Sunday School

I teach a Sunday school full of senior high girls. Every other month I get to teach. I've never really thought of myself as a teacher, but I've really been enjoying it. This whole month we have been studying "wisdom." You know, questions like, how to I make wise decisions, and what is wisdom. Its a great study for any of you who are looking for something new to study :)

The goal that I have for my group is 1, that they learn how to have a relationship with Jesus outside of Sunday school/church, 2, that they become friends, 3, that I challenge them to read the word/live a life worthy of the calling. I think all along this has been my goal for them.

Anyway, this past Sunday was so encouraging to me as a leader because in a small way, I saw these things happening in the girls. It was the 5th Sunday, and honestly the material that I had to teach (we have a curriculum we use) was just ridiculous. I had something else planned to talk about, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt lead to just ask the girls what they've been learning in their own time with the Lord throughout the week. My goals in this were to get them to be vulnerable to one another, and that hopefully there words would help encourage the group. I was so proud of them. The things they were sharing were of the heart. A few that never talk opened up to the group! Amazing!

There were two testimonies (for lack of a better term) that really spoke to me... one of the girls has made some bad decisions. (She is a freshman right now.) And she started talking about how the Lord is revealing to her that love does exist through/in Him. How wonderful! Here is a girl who believes in God, but doesn't think that he loves her, sitting there telling the whole group that He's changing her mind in that area. What a gracious God we serve! The other was from a girl who had never been to our church before. She said she grew up going to a methodist church every so often. Through her tears, she started talking about how she wants to live a life in the Spirit and how she wants to be able to know God, and have people in her life that can lead her to Him.

I am so glad that we just chatted yesterday in Sunday school. I am so glad that Jesus is speaking to these girls in a real personal way. I am so blessed that all I have to do is show up to watch it all happen.

I am so encouraged that Jesus is moving in the hearts and lives of these girls! I am so shocked really that He would allow me to take part in it, that all I have to do is show up and watch Him move. I love it that the Lord is drawing men to Himself, and that He is wooing them into His kingdom.

Please pray for these girls as the Lord continues to speak to them :)

I once heard it said that our feeling of loneliness is God's cry for intimacy with us. Whether this is true or not, I find myself leaning on it and thinking about it more and more. Times are lonely. Times are a bit rough, but I know that Jesus is longing to meet with me.

I've been reading about trials and testing in the Bible and how, through the Holy Spirit, they bring about holiness in us. I find that as I read this there is a quiet, "yes" that resounds in my heart. I want to be perfected in holiness. I want to become more like Jesus. And sometimes that means that I am alone. Me and Jesus, working on the "self" in my life. Boy, does it get hard though. I find that I am so quick to let people fix me. I am so eager to make the hurt go away, to stop the discomfort of the purification process.

I pray that I become more like Jesus, long suffering and patient, so that I can submit to the Lord and let Him bring about His plans and purposes in my heart and life.

Talent

So this is my brother in law doing a cover of Bon Iver's song, "woods." Please listen and enjoy:)

another day gone by

cheeks stained black by the tears.

falling.

falling.

lunch alone.

sitting in silence.

saturdays just aren't the same.

everyday isn't the same.

busyness isn't enough.

when will i learn?

when will it sink in?

jesus be the center. be everything.

The Gym

A few things can be said about the gym. I've been spending more and more time there, so I wouldn't necessarily call myself and expert, but I've noticed a few things.

There are different people who go at different times during the day. I've never been there super early, so I can't say too much about that except that those people are motivated...my husband being one of them. In late morning, 9-10am you get the women/moms in all shapes and sizes. From 12-4, you get a random, sparse line of people coming in. Then from 4-7pm, you get people that are motivated, just getting off work and are there mostly because they "have to work out today." Then from 7-10pm, which is my new favorite time frame, mostly because the people watching is superb. There are HUGE men... the serious lifters, who are lifting weights and leave the cardio room empty! Yay for me. :)

There are men who douse themselves in cologne and arrive at the gym smelling like a 15 year old boy trying to impress his movie date. Maybe the smell of the cologne distracts people from noticing how much weight they're lifting...who knows.

There are moms/women at 8am, hair done, their face loaded with makeup, wearing a small amount of clothing for all the bouncing and bending that is done in the gym...for what reason??? I just don't get it.

I guess people are an anomaly no matter what setting they are found. I'm sure if someone was to look at some of my habits, they would think that I was strange.