Making Your Ministry CREDIBLE

This past weekend, I had the wonderful blessing of being able to attend a Beth Moore conference/bible study.  If you've ever done a Beth Moore study, or if you've ever heard her speak, then you know how much she loves the Lord and how full of wisdom she is about God's Word!  Truth be told.... until this past weekend, I had never heard her speak, nor had I ever completed one of her studies.  **GASP**  Well, let me just say that it was an honor to be able to go and hear God speak through her.  Please understand, ladies, that Beth Moore is not Jesus.  (Whaaaa???, you ask)  Nope, she's not.  I say this not to SHOCK you, but to encourage you not to rely solely on her speaking and her studies.  Yes, she is a strong woman of God, but you are challenged to acquire your own personal relationship with the Father, and that requires independent study of God's Word.  So... use her lessons as a guide, but then go study the scriptures yourself and see what the Holy Spirit reveals to YOU! 

Anyway, I wanted to share the message from this weekend to those of you who were unable to attend.  Beth shared through the scripture 2 Corinthians 6:1-7:4.  She began by showing us in v. 1-2 that our time of favor is NOW.  Christ has come!  He is risen!  We are living in the time that was prophesied for ages!  IT'S HERE!!!  So relish in God's grace and be bold!

BUT, Beth spent the rest of her study based on v. 3 which commands us to have a ministry that cannot be discredited.  Here's the thing... how many times do you say that something is INCREDIBLE?  Well, guess what, do you realize that the prefix "in" really means "not"?  Do we want our ministry to be "not believable"???  Of course not!  So, let us begin speaking of how CREDIBLE things can be!!!  She shared the rest of the message by using an acrostic of the word credible.  Here is the summary:

C- Credibility is believability that can only be earned.  (v.3-10)
             -"The gospel can't be spread if you ain't got no cred!!!!"
             -"No one's cred can be yours instead"
      What does your ministry look like?  When people interact with you, do they believe they can trust you?  Can they trust you as a witness to Christ?  What do you need to do to be able to do what you're called to do in such a way that you're seen as credible??
             -In order to gain credibility, you will have to greatly endure through many things throughout your life.  Consider it a blessing to be able to claim that you have greatly endured for His namesake!

R- Reconciling adversity and divine favor is true mystery disclosed.  (v.8-10)
             -We will encounter dire circumstances, but we STILL have His favor.  That is true revelation.

E- Every single antithetical inch is spaced by grace.  (v.8-10)
             -Okay, big word.  Basically, Beth is saying that our state of mind in Christ is separated from our circumstances.  We have the ability to understand true joy because in all of the crud that we encounter, we have EVERYTHING in Christ Jesus.  Grace covers the distance from our worldly junk to the blessed arms of our Father.

D- Dying to self feels most like a killing when the unloved love.  (v.11-13)
              -Sometimes it's hard to love when the love is not returned.  Beth referred us to Psalm 119:32 to remind us to enlarge our hearts so that we may be able to love more fully.

I- Interlocking lives is double strength or double trouble.  (v.14-18)
              -Paul talks of not being yoked to nonbelievers.  Hear me in this, he is NOT saying to stay away from them or to not interact with them.  He is telling believers not to bind themselves to nonbelievers.  We must be careful in our relationships.  Two people who love the Lord can grow strong together.  Two people who disagree in their faith will struggle.  As far as love relationships go, specifically, remember that love and obsession are NOT the same thing!  Love is not based on emotion or physical desires.

B- Bondage at its deadly best is trading repentance for regret.  (7:1-4)
               -Regret causes us to relive the foolishness over and over again.
               -Repentance allows you to own up to your sin and then WALK AWAY FROM IT.  It's done.  It's forgiven.  Move forward.

L- Living and dying together (in reverse order) in heart, is fellowship at its finest.  (7:2-4)
               -We laughed for a long time as Beth realized in front of 13,000+ women that she had made a mistake.  In her study of this passage, she came to learn that the original Greek phrases this verse "to together die and to together live".  We switch them in the NIV to make it easier to understand for ourselves, but in this case, it's not the true intention here.
               -The death is in reference to our sharing in Christ's death.  Death to our sin and former self.
               -The life is in reference to our sharing in Christ's resurrection.  Life eternal.
               -Die and live together.  That is true fellowship.

E- Everything is nothing without Jesus.  (6:10b)
               -In this world, we may have nothing, but because of Christ Jesus, we possess EVERYTHING!!!


Welp, that's a little summary of our weekend.  If you hung with me through it all, give a big "HOLLA".  And if you did read through it all, I hope that God spoke to you in some way.  It was an encouraging message, but a challenging one as well.  I sincerely pray that when people look at me, they see a credible witness.  Am I perfect?  Ha... absolutely not.  Do I make mistakes?  Ha... absolutely yes.  However, in those mistakes, in those trying circumstances, I pray that God would shine through me so that people see Him, and not my sorry self.

These are the ladies that were in my vehicle on the way to and from the Conference.  That's my mother-in-law up front.  As I was taking this picture, she said "Oh!  Do you smell the skunk?!"  Please note her expression.  She loves the smell of fresh  skunk, and let me just say that this one was fresh.

Here are all the ladies who went this past weekend!  It was a blessing to fellowship with them!!!

Is your ministry credible? 

Pray for our Schools!

This is the sign that stands out in front of the schools across our county.  It's very unfortunate that no one within the county has any idea when schools will begin for the 2012-2013 year.  For those of you who don't know our present situation, the school board has proposed a budget to the county commissioners, but it is consistently being rejected.  We are at a standstill with both sides planting their feet firm in the ground.  I'm not going to put all of my personal thoughts and feelings on here expressing my position in it all.  This is not the place.  What is important is our students.  We want them to go to school, but we also want our schools to be a safe, welcoming, loving environment that provides every possible opportunity for success.  Education is the foundation for all future endeavors.  School is not where learning begins, nor where it ends, but it is where learning is nurtured and where it flourishes.  We don't want to stifle that movement.  Right now, we need to pray for God to move in the hearts of those who need to see the bigger picture.  Pray that our children would be put first.  They are worth it and worth the money.  

The Countdown is on...

Summertime is coming to an end, and that brings up a huge mess of emotions.  I'm so excited to meet the new 1st graders and to begin implementing all of the wonderful new things I have learned over the summer.  At the same time, I am going to seriously miss waking up whenever the heck I feel like it and doing whatever the heck I feel like doing each day!  (Which was typically sleeping in, watching tons of Lifetime and TLC, becoming addicted to Pinterest and blogs reading educational books and seeking professional development for the school year!)  This summer has been SO different from a year ago.  Last year at this time I was moving to a new home, in a new city, at a new school, in a new grade, and oh yeah... planning a wedding!!!  Needless to say, I am in a much better place (mentally, physically, emotionally) than I was last year.  But that also doesn't mean that I am ready-to-go. 

As I mentioned before in this post, this blogging business is a constant reminder of how much growing and learning I have to go to be a GREAT teacher, but also that I will never be satisfied in my teaching.  Sounds depressing, right?  But this is generally the mindset of a teacher.  The culture changes, so we change.  Whether it's a change in methodology (worksheets to hands-on) or content (state standards to Common Core) or curriculum (new reading series... new math series...), I will never be at a place where I've learned it all.... and that is so overwhelming.  So, while I've been preparing for the little monsters precious ones who will soon enter my classroom, I've had to seriously check myself on multiple occasions in order to keep from going into a stress meltdown.  This year is going to be FANTASTIC!  I am finally able to teach the same grade for two consecutive years, so I actually have a clue about what I'm getting myself into!  That being said, I am becoming that teacher that I look up to... Slowly but surely, I am adding little tools to my belt.  I'm taking advice from experienced educators.  I'm researching and creating, and that says something, doesn't it?  I care enough to grow.  I just hope my kiddos can see how much I love them and how truly I believe in them.  (Especially considering the time I spend making it all come together!!!!!!!!!!!  Can I get an AMEN?!?)

Here are some more tidbits of preparation....

First of all, for two years I have been growing my hair out.  My hair in college was usually pretty short.  Two years ago, I had just gotten that cut when I went on this blind date with a very handsome man.  Turns out I kinda fell in love with the guy, and knowing that I wanted to have long hair when I got married, I started right then letting it grow.  It's been some time since my hair has fallen so far down my back, and it's been fun!  However.... it's time.  So, I chopped it!  Goooooooodbye 10 inches!

Before...

After...

I think I look teacher ready.... What do you think??

Secondly... I was at Target looking at all their super exciting school supplies on sale, and I came across the most wonderful thing I've seen in a long time.  Remember when you were a kid, and you were getting ready with your "Back to School" gear?  You had to get all the good stuff.... Not just the basic supplies, but I mean the special things... decorative folders, backpacks with the most popular characters plastered all over, and......  A LUNCH BOX!  Meet mine:

You love it, I know.  I'm not usually one for lunchboxes... I just throw my stuff in a Kroger bag... but COME ON!  You know those Pier 1 commercials where the objects talk to the customers.  Well this little love was talking to me.  I promptly texted (apparently texted is not an acceptable word in my spell check, but I don't know how to make it past tense any other way, so I'm leavin' it!) my man to make sure the buy was acceptable, and wonderful hubbs that he is, he said yes.  WIN.  My lunch is cuter than yours.

Lastly, I am trying to take my classroom theme into overdrive this year.  I really want everything to pull together.  So, I've been spending time creating things that will do just that.  (Classroom tour to come later when it's all complete... for the time being.) Thanks to a friend of the family who was ready to change her classroom theme, I inherited a TON of freeeeeee movie themed classroom materials.  Last year I used them minimally... simply because I didn't really know how everything was going to work.  This year, I'm stepping it up!  For today, I will show you my new behavior chart.  Last year, all my kids had clips that started on the "red carpet", but poor choices caused them to move to a 1, 2, or 3.  I have seen several people who make charts where the kiddos can also go UP for outstanding behavior!  Love that.  So, here is what I came up with... Keep in mind, it isn't laminated yet, so I don't have the clothespins on it yet.  But they will start every day on the Red Carpet....

Red Carpet Ready!  Moving down on the chart is not ideal.  I sure hope I don't have to "CUT!!!" many students this year!  (I mean, is that even okay to say?? It totally sounds like Bon Qui Qui...)  But I sure hope to see some of my kiddos become "Part of the Cast" and even have an "Award Winning Performance!!!"

Yay!!!  Well, tomorrow my other life begins.  Students come on Monday, but teachers are in starting in the mo'nin.  Booooo...... Hooray!!!!!!

I promise I'll have other posts not related to school sometimes.... but it pretty much does consume my life, so I can't help it if this is all I have to talk about!!!

Lights, Camera, Action!