A Change of Pace

It’s been a long time since I’ve posted - not for a lack of things going on, but because life is happening so quickly!   Funny - the last time I posted was two days after GO RUN  (our 5k in April), and today it is one day before GO RUN - the 15k.  Life definitely is full of surprises - if you'd told me last year that I would coordinate two races in 2011, I wouldn't have believed it. You never know what's around the corner in life!  :)

After several years of being a full-time staff member at Life Fellowship, I have the opportunity to step back and focus on some people and passions that are near and dear to me.  Tony’s career is moving in a new direction with Corky’s BBQ, and the changes mean that he will be traveling on a more extended basis - and I am going to travel with him!  We are so excited to have the opportunity to spend more time together at this season in our lives.  During November, we will be spending time in the Nashville and Pensacola areas, and will cap off the month with a trip to the Philippines to see Kelli, John, Clara and Lincoln!  It has been almost a year since they boarded the plane for Cebu City.  Skype is awesome, but we are counting the days until we get to see them face-to-face and in person!  One priority as we move to this new adventure was that I get to spend Thursdays with Tucker, so we are scheduling our travel time to accommodate that very important date each week!  :)  

We will be home every weekend, and look forward to “doing life” with our Life Fellowship family!  Tony and I will continue to be involved with the Growth Track, Guest Services Teams and lifeGROUPS, and I will be working on the HR side of things at the church.  We are blessed to have been a part of what God is doing since the day that Life Fellowship was born, and we look forward to what He has for each of us in the future!  We are so grateful to Pastor Patrick and Treasa Conrad for their friendship and leadership, and for the incredible life change that we personally have experienced at Life Fellowship. 

The last few years have been full of so many experiences and emotions - becoming empty nesters, then grandparents; dealing with health issues of family members; and amazing moments as Life Fellowship has grown from a “baby” church to a multi-site movement with five services each weekend in two locations.  God has taught us so many things over the past few years; if I were to sum it up into one thought, it would be to treasure and relish each moment, confident in the knowledge that God is in control and has a perfect plan.   

Angela Thomas is one of my favorite writers, and I love a couple of quotes from her:

"For me, trusting is learning to breathe during the fall. Trusting is believing with my whole life that God will catch me. He promises to keep His promises. He is able. He is strong. His heart towards me is good. He wants even more for me than I can dream." 

“I believe that God meant for life to take our breath away, sometimes because of the sheer joy of it all and sometimes because of the severe pain.”  

It’s so easy to embrace the “sheer joy” moments, but the severe pain?   We would rather skip those seasons, but we will have both, there’s no escaping it.  It all comes down to trusting God and in His goodness.  God uses both places to shape us, to help us to empathize with the people that He puts into our lives, and if we will let Him, to find incredible comfort in Him.  I choose to trust Him!

I plan to post on a much more frequent basis in the future - as “Life in the Grammy Lane” hits the road!  

The Beauty of Suffering

Tony and I have had a lot of discussions lately focusing on what sets apart the people who have a faith that is contagious.  We are privileged to have so many “role models” in our lives, people of all ages who have been a huge influence on us, and who have caused our faith to become stronger. 

There are definitely tools that God uses to help us build our faith - the Holy Spirit, who guides us; the Bible, God’s living word; and the people He puts in our lives to hold us accountable, to encourage us, to challenge us to be everything that we can be.  But one thing is certain - we will be tested.

Tony and I came to the conclusion that the common factor we have observed in watching people grow from christians to CHRISTIANS - to giants in their faith - is how they react to suffering when it comes into their lives.  Suffering comes in many forms - it may be relational, physical, financial.  And suffering is different from pain - because suffering is for a season, not for a minute.  In my experience, and as I watch people around me, I know that we have a choice.  We can choose to let suffering destroy our faith, or we can allow God to use that suffering to take our faith to a completely new level in our relationship with Him.  

I read an excerpt from Mark Batterson’s book, “Primal”, which articulates so clearly exactly what we have been thinking about:

Many Christians settle for simplicity on the near side of complexity.  Their faith is only mind deep.  They know what they believe, but they don’t know why they believe what they believe.  Their faith is fragile because it has never been tested intellectually or experientially.  Near-side Christians have never been in the catacombs of doubt or suffering, so when they encounter questions they cannot answer or experiences they cannot explain, it causes a crisis of faith.  

For far-side Christians, those who have done their time in the catacombs of doubt or suffering, unanswerable questions and unexplainable experiences actually result in a heightened appreciation for the mystery and majesty of a God who does not fit within the logical constraints of the left brain.  

We don't enjoy the time of suffering, but the rewards that come from it - the reliance in God that we would never learn any other way - is worth the suffering.  I am thankful for, and praying for, the “heroes of the faith” in my life who continue to live on the far-side, and who demonstrate their faith in the midst of suffering!

In closing - some great lyrics from "Blessings" by Laura Story - 

We pray for blessings

We pray for peace

Comfort for family, protection while we sleep

We pray for healing, for prosperity

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering

All the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

‘Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops

What if Your healing comes through tears

What if a thousand sleepless nights 

Are what it takes to know You’re near

What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

A Little Bump in the Road

This is going to be a long one!!  It’s been awhile since I’ve written.  Life in this Grammy Lane has been very busy and actually, I wasn’t really sure how often I would be writing here - I read quite a few blogs, and don’t want to be one of those people who just write every day so they have lots of post!  But the last couple of weeks have been eventful, and I want to keep my pals updated on what’s going on - not only practically speaking, but from a spiritual perspective.

I wrote previously about my mom - she died of breast cancer when she was 62; it was first diagnosed when she was 48.  I remember when she was diagnosed - fear would be the best word to define my feelings at the time.  That gives me a family history of early onset breast cancer, so I have been followed by a high risk breast cancer protocol for the last several years - a diagnostic mammogram and ultrasound in January, and an MRI in July.  I’ve had a few biopsies over the years, and they have always come back benign - fibroadenomas.  

Last week, I went in for a follow-up appointment to my January mammogram and ultrasound.  My very diligent doctor decided to re-check the results (which had basically said “all clear”), and did a fine needle aspiration of a “new lump”.  I’ve had those before - and usually what happens is, I get a call from a nurse, saying everything is good.  But yesterday, when I got a call with results, it was the doctor on the phone, saying the pathologist had just called him.  At that point, I’m thinking the pathologist didn’t call the doctor, and the doctor didn’t call me, to say it’s all looking fine - and I was right.  The doctor said I had atypical cells, the pathologist thought the lump should come out, and they wanted me to come into the office today to schedule surgery.  My sweet daughter went with me to the appointment (Tony, as well as several friends, offered to go with me, too, but I figured a party of two was plenty for today!) - and I am scheduled for outpatient surgery on Monday, Feb. 14th, to take the lump out and wait for the next pathology report.  We could have one of three results - that the initial pathology report was a “false positive”; that I do, indeed, have atypical cells (which the doctor said would lead to some discussions about future treatment); or it could be cancer.

I am a person who pretty much lives my life in the open - I don’t have a great poker face, and whether good or bad, people generally know what I’m thinking and how I’m feeling.  So while some people may keep this information private until they had a definitive answer, I instead am sharing my thoughts.  Why?  Because I feel that it’s really important to let people know that, in the middle of uncertainty, the overwhelming feeling in my spirit is not one of fear, but of peace - and it’s not a peace that the world gives.  As I come to this bump in the road, I have no doubt that God knows the plan for my life, that this bump was not a surprise to Him, and I have absolutely nothing to fear.  

So that’s where things stand - I will update after the next pathology report.  In the meantime, I welcome your prayers and hugs and sweet emails and texts!  Please pray especially for Kelli and her family - it’s not easy to deal with things, and sometimes they seem scarier, when you are far away, and my prayer is for Kelli to feel that incredible “peace that passes understanding.” I am thankful for the blessings of family and friends, and I am not afraid.  I’m not waiting in fear.  I am choosing to “fix my thoughts” on the things that are excellent and worthy of praise.  I am especially grateful for the promises that God gives us - and whatever you’re dealing with, whatever “bumps in the road” you’re facing, God sees you and loves you and knows where you are!  Here are a couple of my favorite verses - just wanted to share them with you:

2 Timothy 1:7 and 9 (NLT)

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline... 9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-8 (NLT)

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

Have a great week!