Darn you Rob Bell!

Darn you Rob Bell for stirring up passion in me once again. I am sitting here trying to stop myself from getting involved but passion has taken over and even if it is just on this small platform I call my blog:"All you need is Love", I must speak what is on my heart.

I understand that I am not a theologian, I don't write with big words, correct grammar and perfect spelling but I write with my heart, and I write what I know for sure, and what I know for sure is Christianity in America is in trouble! The statistics are baffling. While at Catalyst a few weeks ago I attended a lab done by Samuel Rodriguez, the leader of the Hispanic evangelical movement, who shared some of these staggering statistics:

- 85% of churches in the US are in a numeric decline

- Americans who identify themselves as Christians has declined 10% in the last decade

- Christianity has less influence on American Politics and Culture than it did 5 years ago.

- Newsweek published an article recently entitled "The end of Christian America"

BUT CHRISTIANITY IS NOT DECLINING IN THE REST OF THE WORLD

-In Communist China there are said to be 28,000 new converts a day

-In Africa Christianity has grown from 5% to 45% in the last decade

-The only Church that is growing in America is the Hispanic church

Something is very very wrong with Christianity in America. I have heard it said that "the church is producing atheists", and who can argue against that statement? We have to know that something is terribly broken. At this point change is crucial.

Rob Bell's new book "Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived" is creating a stir in the christian community. I have not read it yet but I have been keeping up-to-date with the heated debate by reading reviews and blogs on the book and the whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. In a time when change is crucial in the christian community why are we arguing and bickering over the same OLD stuff. I find it ironic that Rob Bell is preaching on LOVE and all we can seem to do is belittle each other over our opinions on theology and doctrine. I am not going to share my thoughts on whither or not I think there is a heaven or a hell or if Rob Bell is a universalist, clearly there is enough being written on that subject and my two cents is not needed, but one thing I know for sure is that Rob Bell believes that Christianity in America can be saved. I think we can all learn a lot about love from Rob Bell and the church that he pastors. Does he have all the answers? I am sure he does not but at least he is asking the right questions: "In a gospel whose overwhelming theme is love, why are we not living that out?" I plan to read the book and try to answer that question for myself and I hope you will do the same...stop being afraid and start answering the questions! In the words of Rob Bell, "God can handle the conversation."

The good news is that many giants in the American christian community believe that a time of young pastors doing bold and visionary ministry is emerging. Samuel Rodriguez said "This generation is eager to infuse the world with beauty and grace and the best of Christianity in America is yet to come" I don't know about you but I want to be a part of that movement!!!! I want to hold to the greatest commandment of all LOVE, and offer ALL who are hungry a radically different but far more beautiful, way of doing life. I don't have the answer to the change that needs to be made but I would bet that it has something to do with Love. We are called to manifest God's UNIQUELY beautiful love and bear witness to the reality of Jesus Christ by how we share our lives and serve others. The judgment needs to stop. The arguing needs to stop. The belittling needs to stop and Love needs to start winning! Lets be the change people!
I really like this guys blog about the book and it gives insight into what Rob Bells church is all about.

Dear Amber

Dear Amber,

When you were only a few months old I knew you were something special, you were so observant of the world around you and we would often tease you about your "starring problem", you would stare at everything and everyone, especially people and things that were new to you. People would stop me in the grocery store and say "your baby has been staring at me now for several minutes!" I would just laugh but deep down I knew that a very special personality trait was forming in your tiny body. When you were born we gave you the middle name Hallel which is Hebrew for Praise. Your Dad and I agreed that there was power in that name and with some prophetic notion we believed that you would grow up to be a worshiper. Now of course your Dad would love it if you picked up the guitar one day and lead worship services around the world, but we are both fully aware that worship does not only come from music, and even if you are not musical you will find a way to bring glory to God through your actions. Now I understand that you are only two years old and you have a lot of growing and changing to do but I am amazed by you! You are the most caring, loving, thoughtful, silly, funny little girl that ever walked the earth. How on earth did God think up you I will never know. I am starting to think that the reason why you stare is because you are trying to figure out what that person needs and if you can help. Nothing makes you happier than when you are helping someone else. Every morning you help Daddy unload the dishwasher, and get Laurie up ready for Breakfast. The other day you tried to pour Laurie's cereal into a bowl for her, it didn't go so well but I could not stop smiling over the fact that you would even want to try. Last night as I was leaving the house for a quick trip to the grocery store you ran into the room and brought me out my coat and all I could think at that moment was: how on earth can a two year old be so thoughtful? I am reminded of few verses that suit you well that I hope you will hide in your heart one day.

1 Cor 13: 13 "Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly, but remember the best of these three is LOVE."
Philippians 1: 9-11 "This is my prayer: That your love will flourish and that you will not only love others much but well. Live a lovers life, a life Jesus would be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul making Jesus attractive to all, greeting everyone with the glory and PRAISE of God!"

If you love and serve people the way Jesus did I can't think of a better way to "Hallel" to Praise. I thank God for the things he is going to do through you little one. I am so proud to be your mommy.
love always,
Mommy

Thoughtful gifts are the Best!

As a gift this Christmas Brandon's Mom presented him with a scrapbook that she put together of his childhood. This was HUGE since up until that point all of her pictures of Brandon were in the bottom of a box somewhere...we can all relate right!? :) At first glance I loved seeing him as a kid and of course comparing his looks to our children, Peyton has his eyes and Amber has his nose...but as I got through to the end I could not help but notice how parallel his childhood was to mine. A lot of the parallels were just little stuff like we had the same color soccer uniforms on the same year, and that our Dad's both liked to take us fishing and that we both attended prom our feshman year. (crazy I know! :) ) but what was even more shocking was how similar our faith journey's were. We were both raised in the church...our parents not Christians when they met but soon found their faith after their children were born. As young kids we were involved in a children's evangelism outreach called King's Kids (a ministry founded by YWAM) I was in the LA branch and he in the San Diego... we both fell in love with performing through Kings Kids and began doing community theater were we both performed in the musical Grease...King's Kids also brought out our love for evangelism so as teenagers we went on several mission trips one was to Atlanta Georgia during the 1996 Olympics. Due to our experiences during our mission trips we made commitments to serve the Lord with our lives and chose Azusa Pacific University to study Bible and ministry...it was there that we met for the first time in a "Marriage and Family Life" class and fell in love while performing in a musical...Hello Dolly!. Now is it just me or is that a product of God's incredible handy work... and sense of humor! :) Now of course I knew all of these things before looking at the scrapbook but for some reason seeing it mapped out like that was very powerful for me (can anyone say visual learner?) Like any marriage we have had our far share of ups and downs...during the lows it was easy to question wither or not we were made for eachother but I was reminded yet again of the divine nature of our relationship all thanks to a little scrapbook. Amen to thoughtful gifts and Amen to a God who knows our beginning and our end. Thank You Jesus for being the author and perfector of our Faith!

Weaknesses vs. Strengths

Do you focus more on your weaknesses or your strengths?
Did you know that when a survey went out asking this very same question to huge organizations all over the world 30% said they focused on their strengths and 70% focused on their weakness. Why do we this?
This question was brought to my attention after listening to Marcus Buckingham speak at the Women of Faith conference this weekend. As I sat their listening to Marcus I became increasingly convicted on the fact that I as a parent tend to focus more on my children's weaknesses rather than their strengthens. It was brought to my attention how very backwards this way of thinking truly is.
For example: My youngest daughter Amber is not what you would call an "easy" child. From the day she was born I had this sense that she was going to be very different from my first born (who I like to call an angel baby). Amber was born with pixy in her eyes, she is extremely stubborn, short tempered, clingy, overly curious and above all trouble waiting to happen!!! In the last month she has gotten into a bottle of Zicam and thrown it up all over my poor moms blow up mattress, (She has also gotten hold of a baby Tylenol bottle and figured out how to open it regardless of the safety system on it...we luckily got it from her before she took any but not without a fight) She has also learned how to unlock the double bolted front door and numerous times I have caught her just before she made it to the middle of the street, we have had to put one of those baby door knobs on the inside of her bedroom door just to keep her in her room at night but she has recently learned how to tear them apart and get out anyways, not to mention her new found fascination with toilets and the countless times she has backed them up due to flushing inanimate objects down them. I could go on and on about this child and the fun never stops, its all day everyday!!! I have recently become aware that I complain way to much about Ambers behavior and perhaps I need to hold my tongue a bit...So if you hear me ranting PLEASE you have permission to slap my wrist...and I am serious.... I really am working on not talking about her so much in fear that she may hear me and for the rest of her life label herself as TROUBLE, and that is the last thing I want for her.
I have struggled to know exactly how to handle her behavior until this strengths vs weaknesses came to my attention...what if instead of focusing on the above written paragraph I were to tell you that Amber is in fact extremely loving and caring. Already, at one years old, we can tell she has a servants heart and looks out for others often before herself....what an amazing quality right!? She loves to be Mommy's little helper...in fact I caught her this morning trying to unload the dishwasher for me

So I made a commitment to start focusing on my children for what they are rather than what they are not. For Amber I think that means keeping her busy with chores.. LOL...my hope is that by keeping her hands busy it will keep her out of trouble...we will see how it goes. :)

World Changers!

I attend a women's bible study on Tuesday mornings that has been such a blessing for me. Every Tuesday I walk out of there feeling refreshed and alive and today was no exception. We are towards the end of our study and the lesson today was on "Our Calling" The leader of the study shared that she once was at a conference and the pastor stopped in the middle of his sermon and told the crowd that he felt strongly that in the midst of them there were World Changers and he wanted everyone to go to one of those people and pray for them. Looking around she wasn't sure who she should go pray for until she realized that a group of people were laying hands on her and praying for her... Tears began to pour down my face as I found myself taken back to a similar time in my own life when I was 15 years old and a group of people laid hands on me and encouraged me to commit my life to full time ministry. I remember being overwhelmed with the fact that I felt so ordinary yet these people saw something in me that was world changing. I remember feeling my whole body shake because I had never felt like anything was so right before. After that experience I went to college to study ministry and married and pastor and have been serving God ever since but these last few years I have felt sort of lost in my calling. Since becoming a mom I find it difficult to spend time with God like I used to, I can no longer volunteer my time at church, or lead mission trips, and I so desperately desire to work with my husband and his youth ministry but it is just to hard to do these things with the kids. I have spent many days and nights feeling trapped in my own home yet desiring so desperately to be out there changing the world. After the lesson was over our table leader saw that I was emotional and asked if I would share what was going on inside me...I shared with her my feelings of wanting to do and be so much more for
Christ but feeling trapped in this season of raising my young children. She than told me that God gave her a vision as I was sharing...that I was not to worry God has me right were he wants me. She said her vision was of me as a gardener planting seeds and the flowers that grew from those seeds were my children and they were the ones that were world changers! Wow.
Its so funny how we often feel this call on our lives and we see it so differently than God sees it. For me I want to be out there on the mission field getting dirty for God but instead God brought my mission field right into my own home with my two little girls. Maybe for you...you might want to be like the seeds still in the pouch never wanting to get dirty never wanting to grow but God has so much more for you outside of your comfort zone. Ask God today what your calling is...Maybe you are a World Changer too!

I am thankful I am able

Don't you hate it when it seems as though God has you on this "thing" wither its a conviction or a thought or a change of mind its just this thing that no matter how hard you try to get away from it, its everywhere and everyone you know is talking about it, and the pastor preaches his sermon on it, and your friend brings it up in conversation and you get to this point when you finally are like "Is God trying to tell me something?" duh!
Well that is what has been happening to me in the last couple of weeks. The subject matter is nothing deep or life changing its sort of basic really it has to do with house cleaning. yup, house cleaning. It started a few weeks ago when I started to notice my husband making frequent comments about my lack of house work. Comments such as "Wow there are a lot of dishes in the sink today!" or "How long has it been since you pushed the button on the automatic vacuum cleaner?" At first I took offense to his comments and my women's rights side of me emerged and I would strike back with "Well I have been a little busy with YOUR kids all day long" Or "Its just as easy for you to push the button on the vacuum than it is for me" but in my quiet moments his words would sting a little because I realized how little house work I was actually doing and I could probably be doing a better job. So I started to put more work into the house during the day but God could not just stop there (He knows me to well) So it seemed everywhere I went people were talking about this subject of doing your job and doing it well. So I thought I would share just some quick lessons I have learned this week. 1. You should clean your house for your family and you should tidy up for your company. (Yea think on that one for awhile...I know in my house those two are reversed) 2. Be the best you can be in the job God has you in because you never know how that job (as mundane as it may seem) may be preparing you for something bigger in the future. 3.Instead of saying "I HAVE to clean the house today" or "I HAVE to take care of the kids today" instead change it to "I am ABLE..." Putting praise and thanksgiving into your work makes its so much easier to get done. I am by no way saying that because I am a women my duty is the house work. Brandon and I made a commitment on our wedding day that stigmas like that would not be apart of our household but I have come to the realization that for this season of life, I am home with the kids and the house and for now that is my job, and I am to do it well. I have to say that I cleaned the house with a thankful heart yesterday and my husband actually noticed and that felt good. So for me, I need to clean my house more, what can you be doing better in the season of life you are in?

"I'm not perfect..."

Its so hard to come home from vacation! I suggest that we start a new tradition that after a week vacation you get another week at home to let your body adjust to the real world. Brandon and I just got back from a 7 day cruise to the Mexican Riviera. We had a BLAST to say the least. 7 days and 7 nights with NO kids! I think we most appreciated the undisturbed sleep. The first morning we slept until 10am (We were bummed we missed the morning buffet.) We were like kids again...we ate whatever we wanted when we wanted, we stayed out late dancing, we went down the Cruise ship twisty slide several times, we went on several adventures like ATV rides, zip lines, water skis and racing horses along the beach...I can't even begin to tell you how much I needed to feel...well...Free again.
So coming home has been an adjustment, to say the least. We have gotten through the week dragging our feet through the mundane tasks of everyday life. I feel like Brandon and I have talked only when necessary...both trying to morn and adjust in our own way I guess. And I have not been the most energetic mom this week either...if you know what I mean.
Well today, after spending the day picking apples at a local farm with our good friends from play group, I finally had a fun day in my REAl life and it was just what I needed to snap me out of my vacation woos. But, the best part of the day was that my 3 year old enlightened me! Yup, you heard me right! Don't you just love the moments when you think you are about to be super mom and teach your child a very important life skill, like baking a pie, and than your child turns around and teaches you something so much more important. Well it happened to me like this: I got Petyon all set up on a chair by the sink washing the apples while I was peeling and coring. I was already getting a little teary over the fact that my baby was able to wash a basket full of apples like a pro...when and how did she learn to do such a thing...and when did she get tall enough to reach the faucet??? But to seal the deal on the tear flow my little princess starts singing a song from our latest car CD by Laurie Berkner:
"I'm not perfect, no I'm not.
but I do the best with what I got!
I do my very best, I do my very best,
I do my very best each day
but I'm not perfect and
I hope you like me that way!"
"sing it with me mommy!" Peyton shouts. So away we worked singing this song at the top of our lungs. Peyton even changed the lyrics to "WE are not perfect" and with each verse I felt more and more free. As I sang "We're not perfect!" all the not so perfect mom moments of the past week began to flash before me, like the fact that I plopped my kids in front of a movie so that I could sneak off and catch up on Project Runway Episodes, or the time that I faked being asleep while my husband got up with the baby. "I'm not perfect but I do the best with what I got" I shouted, this time with feeling. It felt amazing! Seriously try it! We sang it over 26 times (which I would NOT recommend) but really...It just feels good to accept and acnowledge that we are not perfect every once and awhile....and guess what...Its ok! I wish you all could have heard my 3 year old sing this song, you too would have been enlightened! :)