Some of my favorite photos from the Frontline retreat

Jesus is my Lifeguard.

It was a beautiful morning, crisp and cool but not chilly. Lots of people, mostly women, out and about doing their quiet time. I really liked the photo below.

For the sports pictures, I was pretty excited about this "catch". I think I took over 200 photographs.

I liked this one because the intensity on the face of the guy rusing the quarterback was pretty intense. To see the rest of the photos in this set, follow this link to the album Frontline Retreat 2010.

Matthew 13:22

"...all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life."'

Wow!

This verse is from the parable of the man sowing seeds and refers to the seed thrown into the thorns. How fitting for this to be the key verse in my morning devotional, this morning, the day after the church retreat.

Am I going to let me to-do list crowd out what I learned, what I still need to reflect on and unpack? Oh, but only if there were not cares in this world.

What were my take-a-ways from the weekend?

• Be a servant like the Lord (I GET to serve because I am a Christian)
• Love others but most importantly, love those in the church
• I was put here, now, for a reason
• God has put me in difficult situations so I could work through things.
• Holy discontent should lead us to action, it may be what God intends for us to change about our church.
• Am I serving where I can make the biggest impact for Christ?

Am I going to find myself lost in the weeds?

I will admit, I am already struggling with the first bullet point...being a Christ-like servant.

What things has God wanted me to work through? Entitlement, envy, jealousy, worldly expectations, dealing with mean people, boundaries, trust, understanding men better, realizing my worth, finances, life balance...this list could go on and on.

Reflecting, since hind sight is always 20/20, I can see how God was working on me. I have struggled, stumbled, wrestled with many of these things, Maybe some of them I've worked out maybe others (most of them) I'm still working through.

God put me here, at this time and place for a reason and he put the people in my life for a reason. I think I struggle with this statement the most because I often feel like I should have been born at a different time. Sometimes I have even doubted if I should have been born at all. The Purpose Driven Life helped me to realize that God doesn't make mistakes.

Where is my Holy discontent. I'm not sure. Right now, I'm feeling pretty content. I don't like hypocracy, for instance, people in the church acting all righteous about things. We are all sinners. All sin has the same concequence with God...death. One thing I was convicted of was my friendliness toward new people. I want to feel welcome in my church, but do I make people feel welcome? I really think I need to engage more with people outside of small group or Sunday.

Am I serving where God wants me to serve? I think there are a couple things I need to pull back from and I have made the decision to do so. I really feel called to do a mission trip but I can't do that with my commitments to work, fitness, the museum, being a small group leader, church and animal rescue stuff. Like the weeds...all of these activities have "pretty flowers" but they can become over grown and take over.

Fallen Off the Face of the Earth?

No. I have not fallen off the face of the earth.

It feels that way sometimes.

I can not believe that today is September 1st already! Where has the time gone. I commented on my Facebook that it seemed like the older you get the faster time flies but the slower your metabolism gets. Hardly seems fair.

I also can't believe I have not blogged since June. Much to catch up on before my memory goes the way of my metabolism.

It has been a busy summer and I will admit that my once vibrant and regular blogging has turned into quick two second status updates on FB and that is about it.

Stay tuned...if all goes well, I'll blog tonight.