so. . .here I am. . .

The moving is done. The boxes are unpacked. The new neighbors have been over for dinner. The children are nestled all snug in there beds. The stockings are hung by. . .just kidding.

I have said numerous times over the last month that I feel like I am living someone else's life. The new house, new neighborhood, new furniture. . .it all feels surreal, like I am somewhere that I am not yet convinced where I belong.

Our new house is by no means extravagant, yet a few months ago I would have thought it was way out of our league. I loved our humble, little home. I was comfortable, although sometimes cramped. I was content.

Don't take this the wrong way. I am so thankful to be here. I feel the Lord has provided for and blessed us immensely. Already we have opportunities to be Jesus in our backyard, literally.


So here is the thing. . .a couple of months ago, I told my husband I would like to have the group of inner city kids that I work with over for pizza. This is by no means an unusual request. In our ten years of ministry together, we have had literally countless kids in our home to hang out.
Then we found out we were moving, the craziness began, and here I sit in my new house. Now, I just can't do it. I feel embarrassed by my surroundings. In our old home, it would have felt completely comfortable and normal to have the kids over. . .

A couple of nights ago, we had to make arrangements to pick these kids up for a skating party. It proved to be a little challenging because we have a rule that no one can be in the neighborhood alone, especially at night. We also had to get our own children to the party. My husband and a friend ended up doing the picking up, and I met them there with my girls.

After the party, as I was tucking my girls into bed, in our nice new house, in our very safe neighborhood, this all started going through my mind again. Why do we have to use the "buddy system" in a neighborhood where these kids walk to school, play, eat, sleep, and live? Why am I so blessed?

ten things that i have let reign in me lately. . .

over all the earth YOU reign on high
every mountain stream every sunset sky
but my one request. LORD my only aim
is that YOU reign in me again

over every thought over every word
may my life reflect the beauty of my LORD
'cause YOU mean more to me than any earthly thing
so won't YOU reign in me again

LORD reign in me reign in YOUR power
over all my dreams in my darkest hour
YOU are the LORD of all i am
so won't YOU reign in me again

1. PAINTING
2. PACKING
3. BIRTHDAY PARTIES
4. STRESSING/WORRYING
5. BRICKS
6. BUYING/SELLING
7. ZOE
8. MIA
9. LUCI
10. ROBBIE

Jesus, please forgive me for letting everything around me cloud my vision of you. Please remind me that busyness, even when it is for you or my family, can rob you of your rightful place on the throne of my life. YOU are my KING. REIGN IN ME.

yo ho ho and a bottle of rum. . .

So, I have been kind of obsessed with pirates lately. I went to the library and checked out some books to do my own research. I am absolutely fascinated!
Anyway, a friend of mine came over last night who thinks that he is a pirate. He showed me how to find my pirate name. I was pretty excited, so I just wanted to share. . .

My pirate name is:

Captain Anne Flint

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Like the rock flint, you're hard and sharp. But, also like flint, you're easily chipped, and sparky. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part

"Come. Follow Me."

Last night, Zoe told us that she has been thinking about getting baptized and wanted to pray to Jesus about it with her whole family. Zoe and I have had numerous conversations lately about being a follower of Jesus, being a sinner who needs a Savior, and about what it means to get baptized.
Last night, she asked us to explain everything again because she wanted to pray about it.
So we did. . .
"Zoe, what is sin? Do you sin? Jesus never did, and when he died on the cross, he took the punishment for everything bad that we have ever done or ever will do. Jesus wants to be your Savior. He wants for you to tell him that you are a sinner. He wants you to ask him to be your Savior. He wants for you to tell him that for your whole life, everyday, that you are going to follow Him and tell and show people about how much He loves them."
And she did. She prayed a sweet little five year old prayer.
I wrote the date in my Bible next to the place where her name was already written, with the verse that Robbie and I chose for her before she was born, and with the date when we dedicated her at church, and where I hope to write the date when she gets baptized and any other date significant to her walk with Jesus.
Last night, as I was lying in bed, I remembered the previous night when minutes before I fell asleep, I prayed for Zoe. I prayed very specifically that she would begin her relationship with her Savior very soon.
I can't explain what the realization of that answered prayer did to me. I have prayed so many times for my children, but the little prayer I uttered right before falling asleep was one of the most significant I will ever pray, and it was answered so quickly.
I realize that my prayer may have had nothing to do with the timing of Zoe's questions, but it reminded me how important the spiritual part of my job is. By no means is my job with Zoe done or even easier. In fact, last night was the beginning of her following Jesus, so it is the beginning of my job of making her a disciple.

Jesus, thank you for Zoe's desire to accept you as her Savior and be your follower. Guide me as I disciple her to become a woman of God. Give me wisdom as I teach and perseverance as I pray. Thank you for being my Savior and bidding me to "Come. Follow Me."

Jesus loves gay people . . . ami on gay marriage...(and being called a Christian?)

So. . . I was sitting on a park bench the other day with a dear older Christian lady, when she asked me "Did you see those men getting married on the news the other day? Isn't that just sickening?"
Before I could utter a response, my eyes met the eyes of the woman sitting on the other side of us. I immediately recognized an old acquaintance of mine whom I know to be a lesbian.
I wanted to melt, literally. I actually thought, "if I could just melt right now and drip through the slats on the seat of this park bench and just puddle on the ground underneath, well that would be fantastic."
So I have been thinking, a lot actually, how Christians can be so judgmental in the name of Jesus, am I that way, and how would Jesus respond to gay marriage???
Why do Christians think their job is to judge?
In reality, Jesus never intended us to judge anyone at all, but only to love.
My proof?
Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-38 when he was telling everyone that there are two commandments that are more important than anything else, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets."
Jesus not only says here that we have to love our neighbors, but he basically says that if you aren't going to obey these two commandments there isn't really a need to worry about the rest.
When someone asked Jesus to define "neighbor," Jesus tells this story in the book of Luke about a Samaritan helping a Jew who was mugged. The Jews and the Samaritans hated each other. Jesus was telling them that the definition to neighbor is anyone and everyone.
In John 8, some Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who had been caught in adultery. They were ready to stone her, as the Law said they should. Jesus walks through the crowd of these angry, Jewish, Godly men who thought that they were obeying the Law. He walked up to this naked, shivering, sinful woman looked into her eyes and turned to the crowd. He said, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
One by one, the men dropped their stones and left. He looked at the woman and said,"Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you? . . .Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more."
hmmmmmmmmm. . .
Christians have got to remember that until a person accepts the Bible as truth for their life, they can not be expected to live the way the Bible says to live.
Sometimes I am embarrassed that I am a Christian. Sometimes, when I meet someone new, it is one of the last things I tell them instead of the first. Sometimes, I don't tell them at all, I wait until it slips out.
Why is that?
(Why is it that in any movie or TV show, Christians are portrayed as idiots, assholes, or nutcases?)
It is not at all because I am embarrassed of my faith or my morals or of Jesus himself. I am in love with Jesus. He is my Savior.
I have also found that most people are okay with Jesus just not okay with Christians. I have also found that sometimes, a lot of times, I feel the same way.
My conclusion. . .
I don't want to be known as a Christian anymore because somehow, in our culture, most of the time, Christian has come to mean something that I am not.
What am I?
In John 13: 34-35, Jesus says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
That is what I want to be, what I am. . . I am a lover of Jesus and a lover of my "neighbor," of "all people."