Last night...

... I completed what I thought was a triple play of dining, but now I realize it was not.

It was a grand slam.

Mighty little man...

Still my favorite song by Steve Burns (including the planet song from Blue's Clues, and that's saying something).

Spring break reading...

Last year at one of my lovely annual check-ups, I sat in the office of my WHNP during the debriefing segment of the appointment. You know you have a great WHNP when you spend 1.5 minutes talking about the exam and 23.5 minutes talking about the gospel. She rocks.

She had just read a book by David Platt and was telling me that it had pretty much turned her world upside down. Mind you, she didn't really follow tradition to begin with, so seeing her get more radical was truly radical indeed.

I put Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream on my reading list and figured I'd get around to it within a year or so. Believe it or not, teaching English isn't too conducive to keeping up with my personal reading list. I have to be all literary and stuff.

Spring break rolled around, and I had, in unprecedented fashion, finished all my lesson plans and grading before the end of the last day before break. I decided to go ahead and start Radical. It is very good. Very solid. I think more than anything, I appreciate the humility in which Platt writes. Second to that, I appreciate his putting a proverbial finger on the reason why I've been so discontent in my own mundane walk with the Lord, as well as in my engagement (or lack thereof) in church for the past few years. I won't give away everything here -- it is well worth finding a copy online and ordering it yourself.

I do want to share a couple of paragraphs that I found especially meaningful, though. They had to be meaningful; I underlined the whole page.

... In our Christian version of the American dream, our plan ends up disinfecting Christians from the world more than discipling Christians in the world. Let me explain the difference.


Disinfecting Christians from the world involved isolating followers of Christ in a spiritual safe-deposit box called the church building and teaching them to be good. In this strategy, success in the church is defined by how big a building you have to house all the Christians, and the goal is to gather as many people as possible for a couple of hours each week in that place where we are isolated and insulated from the realities of the world aound us. When someone asks, "Where is your church?" we point them to a building or give them an address, and everything centers around what happens at that location.

When we gather at the building, we learn to be good. Being good is defined by what we avoid in the world. We are holy because of what we don't participate in (and at this point we may be the only organization in the world defining success by what we don't do.) We live decent lives in decent homes with decent jobs and decent families as decent citizens. We are decent church members with little more impact on the world than we had before we were saved. Though thousands may join us, ultimately we have turned a deaf ear to billions who haven't even heard his name.

Discipling is much different.

Whereas disinfecting Christians involved isolating them and teaching them to be good, discipling Christians involves propelling Christians into the world to risk their lives for the sake of others. Now the world is our focus, and we gauge success in the church not on the hundreds or thousands whom we can get into our buildings but on the hundreds or thousands who are leaving our building to take on the world with the disciples they are making. In this case, we would never think that the disciple-making plan of Jesus would take place in one service a week at one location led by one or two teachers. Disciple making takes place multiple times every week in multiple locations by an army of men and women sharing, showing, and teaching the Word of Christ and together serving a world in need of Christ. (Chapter 5: The Multiplying Community, 104-105)

Our family recently hit a rough patch that necessitated our stepping out from our disinfected world. Although from the outside it seemed like a decidedly fallen-world situation, we have seen the Lord already working out a plan that is far greater than we could have imagined. He has disciplined us, chastened us, stretched us, challenged us, undergirded us, gone before us, and blessed us. Only God could work all that into one situation.

As a result, we find our focus shifting a little from our disinfected culture to the world where we can actually share Jesus with others. It's a baby-step radical, but I think it's the beginning of something pretty special.

New Shoos...

Today we went back to school, and I wore my new shoes.  I got TOMS for Christmas.  They were super cute on the website, but oh-my-goodness! I had no idea how comfortable they are.  TOMS are officially my favorite shoe. 

I wear my Skechers Shape-Ups when my plantar fasciitis acts up, but I have a feeling that if TOMS feel as good after they wear a bit as they do at first, I might not have many bouts with the dreaded p.f.

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SMT verse:  I Corinthians 6:20 - For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.   (From memory!  Booyah! Already whipped it out and used it in battle.  Felt great!)

I'm off to get good rest.  'Nite y'all. 

<3

I needed that...

Monday I walk back through the doors of school. That sounds like I haven't been there all summer. Actually, I've been there routinely transporting Zane home from football workouts, but I carefully avoided the inside of the building for most of the break. I needed this summer desperately. Last year was... BRoooo-Tal.

I did pop in a couple of times last week to put borders and shells (as in sea) on the bulletin boards and hang some spiffy new posters. Will post pics... eventually.

And I've been drafting curriculum for two new creative writing classes all summer.

And I've come us with some new stuff for journalism that should either be really fun or send kids to drop/add in droves.

But other than the superificals like bulletin boards and writing exercises, I've pretty successfully avoiding thinking about teaching. You know... the inspirational kind of thinking you really ought to do to be a good teacher.

And then my sweet Jenn, who is one of the best thinkers (and in general one of the most beautiful human beings) I know, posted a link on Facebook.

Why don't you take a minute to check it out here.

Good stuff, huh? I think I'm ready now.

Thanks, Jenn!

You had me at "Overwhelmed"...

Overwhelmed. Miserable. Exhausted. We know the feeling well. As wives and mothers with toddlers and teenagers, and husbands who serve as local church pastors, we often feel pulled in five directions at once. We've learned there is no such thing as simply a busy month or a busy year. It's a busy life, pure and simple. Around every corner is another potential hospitality, another counseling opportunity, another church meeting, another diaper to change or carpool to run.

But we also have learned from God's Word that it is possible to deal with life's demands without becoming overwhelmed, miserable, and exhausted. We can surmount the numerous responsibilities that threaten to wear us down. More than that, we can actually do all that God has called us to do.

"Ha," you laugh. "You've got to be joking! Do it all? You haven't seen my to-do list. It's longer than an unwound roll of toilet paper!"

A fantastic claim, we know. But it's true. We can accomplish everything God has ordained for us to do in this life. (Hint: It's probably not half of what's on your to-do list.) And we an do it in a peaceful, joyful manner and get sufficient rest besides.

With encouragement like that in the introduction, I was scared NOT to read the rest of this book. For reals.

Plus, it's only 95-ish pages of nice-sized print, written in a conversational tone, to make for a solid, quick read, which is only fitting, dontchathink, for a book about time management.

True to all Mahaney-women books I've read (Feminine Appeal and Girl Talk), this book is grounded in God's Word. It's not another time management program (thank goodness), but a reminder of godly principles that underlie a life well-lived for His glory.

I've always believed that the Bible is the handbook for all of life. You know, the Creator wrote it and revealed everything we need to know to live life on His earth well. It's essential reading. Yet sometimes, OK... a lot, I find myself benefiting from other women who are "a little further down the road" than I am. Their insights go a long way towards unlocking the practical applications of God's Word.

For this book Carolyn, Nicole, Kristin, and Janelle take Ephesians 5:15-16 -- "Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil." -- and unpack it for those of us who are temporally-challenged. Based on five tips for making the most of 24/7/365, the book is full of advice and encouragement to choose the best bargains in exchange for our time in a manner similar to the way we choose great deals in exchange for our dollars. Actually 24/7/365 isn't totally accurate. These uber-smart ladies base the day on 16 waking hours. Wow, could I have used that concept this past year of teaching!

And yet, our God is the Redeemer of all things, including time. What great news! I'm setting the alarm for 5AM, printing out the One Year Bible Reading Plan, and scheduling a personal retreat BEFORE the 2010-2011 school year kicks off.

Gotta go now. I've got people to see and things to do... While you're online, though, why don't you check out Shopping for Time?