Category: Ministry

Finding God Through a Lens

As I prepare for the upcoming spiritual retreat, 48 hours of which will be spent in silence and relative solitude I am once again thinking of how I personally see God in my daily life. I see Him at work in my children, in my home, and in nature. I instincly know He is here surrounding me in all things and in every person I encounter, yet I don’t take the time to stop and listen as much as I should. This weekend at the retreat I will have the opportunity to slow down and really observe the God around me.

I have a few books to take with me and my journal to write in, but I have been really trying to figure out how to force myself to slow down and to really appreciate the God in nature while at the Abbey. The most absolute for me is photography. I was trained as a film purest. I love creating photographs that do not need editing or manipulation and shooting on film is a love language that speaks to my soul.

I have packed my camera and just one roll of film. 12 exposures in 48 hours to sooth my soul and let the God in through nature, patience, and the practice of slow creativity.

Being busy in a time of peace

Our CATS kids made this for the Palm Sunday worship guide cover and it is making me so very happy.

We are entering Holy Week, This is one of my most favorite times of the year, yet for some reason it seems more busy than centering this year. Even with the added meetings, events, homework, and just life things going on this week, I am going to make a conscious effort to slow down and focus on the truly important parts of life.

In other news, Emily and I have embarked on a new adventure in Bible study: We are going through The New City Catechism for Kids: Children’s Edition. So far we are loving it. We are tackling the questions one each week and really talking about what they mean. She gets to watch me as I look up bits of the Bible, hopefully learning how I find things, then we read them in context in response to our question of the week. It is a lot of fun, and there is an app that goes a long with it. And for $2 it is an amazing deal!

In the spirit of Easter, I am going to leave you with this thought from my Sunday…

Choosing to love, trust, and obey God is easy on days like Palm Sunday. It’s a celebration, it’s easy to choose Jesus on Easter, and Christmas, and even on Sunday mornings, but loving, trusting, and obeying God is a choice we as Christians have to make all the days of our lives, not just when it is easy, popular, or when we feel like it. We show our trust and obey our Lord by loving Him and all of His creations all the time, every day. Remember, everyone was welcome at the table with Jesus, even the ones who turned their backs on Him. Let’s love one another as Christ loves us. Unconditionally. Eternally.

When things overwhelm…

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4
Looking around lately I feel like I am not the only person overwhelmed by life. We are all busy people who read the news, go to work, feel pain, and want more for our children. I am not the only mom who gets overwhelmed by the amount of homework our kids come home with, or the amount of laundry that needs to get done. I am not the only woman who feels the pressure of being beautiful and perfect all the time. I am not the only wife who feels like she is neglecting her husband because of a to do list a mile long. I am not the only grad student struggling to maintain a high GPA while working. I am not the only person who is drowning in a world filled with people who seem like they don’t care about humanity, faith, and the environment we are providing for our kids.
More often than not when I feel overwhelmed these days I break down and cry. I cry big ugly tears of sorrow, of pain, of hurt for others. I cry out of self pity and out of selfishness. I cry because of the hurt I see others causing, I cry because I feel hurt by others, and I cry because it is all just too much sometimes.
Remember, though, Jesus to wept. We are not alone in our tears. We are never alone.
Remember also, that this world we are living in at this moment is not our all, it is just our now.
So after I cry, I pray. I pray that those who feel overwhelmed and hurt and sad and small will feel God with them. That they will feel relief and love. That they will know they are not alone.
This is our now, not our forever.

Do not be weary…

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While reading this morning, this piece of scripture really spoke to me. I made this little ditty and just ordered a 5×7 to frame and hang up in my office.

Feel free to click, save, and print one for yourself if you would like! I Think we all need this reminder from time to time.

As always, everything I share is free for all, however, if you would like to donate a small amount to help me continue making content to share feel free to hit the donate button at the bottom of this page.

Printable Prayer Journal

I am always on the hunt for fun things to include in bible study. I teach kids from k-12 so it is a challenge to find something that will work with all age groups. I end up designing a lot of my own teaching tools.

I wanted a prayer journal that was easy to use for all ages and was having a hard time finding anything that could work and that was cost effective. Enter my design program!

Here is what I have put together for my kids, and probably myself if we are being honest! Click here for the word document prayer journal

 

As always, everything I share is free for all, however, if you would like to donate a small amount to help me continue making content to share feel free to hit the donate button at the bottom of this page.