A few pictures of Miles

Well, he is a squirmy little guy but here he is! He is about 10 weeks old now, and he still needs to grow into his paws and tail.

Happy Birthday IHOP!

I totally forgot to say!

Yesterday was IHOP’s 9 year anniversary. May 7th, 1999 we began prayer for 12 hours a day, then on Sept. 19th, 1999 we went 24-7. 

It was a good day. Nothing crazy happened in the prayer room, but we pressed in for healing again, we finished a 3 day fast, and it was encouraging to know that we have been doing this 9 years. 

August will be my personal 3 year anniversary of being at IHOP. It’s been a good journey.

(IHOP, a.k.a. The International House of Prayer of Kansas City)

Well, hello to the 3 of you still reading this blog…

I took a loooong break from blogging. This past month I have been doing a lot of transitioning (between teams) at IHOP and I have been trying to keep my classes at The Daniel Academy together. Planning lessons and grading papers tends to take the creative blogging out of me. ;-/ 

However, after 1 more week of classes and then 30 finals to grade the next week, I will be done! I am glad. It has been a long and hard year, as most people at TDA can testify to. Not without it’s rewards, that is certain. And I will be very sad to say goodbye to my students. This thing I can definitely say… mathematics aside… I definitely have two of the best classes of students at the school. I enjoy my students so much. I am not sure how many, but I know that some students will be moving onto other schools or other cities next year. I am really going to miss them.

And, I will be teaching at The Daniel Academy next year! Two classes, hopefully Pre-Calculus and Algebra 2. But if there is not a high enough enrollment for Pre-Calc, then it will be Algebra 2 and Algebra 1. So, all you students out there… sign up for Pre-Calculus! It’s going to be a blast. I am very excited about starting things fresh next year. I have a lot of ideas brewing in my mind, and I am looking forward to setting some standards from the beginning with the students. And having class 3 times a week will be wonderful. More time for creative stuff and discovery type of lessons. Good stuff. 

Well, I will leave other updates to future posts, but they include the addition of a very furry individual to my life! His name is Miles. More info to come later.

A lesson well-learned

Phew! I learned a very important lesson today.

When fasting, do not try to be Superwoman. Leaving aside the reference to super-hero characters. (I actually was never much of a fan of superwoman, I preferred batman or dark-wing duck). However, I do seem to have this habit of trying to do things ‘all or nothing’. 

Like when I decided to become a runner (ha!), after the 2nd or 3rd day or not making it 3 miles, I gave up. I guess you could say that I want to put everything into life and sometimes practical stuff escapes me. Like, beginning that exercise routine with something small but every day. Now that has served me well. 

Back to today. I decided to be the marathon faster this GBF and just do water. Partly because of a situation with a loved one, where I have been crying out for breakthrough. Just picture me, running up that mountain… I am gonna make it… one more day. Unfortunately this morning I fell flat on my face. For you all out there, remember an essential fasting rule Stay Hydrated. A combination of de-hydration and that cup of coffee yesterday morning, woke me up an hour early, with warning signs pulpitating from my intestinal track. Its amazing how much you can throw up when in the last 20 hours you have only been drinking water, not to mention the last 6 hours you have been sleeping. 

Well, after an hour of misery, and another trip to the toilet, a friend rescued me with gatorade and saltines. My body is much happier and much more hydrated. Mmm mmm electrolytes. And boy, was that a good lesson. It’s amazing the stuff you learn when you encounter pain. Ahh life. 

Looking to the shepherds

I.e. the saints of old who have gone before… 

“The fair new petals must fall, and for no visible reason. No one seems enriched by the stripping. And the first step into the realm of giving is a like surrender – not manward but Godward; an utter yielding of our best.

So long as our idea of surrender is limited to the renouncing of unlawful things, we have never grasped its true meaning: that is not worthy of the name. For no polluted thing can be offered. The life lost on the cross was not a sinful one. The treasure poured forth there was God-given, God-blessed treasure, lawful and right to be kept, only that there was the life of the world at stake.” (Lilias Trotter)

“If my life is broken when given to Jesus, it is because the pieces will feed a multitude, while a loaf will satisfy only a little lad” (Ruth Stull) 

Props to TDA

I just want to say… I really enjoy my TDA students. All of you out there! You’re great!  

Hilarious Mac ad

I usually am hugely irritated by ads all over the place. But, I must say, the mac ads are hilarious and well-done. It made me laugh to see their latest – posted on the NY Times website.http://www.nytimes.com/ 

He is the Potter

A few days ago I was reading a book by a well-known Christian lady. She is one of the ‘mothers’ of our faith, a woman who stood as strong for Christ 50 years ago as she is doing today. I was struck, in a very timely way, about a certain aspect of her faith.

In our churches today we hear a lot about Jesus as our personal  Lord and Savior, about the God who cares, about loving our neighbor and so on. But we (or at least I) have heard very little about Jesus our personal LORD  and Savior. I love the bridal paradigm, Jesus’ passionate love for the believer, and the father heart of God. But we simply cannot forget the areas of holiness, obedience and the fact that Jesus is our Lord. God is our master. We are no longer slaves to sin, but we are now slaves to righteousness. (Romans 6) God is the potter, and I am the clay.

 I have been struggling a lot over certain changes in my life-circumstances. I don’t like them. My job is shifting a little bit, and I liked things the way they were, not how they are becoming. In the last few weeks, my conversation with God has mostly been talking to him about my pain, about how frustrating the situation is and so on. In reading the above-mentioned book, I realized something. God has made the change, and I need to be reconciled to it. His purposes are fairly clear; it is stirring me up, forcing me to bring my mind, my will and my emotions into submission to God. It is a struggle that is teaching me to die to myself and live only to christ. A needed struggle. A necessary exercise of my faith.

John 15:2 Every branch that bears fruit He prunes that it may bear more fruit.

 This verse has been a description of my life the past few months…So many scriptures have come alive to me lately.  

My Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. (James 1:2-3)

But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” (Romans 9:20)

I think we need to remember again that God is The Potter. He chooses our giftings, He chooses whom to anoint. (Yes, there is an aspect of investing and cultivating our talents, but He is the one who decides which and how many we are to have) It is our job to seek His will, and then bring our mind, will and emotions into submission to Him. Not an easy task by any means, but the task of Love. If we say that we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strenth, then our actions should show that to be so.

Radical Trust

The phrase “trust in God” has become almost cliche in Christian circles. One of those ‘christian-ese’ terms that we so frequently are accused of. The reality of trusting God however, goes far beyond what we in our comfort-laden society conceive of. 

Psalm 91:2 – 3 says “I will say of the Lord… in Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver you…” This passage can be literally painful for those of us waiting on unfulfilled promises. That promised healing, anticipated relationship, necessary financial provision; the list is endless. It boils down to the fact that we expected something that the Lord promised, and it did not happen. What then? How do we live in the tension of believing His Word yet seeing the promises still waiting, collecting dust on the shelf per se, bringing pain and the rending of our heart-strings. The temptation is to simply say “I trust God” and then sit back, believing that ‘what will be, will be’ and there is nothing we can do about it. To cease hoping, praying, and pursuing the fulfillment of the promise. Yet to set the promise aside is to cast aside trust and live a lie. It is saying on one hand “I trust” but living entirely different. 

Trust truly is radical. It is choosing to remain in the pain. It is choosing to not be offended with God because he has delayed what he promised to do. It is pressing in with prayer, giving of finances, asking for healing and believing that God is going to answer. It is in that place of being torn between what we see to be true and what we believe to be true that our hearts learn what it means to hope. Our hearts learn what it means that God loves us in our weakness. We learn to love, because we are learning to trust. 

Brief update

Found the phone

Been real busy

Went to a wedding

Ran sound at a conference

(Aprox. 12 hrs)

Spent 8 hrs grading papers

Note to self: never give both algebra classes tests at the same time