Level Two?

 Level 2?

This is another new blog for me! hahah  I really do think I like to blog.  I enjoy writing down what I'm thinking and pretending that it's important enough to for others to read.  I think it would be cool for the kids to discover this blog 50 years from now.  Who knows.  What I DO know is that I really stink at consistency and regularity.  Each time I "find" the blog again, I read through the old posts and see that it's been months/ or years since my last.

This is 2020.  March began normally for us in Akron but by the middle of the month life as we knew it had ended.  Everything was closed down and we were asked to stay home to protect the health care system from being overwhelmed with cases of COVID19 that they did not know how to treat or protect themselves from.  It was not known at that time how it was transmitted, how it could be treated, how it could be tested for and why so many people were dying from it.  It was scary.  Kids were no longer in school and we were trying to teach from home online using our Google For Education Suite of Programs and Apps.

God had prepared me for just a moment as this and placed me in a particularly sweet position.  Literally just weeks prior, I had been invited to attend a tech conference in Columbus.  While there, I was introduced to many Google Suite programs, apps and shortcuts!  Everyone knows the shortcuts are the best part!  I got my coffee in the morning, set up shop in the Google Classroom at the conference and spent all day on my chromebook learning, taking notes and doing!!  I already had explored a bit.  I had a Google Classroom, I knew about Google Slides and sheets etc. but I never really had anyone show me the cool stuff.  I was so excited to learn more and to use it in my own classrooms at school.  When I got home from the conference, I studied and took the Google Level One Educator certification test.  I was allotted 3 hours to finish the exam, it took me just over 2.  I was pretty confident that I did well on it but there were a few questions that I wasn't sure about and wondered how the test would be weighted etc.  Would those questions be the ones that kept me from passing.   After only 1 day (they had said 2 weeks) I received the results.  I PASSED!!!  I was so stinking proud of myself!  I was Google Certified!  I added the badge to my email and then sent random hello emails to everyone I could think of so they would notice my badge!  hahaha. 

This certification was not needed.  It did not come with a pay raise or additional responsibilities.  It did make me feel good, I was proud of myself and the things that I learned really did come in handy as we shut down the brick and mortar school buildings and began teaching online.  I was able to help staff set up their classrooms, answer questions, talk with families to assist in learning etc.  Then I took the level 2 test.  The questions were much more in depth and broad.  Things that you may not know by using the system.  I took the exam originally to see the types of questions that would be in the exam so that I would be a better studier as it came to do that .  Once I took the test and realized the spectrum it covers, I was overwhelmed and decided that I maybe didn't need to take it again at all.  I have rested in this resolve until October. 

Tomorrow is October 1st and I have had a change of heart.  I have time in my schedule, because we are still teaching from home, that I could in fact study for Level 2.  I could spend several hours a week improving myself and "getting another badge".  I know that this is a much more difficult test so I will need to read, remember, practice and stick to it.  I am ready.  BUT THEN...

The first thing this morning, September 30 - the day before I set my mind to begin- I got a head start.  I decided to begin early and be excited.  I got to the training site and BLOGGER was the first task.  Now if you see this you'll know that I have been doing this for many years.  I know how to post a blog for crying out loud.  This morning, it took me 30 minutes just to realize that I use a different email address to write this blog than I do for my Google Training and THAT is why there was no posting capability!! ARGHH

Of course! You can't just go to someones blog and create one!  What was I thinking?  So, this is me.  I am finally signed into the Blogger app and posting a blog once again.  Enjoying the writing and figuring out the tech part of it so that I can apply what I have learned to my Level 2 exam.  Note to self - SIGN IN FIRST!  

Pray for me!!  I think I am going to need it!!

Laying down my stick

This past Friday night, my husband and I started our first ever couples' Bible study with a group of friends.  I am excited that we may be able to do this together.  I'm not counting on it working, but am looking forward to the possibilities!

We decided as a group that Dr. Tony Evans study on James that was available to us on video would be a good starter study.

I love DTE!  He is an awesome teacher!  Though we only made it through James 1:1, I have a great lesson to share!

Moses had a stick.  It wasn't just any stick.  It was a stick that he had probably hunted for.  Looking to be sure that he found just the right stick. It had to fit his hand just right.  It had to have been just the right length.  This stick would have had some twists and turns in it, but they were all in just the right place.  He may have even made a few customizations to this stick. 

This stick became Moses' staff, his tool, his weapon.  He would use it to test the depth of the same dunes, the depth of the water.  This staff could be used to fend off robbers, dangerous animals and other threats to his family or flock. 

Moses valued his staff because it was a useful tool to wrangle his flock, extend his reach, stable him as he walked through tough terrain.  It gave him balance as he climbed mountains and crossed creeks.  Moses carried his staff with him everywhere he went.  He counted on it being strong and sturdy.

Then one day... God asked Moses to THROW IT DOWN!!


To THROW... IT... DOWN!

To let go of it and allow it to be used by God. 

That's when this stick, this carefully crafted staff became so much more. 

As the staff lay on the ground, as Moses watched unable to control the staff, unable to use the tool, unable to be aided by the staff, unable to have the security of the staff that he had become accustomed to, the staff became transformed into a SNAKE!

I'll bet he almost peed his pants!! hahahha  God stepped in and turned his security, weapon, tool, aid into a stinking snake!   Then... as if it were no big deal, He told Moses to pick it up by the tail! Moses had to transfer all of his dependency from the staff/snake to God.  All of his expectancy from the staff/snake to God, all of his confidence from the staff/snake to GOD! 
Once he did this, the snake again became a staff.

This staff was never the same again.  Moses used this staff to guide his people through the desert, to part the red sea and to get water from a rock!  

Since Moses gave his staff to God, God was able to use it for more than Moses could have ever imagained.  And, Moses thought he could use it for everything to begin with!

What is your staff?  What are you relying on?  In what does your security and confidence lie?  Are you willing to throw it down, risk it being broken, give it to God?  Once you do... it will never be the same.  When God gives it back to you, it will be more and better than you could have ever imagined!

I LOVE thinking about this! 

What's Next?

This past Sunday was my last day serving in Kids Ministry at the Green Campus. 
I began serving in Kids Ministry in 1996 and in Green specifically in 2003.  Through the past few years, I have had fewer and fewer connections in Green.  I find myself working in Hartville, living in Ellet and serving in Green.  I think this is too much for me now.

I need a bit more focus.  A more local flavor to my life if you will.  I have decided to leave my "mission field" for now and find a service opportunity closer to home. 

Although I have attended The Chapel since 1972 and rely on the integrity and spiritual strength of the leaders I'm not at all sure that simply moving over to the Akron campus is going to be the answer for me right now. 

I think we're going to visit, search, get acquainted with and pray about other churches.  After 40 years in one place it's going to be weird but let me just say this too, it will be fresh, exciting and interesting to see how other people worship, to see what other serving opportunities are in and around our city.  I am praying for God to get creative and I am not going to hinder his creativity by a name on the sign of the church. 

WHEREVER 2 or more are gathered, HE is THERE!  I can't wait to meet him there!!

Hello 2015!  Today is Friday.  Can we start fresh on Monday?  I know, I know but really... I just like to start things fresh on Monday. 

Yesterday was so nice with time to sleep in, reflect, refresh etc.  Why did we have to start the reality today already? hahaha  After watching OSU win the Big 10 Championship last night after midnight and not sleeping too well, this morning was HARSH!  It's been a slow sleepy kind of day so far.  I am on day 2 of the 21 day Junkfood challenge.  No white flour, sugar, cookies, crackers, candy, fastfood, soda and other assorted unhealthy things.  So far, I am doing good.

I keep thinking back to yesterday.  If I am going to make room for God to be creative in my life, what does that mean?  Today, it means that I will try to eat healthier so that he can do more with my body.  What if God has plans for me to be a model in my 60s due to my thin figure and young looking features?  I had better plan for that!  AND... yes, it will take all of my 50s to make that true! hahahha

Seriously though, I don't want to be laden with extra weight if what God needs me to be is svelte and healthy.  


I hope that by Monday, when I am ready to start fresh, I will be on day 5 of this 21 day Junkfood Challenge!  In the mean time, I have to go to lunch - I know I know... no fast food or soda.

Praying for God's creativity in my life throughout 2015

As we tend to do, I have been trying to create a reset for myself for 2015. I have been trying to recreate my attitude, change my living patterns and make a sticking decision. I want a conviction behind my resolution this year that will be a conviction that will preempt any of my desires or decisions that will follow. I need change.
I realized that being more energetic is good but not that conviction I am looking for. Losing weight, cleaning out clutter, being in time, eating healthier (go ahead and jump in when you recognize your resolution!) even choosing a character of God to claim as a resolution Joy, Discipline, Self Control Etc.  These are also great ideas and positive directions to take but I needed something more for 2015. I am in need of God. More than what I can do, I need HIM to do it!  This year I needs God to step into my life, my day, my minutes with his creativity. I need him to recreate me, reassign my purposes, reawaken my passions and renew my abilities to serve him.  I am resoluting in 2015 to make room in my life for God to be creative!  This will most likely mean more early mornings. More workouts. More healthy eating. More Bible study. More time alone in reflection and writing and less TV time. Those will all be steps to my one resolution to create in me a place for Christ to resurrect and do it creatively!  Here's to 2015, I can't wait for what is to come!

Do you have a title?

Wow! It's been quite some time since I have posted a blog entry.  I guess that makes it official, I was not a blogger.  But since I am posting today, does that make it official that I am once again a blogger?  These titles are something that I have been rolling around in my head lately.  I have been thinking about confidence, self discipline, entitlements and titles.  More specifically, how these things apply to my parenting and even my life as I prepare to have an empty nest and a second half of life to prepare for.

I have always considered myself to be capable.  I can do most things well.  I find very few things that I am not able to complete.  I can sing.  I can play the piano, clarinet and violin.  I can draw.  I have not ever considered myself to be a singer, musician or artist.  I am now wondering why not?

As my daughter is getting older, I find that she is so much more capable than I.  She can really sing well often leading worship at church and even the Star Spangled Banner at the High School Basketball games!  She plays the clarinet better than most and has a true talent for drawing and painting.  She even ministers to others by facepainting and creating henna designs.  Her artistic talent seems to ooze out of her fingertips and yet when recently asked, she said that she would not consider herself a singer, musician or even an artist.

She said that she enjoys those things, but it is not what defines what or who she is. 

When we give ourselves titles, are we limiting who or what we are?  Are we assuming that this title will help us decide what we should do and what direction we should take?  Are we allowing this title to offer us a place that we belong?

When we give ourselves titles, are we claiming a skill or talent for ourselves?  Are we declaring that we are proficient at or actually good at a particular skill. 

When we give ourselves titles, do we expect that others will believe us?  Do we share our titles so that others will know or so that they will not question.  Eleanor Roosevelt said that if you have to proclaim you are a lady then you certainly are not. 

When we hear a self proclaimed title do we believe it?  Do you ever find yourself saying "but he is a musician!" of course I would pay to hear his music.  Or I don't know what that is a picture of, but it must be art because she created it and she is an artist?  I have seen many pieces of "art" that to me appear to be paint on canvas with things glued on it.  I have seen many "photographs" that to me, appear to be a picture that was taken.  (if you're having a hard time thinking of one, think how many pictures you recently saw on rail road tracks.)

I think that it takes a certain amount of confidence to declare a title for yourself.  Good for the girl who will declare she is an artist regardless of the approval she receives from her peers when they see her "art".  But care should also be taken to assure that the girl doesn't let "artist" be anything more than a title.  It should not define who she is, what she is, how she thinks or what her value is based on.  It can merely describe what she does.

If you have ever given yourself a title, good for you. If you haven't, please step up and make that declaration.  But don't allow it to define you in any way.  You are the creator of the title, it cannot create who you are.  Today, I think I will be a Blogger!

REALLY???

My friend Sally and I have said this a million times to each other.  It is always said with a smile and often a giggle as well.  Sometime, it is barely able to be said through the laughter and rolling tears that accompany the belly laughter.  Really??  It's the declaration that whatever is to come next is absurd, ridiculous, preposterous, outrageous and we have to share it.  We have to share it right now and with each other! 
It's awesome to have a Really? friend to call. 
Lately, it seems like I kind of live in REALLY? land.  My work with the public has me often saying REALLY?  My parenting experience has more REALLY? moments as the kids get older.  And my wifing, well... REALLY???? hahahhaha 

Each time this word comes into my day, I smile, I laugh and I enjoy it.  I think that God plans it that way for me.  REALLY!!