We're still working on the details of our little AllAccess get-together at Living Proof Live in Memphis (I'm hoping to email y'all all the details by Monday at the latest), but in the meantime I wanted to share some very exciting LPL Memphis-related news.
However, I should probably add the disclaimer that if you've never read my personal blog, the next paragraph probably won't make any sense to you at all. So just feel free to stare blankly into space when you read it. Or, if you're like me, you can squeal and clap your hands and pretend like you understand. That's how I react to about 60% of my life, by the way.
Anyway. The news is that I'm going to have a very special travel companion with me in Memphis (besides Melanie, of course). And that very special travel companion is none other than Martha / Mother / "Martie." My mother-in-law.
I KNOW.
Martha has never been to any sort of LifeWay event. She's only seen one video of Beth Moore teaching, but when she saw it she thought Beth was "darlin'! just darlin'! and SMART AS A WHIP!" Martha is beyond excited about going to Memphis - she keeps referring to it as "the trip of a lifetime" - but I also know that she has absolutely no idea what to expect.
And I say this because last night she asked me what sort of jacket I was planning to wear Friday night, and when I said, "I don't know if I'll wear a jacket," she said, "Well, don't you think it'll be a little cold when we're sitting outside?"
"Sitting outside?"
"Well, aren't we going to be in something like a football stadium?"
And at that point I realized that she thought that LPL was something akin to a Billy Graham crusade in the 70s.
I explained to her that we would in fact be indoors, and she said, "Well I didn't know! I didn't know! I know there are a lot of people and I just assumed, I mean I just assumed that we'd be outside! But I'm so glad we'll be inside! That will be perfectly wonderful!"
And now I'm thinking that I probably need to do a better job of getting Martha up-to-speed on what she can expect next weekend.
So. I know lots of you are veterans of LifeWay women's events, and I'm sure you have all sorts of wisdom to offer. What do you think are the top three things Martha needs to know before she gets to LPL? What would you tell someone who has never been to a LifeWay event before? What information do I need to make sure to share with her on our drive from Birmingham to Memphis?
So obviously I still haven't finished talking about Deeper Still Orlando. Part of the reason is that I'm still processing the whole thing. It's just so hard to convey how powerful it is and I find myself telling people "You just had to be there".
Which, seriously, is there a more annoying statement on Earth?
But the great thing about hearing three different teachers share three different messages is there is something for everyone. After it was over I talked to some friends who were there and the things they got out of it were totally different than some of the things I got from it, yet we were listening to the same thing. That's totally God at work.
On Saturday morning, Priscilla Shirer spoke from Ephesians 3:20.
"Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever!"
Priscilla took this verse and basically dissected it. As she said, it's ultimately the foundation of our faith. Either we believe that God can do more than we ask or imagine or we don't and what we ask of God or expect from God stems from what we believe.
She referred to it as His ability to go beyond our beyond. And since then, I can't tell you how many times I've stopped to ask myself if I believe that God can go beyond my beyond. To be honest, the answer isn't always yes.
I get frustrated, I feel tired, I think a situation feels hopeless, but then I remind myself that we serve the Creator of All Things. The I Am. He knows me better than I know myself and knows what beyond my beyond looks like while I'm busy looking at problems through my limited vision and understanding.
When I was a little girl, I thought pastors had the easiest job in the world. I thought that they read the Bible all day, talked to people, visited the hospitals, spoke in church once or twice a week and ate most of their meals with the best cooks in the church. Plus, since I grew up Methodist, our pastor got to live in the church parsonage. He didn't even have to buy a house.
Oh, foolish youth.
Now that I'm older and have some, you know, SENSE, I recognize that shepherding a church is an enormous calling - and an enormous responsibility. There's nothing easy about it. So when I look around and see people I love and respect serving their churches as pastors - and serving with JOY, at that - I'm just a little bit blown away. Their faithfulness and perseverance is inspiring.
For the last few weeks our pastor has been teaching on the book of James (just a light, breezy text, you know), and every single week I've wanted to walk up to him after the service and say, "THANK YOU - I LOVE YOUR STINKIN' HEART." But I haven't. So yesterday, when I read Beth Moore's blog post called "Dear Pastor," I thought Oh, that is brilliant.
Wouldn't it be cool if we all followed Beth's lead and took five minutes today to write down five things we appreciate about our pastors? You can do that in Beth's comments, in these comments, in a blog post of your own or in a private note to your pastor.
Be an encourager today!
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. Now we ask you, brothers, to respect those who work hard among you, who are over you in the Lord and who admonish you. Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. " - 1 Thessalonians 5:11-13
It's hard to believe that it was just a week ago that I was on a plane to Orlando. This past week has been filled with all of the normal ups and downs of life, including a washing machine with a variety of issues that required a few visits from the repairman.
In the midst of all of it, I just keep remembering something Kay Arthur said last Friday, "Rest is uniting the word of God with faith for that particular situation."
Rest is knowing it's in His hands.
Rest is knowing I don't have to come up with the solution.
Thank you all for participating in the Interrupted Giveaway promotion by posting about the Bible study in your social space, whether it be your blog, Facebook page, or Twitter feed. We randomly chose the winner from all of the posts. Darla Baerg should be receiving her free Interrupted Leader Kit by Jen Hatmaker in the mail any day now. Follow her on Twitter at @DarlaBaerg!
If you haven't already, I hope you'll check out this video about Jen Hatmaker's story (the inspiration for Interrupted) and visit http://www.threadsmedia.com/interrupted
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