Camping...

Off to camp!! Have a great weekend!

Esther: It's Tough Being a Woman - Review 1

I am a very private person. You may not think that, considering I blog, Facebook and Twitter, but it is usually only surface things. Nothing too deep. Perhaps I get a little bit deep when talking about God, but not about those deep recesses of the mind where only a few people are allowed to enter. It has never been my style.

All of that being said, I really need to share about my Bible study last night. I am doing another Beth Moore study. This year it is on Esther (which I always want to spell "Ester"). Last night was the first video night. It was wonderful. And then, it became very revealing for me.

Beth Moore was talking about how the book of Esther does not mention God's name ever. There are times when He is implyed, but He plays a more behind the scenes role. Her point was that we needed to study this book because there are times when we do not see God, feel God, hear God, etc. in our own walk. There are times when He is there, but we cannot feel Him or know that He is there. He never leaves us, of course, but there are times when we experience a "dark night of the soul".

She began to talk about her own experience with this. She couldn't feel Him. Couldn't hear Him. She still continued to read, pray and serve Him, but she was doing it on faith, not really feeling His presence.

That is where I have been the last little while. There are times when I feel Him so close. This is not one of those times. I continue to serve, pray, and believe without a shadow of doubt that He is there, but I have not had a strong sense of Him for awhile. Some of this is my own choice. Some of it is a God thing. After hearing Beth talk about it last night, I realized that God was preparing me for this study. He really spoke to me in the video last night telling me: "I'm still here. Just preparing you!" It was like a flood of emotions. I always cry a bit during Beth Moore, but I wanted to sob last night.

I don't know why I am telling you this. Perhaps it is because I want you to know that Christians do not always have it together. We are not always constantly happy, or feeling God. There is no special formula to help you hear Him. As long as you are willing to let Him speak to you and are seeking Him and His will, I think that is the most we can do.

She ended with telling us that God has a purpose for us. It is going to challenge us to perservere, to endure. We don't want to miss it!! I don't want to miss it!!

Sunday Reflections: I Can Do All Things...

Last night I was working in Promiseland at church. I work in the 4 year old room, which we call "Courageous Camels". All the rooms have fun names like that. Emma's 2 year old room is "Little Lambs". And the 3 year old room is "Bouncing Bunnies". It is amazing how different each stage and room is. And this year our room is bursting at the seams. We had 22 kids last night whereas last year we would only have between 5-15. Anyway, we were on our toes last night.

Heat was the other distraction. The AC was not working last night and it was a pretty hot day yesterday. It was hot. The kids were fine, but that adults were dying!! Not literally...

I help out with the pre-story time and the worship, as well. We used mics last night which go around your ear. I forgot to tighten my microphone all the way so it was chunking and clicking...Pretty crazy. I got it fixed, but it was still quite humorous.

We also had the kids make tambourines. They were loud and the kids couldn't stop playing with them (of course). And yet...it was wonderful how calm everything went.

All this is to say that God really helped out a lot last night. We were learning about David and how he danced for the Lord after he won all those battles. Our theme is that: God can help us do anything!! And He can and did last night. A million things seemed to go wrong, but it didn't seem to matter. It was wonderful how calm I was during all the interruptions, during the heat, during the mic mix up, and yet...God was there to guide us along. He is an amazing God.

"I can do all things through Christ!" Phillipians 4:13