Tough stuff< Jesus

This week has been emotionally exhausting for a variety of reasons. Most of them revolve around watching several coworkers walk through some extremely difficult circumstances. But in the midst of that, it has been extremely, extremely awesome to see our faculty come together for one another, even in prayer! (one of my coolest experiences in my 7 years of teaching-- after receiving bad news at a faculty meeting, about 35 of us stayed after the meeting, joined hands, and cried out to the Lord on behalf of another. So awesome!)

All that to say: Jesus is so much bigger. "Our God is greater. Our God is stronger. God, you are higher than any other! Our God is healer; awesome in power! Our God!" No matter what junk we are walking through (either personally or walking along side someone else), He is enough. Always. And in Him is so much freedom. I'm so glad for the work He's currently doing in my heart.

Passion 2012

Back in 2003 I had the privilege of attending the Passion OneDay conference in Sherman, Texas. That seems like an eternity ago, but I still remember the profound impact it had on my life.

So naturally, I am THRILLED that my sister is at the Passion 2012 conference going on in Atlanta right now. Due to the wonders of technology, I have been able to watch some of the live stream and have been completely blown away. I want to share some of the "notes" I jotted down from Christine Caine this afternoon, on the subject of Passion's "Do Something Now" which is raising money for the fight against human trafficking (more about this in a future post.) I am mostly writing this post for myself, but I hope some of the truth in it will speak to someone else!

*When divine interruptions happen, lives are transformed.

*Jesus often interrupts our very normal, mundane moments in order to speak to us to transform our lives.

*The only thing that Jesus Christ went to the cross for was PEOPLE. (Luke 10:30)

*Compassion is never compassion until you cross the street and go... and do something now... until you get involved, until you allow yourself to be interrupted.

*Heaven was interrupted to send Jesus from Heaven to Earth for each one of us.

*If we are crippled and we are broken, then we can't help anybody else, but we who have been rescued have a responsibility to rescue lost and broken people. We have hope. His name is Jesus and that Jesus lives on the inside of us and he sends us to a lost and broken world to bring hope and restoration.

*We are saved. By grace. For a purpose. There are works that God prepared for us before we ever got to earth.

*Freedom is the goal of Christianity.

*As if somehow the purpose of life is to die safely! We don't need to fear what He defeated!

*IT IS FOR FREEDOM THAT CHRIST SET US FREE and we will stand on NOTHING LESS in our generation.

*Light works most effectively in the darkness. We just need to take the light that's inside of us to dispel the darkness...

IT IS FOR FREEDOM JESUS SET US FREE!

More coming on this subject; it's where my heart is right now.

"Motto" for 2012

Let me start from the beginning.

Over the summer, I had the privilege of attending a training based on the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People.  Our school system's goal is to adopt these principles district-wide.  One of the things that we were encouraged to do was to write our own personal "Mission Statement"... something simple that would reflect a deeper goal or set of goals.  I battled on this for a long time, and finally decided to make writing my mission statement the basis of my "motto" for 2012.

So, here's what it means...

CHOOSE JOY- For a long time, I have loved this simple phrase. But this year, I want to LIVE it instead of just "love it"... I want to look at all of life's situations and choose JOY, no matter how difficult the circumstances may be.  Choosing joy doesn't necessarily mean that I have a goal to always be HAPPY.  There's a difference.  Joy is deeper rooted than happiness.  As Psalm 30:11 says, "You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy."  True joy comes from knowing that God is in control.


HAVE TIME- This one is going to be the most difficult for me.  I'm really guilty of thinking "I just don't have time for.... (fill in the blank)." This part of my "mission statement" is to have time for the things that are truly important-- a daily quiet time, time with my children, time with my husband, time to focus on being a better teacher and friend.  


MAKE MEMORIES- This is my reminder that sometimes I just need to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the moment instead of trying to make it perfect.  It ties hand in hand with the first two-- looking for those special things to remember in the day to day, and having the time to enjoy them when they come along.  

2012

I'm a terrible blogger! I feel like 2011 was a total whirlwind and this poor blog was completely neglected. 2011 brought many great things for our little family, including our sweet Jude Morrison and a wonderful new job for the hubs. As great as it was, I am so looking forward to what 2012 has in store for us.

A few resolutions:
1. I have chosen a "motto" for this year. Look for a blog makeover soon that will incorporate these things: CHOOSE JOY, HAVE TIME, MAKE MEMORIES. (post to come soon on how I came up with this and what it means!)
2. Blog more. In addition to hopefully keeping up with this blog more, I am also using an app to do the 365 photo challenge!
3. Read to the kids (at least to Parker) every day! Before 2012 ends, my little girl will be in kindergarten!! I want to spend more time reading to her/working on her academic skills.
4. Date my husband. (more on this later)
5. Have a more consistent quiet time.

I am sure there are other things I will purpose myself to doing this year, but these are my year-long resolutions. (I also have a goal to lose a specific amount of weight by our anniversary in April!)

Here's to 2012 and all God has in store!!

New posts!!

This blog is so sadly neglected.
I just put up a series of new posts at allenfamilylsu.blogspot.com
Probably going to get rid of this blog and just keep that one now...

Thankful Thursday

It's been a while since I've blogged.

So I figure, why not post two times in one day. If you didn't listen to the song in the post below, you should. Because it's beautiful.

So now I'll go with Things I'm Thankful For.... You know, since it's Thursday. And Thankful Thursday is a catchy post title.

Trent
Parker
My extended family
God's faithfulness
My job
Good friends
Family photos... especially my mustard.seed ones
Good coworkers
Cooler weather! Finally!
High school football (yes, I did just say that)
My students
Sushi
Candy corn
my Paula Deen Creme Brulee candle

What a Savior - Laura Story

We've started singing this song at church recently, and I LOVE IT!