My Story

Hey everyone! Here's another video blog from me - a vlog. Vlogging isn't really my forte, but I'm trying to get more practice at telling my story. If you watch this and have questions or comments, I'd love to talk to you, so please reach out.

Reading the Bible like Jesus Did

Do you want to become more like Jesus? The way we become like Jesus is doing the things that Jesus did, and one of things he did was knowing and loving and thinking about scripture.

All this week, we as a church are reading a short passage or two from the Bible, and you can do it, too! There are a few reflection questions after each reading.

Can you do all five days? Maybe you could set a reminder in your phone as something to do right before bed each night - you can give up 15 minutes of time to grow closer to God, right?

Day 1
1 John 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

1 John 4:19
19 We love because he first loved us.

Reflection: The truth is God loves you. How do these verses make you feel about God? Spend a few minutes talking to God about your experience of His love.


Day 2
Psalm 107:43
43
Let the one who is wise heed these things
    and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.

Ephesians 3:17-19
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Reflection: Spend time thinking about being rooted and established in love. How does that make you feel? Does it bring an image to mind or stir something in you? Spend a few minutes writing down what comes to mind.


Day 3
Romans 5:6-8
6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Reflection: There is so much to learn about the nature of God’s love for us. What do these verses tell you about God’s love for you? How would you describe God’s love for you?


Day 4
Ephesians 2:1-5
2 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh[a] and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

Reflection: God’s love for us comes with great mercy and grace. Think about God as the giver of these things. What do these verses tell you about who God is?

Day 5
Psalm 103:1-14
Praise the Lord, my soul;
    all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2
Praise the Lord, my soul,
    and forget not all his benefits—
3
who forgives all your sins
    and heals all your diseases,
4
who redeems your life from the pit
    and crowns you with love and compassion,
5
who satisfies your desires with good things
    so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
6
The Lord works righteousness
    and justice for all the oppressed.
7
He made known his ways to Moses,
    his deeds to the people of Israel:
8
The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
    slow to anger, abounding in love.
9
He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10
he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
11
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12
as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
13
As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;
14
for he knows how we are formed,
    he remembers that we are dust.

Reflection: The writer of this Psalm reminds us to remember God’s benefits— the fruit of his unconditional love. Make a list of some of the benefits you have experienced of God’s love. Are there at least two that you have experienced in 2020? Talk to God about what is on your list.

These passages and questions are from the book Journey With Jesus by Larry Warner, and are modeled after the Spiritual Exercises developed by Ignatius of Loyola more than 500 years ago. The Spiritual Exercises have stood the test of time because they've helped generations of Christians enter into God's presence and become more like Jesus.

Can you be alone and be quiet for 5 minutes a day?

 The church is embarking on a series of 9 challenges that will help us make space in our lives to be transformed by God. Here's the first one! Can you do this 5 minutes a day this week?

Lessons

As we start to very slowly re-open here in Illinois, and we begin to step forward into our new normal, what have you learned? What are the lessons God has taught you in lockdown? What do you want to take with you?

God's Justice and Peace for a World on Fire

Some honest, unpolished remarks for middle schoolers about the murder of George Floyd and the protests and civil unrest hat has followed, the problem of racism in our country, and what God might be calling us to.

1. God made each of us in his image.
2. God brought ALL of us, every race, into his church, his community of believers.
3. We should all, especially white people, consider where we need to repent for participating in or allowing unjust systems.
4. We offer God's comfort and love, plus our repentance, to people of color in this country.
5. We strive to help bring God's kingdom of justice and healing here on earth now.

Strong Enough to Withstand the Storm

Did anyone get caught in today's thunderstorm? It seemed to come out of nowhere - it was warm and pleasant and then suddenly we were in a raging thunderstorm with pelting rain.

COVID-19 feels like that to me. Even with advance warning that a dangerous virus was infecting people in a Chinese province, I still never could have imagined the scope and scale of this devastating virus, and how it would tear through the world at lightning speed, ravaging not only health but also world economies. Just as a severe storm rips across the Midwestern prairies as this one did today, so the coronavirus has ripped across the world, and life is forever altered.

As I note in this video, however, we who follow God are called to stand strong. There are several places in the Bible where God refers to his people as trees. The righteous who choose the life of trusting God in faithful obedience are described in Psalm 1 as trees planted by a stream, whose leaves don't wither and who bear fruit at the right time. The prophet Isaiah refers to the people of God as oaks of righteousness.

Spend time meditating on these two passages. Read through them slowly a couple of times. What word or phrase is God highlighting to you? Spend time thinking about that, ask God to speak to you. Is there any action he might be asking you to take? What will help you become strong enough to withstand the hard times? Who does the good work in you to help you do that?

The first passage, the psalm, is a poem that was used in the ancient Hebrew church. The second is prophecy about the coming Messiah, Jesus, and what he would do for all people who trust in him. It's also a prophecy about God's coming kingdom, which we'll get to experience when Jesus returns and kicks Satan out, and restores all the broken things about this world - including coronavirus.

Psalm 1

1
Blessed is the person who does not
    follow the advice of wicked people,
        take the path of sinners,
            or join the company of mockers.
2
Rather, he delights in the teachings of the Lord
    and reflects on his teachings day and night.
3
He is like a tree planted beside streams—
    a tree that produces fruit in season
        and whose leaves do not wither.
He succeeds in everything he does.[a]

4
Wicked people are not like that.
Instead, they are like husks that the wind blows away.
5
    That is why wicked people will not be able to stand in the judgment
        and sinners will not be able to stand where righteous people gather.

6
The Lord knows the way of righteous people,
    but the way of wicked people will end.

The Lord Will Anoint His Servant with His Spirit

    The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is with me
    because the Lord has anointed me
        to deliver good news to humble people.
    He has sent me
        to heal those who are brokenhearted,
        to announce that captives will be set free
            and prisoners will be released.
²     He has sent me
        to announce the year of the Lord’s good will
            and the day of our God’s vengeance,
        to comfort all those who grieve.
³     He has sent me
        to provide for all those who grieve in Zion,
        to give them crowns instead of ashes,
            the oil of joy instead of tears of grief,
                and clothes of praise instead of a spirit of weakness.

They will be called Oaks of Righteousness,
    the Plantings of the Lord,
        so that he might display his glory.

Note: In the video you'll see that I keep referring to the tree on my front lawn as an oak tree. Actually after I filmed it I remembered it is an elm tree, not an oak. I thought it was an oak at first, but after the leaves and seeds came out I realized it is an elm! Ooops :) Just in case anyone can see it closely enough in the video to recognize the tree, I thought I had better be accurate. But my analogy still holds!

Moment of Joy

Sorry it’s been so long! We’re packing up and getting ready to move, no small feat with two very young children.

So I wanted to post a devo for you all but as I started to write it, my little guy woke up from his nap. And he wanted to snuggle. He started telling me all about making a happy face with this matching puzzle he has, which made me start humming an old song called Put On a Happy Face, so then he wanted to hear the song and Alexa played it for us, which then reminded me of the 1963 musical it’s from, called Bye Bye Birdie. I loved that old movie when I was in high school in the 90s, and so I pulled up the soundtrack and sang along, that’s when I remembered that we performed a Bye, Bye Birdie medley in our show choir’s Broadway Concert my senior year. (I was a total drama and choir girl all through junior high and high school, I did all the shows for 6 years!) Anyway, that’s how I came to record the above video for my devotional for middle school. It was me and my sweet 3-year-old sharing a peaceful, loving moment (except when he knocked the phone out of my hand) and it brought me great joy.

Is there a special, fun thing that you can stop and do today? Just something small that brings you joy? God knows you inside and out, and he knows the small things you like, your hobbies, your good memories, all of it. Even if, in my case, it meant bringing to mind a favorite choir performance from 23 (!!!) years ago.

Check out this sweet, short little Psalm. What little gift is God giving to you to help you calm your soul today?

Psalm 131 GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)

1 O Lord, my heart is not conceited.
    My eyes do not look down on others.
    I am not involved in things too big or too difficult for me.
2 Instead, I have kept my soul calm and quiet.
    My soul is content as a weaned child is content in its mother’s arms.
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord now and forever.

By the way, that quiet moment turned into my son throwing his little cars across the living room :) (next week we’ll have our own yard!) Guess where I went to find another quiet moment to write this? Wishing you all peaceful moments!

A Porch Portrait I'd Like to See

Happy Friday! I recorded the Facebook Live video devotional for our church this morning - we pastors take turns doing it about every 3 weeks. Today was my turn and to change it up (and escape the baby noise inside) I took it outside. Unfortunately there was a terrible wifi signal and the video is a little glitchy. But here it is.

And here's what I said.

Taking family Porch Portraits have become a popular activity during the pandemic. But do we really want who we really are during this time immortalized for all time?

I am finding that this time of having external trappings stripped away is really challenging - it is showing me who I really am. And I don't always like seeing who I am in these moments. But what this brutal honesty does is show me my own need of God. So today let's spend time with Jesus meditating on who he made us to be, and the mercy, grace and forgiveness.

Start by breathing in and out slowly. As you breathe in, pray, "Jesus." As you breathe out, pray, "Here I am."

Read carefully through this scripture. Read it through a few times. Consider God's mercy and forgiveness. Ask him for it. Thank him for it.

Ephesians 1:2-9
³ Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Through Christ, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing that heaven has to offer. ⁴ Before the creation of the world, he chose us through Christ to be holy and perfect in his presence. ⁵ Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us through Jesus Christ. He freely chose to do this ⁶ so that the kindness^[c] he had given us in his dear Son would be praised and given glory.
⁷ Through the blood of his Son, we are set free from our sins. God forgives our failures because of his overflowing kindness. ⁸ He poured out his kindness by giving us every kind of wisdom and insight ⁹ when he revealed the mystery of his plan to us. He had decided to do this through Christ.

Share Your Hope

Today's devotion is from our Senior High pastor Chris Herning. I found it really helpful and encouraging, check it out!

Be happy, patient and pray!

There's a ton of good stuff in these instructions from the Apostle Paul to the church in Rome. What is God saying to you today through these words?

Romans 12:1-12 GOD’S WORD Translation

Dedicate Your Lives to God

12 Brothers and sisters, in view of all we have just shared about God’s compassion, I encourage you to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, dedicated to God and pleasing to him. This kind of worship is appropriate for you. ² Don’t become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants—what is good, pleasing, and perfect.

³ Because of the kindness^[a] that God has shown me, I ask you not to think of yourselves more highly than you should. Instead, your thoughts should lead you to use good judgment based on what God has given each of you as believers. ⁴ Our bodies have many parts, but these parts don’t all do the same thing. ⁵ In the same way, even though we are many individuals, Christ makes us one body and individuals who are connected to each other. ⁶ God in his kindness gave each of us different gifts. If your gift is speaking what God has revealed, make sure what you say agrees with the Christian faith. ⁷ If your gift is serving, then devote yourself to serving. If it is teaching, devote yourself to teaching. ⁸ If it is encouraging others, devote yourself to giving encouragement. If it is sharing, be generous. If it is leadership, lead enthusiastically. If it is helping people in need, help them cheerfully.
⁹ Love sincerely. Hate evil. Hold on to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to each other like a loving family. Excel in showing respect for each other. ¹¹ Don’t be lazy in showing your devotion. Use your energy to serve the Lord. ¹² Be happy in your confidence, be patient in trouble, and pray continually.

What are you growing?

Hey there! What are you doing to cultivate your relationship with God? What do I mean by cultivate? Here's the dictionary definition.

Cultivate

: to foster the growth of cultivate vegetables (cultivate coffee)

: to improve by labor, care, or study : cultivate the mind

 

God loves us. He'd do anything to be with us, in fact he already did do everything by coming to earth for us, showing us how to live, and then dying to bear the punishment for our sins. He did it all. God is not some far off king on a throne, watching from a distance as we live our lives. He wants to be right here with us now, as Jesus was with his best friends. God can do that, be with us and be close to us all the time, through the work of the Holy Spirit who enables God to live in us.

 

But, here's the big but, it's our job to cultivate the relationship with God. If our thoughts and heart are totally consumed by other things, even other good things, we push God out. There's no room for him. And so we need to make an effort to get to know God, through prayer and studying the Bible, and learning to listen to the Holy Spirit.

This app can help you A LOT. It's a daily devotional that was created just for teens by a youth pastor in the Vineyard denomination. You can download it for free on either iTunes or Google Play. Follow the links to learn more! Happy cultivating :)

Shortest Video Ever

Watch this!

The Hugeness of God

What do you need from God today? I asked Him that question this evening, and He reminded me how big He is - but also that He’s here now with you and me, anyone who follows Him, not even right next to us but within us!!!

Spend some time meditating on Psalm 139 and Isaiah 40, and on how the Biblical prophet poets described God’s power and size. Then remember Paul’s words from the New Testament, that through the gift of the Holy Spirit, that vastness chooses to take up residence in us! That’s worth spending a few minutes remembering and talking to God about.

Make It! The Creation Challenge

With all this extra time at home, why not work on learning a new skill or even perfecting an old one? It could be anything: cooking (like in my video), art, music, building stuff, knitting, writing or something else with your hands, inventing a board game - whatever!

When we create something beautiful, we are participating in God's holy work of creation. We are creators, much like the Creator who made us all! That's part of our job, to continue God's important work of creation, whether it's a scarf or a piece of music, or a great Lego skyscraper, an app ... whatever!

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10

As I explain in the video, I've been trying to perfect homemade pizza for several months now. Above is the result of what I show cooking in the oven while filming. Tonight I came very close to getting it just right! It was delicious - all four of us ate it, even the baby, and it was gone in about 15 minutes :) Tonight's toppings were pepperoni, yellow pepper, mushroom and kalamata olives. As promised, here is my recipe if you want to give homemade pizza a try.

Pizza Crust
Making the crust is actually pretty easy. I double the crust recipe since I have a stand mixer that can handle that amount of dough. Then once the dough has risen, I divide it into four portions and freeze two of them: it only takes a little while for frozen pizza crust dough to thaw and start rising again, and then you can roll it out and top it.
Basic pizza crust recipe and cooking instructions from the Joy of Cooking

Pizza toppings
I keep these ingredients on hand so we can make pizza whenever we want
-jars of premade marinara or traditional pasta sauce in the cupboard
-blocks or grated bags of mozzarella cheese in the back of the fridge
-pepperoni slices that you can keep in the cupboard until you open the bag
-cans of pineapple chunks (yes! We love pepperoni and pineapple pizza, don't judge) in the cupboard
-vegetables that I dice and quickly sautee on the stovetop to soften before putting on the pizza
-Italian seasoning herb mix that I dash sprinkle over the toppings right before putting the pizza in the oven

You can also get creative with toppings. Here are some of the combinations we've tried:
Cauliflower or chicken marinated in Buffalo sauce with blue cheese crumbles
Red onion, sausage and goat cheese
BBQ chicken and red onion
Anything goes! The sky is the limit

Holy Wednesday - lavishing love on Jesus

 Hey folks! I did the devotion for the church website this morning on Facebook Live, watch it here

Holy Wednesday - Jesus prepares for the Last Supper

And here's a bonus video - this is an Imaginative Prayer exercise about the woman who anoints Jesus with oil at a party (which I talk about in the church devotion). As always, this devotional is from the book Imaginative Prayer for Youth Ministry by Jeannie Oestricher and Larry Warner

Enjoy!

We Shine - a musical devotion

Today's devotion is a musical one!

Enjoy the lyric video to this awesome new song (written and performed by my extremely talented sister-in-law Kat Regester, for Vineyard Worship UK & Ireland). You can listen a few times if you want, reading the lyrics, learning the melody or just letting the song wash over you.

Worship God by appreciating the beauty of the songwriting, the melody and track, and the vocals. Read through the questions and either answer them aloud with a family member, journal them, or just think about your answers. Spend time meditating on the included scripture verses, too. What does God want to say to you through the song, the questions, and/or the Bible verses?

As you listen, here are some questions to consider:

1. What does it mean for God to clean the "debris and dust" off of you? Where does this debris and dust come from?
2. Who is it that makes us shine? Who puts the treasure in us?
3. What's our role in learning to shine? How much do we do and how much does God do?
4. Do you need to ask God to come and make you clean again, to shine you up, so to speak?
5. The opening verse talks about standing in the chaos and calm. How would you describe your life right now? Is it more chaos or more calm? How can you shine in your circumstances?

Here's what Jesus said about letting your light shine: 
“You are light for the world. A city cannot be hidden when it is located on a hill. ¹⁵ No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket. Instead, everyone who lights a lamp puts it on a lamp stand. Then its light shines on everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way let your light shine in front of people. Then they will see the good that you do and praise your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:14-16

And the Apostle Paul said this:
^"Do everything without complaining or arguing. ¹⁵ Then you will be blameless and innocent. You will be God’s children without any faults among people who are crooked and corrupt. You will shine like stars among them in the world ¹⁶ as you hold firmly to the word of life. Philippians 2:14-16

Attitude Check

My friend shared this meme and it made me laugh a lot. It also challenged me to choose gratitude. How's your attitude today?

I admit mine hasn't always been so great. It's too easy to focus on the parts of life that are extra challenging right now, or the things that I am missing.

But the Apostle Paul gives us some encouragement about the kind of attitude we can have. He says this, in 1 Corinthians 10:31:

'³¹ So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything to the glory of God. 

This means we're supposed to do everything - eating, drinking, sleeping in, e-learning, playing video games, eating again, hanging out with our families, walking the dog, eating some more (cuz it's always snack time in quarantine life, right?), brushing our teeth, picking up our room - to the glory of God.

Huh? How do we do that? How do we do all of these everyday activities to the glory of God, especially when we can't go to church?

I'm not pretending to have all the answers here. I'm in the same boat as you, trying to figure this out everyday, how my life that has been so drastically altered and has big demands can be lived to the glory of God.

But here is what I do know. God made us so he could love us. He made us to have relationship with us. And he made us to show his love to others. We show his love to others by spending time trying to become like Jesus, and then acting towards other people - even our parents and annoying little siblings - the way Jesus would act towards them.

If our goal is to bring glory to God, we start by remembering who God made us to be (loved by him, "gardeners" who show his love to others), and then we live our life with that in mind. Sometimes it takes a major attitude shift, especially during these seemingly endless days of shelter-in-place. Here is a prayer you can pray at the start of each day, or when you feel your attitude starting to shift into self-pity, or anxiety, or anger, or even depression or despair. Try choosing a different attitude. Remember that God made you, that he loves you and that he has great things ahead for you today.

Here's the prayer:
"Lord, thank you for making me and for taking care of me. Now, God, make me a blessing to someone today."

Try it and tell us what happens!

Another boring day at home

How many of you woke up today with a sense of sadness? Our losses are so small compared to what those around the world (and, indeed, the ill in my own city) are experiencing. But to wake and think, “Oooh Saturday!” and then realize my little family can’t go to a nature center, garden or museum, to visit friends, or on a family cake and coffee date to Starbucks. Depending on the weather, we may not even be able to go for a long walk. So we’re facing yet another stir-crazy day in the apartment. And yet, maybe God wants us to meet him in the apartment. He wants us to meet him in the deprivation of normal activities, the ways we feed our thirst for adventure, for connection, for fun. Maybe, just maybe, he’s rooting something solid and sweet down in the dark soil of our altered lives right now. And as his work takes root, we’ll begin to see him more clearly than ever before.

From the devotional (it also has art and music, click on the link to see it):
“Perhaps we find ascetic practices so hard because we only notice what we lose and fail to comprehend all that we gain. You see, in casting other things aside through ascetic practices, we are brought to a place of simplicity, a place where we can finally focus on the one thing that is all that really matters – God Himself.

The presence of God is, like Judith Harris’ beetle, hidden in plain sight. We find Him not by diligent struggle but through the clarity of vision that simplicity gives. He is seen through a glass dimly, but the light can indeed be seen, especially when all other lights – those things that compete for our attention – are extinguished.

Simplicity also helps us to number our days and forces us to confront the illusions of self-importance that we are so prone to erect. When we, like the Queens of Soweto, cease trying to be someone of note, we are then positioned to live a meaningful life. We discover that choosing to live quietly and to work faithfully is what leads to contentment and pleases God. And this is what makes life truly meaningful.

In the process, we discover in this upside-down Kingdom of God that the ones God sees as great are those whom the world so readily dismisses as unimportant. Again, like the beetle, greatness in God’s kingdom is hidden in plain sight. It is found in simplicity, godly contentment, and a heart that treasures Him above all else.

Ascetic practices do not earn us favor with God. They transform us so that we may see the God who is always with us with greater clarity than ever before.”

http://ccca.biola.edu/lent/2020/#day-mar-28

Evening Meditation - Psalm 46

Imaginative Prayer - The Lord's Prayer

Today I lead a written meditation on The Lord's Prayer from one of our favorite books in Limitless, Imaginative Prayer for Youth Ministry by Jeannie Oestreicher & Larry Warner.

So sit back, relax, listen and connect with God during this time!