Uphill idealist

God has a way of working dot-to-dot of our lives. For the last almost two years, I’ve been searching for a continuing education program specific to the ministry situation here at First Lutheran Church . I knew it had to be something I could do from Jamestown, it had to require a minimal amount of travel, it needed to engage my heart and mind and it had to apply to and assist me in the work I do on a daily basis. In February, my husband came across a book called, “The God bearing life.” by: Kenda Creasy Dean . In this book he learned about a Certificate program specific to current trends in youth and family ministry that fit all the requirements I’d hoped to find. Upon learning about the program, I discovered that the first retreat and intensive training week was to be held the last week of April 2010. In order for me to go to this training, many arrangements had to be made. Housing had to be secured for the week, my family had to work out the details of their lives with their mom abse...

For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Luke 12:34 Going on a treasure hunt requires a few essential items: comfortable shoes, a sense of adventure, a water bottle, a compass, and of course a treasure map marked with a big black X to mark the spot of the chest overflowing with coins and jewels. The treasure that we seek can be like that in this photo, or it could be something altogether different. But, in some way we all are searching and looking for something in life. The desires of our hearts are revealed by the things we search for and spend our time with. While good work ethic and effort are wonderful qualities to posses, they can sometimes fool us into thinking we are the sole captains of our own ships or fleet of ships, depending on who you are. God desires for us to seek after his kingdom first. God desires for us to seek after Him first, before we go on any wild goose chases or self-propelled treasure hunts. This week as you work, play and spend time with fa...

Today is traditionally my Sleeping with Bread post day where I follow the examen of discussion on the things or circumstances of the last week. This time around, the question of voices or direction came to the surface. So instead of a biographic review, I decided to speak via the medium of prose. As I wrestle with what voices (past and present) motivate the direction of life, this felt to me to be an appropriate way of sharing bread this week. Blessings to you all and may your bread be bountiful this week! Image "His masters voice" taken from en.wikipedia.org VOICES... Voices surround me. Abound within a without of me. And fill as far as the eyes can hear. Can my ears see what they say - or push away from the things I can't stand to hear. Voices support me. And some would like to thwart me. From the places my life needs to go. Can my heart sustain what repeats in my brain - or flutter on impulse to and fro. Clarity and vision would be the position that I'd like t...

Image from www.hbci.com In my elementary school office, the secretary had a poster on the wall that said something like this, "Garbage in, garbage out - I'm not a garbage dump so don't leave your rubbish here!" Above these words was a drawing of a cherubic boy with rumpled hair, big ears, a tattered t-shirt, mo shoes and hand me down overalls. The secretary's poster was a reminder to all that children were important and the way they should be treated and spoken too as treasure, not trash. If people are treated like trash, then they will often reproduce what they are provided. Apparently, by hanging this poster the secretary was doing her best to develop and environment of treasure-seeking. The voices that we've heard our whole lives have a way of molding and directing our paths. I attended a session at Princeton Seminary last Wednesday at the Youth Ministry Institute called, "From voices to vision." In this class, we addressed the different voices t...