I've watched them grow up...literally. I've watched them get braces put on AND taken off, go through puberty, get their license, find their first job, cry alongside them during their first, second, third heartbreak, gone to many of their games and concerts and musicals, watched them have to go through ugly divorces, lose a loved one, struggle to get their grades up, pray for them as they suffer through addictions, but through it all we laughed together. We had SO MUCH FUN together!

I lay their in bed and realized I'd done it again...got so wrapped up in the event and lost sight of why we were doing it. We were putting on this Sunday for them, to recognize all their achievements, to tell them we loved them, share in the memories we made and say good bye. And I started to tear up laying their in my bed thinking about how this was it, I was gonna have to say good bye, but how thankful I was that I had had years and years with them. What a privilege it is to share in their life and walk beside them through so much!!

Sunday morning came early and although it was busy, I soaked up every moment, reminisced over every picture and listened intently to every word. I love these kids and besides my husband and family, they are my life. I cried through all their speeches and when it came time for me to speak, all I could do was cry and get out something along the lines of, "It's been such a privilege to watch you grow up and be a part of your lives. A lot of y'all have walked alongside Jacob and me too. You watched us date, get engaged, were a part of our wedding day. We've done this life thing together and I'm going to miss y'all so much. Thank you for letting us be a part of your life. I love you." I couldn't get anything else out, but those words are so true to me. I count it a huge blessing to walk this life alongside these teenagers. I couldn't imagine "doing life" with anyone else or in any other profession.

We've done this graduation thing now for years and each year it's hard, but I'm so thankful that we still keep in touch with so many of the kids (now adults) we've seen graduate through the years. So many of them now are finishing up college or are married or are starting careers and I only hope that it remains the same with this graduating class of 2011...that years from now we'll meet up for lunch to catch up or attend their college graduation or just keep in touch over fb.

Creation Pics

Calvary

I was looking forward to sleeping in this morning, but woke up early and couldn't go back to sleep. I didn't know what to do with my morning off and then it dawned on me, why do I have this morning off? It's not simply a day for offices and schools to shut down, but it's the day our Savior went to the Cross! It's the day He took our sin. It's the day He took our punishment upon Himself. It was the day He endured the shame of the Cross to bring His people back to Himself. I read a blog from John Piper this morning and this is what he said:

"Before there was any human sin to die for, God planned for His Son to be slain for sinners. Our names were "written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain." (Rev. 13:8) God planned from eternity that the revelation of His glory would be the ultimate reason for creating the universe. This glory would be supremely displayed in God's grace. This grace would be supremely glorified in Jesus. And the apex of that glorification in Jesus would be reached when He was slain to save a people who would spend an eternity magnifying the greatness of that grace. In other words the universe was created for the glorification of God's grace on Calvary, echoing through eternity the Christ-exalting joys of the redeemed."

So thankful for my God, my Savior that He chose to die for me, a sinner condemed and unclean.

Then I spent the rest of my relaxing morning playing with my new camera and taking pictures of Creation. I'm a dork, I know! (Pics on next blog)

We are His Treasured Possession

So I've done it again...waited way too long to update our life and now there's a million things to write about. If I could write only a few words to describe the past month it would say something like...relaxing, refreshing and absolutely blessed!!

We celebrated our 3 yr wedding anniversary and my wonderful husband planned a surprise date to the Reunion Tower. The sweetest part of it though was that a few months back while driving thru Dallas I had made a comment about wanting to always go there for dinner and HE REMEMBERED!!! So we went into the office for a few hrs that morning, then he took me to lunch (Chick-fila, my fav), then we went on a 12 mile bike ride together and then when we got home to get ready for our surprise date all he told me was "get dressed up real pretty, like I know you like to do." He knows me so well. Anytime I can put on stiletto heels, lots of make-up and a pretty dress, I'm happppy!! We enjoyed the luxuries of valet parking, fine (expensive) dining and the beautiful lights of Dallas. It was a memorable anniversary...we talked about our future with kids and how dates like this will NEVER happen again so we might as well enjoy them now, we laughed at the ridiculous prices and fru-fru food we were eating, we shared some of our most beloved memories thus far of our past 5 yrs of knowing each other and some of the reasons we love each other more today than we did the day we got married. I'm so blessed the Lord chose Jacob to be my lifetime partner and I'm equally as blessed that we can share in His blessings together for a lifetime!

We also had our usual Wednesday nights, Spring Break activities and community outreach events! And as we always do at the end of every youth event we sit back and say, "What a blessing to be able to be a part of each one of these kids lives!" God doesn't need us as humans at all to do His work, it's a privilege to serve Him and walk alongside these kids as they grow up, learn and mature in their relationship with Christ.

Getting everything ready for Evangelism in the local park The kids getting ready to share Christ with our community Worshiping with the kids We also had a wonderful weekend with my family at the beginning of April. We all met up in Tyler, Tx and the girls stayed in a hotel, shopped, ate a yummy restaurants and talked, talked, talked while the guys went camping, fishing and doing whatever nasty stuff boys do :) It was so fun to spend time with all the sisters and my mom and just hang out with no agenda...it was so relaxing! And I think the boys had a fun time just hanging out by the fire, fishing and talking about whatever guys talk about. Hopefully it will become an annual Prescott tradition!

We went on the Azalea Trails And we were stupid pretty much the whole time Then we met up with the guys for dinner before we all parted ways Then the next weekend we went to Galveston for Jacob's 1/2 Ironman with his cousin Jr., his wife Heather and their kids. We went to the aquarium, hung out on the beach (although very cloudy), went out to dinner, hung out with the kids while their mommy and daddy finally got to go on a date and then of course THE RACE! I'm so stinkin' proud of my husband even though at the end of every race he's disappointed in himself. Swimming for 1.2 miles, biking for 56 miles and then running 13.2 miles is an insane amount for your body to endure and I'm pretty sure a very, VERY small % of people can even accomplish that in their lifetime!!! Of course the one day we were there the sun came out so he had to battle the heat and wind while I ran all over the place trying to find him at different points during his race and got a nasty sunburn. I got to take lots a great action pictures of him though with my wonderful new camera he bought us for our anniversary. It has sport mode on it so I can click away and get great action shots. I love, love, love my new camera and am so thankful to our sweet friend Todd for selling it to us at a huge discounted price. We are constantly blessed by others helping us or giving things to us and while it's hard for Jacob to swallow his pride sometimes, we feel so incredibly blessed to be helped/taken care of (even down to the small, seemingly unimportant things) by the body of Christ. We have been given couches, tables, beds, desks...pretty much our whole house has been furnished by people in our church or family. The only pieces of furniture we have bought are the couches in our front room ($200 for both on CraigsList) and the kitchen table, which when we took it to the check out ended up being 1/2 off. I'm telling you GOD IS FAITHFUL!! I love seeing His hand at work in our lives and while it might only be a camera or a gently used couch for our youth kids or beautiful rug (although not important in the grand scheme of life) He is so faithful to provide for even our desires! I stand in awe of His faithfulness and love for His people that not only did He provide a way for us, save us from death, call us into a relationship with Him, but He blesses our earthly lives as well!!

At the Aquarium with the kids The 1/2 Ironman Having fun on the beach Deuteronomy 7:6-7;9 ~The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession. The Lord did not set His affection on you and choose you bc you were more numerous than other peoples...But it was because the Lord loved you. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; He is the faithful God, keeping His covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commands.

Celebrating Life

This past week I celebrated my 28th birthday which was a little surreal for me. I can't believe I'm this old. It just seems like yesterday that I was having birthday parties with my elementary girlfriends or hanging out with teenage friends or going on trips with my college roommates/friends to celebrate. Most of the time I just forget...but I'm an adult now! Maybe it's bc I hang out with teenagers all the time or bc I don't dress or act my age or maybe it's just bc I don't feel my age, but regardless I just don't feel 28! But wow, I really only have 2 more yrs til I'm in my 30's!!!

My birthday fell on a Wednesday this yr, so of course we were with all the kids that night. I got a million hugs, heard the birthday song 20x's and had a surprise cake from my mom and sister. It's not your typical birthday celebration spending the whole night with 60+ teenagers, but I wouldn't have it any other way. After a day full of sweet texts and phone calls, a wonderful birthday lunch with my hubs and a night of celebrating with the kids I just sat back and felt so blessed! I would have never imagined years ago that this is where God would have taken my life. My life is so full of LIFE and I'm so thankful that He has brought me to this place. I might be getting older and I'm definitely an icky, old adult now, but if this is what growing up looks like then I'm perfectly happy getting older.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20 "Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice and hold fast to Him. For the Lord is your life, and He will give you many years..."

Writing His Commandments on Our Hearts!

Polka Dotted Treasures

Teaching Kindergarten at a Private Christian School is such a blessing for so many reasons: you have one-on-one time with all your students, you have the support of parents 100%, you don't have to meet the ridiculous state requirements, you teach on the level of each child individually, the atmosphere and the other teachers are incredible and the list goes on, but the biggest blessing is being able to incorporate Christ into ALL my teaching. In my lesson plans I can talk about the Lord, we have character traits we work on weekly that have a bible verse to memorize along with it, in my discipline I can quote scripture, we pray together daily and I have the privilege of hearing the most precious thoughts about Christ from the mouths of children!!

In Phonics we have memory verses from A-Z like "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" or "Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right" or "Keep your tongue from evil." We often talk about the meanings of these verses and we usually follow them up with an applicable story. Our "N" verse is "No man can serve two masters," which is kind of a difficult idea for a child to understand...so I thought. I proceeded to summarize the whole scripture passage for them in a "5 year old" kind of way, but little did I know that my sweet Caitlin would summarize it back to me in a "life-changing, faith provoking" kind of way.

Matthew 6:19-24: "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, then your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your eyes will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, then how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

This is the paraphrased conversation that followed:

Mrs. Holmes my mom went through my closet this weekend to get rid of the clothes that didn't fit me anymore. She put my pink polka dotted dress that I love in the trash bag for donations bc my little sister isn't big enough to wear it, so it can't be a hand-me-down yet. I asked her if we could keep if for when Elizabeth gets older, but she said no. I started crying and crying. My dad took me with him to this dumpster for the donations and told me that giving my dress away would make some other little girl very happy. He told me we shouldn't keep it if it didn't fit anymore when some other little girl could feel pretty in it now. I thought when she found that pretty polka dotted dress she would be so happy, just like I was when I got to wear it. My daddy gave me the bag to help him toss it into the donation dumpster and I stopped crying bc I knew another little girl would be happy now. "Is that what it means to not serve two masters, Mrs. Holmes?"

My heart melted listening to her precious story told through the eyes of a child. There was such simplicity behind her story, but the profound meaning behind her polka dotted dress is exactly what Christ was saying when He told us to be "devoted to one" and "not serve two masters." She chose to dump the treasures (literally) that this world offers and serve Christ. She chose Christ over the pleasures of this world! What a reminder to me that Christ has called us to live for the Kingdom, storing things up for eternity, not this present life. And what a reminder that we are called to have the faith of a child; what a blessing to be able to hear that childlike faith, see that innocence and experience His beauty through the life of a child.

Mark 10:14-15: "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

Faith isn't the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It's simply taking God at His word... ~Joni Erickson Tada

Childlike faith focuses on our Heavenly Father -not on our fears. ~Unknown