Noah is here!

Noah Grey Lapenta Stout

One of God's perfect creations.

I'm simply amazed.

(Special props to Heidi for chronicling the entire week!)

I have a confession....

I have a confession to make.

I eaves-dropped on my husband.... for over 1/2 hour.

I called him to see what time he would be home, and he accidentally answered his phone in his pocket. He had good reason. From what I gathered, he was in the middle of troubleshooting a machine that was pretty important to the owner, and fixing it was vital. 

I couldn't hang up.

I had to hear this interaction.

I wanted to see what he was like at work.

Here are my conclusions:

1. Eaves-dropping on your husband is border-line creepy.
2. My husband works his butt off.
3. His job is both physical and mental.
4. He has integrity no matter where he is at, who he is with or what he is doing.
5. He is brilliant.... seriously, brilliant.... and listening to the way people rely on him to have all the answers is remarkable... hearing him come up with them is even more impressive.
6.  I am a proud wife.

"I'm not afraid because...."

The Halloween season can be so confusing for the kids.

 Last night we had a long talk about why we don't have to be afraid.

I could tell they were getting it.

We talked about the God who made the wood so that door could creek like that in the 1st place.

Big God talks.

I read Isaac's journal entry from class today.

Now I know he got it.

Psalm 73:28

We were commissioned as a staff to take a day to unplug and spend with God.

Just a Bible and a journal... out in God's amazing canvas.

It was sobering.

It was beautiful.

It was vulnerable.

It's something I need to do more often.
It's amazing how much God speaks when we are quiet enough to listen.

Zoey's Field Trip: Blakes Cider Mill and Apple Orchard

into the brilliance...

We read an incredible article this week as a staff entitled "Into The Brilliance" by Timothy Willard. You can find it in Volume 8 of The Making of a Leader series by Catalyst.

 

In the meantime, enjoy some of the parts that stopped me in my tracks this week. There were so many parts I wanted to share, but for the sake of time, I've stuck to the few that hit me hardest. I'm still amazed by the fact that our God takes every opportunity to speak to those things in our lives that are hidden... the things that no one sees. Well played, God, well played.

 

Into The Brilliance

by Timothy Willard

 

To you, eager traveler- the one with the sunlight in your eye and a dream on your shoulder- when you head out on your journey don't get caught up with trying to catch those who've already left the safety of the friendly vale. Don't copy them. You are not a mime. You are a frontiersman.

 

You know your calling. You hear it when you wake up. You've walked in its echo since you can remember climbing trees as a child. The calling never changes; it is God's purpose for you. And that purpose grows as you grow. The bigger it grows, the stronger its pull. You task is not to discover your calling; it is not to unearth your intended purpose. If you don't already have that in your dream-sack draped over your shoulder, then you have been miming your entire life. And you are already lost.

 

"In many cases," writer philosopher Dallas Willard, "our need to wonder about or be told what God wants in a certain situation is nothing short of a clear indication of how little we are engaged in His work." If you're not tuned in to God's work, but are more bent on your own ambition, then it's time to set a new bearing.

 

What could be most mystical than the invitation to follow a failure into death? "If you want to follow Me," Jesus said, "then pick up your cross." This calling is what makes you a frontiersman. And, the great irony of this "land unknown" is that to live in it allows you to be fully known. In this land you can be at ease. This land allows you to hear the voice of God and to fall in love with it. In this land God's voice becomes your desire.

 

God is calling us to Himself, daily. As leaders we have the option to sleep in and let the sun rise unnoticed. Or, we can unzip our tent and head out into the gleam.... into God and all His glory.