What I want my life to be about...

I follow a lot of blogs through google reader. And I mean a lot. My favorites (besides my friends) are mainly pastors, teachers- Christians who are living the Gospel and making a true difference for our Lord and Savior. Backing what they say with how they live, and what they say is straight from Scripture. I love it.
I'm more and more convinced that the Lord is working greatly all around us, and we have to be actively alerting ourselves to what's going on, or we'll allow ourselves to be distracted by all the sin and pain in this world. There's hope out there too. God is working, God is constantly manifesting His glory, God is building His church. I'm a big fan of following what He's doing through social media and other more traditional mediums- and passing it on. If you follow me on google reader... you already know that, and I apologize.

This post touched me on such a purposeful, deep, longing- level that I had to share it in as many ways I could. Especially since the Lord has been actively preparing my heart, and my husbands for children, growing us, quite deliberately...

Foggy Boots and a Bible

Author: Pastor Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church in Seattle Washington.
Setting: part of a celebrating children theme at his church, highlighting Jesus's interaction with small ones. Given that Seattle is not a family-friendly city, it's Pastor Marks' goal to change that in many ways- reaching out to it's citizens... and just as much to make as many Christian families as possible. Win.
Characters: a story of Pastor Mark and his (at the time) two year old son, Zach.

Read the whole article, but here are some of my favorite sections.

In 50 years, who is going to preach the gospel in the city? Who is going to plant the churches that reach the new generations? Who is going to continue the work forward? That should be your grandkids. That should be my grandkids. Having children is not just about you getting your emotional needs met and having the perfect Christmas card photo where you all have matching hats. That’s not the Biblical point.

The Biblical point is you want your children to multiply fruitfully and to serve God and to extend his influence and to bring the good news of Christ from generation to generation. If the statistics are true and the majority of people that are having children these days are not Christians, who are not living in wisdom, then isn’t it going to be important that we send a lot of kids out there to connect with them and tell them about Jesus? It’s hugely important. It only takes one generation for a nation to go from Christian to post-Christian. 

The intro to his post is very convicting, especially in a culture where the decision to have kids is made selfishly: couples only wanting a few kids, deciding ahead of time to fashion their family how they want to, often without consulting God. I'm not against birth control across the board, but I'm definitely against many of the attitudes that go along with it. But that's not the point today- so going back to what we should want as Christians, as members of God's church, and as parents:

  I had one of the most encouraging experiences with my son, Zac, this week. It was magnificent. My son is a Bible freak. He reads the Bible at least an hour a day. He always wants to play act the Bible stories. One of us is Jonah. One of us is the whale. One of us is David. One of us is Goliath. One of us is Peter. One of us is John. We’re always playing some sort of story. And this week, I got up early with him and we had breakfast, read the Bible, and wrestled and played a little David and Goliath and he slew me, and then I had to get to work.

In order to avoid copy and pasting the whole article (just go read it!) what happened: Zach asked if he could come along with his father to help minister to a man in a hospital, who had no use of his lower body and had been in the hospital for quite some time. Keep in mind his son is just over two years old.

Zac looked at me and said, “Well, I wanna go, too.” I said, “Well, Zackie, I’m his pastor.” He said, “I’ll be his pastor.” I thought, God rebuke me. You’re right. He should go with me. So, I told him he could come with me, and he put on his froggy boots and grabbed his Bible.

This is how I want to raise my kids. I want my children to point directly to Jesus Christ; and for us to do ministry together and glorify God side by side. I want them to see their mommy and daddy doing things for people and to help too. I want them to love their Bible more than Curious George or Dr.Seuss (my favorite books as a child... and... still pretty awesome).

So they went off to the hospital... and sat with the man for an hour. Together...

...my son sat on my lap for about an hour. Two years old. No toys, no nothing, and we talked with this guy. A two year old boy. And he was sitting on my shoulders and hanging out. He was being obedient and attentive, and he was listening to all the things that the Lord was teaching this guy. And we got all done and I said, “Zac, you need to pray for him.” Zac said, “Okay.” He bowed his head, and quietly prayed that God would heal him and touch his feet, and touch his legs, and he was paying attention and he knew what to pray for. 

Leading by example.
Instilling children how to approach our loving, powerful God.
Learning from my children how to love God without my own baggage as an adult.
To have a pattern of interaction where it's all about God. To have my relationship with my children be about Jesus.

I believe this understanding of what family life could be like- what it should be like, can be or everyone, whether married or single, parenting or not. Even for those who may not be able to have children, for God gives us all opportunities to learn from each other, to teach others, to pass on the Gospel. No matter the circumstance, it's a model of what I want. It inspires me, and I'm not gonna lie, reading the article made me cry a little bit.

It reaches a desire within me that God Himself gave me.

We left and I looked at Zac and it was like he was a 20-year-old man. I mean, it was amazing, my little co-pastor. I took him out to lunch, and we sat at lunch, and he asked me questions for about a half hour on ministry. “Daddy, how often do you do this?” “What do you pray for?” “What parts of the Bible do you tell them?” “What if they’re not Christians?” He had all these great questions about how to be a pastor. I was just amazingly encouraged. I put him in the car and came home. I told Grace, “This is the like the best day I’ve ever had in my whole life.” It was amazing.

Don't you want this in your life? How could you not want that to be your family? 

A change in Perspective: An Event I can't ever Forget

They (statistical scientists) say it takes Americans about 3 months to forget things that occur on a national scale, including momentous things. By forget, this study meant- move on in a somewhat daily routine, returning to a pattern of behavior where the momentous event is not part of thought. 

I heard this 10 years ago, meaning that I learned it right before 9/11. I remember wondering if in 3 months how much would have returned to resemble the pre-9/11 USA, and to a certain extent it happened.  To an extent it's natural, inevitable- healthy. To some extent, it reveals the selfishness of our society and lives. 

We live in a world so inundated by forms of news- television broadcasts, newspapers, magazines, and all forms of internet social media that push word of mouth happenings at seeming lightning speed. I myself regret to admit that I get most of my news first from twitter. I'll stick to that though, because it works surprisingly well, though it will never be reliable or replace well done journalism. But the amount of news we have, updated by the second- it's always pushing us forward- what will happen next? How does this impact the next steps? In a globally connected world- any event is the springboard for a whole web of "what's nexts?" I wonder how soon the 'what's nexts' overshadow the original event. 

But today, I'm not talking about 9/11 or the news that Bin Laden is dead that our President announced last night. I've realized that I've made a step in incorporating a momentous event in my everyday lifestyle. And it's thrilling me! 

What I'm talking about is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! 

By all standards, this should have been forgotten long ago. Our lives should go on without really thinking that God became man, took our sins upon himself, dying as a pure sacrifice, and rose from the grave. 

Even for myself, this was something that I "knew" but have had so much trouble really believing- meaning that it's a belief so hugely essential to who I now am- a Christian.  My daily life should be defined by reflecting the love of God who provided grace and mercy to provide a new verdict for my life: no condemnation for those found in Jesus Christ.  

This past Easter celebration Sunday some things "clicked" in my perspective. Joining with thousands in joyful shouts that our Savior is ALIVE, and that Hell has no victory, and death no sting... I felt as if the eyes of my soul were opened further to the Truth of Jesus Christ. Never have I been so joyous, so bursting with excitement, hope- life.

Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh Church! Come stand in the light!
The glory of God has defeated the night!
Oh death! Where is your sting?
Oh hell! Where is your victory?
Oh Church! Come stand in the light!
Our God is not dead, he's alive! he's alive!

Christ is Risen From the Dead- Matt Maher

Nothing else is as wonderful as this.  The Gospel is priority One. There are a ton of other things in my life- some are good, some are less good- but regardless, none are as valuable, as beneficial, worth my time and efforts as Jesus Christ is, and the things of His Church. Something I'd known semantically, but intrinsically- my priorities have always been wrong. It's always been a battle, and it always will be- but now I'm further equipped, out of joy and love to cast aside all else. 

I can finally see things much closer to how I should: instead of seeing a thing for if it's good or bad, I see things in "how much is this about Jesus?" My energies should be about Jesus. He's indescribable. I want to spend my thoughts and energies working on describing Him, instead of on lesser things. He saves us- I want to proclaim His Glory rather than things that don't. 

The most obvious change I've seen in myself is that I've been seeing a boldness I didn't know I possessed, and it's one that is stemming naturally out of a mind that is more and more enthused with my Savior. I've been cutting things out of my life that aren't about Him; and as a result all I want to talk about is Jesus. I'm also more and more using His Name: a name of Power, of Salvation- so much more.  I'm less and less worried about my coworkers who would be made nervous about knowing and interacting with a crazy Christian, but more and more concerned that they don't know Jesus. 

Not very traditional: but amazing- are these photos from Mars Hill Church in Seattle, which held one of the largest church services in the country- at Quest Field. Multiple Mars Hill campuses came together, along with thousands of new attenders, reaching over 17,000. Over 600 baptisms occurred. This is a church that I'm well familar with: solid doctrine, solid Gospel preaching: solid Scripture. And it's these faithful churches that are being blessed- and Jesus Christ is growing His Church. 

Flickr stream of service photos: baptisms!

Christ is Risen: Can you See it?

My own church campus had over 40 people speak to pastors about beginning a new relationship with Christ. There is nothing more wonderful than being part of a thriving, healthy- solidly built upon the cornerstone of Jesus Christ. I am excited to be a witness to the baptisms that are coming! 

A momentous event that is still remembered. 

And for me- now more and more tied into my daily attitudes and actions. 

This is the work of Christ in me: " He must increase, but I must decrease." John 3:30

"'Why are you looking for the living among the dead?' asked the men. 'He is not here, but He has been resurrected!'" Luke 24:5