Randomly ending at the Harvest

Ok...so a couple of you sent me notes asking where was the next blog post? haha Sorry I was in training in Raleigh all week last week...and I just had nothing nice to say! If you have a spouse that works in Raleigh...hug him right now and tell him you love him. =) If you work in Raleigh...bless you...and I am sorry if I was in the way last week!

This is my final crop collection of the season (ignore the random junk on the counter). It is going to be sad tonight when I pull up the remaining vines. But they need to go. The harvest is done and the vines are taking over the steps when you try and go inside. And Travis reminds me of that daily...he has been ready for them to go for quite a while. I guess his not eating tomatoes might play a part...
So...we had a guest speaker for church Sunday...the dude was very good (if you weren't there you will think I am being disrespectful when I call him a dude...but he would laugh). He talked a lot about my favorite hobby...seed sewing, cultivating and harvesting. If you would have told me that I would EVER relate to a gardening illustration I would have laughed in your face. politely of course. But I was thinking as I was listening to the illustrations Sunday that my focus in life is slightly displaced. Much better aligned than EVER before...but still slightly displaced. I have been so wrapped up in focusing on eternal life versus the life now. In ways that have surprised me at times...like letting things that normally would unnerve me roll right off because "they have no eternal significance". And in losing my Granny last year, I grieved so differently than ever before because I know where she is today without a doubt. And people think I am crazy when I refer to my children as borrowed from God...because honestly...that is what they are...borrowed while on earth. They are His alone...and I just get the privilege of trying to raise them to adults without killing them (or them killing each other...not sure which!).

Anyway...so while my big picture focus is generally ok...eternal life is what truly matters most...I am now thinking my immediate focus is missing a tad. I think my focus has ONLY been on the harvest. Which is impossible to achieve without the sewing and cultivating. Through his many illustrations I realized that being an effective witness requires multi-tasking...which I THRIVE on so I do not know how I missed it!!! You have to be able to focus on seed sewing, cultivating, and harvesting all at the same time! Because every encounter is at a different stage. And you do not "know" what stage! So you have to be prepared for all three and let God lead you to the proper stage. I absolutely loved his story of the garbage man. If you were not there, email me and I will tell you the illustration...it is kind of long and it will add so much to this post that the two of you regulars may never read the blog again...hahaha

Where is your focus? Is it only on the harvest or do you do well at multi-tasking? It is something to think about...tomorrow is Sep 1st...be getting ready for your SMC verse!

Have a Jesus filled day!
Kristy =)

Jesus Loves Me...more

Not much to say...the mouse pad says it all...lol

This was a present from my boss. It just tickles me to look at it. But then I think about what it says. And you can take it a couple different ways. Obviously, at face value you would think that someone actually thinks Jesus plays favoritism...but most of us know the foot of the cross is level ground. If you do not understand this and you honestly think Jesus loves you (or me or even Pastor Billie) more than any other sinner...we need to chat face to face. ;)

So the way I like to think about this mouse pad is that I should live my life daily so that others see me and think "wow, she just HAS to be the teacher's pet". Because if I live like I want to be the favorite, then I am walking in obedience and walking so close to Christ that others want what I have. Not that I want folks to covet or anything un-commandment like , but you know what I mean! When folks see Jesus shining out of you, they realize they NEED to have a relationship with Him too. It's contagious. And that is what Christianity should be...contagious. We should be so infected that when others are near us...they become infected too. Like a stomach bug or strep throat or the swine flu. Spread it to all your friends and neighbors. No amount of vitamin C should protect against it.

So why can't I do it daily? Why can't I be obedient and Christ-like on a daily basis? When you figure it out, let's write a book. I'll provide the comic annotations and you supply the earth shattering way to be Christ like. Oh sorry...the book has already been written...it's called The B-I-B-L-E (yes that's the book for me). And it is full of earth shattering ways to be Christ like (along with some comic relief). So maybe if I read it more often, I'll hear the Father speaking more clearly and then I can be the teacher's pet!!!!! Cause if you know me...you know that is what truly drives me...being the teacher's pet! hahaha

Seriously, how can we become more obedient? Do we need to pray more, read more, study more, or just live more transparently? There is no secret combination for the "best" Christian. We all fall short...but we should all strive to be "better". It helps tremendously to have an accountability partner to pull you through the slack times...or the rebellious times..or whatever season you "fall" the most short! So get one...or contact me and I'll partner with you. That is IF you can stand knowing that I am His favorite... :)

Any thoughts?
In Him,
Kristy =)

Fall, fall wherefore art thou, fall?

Fall is coming! I love fall…for so many reasons, while admittedly FOOTBALL season is the primary driver, I also love the return of cooler weather, suppers on the back porch, the thrill of hunting season through the eyes of not only a grown man but also a 9 year old girl and 6 year old boy, fall baseball and cheerleading practices (maybe not so much those...), shorter days, less bugs, etc. And I especially love that the routine begins to return. Most of you who know me know that I like structure. In fact, I just L-O-V-E a color-coded calendar with specific dates and times for things to occur... school, dance, football games, baseball practice, etc. It is truly sad...but it is just me! I like to call it “controlled chaos”! The summer is wonderful, but it is very hard to find any structure or stay on any kind of normal schedule.

And I’ve also grown to believe that September is the true season of “starting fresh” versus January first. Lots of things "start up" in the fall now. Sports seasons, dance classes, school for traditional system calendars, the church year, etc. So I like to think of September as a time of re-commitment. Where are you committing to serve in the new church year?

We had an interesting conversation in Sunday School last week. We were talking about folks using excuses for not serving at church. Basically...that no excuse is a good one! We talked some about how if you are asked to serve in a particular area...that could very well be the only "calling" God sends you. So if you sit and wait for God to call...you might have missed it by saying no. And then someone said it best of all..."honestly, what do you have going on in life that you are too busy to serve God? To do the thing He has sent someone to ask you to do." OUCH!

So what are you doing this year at church? Where are you serving with your time and talent? More importantly, WHO are you serving?

Joshua 24:15 "But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.""

I cannot wait to get started on the No Other Gods study!!!
=)

SMC - August 15th (a little late =)

Sorry! Yesterday was too busy to turn on a computer...lol

Eph 5:11 (NIV)
"Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them".

Let's hear your verses....

Fall Discipleship Classes are coming soon!!!!

OK...I don't know about y'all but I cannot wait for the Fall Discipleship classes to start at church. Sep 12th is the day! Wooohooo!! Soon you will be asked to pick your classes. There will be several hard to pick from choices...but let me get a plug in for the one I will be facilitating...=)
This is the same author of the Ruth study I did over the summer. And I believe I did a blog post or two about the book I read recently "no other gods". The book was amazing I cannot wait to do the study with some of you! I want to ask now that you go ahead and begin praying for me as the facilitator because I am so spoiled by Beth Moore studies...having a dvd to just press start...this one has no dvd...it is all discussion and leading. So it will be a challenge for me. But I am very excited about it!

Here is the link to the Introduction if you want to read it before you decide which class is for you. http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/files/lwcF_wmn_NOG_Intro.pdf

Also, if you are reading the blog and do not attend our church...YOU ARE WELCOME to come to Discipleship Training. It is Sunday nights at 6pm...just email me and I will hook you up with the details. It would be awesome to have several churches studying together...(the "It" book I finished last night (yeah!) made me keenly aware of how awesome that would be in God's eyes...churches on the same team...WOW!)

And funny...that was my motivation for joining the JBA WMU Leadership Team...to form alliances and a network of Women's Ministry Leaders across the county that could share information and ideas and support each other in so any way. And it is so "God" to lead me to read the book "It" to affirm that is exactly what He wants me to do in this season of my life. I LOVE HIM!!!!

Imagine what five churches could do hooked up in the county to reach the lost versus one church standing alone! Because honestly in the big picture...WHO CARES WHICH CHURCH GETS THE CREDIT AS LONG AS LIVES ARE COMING TO KNOW CHRIST INTIMATELY!!! I imagine satan is shuddering right now as I put the words in print!!! And I have a smirk!

OK...I side tracked...honestly imagine what I could do if I went to the doctor and got something prescribed for my A.D.D.

Get ready for the Fall Classes...if you were planning NOT to do one...THINK AGAIN...you need to be accountable in your study time with God...and this is the best way! So go ahead and plan for it! If you need me to encourage you personally...send me an e-mail I will be on you like a spider monkey drinking mountain dew! Nagging...I mean ENCOURAGING is one of my specialties =)

Love ya!
Kristy =)

Integrity Check...my toes are hurting!

Lee Blackman filled in at church last night, and let me tell you...it was awesome! I just love to hear him teach! The message was simple. From the book of Daniel. Specifically, the story of Daniel in the lions den. I bet I have read/heard that story hundreds of times. And almost every time I have accredited Daniel being saved by His faithfulness to God. But Lee added some depth to that philosophy. Daniel's integrity. Throughout the story, Daniel's integrity shines. In the first verses of the chapter (I think it was ch 6) we see that Daniel's integrity has landed him as the TOP administrator to the king. He was 2nd in charge. This made the other governors jealous.


Check 1 - Whom have you made jealous because your integrity is so highly thought of? When folks hear your name, do they think good standing, high integrity, etc? Or do they think compromising, able to be bought, wishy-washy, etc?


The next section is the governors convincing the king to issue the edict that no one can pray to anyone except the king. Because they knew Daniel well enough to KNOW he would continue to pray to God. That there was no way Daniel would compromise his faithfulness to God for anything...even the lion's den.


Check 2 - When folks see you Monday through Saturday, do they KNOW without a doubt that you are uncompromising in your faithfulness to Jesus Christ? Do they eventually give up trying to drag you down because you are standing firm on the Rock? And no matter what they tempt you with you always say no? Or do they know your button to push or your price for purchase?


The last section we discussed was obviously the lions den. It was brief because...well...Lee is a bit like myself...very good at talking and his time was over...lol But you know the ending to the story...God saved Daniel in the lion's den and then the king made everyone worship Daniel's God.


Check 3 - Who do you worship and with what motive? Do you worship God all the time purely so that you can become more Christ-like? Or do you worship your phone, tv, computer, money, children, friends, etc? Do folks know that you are a Christian without you saying the word? Or do you play church on Sunday but worship the world the other 6 days?


I leave you with a quote from the book "IT"...."if your gospel isn't touching others, it hasn't touched you"....


Who are you touching?


In Him,
Kristy
=)

"IT"

I am reading another awesome book. I'll wait while you get off the floor from that staggering news flash *grin*. It is by Craig Groeschel (you may remember I just read "The Christian Atheist" by him and it made me laugh and cry at the same time while convicting me to the point of no return). The full title of the book is "IT: How churches and leaders can get it and keep it". The funny thing is that he never actually defines "it" and yet you know exactly what it is! He talks about what it is not and what it results in. And from all of the examples, it is very clear that our church had it but as I look around I wonder if we are losing it.

Poor Travis...y'all pray for him because he has to live with me! Last night I made him listen as I read about 3 or 4 pages from the book...and then with wide eyes I asked him...do you think we are losing it? He did not say...no baby you obviously have already lost it!!!! But he was thinking it...I could tell =) And maybe I have...but as I look around at the way we treat each other I can see it slipping away. And I don't know what to do about it. It's like seeing a small leak in a dam and wondering how long before it busts. You know it will. You know it cannot hold the water back once it has weakened, but what can you do to fix it? Hope Mills did not know...and I don't either.

Of course I do know that only God can truly fix the weak spots in us. And I can only pray for Him to "make me willing to be willing". That quote was in the Ruth study I just finished and it spoke volumes to me. How often do I see a need but don't do it because I am not willing to? So my daily prayer is for God to "make me willing to be willing" to do whatever He lays in front of me. To mold me into the person He created me to be. To change me in whatever areas I am weak in...gossip, pride, jealousy, anger, etc strengthen me in any area to be more like Christ. That is one way you keep it...treat others as Christ would treat them. Are we treating each other as Christ would? Did you take last week's Shelby/Ruth challenge?

Look around the county and you will notice some churches with it, some that never had it, and some that lost it along the way. It can come and go as God sees fit. We really do nothing to create it...it is a blessing from God. We can only be obedient and treat others as Christ would...and hopefully God will continue to bless us with it. I can't wait to read the next 70 pages or so!!!! Stay tuned...

In Him,
Kristy =)

Ruth...

It is a sad day today...every time I finish a Bible Study...it is sad to me! For so many weeks you focus on a particular theme and then...you have to move on to the next subject. And most of you know I am a stickler for consistency and routine so moving on is always bittersweet!

I have been doing a Bible Study in my house for my neighbors this summer. It was on the book of Ruth. It was truly one of the best studies I have done. I saw Ruth in ways I have never imagined. And I saw God's glory showing BRIGHTLY in the smallest details. Details that I had overlooked the many times I had read the book of Ruth. I learned a little about the word "hesed" and how important it is to do that to each other (show extraordinary kindness). Maybe it was the effects of Ms Shelby's funeral this week combined with the whole end of summer Bible study night and it being month end at work...at any rate I have been a little out of sorts the last couple days! So I thought I would issue a sisterly challenge...

Show someone some "Ms Shelby" this week...show some "hesed" to someone...pick a person and shower them with extraordinary kindness. Try to do it anonymously...I realize sometimes not practical or possible though! If you do not have anyone in mind...contact me and I will hook you up with someone in need of some extra love and kindness!

And then after you do it...sit back and Praise Jesus for allowing you the time, money, talent, whatever He gave you...to be a blessing to someone in need of a Ruth! And if you will...post anonymously and share how you were a blessing or if you received it...how you were blessed! I love to see God at work in other's lives...let us live vicariously through you!

His Servant,
Kristy =)
kgardner1@aol.com