Soaped up on October 6th

S=Scripture... The part where we read God's word.
Exodus 3
7 Then the LORD told him, “I have certainly seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their cries of distress because of their harsh slave drivers. Yes, I am aware of their suffering.8 So I have come down to rescue them from the power of the Egyptians and lead them out of Egypt into their own fertile and spacious land. It is a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.9 Look! The cry of the people of Israel has reached me, and I have seen how harshly the Egyptians abuse them.10 Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.”11 But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”12 God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”13 But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?”14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.* Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”15 God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh,* the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.
This is my eternal name,my name to remember for all generations.
16 “Now go and call together all the elders of Israel. Tell them, ‘The LORD, the God of your ancestors—the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—has appeared to me. He told me, “I have been watching closely, and I see how the Egyptians are treating you.17 I have promised to rescue you from your oppression in Egypt. I will lead you to a land flowing with milk and honey—the land where the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites now live.”‘18 “The elders of Israel will accept your message. Then you and the elders must go to the king of Egypt and tell him, ‘The LORD, the God of the Hebrews, has met with us. So please let us take a three-day journey into the wilderness to offer sacrifices to the LORD, our God.’19 “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless a mighty hand forces him.*20 So I will raise my hand and strike the Egyptians, performing all kinds of miracles among them. Then at last he will let you go.21 And I will cause the Egyptians to look favorably on you. They will give you gifts when you go so you will not leave empty-handed.22 Every Israelite woman will ask for articles of silver and gold and fine clothing from her Egyptian neighbors and from the foreign women in their houses. You will dress your sons and daughters with these, stripping the Egyptians of their wealth.”

O=Observation... The part where we write what we noticed in the reading.

• God hears his people and tells Moses the specific problems that they are facing.
• Moses talks back to God, protesting, and God still stays in conversation with him.
• God is named lots of ways in this passage: the Lord, our God; I Am; the God of the Hebrews, and the God of your ancestors
• God speaks directly to Moses
• He makes promises to Moses, too
• He knows what the reaction of the people will be, both Pharaoh and the Israelites
• He causes good things to happen to his people: "I will cause the Egyptians to look favorably on you."

A=Application... The part where we think about what the passage is telling us, what God might be trying to say through his word to us.

Right now, I'm not too sure about this part. The application is sometimes hard. I think maybe I can understand that God knows the specific problems that I am facing. I have been angry with God before and I've thrown quite a bit of yelling his way. Lately I haven't felt like yelling. I've more felt like staying unengaged. That is totally lukewarm and probably really dissatisfying to God. Maybe I should yell some more. I don't think that it is disrespectful. Some people have the perspective that it is wrong to be angry at God. I don't think anger is wrong... I think some of the things people do toward others when they are angry is unhealthy. But, being angry with questions and confusion... That has to be okay. If not, how would we begin to grieve and heal? Sometimes I just want to understand why there is so much loss in life. The Israelites had it way tougher than me. They were worked to death. I'm just struggling with my purpose...

P=Prayer... The part where we pray.

Tonight, as I sit here trying to engage, God, I want to acknowledge your goodness. I want to thank you for sticking with me. Thank you for the amazing gifts that you've given to me. I have all of my needs met. I have a caring and loving husband and family. I also want to understand my purpose. I know that I may never figure it out, but I want to trust that you have a plan for my life. I don't want to speak in cliche. I just need to figure out how to let go of some things and to try to follow your leading. Help me to do that as you helped Moses to all those years ago.

Malnourished

I'm just gonna be honest here. Besides the somewhat regular nightly reading of the bible with my husband before bed, I haven't spent a lot of time feeding my soul. I really like worshipping through music, but I don't spend a lot of time reading the bible. I haven't been getting "SOAPed up" like we talk about in church all the time. The word malnourished was brought to my attention the other day. I think I am starving myself spiritually in this way.
I'm a pretty undisciplined person in some ways. This is one of them. Anyone want to discuss some SOAP passages?
I'm going to try to post some here...

Conflicts all around

So the other night as I was working at my computer, I heard a heated argument between two guys in the hallway. They were arguing about their job responsibilities and throwing threats and insults around. Since I am such a tough looking person (NOT) I thought that maybe I should go out and let them know that someone was in earshot... and that maybe they should calm down before things got carried away. Even though I suggested this, they kept it up. I thought they might actually throw a punch! But after a minute, I think they realized that they really should stop before things got out of hand. Let me tell you, egos were involved.
When I got back in my room, my phone rang... Another coworker down the hall had heard everything that was going on. She asked if we should call our boss. I said that I had been thinking about it. SO... I did.
Am I a rat? What if kids had been around? What if something had happened and someone did get hurt? They're both adults, but don't I have the responsibility to help people see that there are other ways besides abusing each other words or fists? My husband thinks I am crazy sometimes for getting involved. Maybe I am...

I LOVE hearing the rain

I could
listen to the rain
for hours.

I could
walk in it
with bare feet
but, I think I would
take an
umbrella.

I love
wellies.
You know those
funny
rubber boots
that some people call
galoshes?
I'd like to have
a pair with
polka dots. :)

My favorite things
to do when it rains
are read
and
sleep.

My First Sewing Lesson

On Thursday evening, I sat down in front of a sewing machine for a lesson. It's been 17 years since junior high home ec. My friend, Judy let me help a bit this summer with costume tasks for the musical, and one night she asked if I wanted to help overcast a seam on a skirt. I was WAY intimidated, but I tried. Stupid idea! I kept messing up the thread and getting all kinds of knots and running off the fabric. Urgh!
On Thursday, Judy and I decided that I should just start out by sewing some basic seams on some fabric that had no purpose. First she sat me in front of the machine and showed me how to thread it and what each of the parts did. Then I had to thread it myself. (She's a great teacher.) When I actually started, I had trouble with figuring out how to hold the threads while keeping the fabric flat and straight, guiding the edge, and keeping it straight. LOTS of multitasking in sewing! What I came to realize throughout the evening is that my trouble was with trying too hard to force the fabric through. I was trying to make the machine do the job that it was accomplishing all by itself.
Do you ever do this with your life? I sure do. All too often, I try to force things to happen. A death grip complete with white knuckles and all. I push that fabric through and what do you know? it gets wrinkled and all bunched up... Knots appear and string comes from places that I know they shouldn't. Why do I do this? Why do I make a mess of things by trying to control them? Why can't I give up control?
On the other side of the coin, there are many things that I don't control that I really should... Like what I eat. Will I ever get this balance thing figured out?

Labor Day with the Sass Family

Today, Donnie and I were fortunate to be able to spend several hours with the Sass family. We met them through the musical this summer. Valerie and I were Pick-a-Little ladies together and Judy was in charge of costumes. All of the members of this family are so giving and loving. We started the day in a car ride to the lake. I rode with Dale and Judy (the parents). It was fun to chat and get to know them a bit more .
Then we went to the lake and hopped in their boat. We had an awesome lunch together sitting in the middle of the lake. Next it was time for tubing. Donnie and Zach went first. It was so fun to watch them hang on for dear life while Dale steered them around and kept speeding up. I think they fell off like three times! Then Valerie and I went out. Dale definitely took it easier on us. I liked zooming back and forth across the wake. Valerie fell off twice, but I actually managed to hold on both times! Then Donnie came out with me. We went quite a bit faster with him on the tube. Again, a whole lot of fun and I never went for a dive... until I was trying to climb back in the boat and my husband dunked me! After tubing, Donnie skied for a bit, followed by Zach and Valerie wake boarding. Dale slalomed and Donnie tried to wake board, but ended up skiing some more.
When we got back to Gardner, we all washed up and had a FABULOUS dinner! All homemade: steak, potatoes, bread, salad, sweet corn, peach ice cream and sugar free strawberry ice cream, and apple pie! Needless to say we are SO full.
It was a wonderful day filled with AMAZINGLY giving people. Thanks, Sass family, for an amazing day!

Coincidences and Prayer

My husband likes to often repeat something he read from a professor some time ago: "A lot of coincidences seem to happen when we pray."

Last spring we were in Walmart after Donnie had been praying about getting involved in the community. A flyer for Gardner's Community Theater was in the cart. They were holding auditions for The Music Man. So, we look at each other and decide that it might be fun. At that point, Donnie was trying to figure out if this was what he had been praying about. So, Donnie goes in to audition and gets a call back. He gets the role of Harold Hill, which is the lead in the musical. I got to be in it, too - a Pick a Little Lady.
During rehearsals, we get to know a bunch of people--lots of people who live in the community or who drive in to be a part of the show. We hung out after rehearsals, go watch some other performances, and wouldn't you know it, people start noticing that Donnie is a bit different than a lot of pastors.
We did not directly invite people to church, however people asked about it. We had five different families visit our church after the musical. And there are some journeys beginning that you can read about on Donnie's blog.

Prayer and coincidences??? Yep! I think so!