Wednesday, May 28, 2008
School Has Begun
My New Testament Survey course has begun as of yesterday. The instructor has provided us our assignments and it looks like I will be reading and writing a lot over the next 2 months. I have felt anxious as I see the amount of reading required since reading is so difficult for me. I pray God will give me the grace to finish this course. Please pray for me.
Friday, May 23, 2008
How Will This Be?
I was reading in Luke 1 recently and the encounter of the angel Gabriel with Mary. Gabriel told Mary she would give birth to a son and call him Jesus. Mary's response to Gabriel was "how will this be? I'm a virgin." I can understand how Mary must have felt. She wondered how she could possibly give birth to a child when she had not had sexual relations with her soon to be husband Joseph yet. For Mary, her question was answered immediately by Gabriel who said to her the Holy Spirit would come upon her and the Son of God would begin development in her womb. And so it happened as Gabriel said it would - that's the rest of the story.
Today is one of those days where I too am wondering about whether or not developing a discipleship ministry for women is something I can do. How can I do this at my age? How can I do this with my schedule as it is right now? Someone told me that if God has breathed this ministry "to be", and I have scripture that encouraged me to get this started, that at times like this, I need to read the scriptures again. So for today, I am writing the scripture verses God gave to me to start this ministry - I need their encouragement today:
Job 42:12: The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.
Isaiah 54: 1-5: Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the Lord. "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband-the Lord Almighty is His name- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.
Days like today, I need to remember the words of scripture that were given to me to begin this journey of ministry. God, please encourage my heart through your Word.
He is the Lord God - the Almighty is His name!
Today is one of those days where I too am wondering about whether or not developing a discipleship ministry for women is something I can do. How can I do this at my age? How can I do this with my schedule as it is right now? Someone told me that if God has breathed this ministry "to be", and I have scripture that encouraged me to get this started, that at times like this, I need to read the scriptures again. So for today, I am writing the scripture verses God gave to me to start this ministry - I need their encouragement today:
Job 42:12: The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.
Isaiah 54: 1-5: Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband," says the Lord. "Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes. For you will spread out to the right and to the left; your descendants will dispossess nations and settle in their desolate cities. "Do not be afraid; you will not suffer shame. Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband-the Lord Almighty is His name- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth.
Days like today, I need to remember the words of scripture that were given to me to begin this journey of ministry. God, please encourage my heart through your Word.
He is the Lord God - the Almighty is His name!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Graduation
I am in Iowa today preparing for the celebration of my nephew's graduation from high school. There will be people, food, and fun. Keegan will be the center of attention - and he should be! Keegan has done well through school and plans to go to the University of Wisconsin to begin the journey of college. As I sit here and consider the day ahead, I will enjoy people celebrating Keegan. It is his day!
It was 36 years ago that I graduated from high school. And this year I will graduate from college - finally. It took me a while to get that college degree!!! I have this desire and deep burning passion to be a teaching pastor. But I live with this passion not knowing what to do with it. It would take quite a bit of money to even consider a master's degree (can't take another 36 years to get that done) and at my age, I do not want a college loan. If God has given me this passion, how do I use this gift and passion? Almost every Sunday, as I sit in church, I vision myself speaking and teaching. And tears come to my eyes because I do not know how to move in this passion. I believe God has gifted me for this - but I don't know how to get there.
But today - it is your day Keegan. You have done well in school and you have passions of your own. I pray for you that you find where your passion is and that you run towards it. Enjoy this next chapter in your life and love well! I celebrate your life Keegan.
It was 36 years ago that I graduated from high school. And this year I will graduate from college - finally. It took me a while to get that college degree!!! I have this desire and deep burning passion to be a teaching pastor. But I live with this passion not knowing what to do with it. It would take quite a bit of money to even consider a master's degree (can't take another 36 years to get that done) and at my age, I do not want a college loan. If God has given me this passion, how do I use this gift and passion? Almost every Sunday, as I sit in church, I vision myself speaking and teaching. And tears come to my eyes because I do not know how to move in this passion. I believe God has gifted me for this - but I don't know how to get there.
But today - it is your day Keegan. You have done well in school and you have passions of your own. I pray for you that you find where your passion is and that you run towards it. Enjoy this next chapter in your life and love well! I celebrate your life Keegan.
Monday, May 5, 2008
National Day of Prayer
According to my calendar, today is the "National Day of Prayer". But I've been hearing about people indicating they did this on May 2. So I wonder which date is correct? Does God honor prayers done on the National Day of Prayer more than on other days? I should read up on why the National Day of Prayer was started. I'm not being cynical about it - just wondering why the National Day of Prayer.
Yesterday, I had the honor of praying with a lady (for privacy purposes, I will call her Jean) who requested prayer with the anointing of oil by the elders (James chapter 5 talks about this). I was excited to be given this opportunity even though I did not know Jean well. She has been diagnosed with kidney cancer and will be having surgery to remove one kidney on May 7th. I read the scriptures on Sunday morning about "oil" in both the Old and New Testament. I learned oil was used to make the temple holy in the Old Testament. Anointing with oil signified someone/something being set apart for a function - dedicated if you will for a purpose. In the New Testament, it was used for the purposes of healing. Jesus was the anointed one - and also one who anointed with oil for healing others. The oil does not heal - it is symbolic of the Anointed One who has the power to heal and to save. We anointed Jean on Sunday and prayed with her.
Today Jean, I hope you know you are God's beloved. He loves you as a Father and a Lover. He is your great Healer and Friend. On this National Day of Prayer Jean, I will be praying for you.
Yesterday, I had the honor of praying with a lady (for privacy purposes, I will call her Jean) who requested prayer with the anointing of oil by the elders (James chapter 5 talks about this). I was excited to be given this opportunity even though I did not know Jean well. She has been diagnosed with kidney cancer and will be having surgery to remove one kidney on May 7th. I read the scriptures on Sunday morning about "oil" in both the Old and New Testament. I learned oil was used to make the temple holy in the Old Testament. Anointing with oil signified someone/something being set apart for a function - dedicated if you will for a purpose. In the New Testament, it was used for the purposes of healing. Jesus was the anointed one - and also one who anointed with oil for healing others. The oil does not heal - it is symbolic of the Anointed One who has the power to heal and to save. We anointed Jean on Sunday and prayed with her.
Today Jean, I hope you know you are God's beloved. He loves you as a Father and a Lover. He is your great Healer and Friend. On this National Day of Prayer Jean, I will be praying for you.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Course Completion
I have been attempting now for about 10 years to finalize my bachelor's degree. My story is when I first left high school I had no confidence that I could make it through college - I had visions of failure. I eventually entered a community college and graduated with an RN degree. But I never continued on for a bachelor's. In spite of my capability to graduate from community college, I was still living in fear that I would fail in a 4 year school.
I have desired to get a bachelor's since the early 90's. But because of circumstances which I won't go into right now, I never was able to get it done. Finally, in late 1999, I went to an online school fast track program to get a bachelor's in Business Information Systems. Just as the fast track program was ending, and I thought I had my degree, the college informed me I was short 10 electives even though I had transferred all my community college credits. And that very same month of ending the fast track, I found myself jobless. Not only jobless, but I lost a very significant person in my life - my grandmother. It was a difficult time.
Here it is 2008 - I finally got back to school in 2006 to finish the 10 credits. I will be finish credit number 6 this week. I'm excited this chapter in my life only requires one more course. This is a story that hard for me to tell. Here at work, most people have a master's degree and I am just trying to finish, at the age of 53 a bachelor's degree. It feels kind of embarrassing. And you know what? If I wanted to do what my heart desires, I would start a masters. More on that some other time.
I have desired to get a bachelor's since the early 90's. But because of circumstances which I won't go into right now, I never was able to get it done. Finally, in late 1999, I went to an online school fast track program to get a bachelor's in Business Information Systems. Just as the fast track program was ending, and I thought I had my degree, the college informed me I was short 10 electives even though I had transferred all my community college credits. And that very same month of ending the fast track, I found myself jobless. Not only jobless, but I lost a very significant person in my life - my grandmother. It was a difficult time.
Here it is 2008 - I finally got back to school in 2006 to finish the 10 credits. I will be finish credit number 6 this week. I'm excited this chapter in my life only requires one more course. This is a story that hard for me to tell. Here at work, most people have a master's degree and I am just trying to finish, at the age of 53 a bachelor's degree. It feels kind of embarrassing. And you know what? If I wanted to do what my heart desires, I would start a masters. More on that some other time.
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