Transition time

Since I have last posted, I have: traveled to Wisconsin to see some family; traveled to Tennessee to visit a congregation that issued him a call; had an awesome visit from a dear friend from Colorado; drove to St. Louis; went to National youth gathering in Texas with about 30,000 other folks; drove to southern Ohio to see family there; husband accepted the call to the Tennessee congregation; and my grandmother turn 90 years old! Tomorrow we we load a moving truck and Thursday we start drive from Nebraska to Tennessee. It has been a good and overwhelming summer!

Two days ago was our last Sunday at the congregation in Nebraska. The congregation gave us a very kind send off. I have been reading the cards they gave us with very kind notes and I feel bad that there are some that I cannot picture who the people are that wrote such lovely notes! This congregation worships about 2,000 people in a weekend, so in my defense, that is a lot of people to learn names for. The members I do know, have been wonderful to us. I am going to miss seeing them every week.  

During the last morning everyone asked the same questions. Here are some of my answers:

~Things are mostly packed. Anyone is welcome to help us load the truck.
~The congregation in Tennessee worships about 120 on a Sunday. I am looking forward to learning everyone's name!
~Kiddo starts school August 2nd.
~Columbia is about 33,000 people.
~I am sad to say good bye to the folks in Nebraska but looking forward to making new friends in Tennessee.
~The closest Target and Starbucks are in the next town, about 15 mins away.
~Kiddo will be going to public school. We are sure she will do well, though she says she will miss having "Jesus time" at school. We will continue "Jesus time" at home.
~We do have a place to live in Tennessee.
~ I will be waiting until I get my family settled before I figure out what to do with my time.

That is the tricky part, figuring out what am I going to be doing. Of course I will unpack, help prepare my daughter to start school next, and do all I can to make our new place feel like home for us. And then I will think of finding a part time job. One that allows me to have the same days off as my daughter does from school and that it is not stressful to take time off for PLI (a program for pastors and their wives that is educational and has very supportive people who encourage us), and maybe even a family vacation.  I am feeling that that is a high maintenance request of just about any job. It is not a overly stressful thing to find a job, other than it is nice to know that I am helping my family so it easier do some of our favorite past times, like traveling or make it more possible to visit family.  Good thing I know that I can trust God and he will provide for my family.

Thank you for any prayers for my family during this move and for the two congregations impacted, may God guide and bless them.

Stress. Who doesn't have any stress? 

For some reason I get the feeling that spiritual people aren't supposed to be stressed. That they are supposed to always be level headed and calm in all situations, trusting God for all things.

I do feel stressed at times. And I am well aware of Bible verses that are often shared in hopes to help people to not be stressed: Be Still and know that I am God... Psalm 46:10; For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11; But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:30. All good verses and though they have been in my mind, it is not decreasing my indigestion. 

I am not stress about material possessions, nor do I have the feeling that I have to control or manage everything. I think my my concern might relate the the Jeremiah passage that I shared. I am fine with whatever plans God has for our family, I just would like to know what that plan is. 

If may help you to know that we have been considering different 'calls' (if you are not LCMS and not sure what I mean by 'call', it's like a job offer to a pastor, for our situation, that the congregation feels God has lead them to a certain man to be their pastor. Then the pastor has to determine if he feels God is calling him to serve at that congregation.)  Since I have last posted (it has been a bit) my husband has received a total of three calls. He has currently turned down two of them and is still considering a third. This weekend we will visit the congregation and pray that God gives us many good clear signs on whether or not we are a fit for the congregation and if they are a fit for us. 

The part that is stressful  is the work that I know that I will possibly need to do at some point. It feels like a looming mountain that will be moved on top of me and I am just waiting for it. All the packing and organizing that goes with moving plus the decision itself bears down on my family. I like to have a head start on packing, so it is not stressful and as much of a crazy whirlwind when the possible moving day arrives. But on the other side, if I start gearing up for moving and we decide that God is not leading us to make this move, then I have to unpack, why do all the work to just undo it?  And then if there is another call, again.... Let's not go there. I will just deal with it if/when it happens.

The root of this stress for me is about being a good wife and mother. I seem to think the more I can do, the less stressful it is for my family. There is probably some truth to it. But if I am so stressed out about it all that I am making myself ill, what good am I? Then here is what I do next, this is crazy, ready for it?? I stress out about being ill. And I am sure you can guess, it only makes me feel worse.    These stresses are self imposed. I know it. It is challenging to get out of the cycle of stress and being stressed about the stress. It is a silly cycle and a sticky one.

The verses I shared earlier are good ones, even for where I am today.  Though, I have found these verses most encouraging to me in the past so today I focus on it again today:
 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7

Not being anxious is easier said than done. But by the Grace of God, it can happen. I am trusting God for whatever comes next, whether we move or not. And may He give me the strength to get all that I need to done to care for my family and His peace through it all. I am thankful for God's love, grace and peace, I would be total mess without it! 

   This tortoise doesn't seem to be stressed, though does carry his home with him... 

Ideas, Zumba, Bible, Prayer.


I get these great ideas, as I am sure you do also, but it is when I can not act on them. And when I can act on them, I forget what the idea was or end up doing something else that is not nearly as exciting.

Two weeks ago, I had what I thought was a good idea for a blog. I shared the idea with some of my friends and they seemed to think that it was at least an acceptable idea. Two weeks ago. I didn't blog then because I was out of town without my computer (how crazy of me, right?). Once I got home, there were other things to do. You know how that goes?

I am blogging tonight. That counts. And hey, this is at least on the topic of what I wanted to share before.... things I sometimes fail at. Like failing to act on a good idea. Or, which is often my struggle, staying consistent with a goal.

Before I get into personal nitty gritty stuff, I want to share a story about Zumba.

If you are not aware, Zumba is an exercise activity that it like aerobics meets some form of Latin dance. People buy videos and Wii games to do this exercise at home. I like going to my local YMCA and being part of a class. A few years ago (and in a different state) I was in my Zumba class and somehow I trip over my own two feet. During a warm up song. I was not hurt and did fine the rest of the class, physically. Emotionally I was horrified that I had fallen and that so many people had noticed me fall. They asked when it happened if I was okay, seemed to watching out for me during class and checked on me again after class. They were nice about it and very caring ladies but I didn't want them to see me fall. I wanted them to think that I was super and could do the class with few struggles.

Life in a congregation can be like Zumba class. It's great to be with a group of nice folks doing the steps we know we should be doing. If you are anything like me, you do not want it always be public knowledge when things get hard or when you fall. But, also like my Zumba class, there are nice people who want to be encouraging and helpful.

This next step may not seem like a big deal to you, but it is a huge deal to me. I want to share with you what I am currently lousy at, and I pray that you not judge me harshly for my confession. I am hoping by sharing an imperfect part of me that it will not only help me to get back up and start fresh, but maybe encourage others to start anew as well.

Here is my downfall: I am not consistent on reading my Bible daily.

Some may say that is not a big deal, but to me it is. I go through spurts of reading it. I did it for a few days after my last trip. But I have not read it yet today.

I have a plan for my struggle. I want to read a passage everyday intentionally, not just from someone's facebook post (even though those are nice to see) and then spend time in prayer. Prayer is something that I am more content with doing than Bible reading. Why am I like that? Who knows? Just am.  We all have our comfort zones, right?

So tonight, after I post this and catch up with my wonderful husband, I am going to go read my Bible. Then I will get to spend time in prayer. I hope to let you know in a few days how I am doing about staying on track with this goal... hopefully if I don't post anything on this blog it will mean I a busy doing things that are important like caring for my family or spending time in the Word (Bible).  If there is anything I could pray about for you, let me know. I would be happy to do so.