A little update on the past three weeks.

I have been out of town now for three weeks and am so glad to finally be back. The first week I was up in the mountains with out youth institute students. The second week I was in San Francisco which was amazing! And this past week I was on vacation with the fam in Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons! Everything was gorgeous btw. It was wonderful to spend time with the fam and laugh and be silly together and then to see parts of the country that I haven't been to before! But I have to tell you, I am exhausted from all the traveling! I'm glad to be back to my routine and a bit of normalcy. It was wonderful to go to the gym this morning and attempt to get back on schedule! And Thursday I'll finally go back to Bible study, which I haven't been to in three weeks!

On a totally different note....

I don't think I'm the only one who feels this way, in fact I know I'm not. And for some of you, you might be thinking that of all people I shouldn't feel this way, but I do.
I struggle with thinking of my job as more than just a job. I struggle with believing and remembering that what I'm doing is make a different for the Kingdom. When I stay in my office all day with a ton of paperwork waiting for me on my desk, it's hard to remember that this is for the Lord and for His Kingdom, not for man.

I really love being more relational and investing my time in people, not paper. Make sense? But I know that God has called me to this place at this time and this is where I'm to serve. I love my job, don't get me wrong, but there are times when I wish I could invest in people more. I'm working on it!

Me and the girls at the Cheesecake Factory in San Fran. Believe it or not, this was my first experience with the CF. It was a good one. We actually saw friends of ours from Anderson there! What a small world!

This is Lombard Street in San Francisco. It's known to be a very crooked street and it most definitely is. But isn't it beautiful. BTW, I was in San Franciso for work to pick up out YA Institute team at the airport when they arrived back from China after being there a month!

After a long day visiting the beach in San Francisco and seeing Alcatraz (remember the movie, The Rock, with Sean Connery) and shopping we stopped in at In-n-Out for a burger and fries. FYI, they were the best fries I've ever had and they're actually cut in the store! The other girls there are students in our Young Adult Institute at Kingdom Building Ministires!

The King's Way

The King's Way

There is a road

That leads to peace

That leads to life

But few will follow

We're at the crossroad

Which way will we go

There is not today a more holy way

Than the steps that lead me to the cross

Where my will can't be the priority

And these crowns I've gained

I count as loss

When I hear the spirit say

That this is the true King's way

-Jason Upton

Oh my gosh. NO words!

Read what Jason said about this song that he wrote:

"Soren Kierkegaard, the prolific Danish writer of the mid-1800's, once said, 'In the early church it was a very difficult thing to become a Christian, but a very easy concept to understand. Now it is the opposite. Now it is very easy to become a Christian but a very difficult thing to udnerstand it.' And why? I think we complicate Christianity wiht too many pasths when there is only one path that leads to life. Protestant churches get mad at the Catholics for their so-called worship of Mary. Well, the Protestants often seem to worship Paul! Yet the only one way that leads to life is Jesus!

So what do we do with the likes of Mother Teresa? Why did she have more power than any preacher I've even seen in person or on TV? She understood what Paul said in Phillipians 3, "whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ." Paul learned that the key to life was in 'laying it all down'. Freedom at last! The real victory is on the other side of the altar...the other side of laying our lives down. Only then will the "one way" make any sense to us.

(This is me again:)) Some of you know and some of you don't know, but I have been wrestling with obedience lately. Actually, for the past five years. But...I have finally answered "yes" and I can attest to what Jason said in the above paragraph. Freedom at last! There is such freedom in saying "yes" to God's call on your life, whatever it is. There is victory on the other side and it does make sense. I feel like I've crossed over into what some people never see or experiene. I would never return to the other side of that altar. NEVER! I encourage everyone, that no matter the difficult question or calling on your life, don't be afraid of what it entails, God has your best interest at heart and he holds you in His arms everyday. Lay it all down, you'll never regret it!

One other thing that has really been speaking to me lately is Matthew 28:18-20. This is the great commission and I've read it a million times, but God has speaking to me through it lately, really challenging and convicting me.

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in teh name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

-Jesus of Nazareth