Good Conversations

I had a chat with another ministry wife the other day and it reminded me once again of how much we need each other. Although all our friends are great for fellowship and support, there is just nothing like talking with someone else who walks in our shoes:) (notice the tie to the Bible Study) but the truth is that sometimes that is just what we need.

We got word that the study has gone to its second printing and that means lots of people are getting into the Word and seeing how it specifically applies to our lives as ministry wives. There are many wives who are alone int he journey right now though and don’t have others on staff to discuss the study with sooooooooo if you are interested in getting a group together or you have a group that is meeting and could make room for another wife, would you post a comment and let others know how to get in tough with you??? It would be good to put your contact info and also the area you are in. Thanks so much for being a part of this ministry and may God richly bless you on this journey!

Joyfully,
Rachel

Snow Days (daze)

Well Nashville got a huge (for us anyway) winter storm this past friday and we have been in the house pretty much since then. With lots of snow and ice added to the fact that we got rid of all our SUVs and now drive smaller, low to the ground cars— we have not felt good about getting out on the roads. We didn’t have church yesterday and I just hate missing my Sundays but better to err on the side of caution and the schools were out today and tomorrow too.

The thing is that when your whole family gets to spend lost of concentrated time together it gets interesting. Some are stir crazy and just want to get out and do SOMETHING while others are just happy to have nothing they have to do. I had been at imom last wednesday at church and our speaker talked about organizing and decluttering your home so I kept feeling antsy about getting things cleaned out.

Funny thing about that is I started with the junk drawer in the kitchen and I was absolutely floored with the crazy things I found in there. This of course led to some spiritual thoughts for me. I found myself praying and asking God to show me what all I have been hanging onto in my life that is just “cluttering up”. What do I need to get cleaned out? I found old single shoelaces, random empty containers, broken pens and various things that really belonged somewhere else but had just been stuck in the kitchen drawer. None of those things were ginormous but when piled together they kept me from easily accessing the items I most needed.

hmmm…now that sounds like my life. Sometimes I let things clutter my mind and life to the point that I can’t easily access what I need to spiritually. Maybe you have noticed the same thing. If so, I heartily recommend a good spring cleaning! Ask God to blow a fresh breath of His Spirit in to your life and clean out those things that are in the way of all that He wants to do in and through you. It will be worth it.

Every so often I go by and open that drawer just to revel in the organization I can see—now for the rest of this house

Cleaning Out and Oswald Chambers

This week I admit to falling into the predictable pattern of cleaning things out in January. I actually tackled my pantry (hasn’t happened since we moved in almost 5 years ago). So you can just imagine how bad it was…did you know that crackers can become rancid? things without expiration dates can go bad (especially if they have had them in there so long you don’t even recognize them)

I truly felt a little sick when i was finished–never attempt to choose whether something is stale or not by tasting–anyway, I digress. This morning I was reading my quiet time and in My utmost for His Highest Chambers talked about when our lives get stale, which automatically brought my mind back to the recent cleaning out, I thought about how many things just got stuffed back into the back of the shelves until they became useless and how much that parallels my spiritual life.

He challenged me to do a real gut check to see what things I have been drawing life from other than God. Those things begin to fill the shelves of my life until the more important, God things, get pushed back and out of use.

I needed that word and the prayer that followed in which I begged God to send His Holy Spirit to blow a freshness into my life as he cleans out the things that are int he way of the work He wants to do in and through me!!!! How often, especially in ministry, do we stand at the door and look in to the shelves to try and figure out what we can make out of the mess of things stuffed into the pantry? when what we really need to do is to stay fresh and filled with the life changing, all powerful Spirit of the Living God:)

We, I, can never find the power I need to live this life in anything other that Him–so why bother trying? Just trust Him today and submit your will to His:) I plan to…

Hello 2010!

So it’s another new year. I love new calendar pages (I do still have paper calendar but I have to go to my ical to match it up) there’s just something about having a hard copy of your schedule to carry around with you. There is also something so fun and exciting about realizing that with the new year comes the opportunity to do new things that God ordains. One of the biggest goals I set for this year is to be even more careful about asking God to fill my calendar pages with what HE wants and not just with stuff that seems like a good idea to me.

Do you ever struggle with having lots of ‘good’ things in your life that seem to edge out the ‘God’ things? When we serve in ministry there just aren’t that many ‘bad’ things to steal our time, but it is quite a temptation to let lost of ‘good’ things eat away our days to the point that we neglect the best things that God wants for us.

Along those lines I have also made a personal commitment to focus in on Scripture memory this year. I found my favorite tool–a spiral bound set of index cards–and am carrying it with me as i go thru my day so that His Word is a constant part of my life (and when I get stuck waiting on someone I can be doing something productive!) My first verse for the year is Habakkuk 1:5 which is a theme our student ministry is taking and I just love the message that God is doing unbelievable things in my life this year:)

Let’s pray and watch to see what and where He is working then get in on it–nothing is more exciting than that!!!!

blessings,
Rachel

Women’s Leadership Forum

Wow. We have had a fantastic few days at the forum in Nashville, along with womens leaders from all over the country (about 600+). It has truly been a great few days and one of my favorite times of the year because I love working with leaders in ministry and also hearing from some great speakers.

This year Priscilla Shirer seriously brought the heat with a great message about the supernatural power that is available to us…it was awesome. Then yesterday afternoon Mary Kassian spoke one of the most powerful messages I have heard on biblical womanhood…I am still processing all the info! Then today my pastor, David, brought a very specific and practical message of encouragement to us and those were only in the main sessions, there were also lots of breakout sessions that dealt with tons of other issues…

I also got to meet so many women who are leading in ministry at their churches. We have so much to share and learn from each other–that just makes these times so special. SO thank you to all the ladies who we met and talked with (those of you in the min wives session:) and all the others, we never stop giving thanks for you!!!!

MWW Weekend in Oklahoma!!

We had such a great time at the ministers’ wives event last weekend. Oklahoma wives are extremely blessed to have such fantastic leadership with Kelly King and her team….they did an unbelievable job with all aspects of the event and blew us away with the decorations along the theme of “In Our Shoes”. Here are some pictures from the weekend and for those of you attending, thank you so much for letting us love on you and share with you about things God has taught us along our journeys. You are very special to us and we will continue to pray for you and give thanks for you!!!!

Minister’s Wives Event

Hey all you ministers’ wives in Oklahoma greetings to you and we are heading your way this weekend. Jen and I will be speaking at the OK Baptist Min Wives retreat and we are so excited. Please be praying for us to bring the message that God wants for the ladies who are there and also for those who are coming to be blessed and encouraged. The team who is putting the whole weekend together have some really cool things planned and I just know it’s going to be awesome.

If you are coming then we will see you Friday and if you aren’t going to be there then we covet your prayers for us and for the wives attending:)

blessings,
Rachel

A New Experience

Well yesterday I got to experience something new. And of course, it was absolutely crazy. Jen and I were scheduled to do a blog talk interview with Marnie Swedberg at 3. I drove down to pick Jennifer up so we could be together because we needed to call in from our cell phones. So now you are wondering why we needed to be together if we could both call in separately?? that’s simple its because I am extremely awkward on the phone. I have such issues with talking at the same time as the other person and I could just envision how awful that would sound…

So I stopped at the place where Jen was working with a friend from Navpress and while I was waiting for her to come out, a man got into his car right in front of me and backed straight into my little car!!! At this point we were about 8 minutes from needing to call in and so i got his info quickly, while feeling like throwing up, and we took off to find a quiet place to call in. After a couple of stops, we found a quiet parking lot and settled in to do the interview.

No sooner had we both gotten connected than we realized that we could not both be that close together while talking on cell phones because we could hear each other in the car and then thru the phones and it was really strange. The best idea I could find was to get out and stand outside the car–did i mention that it was raining??? I stood under a tree and we communicated thru the windshield of the car. It was absolutely hilarious. I kept wondering what the people who drove by were thinking about us and every so often a huge truck would come by and change gears or something that made lots of noise.

Marnie was so great and the time just flew by but I couldn’t resist grabbing my camera during a commercial break so we could remember just how crazy that whole thing was. Just reminded me that there are distractions always around us and we sometimes have to be flexible in order to make it!!!!

here is a link if you would like to check out the interview its found at marnie & friends

the damage is done

talking in the rain:)

Jen on the phone in the car

Warning!! DANGER!

If you have ever been driving along and seen a caution sign like these you know how helpful they are, especially if you have a sort of lead foot like me, there is no way to gauge how many people avoid wrecks and injuries because they were warned ahead of time that the road curved or was slippery or there was a drop off. I was just thinking this morning that wouldn’t it be great if we had some warning signs like these in our spiritual lives?

I think that those of us who serve in ministry could really make good use of them and probably one of the most necessary ones wold be CAUTION: Potential to get stuck in a rut! Matthew West has a song out right now called “The Motions” and if you haven’t heard it then get on itunes and take a listen. It completely pierces my heart when i hear it because I am challenged to not just go through the motions any longer. It gets very easy sometimes for me to serve God and do the things i need to without really being passionate about it.

What about you? Does that ever happen to you? Another line that I like from the lyrics is “I don’t want to live one more day without your all consuming passion inside of me” …it’s powerful stuff. Check it out. We can live our lives with no regrets that we held back or just did the routine because it was easy or familiar..I’m after the passionate living kind of life…will you join me???

Wives around the Country

I have recently heard of several groups of wives in different areas who are getting together to do IN OUR SHOES and/or other types of support and encouragement. If you have organized or attended any great events or groups for ministry wives that you were blessed from would you let us know what y’all did and how it worked, like when you met, how long etc.

There are so many who would be willing to lead out in doing things that bring wives together and hearing from you may be just the motivation and inspiration someone else needs!

Thanks and I look forward to hearing your ideas…..