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Hello, hello!

It's only been like two weeks...

     So, Kelli has been a busy bee through the month of April! That's only leading into May and June, my two of four busiest months, yikes!
     Been doing a lot of thinking and evaluating. Rule one to any good blog/vlog... schedule! The follower wants to know when they can count on something new. I have been a sorry disappointment in this area with my blog. I originally started with the idea that my followers would be subscribers so my erratic schedule would not be a problem because everybody would get the email when I posted... silly Kelli.
     So I am putting myself out there with this announcement:

 Every Thursday will have a post!!

 

Ta-da! I did it. There it is. *Phew!*

 

Now for part two:

     Working on the website for my conservation club and another Christian site I really sat down and asked myself: "what do I look for first?" I evaluated searched, and polled for the important guts to a site. I found myself seeing that the most important things I look for were not necessarily in my site!

     So second announcement:

New things are coming!!

 

     What do I mean new things? Well, if you look up ^^ you will see a new tab starting today. This is my first movement forward! It is my "About Me" section. You can read about what I believe and a little about who I am.

     More tabs will be on the way! As a new/growing Christian sometimes the hardest thing is to find sound reading/learning material. I plan to share "my library" and "resources" with you all! As time goes on maybe I will have more things to share, but for today I wanted to let you know that I am still here and many posts are on their way!!

 

 

#LentABC : Part 1

 

If you don't follow me on Instagram or FB I am taking part in a 40 day #LentABC photo challenge promoted ABC Home Missions. I am enjoying it immensely because taking the entire day to think about what the word truly means to me each day is very connecting to God.

 

Day 1: Journey

 

Day 2: Human

 

Day 3: Alone

Day 4: Injustice

Day 5: Covenant

 

Day 6: Path

 

Day 7: Wilderness

Day 8: Tell

 

Day 9: Silence

 

Day 10: Wonder

 

Day 11: Doubt

 

Day 12: Bless

Day 13: Prayer

 

Day 14: Hear

 

Day 15: Follow

Day 16: Prophet

 

Day 17: Mystery

 

Day 18: Practice

Day 19: Healing

Day 20: Brokeness

Here's the first half of my Lent photo challenge!

Check back in another 20 days and you'll see the second half! ;)

No Truer Words...

 

 

 

     I read an article some time ago that has constantly had me thinking. It was about how we teach children that everyone goes to heaven, and in that sense we are lying to them. Teaching them a misconception about heaven, and raising them to be disappointed later. 

     It is something that I have kept in the back of mind while raising my son. He is fortunate that so far in his life we have only lost one family member, and I was blessed to be able to say to my son in truth that she went to heaven.

 

 

 



~Mardi Gras~

 

Who would guess that Mardi Gras is a church holiday?!?

 

Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday.

In England it's called Shrove Tuesday derived from shrive; meaning "confess."

 

     In case you didn't notice by my background I am kind of excited about it. Not only is it my two favorite colors (purple meaning justice and green meaning faith), but it's about eating! Fat Tuesday is about celebrating the day before Ash Wednesday- the day Lent starts! Fasting doesn't seem to be a common practice anymore, but tradition stands that you we are to fast during the Lenton season. So Fat Tuesday turned into a celebration of having the last feast of "sweets and fats" before fasting and prayer.

     Did you know in Ireland they celebrate the entire week before Ash Wednesday. They call it Shrovetide, and their special thing is pancakes- PANCAKES! Which thanks to the brilliance of my son we are having our own party at home tonight. We will be making purple and green chocolate chip pancakes, and bacon!

     Like all things in America, we have turned an at one time acceptable holiday into a week of alcohol and flashing. For a Christian to admit they are participating in Mardi Gras would turn heads. Speaking of I saw the coolest article in the local paper Sunday: a church in another town is having a Mardi Gras night! They are having a jazz band and serving pancakes/waffles! That is what I want for the church I am meant to lead!

 

Speaking of the Lenten season though... I will be fasting this year!!

I am super excited!!!!!
 

     When I did my first fast for Lent it was three years ago. I was so healthy and happy! The mountain top of being with God was amazing! God has been leading me into this for a while now. I will be doing a Daniel fast, but allowing chicken occasionally at my dinner meals for closeness with my husband. Also, this year for my fast I am pre-arranging a "pass" for dinner on my son's birthday and for Valentine's Day dinner with my husband! I have two major things I will be praying for during my fast: the youth ministry of our church and a very personal matter. I am very excited to say that I took an idea out of this book I am reading and have invited three very close women to join me for dinner once a week through Lent to help in prayer. I am so excited about these dinners!! It's not just for me, but so I can be there for them as well.

     I encourage you all to party with pancakes and wear PURPLE, green, or gold today! Please take a minute and pray. Ask God what needs prayer this Lent? What do you need to put down?

PRAY: **Lord, please help me to grow closer to you! This Lent we take a journey to follow you to the cross. You laid down your life for mine. Show me what in my life needs to be laid down so I can follow more closely. Is it my social media, my anger, an unhealthy activity/hobby, or my attitude? Lent is more than just eating a special diet, it is about praying honestly and frequently so I can hear you Lord! Bless my endeavors this Lent and all your believers, Amen.**

Twinkie People

Who doesn't love twinkies?!?

 

 

Especially since they now come banana flavored, covered in chocolate, or even deep-fried at the fair!

Did you know that a single twinkie is 150grams of calories? It takes approximately 45minutes to walk off just one twinkie. Also, I have seen twinkies last up to a year in their wrappers...not saying I'd eat that, but that shows you the kind of preservatives that are in them. Twinkies are just not healthy for us. All the preservatives they use to replace using milk and eggs are also used to make rocket fuel.

 

So these fluffy yellow cakes filled with cream that everybody loves have no actual substance.

Isn't the world full of those type of people?

 



Jeremiah 17: 5-6

"This is what the Lord says:

“Cursed is the one who trusts in man,
    who draws strength from mere flesh
    and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
That person will be like a bush in the wastelands;
    they will not see prosperity when it comes.
They will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
    in a salt land where no one lives."

 

The original Hebrew word for bush is aroer.  In Israel there is an Aroer tree. 

 

They grow in the middle of the desert.

The plant is green, lush, and grows this

large fruit. We would look at it and

call it healthy.

 

Here's the deal though...

When the fruit is opened there is nothing there.

A dried up center with what appears to        

be spider webs inside it. A nasty slime         

runs out of it. The fruit is even said              

to be poisonous.                                            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeremiah 17:7-8

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

 

 

     In today's world it is easy to get caught up in talking a big game. You can talk the talk, but can you walk the walk? God wants us to be fully reliant on Him. Only God can provide us with substance. Do you feel empty and hollow? Honestly, some days I do, and I know that's my sin not God. We are in a world where pretty words and faces can get us far in life. Just like twinkies though, are we lacking substance??

     Got to keep moving and doing, and sometimes we forget that God calls us to the edge of the stream. We are be planted in the Word of God so that when hard times come we have no worries. Today the world is in a drought. Do you feel like the cheap preservatives the world is trying to feed us are not filling you anymore? People set to "do it" themselves will fail. I don't want to be a twinkie. A person who's worth is non-substantial, who's words hold no real meaning, or even a person who bows down before the better opinion.

 

     A twinkie person I am not, and I ask you to look at your life. Are you hollow inside?

 

 

 



'Christian' Education

Christian education is not about mastery, because you cannot master a person.
Christian education is about change, because it requires you to grow to know someone.

Mission Statement

Mission for the Church:

To Be Missionaries.

We should be exploring ways to share God with people.

It should be our job as THE church to touch as many people as possible with the word and love of God! This means meeting children, teenagers, young adults, adults, and elderly where they are! Not necessarily bringing them to God, but taking God to them!

I was not raised in church. I can remember being there for Vacation Bible School, having my Girl Scout meetings here, and WRE (Weekly Religious Education a program we had with school). That church  has always felt like home. No matter how old I am, when I step in that church I know every nook and cranny, and it feels right! I want others to feel the same. I believe a big part of that starts with children.

From personal expreiance- if a child wants to come to church, help them. Don't try to convince the parent to come just offer to pick up the child. If you can show the child the impact of God's love you will in turn draw in the parent. What parent turns down a child eager to share something with them? Once the parent comes then you show them God by making church relatable. Have a date night for families. You give the parents alone time or even adult time, and at the same time you are watching the children and sharing with them. As well, you are showing the whole family that the church and it's people are there for comfort and support! Work out a deal with a bowling alley and host an event for teens and young adults there, then share God with them there!

Part of my personal struggle going to church a few years ago was because I thought that I did not belong. To me there was a stigma to being a "church person." I have tattoos, I cuss, I dress revealingly, I was in a sexual relationship, and I felt stupid for not knowing the Bible. In my eyes I had to change all of myself before I would be welcome there, but it was truly experiancing God's love that changed me.

We have to show people that God's love does not judge, it just is. Jesus went to the people. He also told his disciples, "be fishers of men," Matthew 4:19. Are we as a church being "fishers of men?" Or are we sitting on our bums waiting for them to come to us?

This comes to me from our sermons the past few months. As one said, "we are disciples, we come in love and spread the good news." Another phrase that has stayed in my heart- "keep your eyes on the prize." We should be taking each step forward with our eyes on God, not on our job or the hateful neighbor. We should walk the footsteps of Jesus and show God's love to the world in our actions and I believe that He will provide and protect us in the process as an individual and as His church.

I think churches need to broaden their activities to reach others. We should be using activities and the current culture to share God's word. Hasn't every situation you gone through been found in the Bible? It's the proof and faith that, "hey, you can get through this- it has been done before." We should be sharing this with people. We deserve to give children these roots, they are our next generation. All children and especially adults deserve to know that God loves them above all else! They need the faith that God is always there for them.

So, is the church being fishers of men??

Thoughtful Tuesday

"The church is not the field for evangelism, but the force for evangelism"



 

A New Perspective...

Like many Christians, this day and age, I love my Bible app! One of the cool features in that they provide "Plans" which are varied from devotionals to schedules for reading through the Bible.  February being the "love month" I found a cool devotional that I've been reading through: Breathe Spiritual Passion into Your Marriage. It's only seven days so it's super easy.

I am going to share day one with you! I just love that one!!

 

“God as Father-in-Law”

     It came almost as a warning, and frankly, I needed one at the time. I was a young husband, and during an intense time of prayer, I sensed God telling me very directly that Lisa wasn’t just my wife, but she was also His daughter and I was to treat her accordingly.
     This was a moment of revelation for me, and the force of this insight grew once I had kids of my own. If you want to get on my good side, just be good to one of my kids.
Conversely, if you really want to make me angry, pick on my kids. Be mean to them. My blood pressure will go up if your name is even mentioned because I’d much rather you mess with me and with one of my kids.
     So when I realized I was married to God’s daughter—and that you, women, were married to God’s sons—everything about how I viewed marriage changed. God feels about my wife—His daughter—in an even holier and more passionate way than I feel about my own daughters. Suddenly, my marriage was no longer about just me and one other person; it was very much a relationship with a passionately interested third partner. I realized one of my primary forms of worship throughout the rest of my life would be honoring God by taking care of a woman who would always be, in His divine mind, “His little girl.”
     We often hear pastors contemplate the fatherhood of God, a wonderful and true doctrine. But if you want to change your marriage, extend this analogy and spend some time meditating about God as Father-in-Law. Because when you marry a believer, He is!
     * Have you ever thought of your spouse as the son/daughter of God? How does this change your relationship (both actions and attitudes) with him/her?
           1 John 3:1

           Galatians 3:26-29

 

(Taken from his new book "A Lifelong Love," Gary Thomas.)

"One World"

"In Christ there is no East or West,

In Him no South or North;

But one great fellowship of love

Throughout the whole wide earth."

-John Oxenham, Bees in Amber

 

 

In the Bible there is no support for division by race, poverty, or culture...

 

 

"It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning."  -Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Christmas...

 

 Christmas morning the parents asked their little girl,

"Did you get everything you asked for?!"

The little girl replied,

"No, but it's not my birthday." 

 



Hmmm...

"If we don't know what God has done for us yesterday we won't call on Him today, and our children won't call on Him..."
-Manafest

Food for Thought

“The Bible is not a book for the faint of heart -- it is a book full of all the greed and glory and violence and tenderness and sex and betrayal that befits mankind. It is not the collection of pretty little anecdotes mouthed by pious little church mice -- it does not so much nibble at our shoe leather as it cuts to the heart and splits the marrow from the bone. It does not give us answers fitted to our small-minded questions, but truth that goes beyond what we even know to ask.” ― Rich Mullins

Trivia

Here's something cool I just learned:

'Testament' and 'covenant' both mean the same thing in Hebrew...

'Covenant' means 'promise' or 'to promise.'

So the two parts of the Bible mean "Old Promise" and "New Promise."

Enjoy that food for thought!