Category Archives: Growth

My Greatest Highlight of 2012

[I wrote the article below for the website Ministry127. It’s a great website with free resources and ideas to encourage and equip leaders in church ministry.]

March 7, 2012—it was the beginning highlight for what would become the delight of my year.

That evening, I had the joy to begin leading a young Christian through our church’s formal discipleship program.

What is discipleship?

  • It is a front row seat in seeing God’s Spirit bring growth.
  • It is a fresh reminder of the depth and grace of God’s love.
  • It is spiritual energy as you observe a tender heart for God and growth in His grace.
  • It is the incredible opportunity to work with God’s Spirit in pressing the button to watch a miracle of His grace unfold in a life.
  • It is the perfect vantage point from which to watch God’s Word change a life…at the deepest levels of the heart.
  • It is an indescribable joy to participate with God in His work.
  • It is…my favorite event of the week!

Continue reading

A Good Kind of Greedy

Note: This blog is part of a Thanksgiving series of blogs highlighting attributes of God for which I am thankful.

I’m learning the beauty of a word that I used to limit: grace.

Of course, we know that God is gracious, and we are thankful for that; but I am discovering that His graciousness impacts far more of my life than I used to think.

We know that it is through His grace that we are saved.

For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.—Ephesians 2:8–9

And if you’re in church at all, it’s not difficult to know that people who are hurting or grieving need grace. Just listen to public prayers, and you’ll understand that grace is for people who have lost a loved one.

But in recent years, I’ve begun to see grace in a fuller light. I’m learning that grace is not limited to salvation and loss. Ephesians 2:7 uses the phrase “the exceeding riches of his grace.” Continue reading

The Scales I Couldn’t Pass

I started taking piano lessons when I was about seven. And I started practicing my scales the very same day. Not just one scale, all of the major scales. My teacher (who ate ice cream during the lesson) wrote the letter of every scale out for me in a notebook. He sent me home with the notebook and told me to practice.

I knew right away that I didn’t like practicing scales. But I also knew that the more diligently I practiced the pieces I was assigned, the sooner I “passed” them and moved on to other pieces.

And so I labored over the scales. Over and over, day after day, I read/sang the note names in a tone-deaf fashion while I worked to program my fingers to coordinate: “C, D, E, F, G, A, B, C [weary breath]; D, E, F sharp, G…”

Every lesson, I dreaded the beginning—playing through my scales. And every week, when I finished my lesson, I left with instructions to work on those horrid scales. Continue reading

Does All Always Mean All?

In every place it is used?

We’re quick to claim the full meaning of all when it comes to God supplying all of our needs.

But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.—Philippians 4:19

Or when it comes to God helping us do all things through Christ and His strength.

 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.—Philippians 4:13

Or when it comes to God providing all comfort. Continue reading

When Decisions Won’t Bend the Trail

Seven years ago, I stood under a star-studded sky in central Texas and made a decision.  With a tinge of dramatic anticipation, I looked to Heaven and prayed my own paraphrase of Jeremiah 26:14: “Lord, do with me as seems good in Your sight.” And then I offered a particularly painful area to Him.

But the outcome of that decision wasn’t quite what I had hoped.

Turning Points

I learned early on that spiritual decisions make spiritual turning points. And turning points are usually exciting. There is a surge of joy in Holy Spirit-prompted surrender, and there can be a rush of anticipation in the biblically-rooted change sure to follow.

So seven years ago, when I knew that I needed this surge of joy and longed for a fresh sense of grace, I made a decision to surrender.

What happened next was…disappointing. Continue reading

A Good Day for Me

Several years before I was born, an eighteen-year-old girl was visited in the hospital by an old friend from high school friend named Dody. In the time that had passed since they had seen each other, Dody had changed, and Joanne couldn’t help but notice.

“Dody, your face looks so…so pretty.”

“That’s because Jesus has changed my life. I trusted Him, and He has changed me.”

Dody’s countenance of joy was so compelling that as soon as Joanne was released from the hospital, she made a call to the Baptist pastor of the church where her grandmother had attended and asked for an appointment. Continue reading

When the Job Is Too Big

Have you ever felt too little? Like the task before you was too big? Like the role you were expected to fill was too large?

Sometimes the answer is not for us to “get bigger” but for us to get wiser.

Proverbs 30:24–28 tells about “four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding wise.” In every case, these very little animals conquer daunting need—with wisdom. Continue reading

Creative Christianity

Did you ever notice that the most commonly correct answer in Sunday school is “Pray and read your Bible”? I first picked up on this in second grade.

“How can we obey God?” the teacher would ask.

Hands would shoot up. But as soon as the first person answered, “Pray and read your Bible,” the hands lowered.

“What does Jesus want us to do?” the teacher would ask.

Again, hands all over the room.

And again, first person who answered got it correct—“Pray and read your Bible.”

This answer began to seem so routine to me that I remember trying to come up with a more creative one—usually something along the lines of “Be nice to your brothers and sisters” or “Go to church.”

A few years later, I began to think that even those answers were becoming annoyingly predictable. How could the answer to every question be the same? Was there nothing more to the Christian life than “pray and read your Bible?” Continue reading

The Thanksgiving Game

Have you ever noticed that people only say “It’s just a game” when they’re not winning? As for me, I love winning! Even when I’m playing tic-tac-toe with little kids, I play to win! And I’m not much for the kind of games where nobody/everybody wins because they all tried. (I might have a slight competitive streak.)

But last November, I played a game with my sister and my nephews in which I really believe we all won. It was not so much a competition against each other, as a competition against our own human bent toward ungratefulness.

I call it “the Thanksgiving Game.” Here’s how it works: Each day, beginning November 1st, players make a list of what they are thankful for beginning with the letter of the alphabet that corresponds with the day. (On November 1, words begin with A; on November 2, words begin with B; and so on.)

For instance, today, I am thankful for Acceptance in Christ, the Ability to serve God, Apples, Aviation technology, Answers, and Available friends. (If I were really trying to make a long list, I could add Anteaters, and Aardvarks…but I think that may defeat the purpose of the exercise.) Continue reading

The Price of an Education

Perhaps it was the crisp fall air from this morning, or perhaps it was the bag of apples calling from the fridge, or perhaps it was the fact that this was the first evening in over a week that I’ve had a few minutes without a specific obligation. But whatever the reason, I decided to make an apple pie tonight.

My mom makes the best apple pie ever. Of course, pie baking expertise is not absorbed by osmosis—as I am well aware. It’s the crust that always gets me. My mom bakes a perfect crust—thin and flaky. I can’t remember that I’ve ever baked a good crust in the kitchen alone. But, since it’s been years since I last tried and failed and since I couldn’t reach my mom on the phone, I decided tonight was the night for success!

I pulled out my mom’s recipe and began measuring and mixing. Yep, the flour and salt mixed together great!

As I began to cut in the butter, I called Kristy, a dear friend from out of state whom I haven’t talked with in months. We chatted as I watched what was taking place in the bowl in front of me with growing concern. This wasn’t looking quite right. In fact, it was looking very wrong. Continue reading