"There's No Place Like Home"

I am constantly amazed at the power of God. I am amazed how he cares about the smallest details of our life.

Every October, I try to find a weekend to drive to Charleston to visit family. I had chosen the weekend of October 21st. It seemed as the weekend approached I did not have peace about going. There were many conflicts with schedules and I felt the Lord was telling me to stay home.

I am so grateful that I listened. Sunday October 23rd began as a week of many struggles in my ministry. I began to doubt what God had called me to do. This resulted in a week of hard meetings and many many disappointments. I realized, I needed to get away and quickly rescheduled my trip. I am so grateful!!!

By the time Friday came around, I was ready to escape...but later realized that I wasn't escaping...I was retreating.

It was exciting pulling into the driveway of my childhood home and seeing the door open and the front porch light on.

I could see the image of my mother waiting for us to pull in and the excitement on her face when she saw it was us.

I suddenly felt peace. I felt like I was home and I knew that the moment I walked in the door, I would be surrounded by people who loved me and cared about me and supported me.

I had the best night's sleep that I have had in months.

I woke the next morning to hot coffee, a homemade country breakfast and wonderful conversation.

I agree with Dororthy in the Wizard of OZ..."There's no place like home."

I am sure by tomorrow when I load up the car to leave, I won't be completely ready to face next week's trials...but I do know...that whenever I need a rest...the porch light will always be on for me. ..my bed will always be ready...and a cup of coffee, a country breakfast and love will be on the menu.

I hope you have a place where you can escape for a retreat!!!!If not...I will give you my mom's address.

THE LIGHTS WENT OUT IN TWINSBURG

Last Thursday we lost power from 4:00 pm to 1:00 am the next morning. Our childen thought this was really cool as the sun set and we had to light candles and do homework by flashlight.

It was amazing how calm and quiet everything became the longer the lights stayed off.

By 8:30, we were all in bed but no one was really tired. Our youngest son Alex thought it might be a good idea if we went to a red cross shelter for the night. I think he has been watching too many news reports on Hurricane Katrina.

The boys crawled in bed with me so I thought we should take advantage of the time and just talk.

I made them each take turns saying something encouraging to each other.

Once they stopped accusing each other of "smelling like cheese" (where does this come from?), they encouraged each other.

What a beautiful moment!!!

The even paid me a compliment and told me that "I was purdy".

They'll remember this night as the night they did homework by candles...I'll remember the night as the night they told me I was "purdy".

No Child is perfect...Not even the Children's Director's Child

A funny thing happened today. All of the children were ready for church and as I was sending them to the car I noticed that my oldest son was wearing a shirt that said

SUPPORT THE LOTTERY

This was a gift from someone and we have allowed him to sleep in the shirt. I immediately made him run up and change and it was worth me being a little late for church.

On the way to church I realized 2 things. If I wouldn't let him wear the shirt to church...why would I let him wear it at all.. .even to bed.

I do feel pressure sometimes to make sure that my children are examples of what our ministry represents...but I also have to realize that I struggle just like every other parent. I realized that I am making parenting mistakes just like everyone else.

I also realized that this was also a teachable moment for both of us.

It was the worst of times...it was the best of times

I don't remember where that quote is from, but if you do...let me know. For right now it perfectly describes my week.

The week started off great with a day off and the debut of Martha Stewart's new show. I now know how to properly fold a t-shirt and make scambled eggs. The week was down hill from there.

It was the first time that I actually considered quitting my job and looking for a new one. I was already practicing the phrase "Would you like to supersize your meal."

This week was one of the most trying weeks I have ever had in ministry. I lost several teachers which made our total number of openings 13 in the children's ministry. I had a confrontation with a teacher and I had to make some very hard phone calls to parents this week.

Here is where the best of times comes in.

1) Many people, especially my husband and fellow staff rallied behind me and encouraged me immensely. They prayed for me and with me and truly helped me carry this burden.

2) The elders at my church, stopped their business meeting and laid hands on me and prayed for me last Wednesday.

3) It's now Friday and the storms are calm and I feel God's presence. After each hard phone call, I felt Peace.

4) I feel like I have grown as a leader.

I have fallen in love with my job again...most importantly, I have felt the love of God again.

The Lord also uses a couple of little girls to minister to me.

Everyday when I drive my children to school, we pass two little girls waiting for the bus. Every morning they try to see how many cars will wave at them as they pass. I always make sure I wave at them really big each and every morning. They begin to jump up and down and become really excited. Today, as I was driving to school, it was pouring the rain. I knew that the girls probably would not be outside waving at me today. To my surprise ...they were...with their umbrellas. The Lord reminded me that in the midst of a storm...there is also joy.

BACK TO SCHOOL!!!

I am so excited...tonight I am heading back to school. After taking a year off, I am heading back to seminary. The backpack is packed...the dinner is packed (3 1/2 hr class) and I am so excited.

I was thinking back to the first night of my first class. I remember walking in an feeling intimidated by the size of the group. There were 6 women and about 20 men. The professor walked in and made everyone introduce themself and what type of ministry they were a part of. They began to explain how they were the Pastor of this and the Director of that and then it was my turn. I said "My name is Joy and I am the mother of 4 and I'm not sure why I am here, but I know God has a plan." Little did I know what would lie ahead. He did have a plan and I am so thankful that he knew what was best.

This will be my 5th class. Only 11 more to go. I look forward to seeing some old friends and making some new. The class is called "Discipleship in the Local Church" and according to the syllabus, we will be discussing the postmodern church tonight.

I will let post updates.

Greetings from Chicago!!

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to spend labor day weekend in Chicago with Wally's family. Wally's dad suffers from Parkinson's Disease. I believe that he looks the best that I have ever seem him look. His spirits are good and many of the complications of Parkinson's Disease have subsided. He is currently in a therapy center and hopes to come home next week.

We took the children to visit him when we first arrived and he enjoyed listening to Alex's stand up comedy act. Why is the youngest child always the comedian? Maybe when you are the youngest of four...you have to find creative ways to get attention.

One of the highlights of the weekend was the opportunity to visit Willowcreek and observe their children's program. WOW!!! First of all, it took me awhile to find where I was suppose to be. The place is bigger then Ashley's college campus. Once I found the class, I sat in the back and wrote notes in the dark. I can sum up the experience in one word "EXCELLENCE". Everything was done with excellence! It made me realize that no matter what size we are as a church...we can all strive for excellence in the way we minister.
I was impressed with their treatment of visitors. They have a special room with wonderful coffee and delicious cookies. Any church...any size could do this.

Our sunday ended with a chance to visit IKEA. (Also bigger then Ashley's college) I loved this store!!

Our wonderful weekend is about to come to an end. We will be leaving soon to drop Ashley off at college and then we return to Twinsburg. Hopefully we will be able to share an early dinner with Allison Schuck before heading home.

I hope this weekend has meant as much to my family as it has to me. Family is precious and I hope we have many more opportunities to build lasting memories.

The Difference between Sons and Daughters

Today I discovered the difference between raising girls and boys!!!

Setting: The morning of "picture day" at school.

Daughter: wakes up extra early to flat iron the hair, select the right outfit and the right jewelry.

Sons: I caught them combing their hair with their shoes.

Can you spot the difference?

We love them all!!!!

EVERYONE LIKES TO HAVE FUN

For those of you who know me well, know that I like to have fun. I even try to make some of the most miserable tasks fun. For example, everytime I go for a mammogram...I make sure that I have something to look forward to afterwards. It may be buying a fun drink at a coffeehouse or maybe shopping for a new outfit. The last is my favorite and while I am being smushed in the mammogram machine (really) I am thinking about my shopping excursion. I wouldn't recommend bra shopping...you never come out the same size you went in. (I don't mean to scare those of you who have yet to have this done) Patsy Clarimont nailed it when she said that a mammogram machine is the only machine that can turn a cup into a saucer. (ha ha)

This thought of always wanting to have fun came to me yesterday at church. I am the Children's Director at our church and one of my responsibilities is to make sure children go to the classes they are suppose to be in. Yesterday, I gave the second hour teachers the day off. One little boy came down for class and I had to inform him and his mother that class was cancelled. The little boy shouted "Hallelujah" and I don't think he meant it in a spirtual way. He was thrilled that he didn't have to go to Sunday School. It made me think...why did he prefer to go and sit in a service with adults versus playing games and having a good time with other children. The key words in that thought is "good time". I contemplated if it was my responsibility that children have a good time or is it my responsibility to make sure they are learning Biblical truths whether they like it or not. I came to this conclusion. My responsibility is to make sure that children are learning Biblical truths in ways that are relevant and yes "fun" for them. I know that Sunday School shouldn't be an extension of the same school that they attend 5 days a week. I know that I am working with children who are use to video games, television and other forms of media and I need to make sure that they can see that being a Christian is fun.

I know that I have a long way to go and I need to continually learn new and find creative ways to teach children. I hope some day that the little "hallelujah" boy will someday run to church...not away from church.

Big Day!!!

Yesterday was a big day at our house. The children received a letter telling them who their new teachers were. Everyone was happy and were glad to see that there would be some familiar faces in their class. It was sad to see that Austin's teacher was not listed. The teacher that he was to have was killed 2 weeks ago in a motorcycle accident. She was wearing a helmet and took all necessary safety precautions. The school assures us that there will be a teacher there on the first day of school and we trust God for his provision.

Her name was Sally Finley and we only knew here as Mrs. Finley. I knew her as the teacher with cute clothes and good hair. Ally and I attended her funeral and were not surprised that this large church was packed. I truly felt that her funeral was a time of worship. It was clear that Mrs. Finley was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and that she was in the presence of God.
One gentleman read from a book called 90 minutes in heaven. He spoke about arriving in heaven and being greeted by all of those who have gone ahead of us.

I believe it was one of the most beautiful funerals I have ever attended. The pastor talked about all of the lives that Mrs. Finley had impacted. Just through her teaching, she touched at least 600 lives. It made me think...who have I made an impact on. What am I doing everyday to help make someone else's life better. I need to try harder. To be a better wife, mother, friend co-worker etc. Some great advice that was given to me recently was "Always build bridges...not walls."

Here I go...

I have spent a lot of time reading the blogs of others and I was starting to feel the urge to create my own. I will try this for awhile and see how it goes. I am constantly writing down ideas of stories that I would like to write someday...so maybe this is the beginnng to the book that I dream of writing someday.

I am sure that the word dream will be used alot in my blogs.(that sound strange....I'm a 40 year old mother of 4 and I have a blog...what's next...a belly ring NOT!!!!)

I am so glad this week is over. We had an exhausting week of ministry at the church. I felt like I was barely there this morning..more like walking through the motions until...the church door opened and a little girl ran to me and gave me the biggest hug. She'll never know what thathug meant. I suddenly felt energized and had strength for the rest of the journey.

Hugs like that make all the headaches and hard times of ministry fade away.

My new motto is "I do it for the Lord and the hugs."