Thank you FC

Last weekend Fellowship Church took its community outreach to the next level. It was an event like no other. Family Fun Fest 09! After service there was a family event at every campus so that families could spend time together and connect with other families in the church. We had games, food, sporting challenges, live music, train rides, and oh yeah, and we gave 1800 kids backpacks full of school supplies.

This is a picture of Landon listening to the childrens worship band. How amazing is it that a 2 year old can be so excited about worship that she is reaching towards heaven. Thank you FCkids for teaching my child about living a life of worship.

Exciting

Day 11
Matthew 24:1-25
- Some when they read this passage may become a little scared or uneasy inside when they read about the end of time and when it will all be over. But for me, Im excited! It is a time that will be scary, there will be a lot of deceit and trickery during that time. But I am confident that for myself, and many other believers, that we will be able to hold strong to our beliefs and lean on our faith that He will keep us safe during this time. It is a time that Jesus predicts that many will try to trick us but we will all know when HE returns. He compares it to knowing that there is a clap of lightening in the East even when you are in the West. It makes me wonder about all that we will experience during this time and the times to come. I love the song "I can only imagine" by Mercy Me, and when I hear that song my mind wanders everywhere and when I read this passage it did the same. I am excited about all that heaven has in store for me and my family, excited to experience feelings, emotions, and senses that we have never felt, excited to live in constant worship with our Lord. And if I am among the people on Earth that have to live through the end times, Bring It On. There are bigger things in store for me.

Scary

Alright, I admit, I havent been doing these days consecutively. And that is because in The Next Step guide it says nowhere that these 31 days are to be done consecutively (thank you Ed Young). Mandi jo is on vacation this week so we are spending some quality time together and it is fantastic, so I am squeezing in some reading when I can. Trying to keep myself in the habit. It is easy for me to procrastinate, see earlier post.

Day 10
Matthew 22:1-14
- OK, yet another parable I have never heard. And I think I know why. ITS SCARY. Jesus starts the story with an event that everyone loves, a wedding feast. Dinner, cake, little cute appetizers, cheese plates, and dancing too Im sure. But then it gets kinda ugly. He compares the kingdom of heaven to a feast a father has prepare for his son. Sounds good. Then this particular one becomes open for everyone. Again sounds good. I see the parallel between this party and the party that is prepared for all of us in heaven. Then the father approaches one of the guest that is at the feast, I can picture him doing the chicken dance with a piece of cake in one hand and a glass of wine in the other, and asks him why he is not in the proper attire. The man is stunned. Then the father has him thrown out into the darkness. Wow. Tossed out for not being in the proper clothing. This is going to remind me that we are all invited to the party, but not all of us get to stay there. We better be dressed for success.

This Makes No Sense

Day 9
Matthew 20:1-16
- Seriously, this makes no sense. When you read this parable you can totally relate to the workers that are mad about thier days pay. But when Jesus tells a story you better pay attention and you better figure out why He told it and how He intended for it to relate to you. The vineyard owner pays the workers that have been working for only a few hours the same as he does the ones that have been there all day doing the hard work during the heat of the day. Being from Texas where the "heat of the day" can melt your eye lashes I can totally relate. But what is intended by this parable is that it doesnt make sense to us and that we dont totally understand it. This story can be paralleled to the gift of salvation that we all as believers will receive. Some of us will work hard for it, some will get it early and then just coast through life, some will make many mistakes then repent and receive it, but we all receive the same thing. The same eternal gift is given to all that want it no matter what your circumstance.

Holy Guacamole

I wish that I could say that this rubbermaid dish is huge, the size a full watermelon could fit in, but its not. Its a tiny one, about 4 inches across. So yes, I am a wuss when it comes to lizards, or anything in the slimey family. But I did take care of business this morning. I trapped him, took him outside, and threw him all the way to the back fence. I tossed him that far so I could run inside before he had a chance to beat me in.

The Cost

Day 8
Matthew 16:24-28
- Talk about a verse that hits close to home. Verse 24 is one that I see every week at church. During the week when I serve at church I watch the elementary kids in a room that is called "Follow Me" and there is a sign that hangs in the entrance with this verse on it. When I saw what the title for today was and the scripture it didnt click what it was, but as soon as I started reading I knew instantly. This just goes to show that we can casually walk by something on a normal basis that could be a huge impact on our lives. When I read in the context of this entire section it makes a bold statement, put all your junk and funk behind you, take up what is right, and start making some progress. When you think that Jesus said leave all your worldly stuff behind and work on strengthening your soul it seems simple. Do good things and dont worry about your stuff. Oh, and dont walk by a scripture on the wall 100 times and not let it really sink in.

It wouldnt be complete.....

Alright, what self respecting dad could have a blog without putting some pictures of his girls on it. Especially when they are this darn cute and you have a wife that is an amazing photographer.

Divided we Fall

Day 7
Matthew 12:16-42
- I really liked verse 25 where Jesus said," Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand." Many people when reading this series of verses probably stops and emphasises on the part where Jesus says if you arent with Me then you are against Me. This is a bold statement, but to me this one is obvious. So where I chose to focus is that we are told that our homes, cities, and kingdoms must not be divided. And upon further thought it is probably assumed that if a house, city, or kingdom that is united that it will flourish. So I will chose to do everything in my power to strengthen and empower my home. As a family united we can accomplish a lot!

Sermon on the Mount

Day 6
Matthew 5-7
- Day 6 was a big one. A BIG ONE. Not only have I only been reading a few verses at a time and this one is 2 full chapters, but this one was The Sermon by The Man. Im thinking this one may take a few days to fully download it to my brain. I have heard most of what Jesus taught in this sermon and have applied most or all of it into my life already, but what I didnt know is where it all came from. I didnt know that he sat down with his disciples and laid it all out like this. Wowzers! I can only imagine their facial expressions when He was done. I bet their jaws were on the ground and their eyes glued to His and you could probably hear your toe nails growing. What a powerful place to be. What I am taking away from today is the authority and the passion in which Jesus delivered his words here.

Catch Up

Well the first post that I did probably surprised those who know me, this one will not. Im a procrastinator, surprise. I had the intention to document every days journey step by step, and instead I drug my feet because I didnt know for sure if this is something I really wanted to do.

That being said I have read my guide for about a week now with each day telling the story of another part of Jesus' life. I have learned a lot (I thought it all would be a recap for me, boy was I wrong) and I have done much praying and thinking about all that I can and will take away from these reading.

If there is anything that I have learned from reading blogs and following a few blogs it is that I am not alone in putting off posting and journaling. I have seen on blogs like McMama, Angie Smith, and a cool chick I know Jo C, that if you need to catch up there is no better way than a bullet point list. So here goes:

(First off, if anyone tells any of my guy friends I know anything about those girly blogs I will delete this post)

Day 1
Luke 2:1-12, The birth of Jesus.
- I learned today that Jesus was born in Bethlehem because a Roman emperor ordered a census. This was the first census reported so I am imagining that Mary and Joseph were not pleased to find out that they were going to have to travel to Bethlehem from Nazareth; especially Mary, since she was pregnant and due to have Jesus any day.
- I took away from these scriptures that even this Roman emperor had a part in fulfilling the prophecy that the Son of God would be born in Bethlehem in a manger, I will keep my heart open to the truth that every person and situation that God puts on my path is a piece of my story and is there for a reason.

Day 2
Luke 2:41-52
-I learned of when Jesus was 12 in these scriptures, and how he went with his parents to Jerusalem for the passover feast.
-Today I thought about how at the age of 12 Jesus stayed behind in the temple to learn from and talk to the elders when his parent started back on their journey to Nazareth. I took away from this that even Jesus himself has a desire to be in the house and to learn. I will enter church each week with a desire to learn all that I can.

Day 3
Matthew 3:13-17
-These scriptures take place on the Jordan River when Jesus gets baptised.
- I saw in these scriptures that John is hesitant about baptising Jesus because he feels as though he should be the one being baptised by Jesus. Jesus tells him that he must be baptised to fulfill all righteousness. Wow. If it is proper for Jesus to be baptised we should all follow in his footsteps.

Day 4
Luke 4:1-13
-The devil is temping Jesus during a 40 day fast.
- Jesus tells the devil that you should not put the Lord your God to the test. The devil was tempting Jesus to turn rocks to bread. I know for me without food for 4 days if I the opportunity to turn a rock to bread I would think about it. But Jesus was not tempted. And for that we should all be thankful.

Day 5
John 2:1-12
- His first miracle, turning water to wine.
- Before starting this reading plan I knew of this miracle, I knew it was His first miracle. I knew the what and how about the miracle, but I didnt know the why. Why did He do it? Because His momma told him to. So from this I am thinking that it is important to obey, even when I dont want to. He even told her it wasnt time for Him to perform miracles but He did so because she asked Him to.

Now this is what I calling the first chapter of this blog. Lets all hope I get to chapter 2, 3, 4 and so on.

Why?

Well this is probably my first question and probably yours as well. Why a blog? And it has a funny answer, I dont know. Seriously, I have no idea. Maybe it will be fun maybe it will be challenging maybe it will be ridiculous. Maybe all of the above.

If you know me this should be the last thing you would imagine me doing. Typing my story. First of all I dont have good spelling, grammar, or form paragraphs very well. But I do like to talk and this just might help me be able to document my thoughts a little better. Also I dont tell a lot of my personal thoughts and ideas, so maybe this will be a way for others to get a glimpse of my brain.

So this is where the thought came from. As everyone that reads this blog will probably know, since I'm sure there wont be many, I work at my church. And at church there are many resources available to read, most of which I quickly look over because I know that I never get past chapter 2 in any book I pick up. But one day a week or so ago as I was cleaning up to go home for the day someone had left behind a little book in the nursery where I work. So I picked it up about to throw it away, and instead of throwing it away I decided "hey, since this is only about 7 pages long I'm going to read it." Lofty reading goals I know. I got home the next day and decided while the girls napped I was going to take out the Next Step Guide and give it a quick read. (Since this is also my nap time during the day this was a little out of my comfort zone.) For everyone that doesnt go to Fellowship Church, which you should if you have the opportunity, this is a little book given to people that have made decisions to follow Christ. I know this is not intended for me as I am already a follower but like I said it is short and I was gonna give it a try. So as I read through it I was thinking of what my next step may be and it came to me, to journal while I read the bible. Two things I am not familiar with. I wish I could say that I read the bible often but I dont. So this is where the blog came from, a personal journey to document what goes on while learning to live a life of obedience.

In this Next Step Guide our pastor Ed Young lays out some of the steps to take as a new believer. Most of which I have taken. And at the end there is a 31 day reading plan about the life a Jesus. So this is where I have decided to take my next step, a very basic daily reading.

I have taken many steps along my spiritual journey; some beginning steps, some small steps, some large steps, some jumps, some steps forward, some steps backwards, some steps beside others, some by myself, sometimes I have danced, sometimes I have fallen on my face, some steps where in the sand, some steps in the snow, some steps Im proud of, some Im not. But this step of journaling and reading is one that I feel I have missed and one that will help me grow, so here goes.