More than a Politician.... a Soul.

If you haven't heard about the President, Governor Romney, the debates, and all the other glorious things that comes from election time, you are most likely living under a rock. We are bombarded with commercials, tweets, posts on Facebook, and even a debate or two of our own. As a Christian, I tend to forget that these two candidates are human beings who have a God that desperately loves them and sent His only Son to be brutally murdered and hung on a tree for their souls. I tend to complain about how Obama has destroyed our country and I forget that I am no better. I sin like he does, and God forgives me and loves me just like Barack. I complain so much and I pray so little.

All that to say that I stumbled across a blog today that put it in better words than I can. Check this out:

Last night there was a debate.
I was at rehearsal so all I was able to see was my twitter feed and not the debate.
As I was scrolling the feed I was laughing at all my witty friends and their banter.
So I went home and watched the debate.
I thought my guy won.
I was proud.
I had plenty of thoughts.
I learned a bit more about the other guy.
But then I had to go to the bathroom.
So I paused it.
I came back to the sofa and sat down and this was the screen that it was paused on…



It was almost haunting as I stared at the screen.
These 2 men have souls.
They are created by God almighty.
They are loved deeply by a God who does not degrade either of them.
They are 2 men who have wives and kids who cry at night seeing the stress and weight they are under.
They are 2 men who at the end of the next 20 days will still be 2 men who God loves deeper than we can even fathom.
For 15 seconds I stared at a screen where I was looking at the humanity in them.
And I had a thought.
We did it before. We can do it again. We are going to Pray… Backwards…
What do I mean by that?


We are going to turn off the news, open our Bibles, and pray for our leaders.

WE WILL PRAY NONPARTISAN
1. Pray that our leaders would grown in Faith. In their relationships with Jesus Christ.
2. Pray for their marriages.
3. Pray for their children.
4. Pray for those around them.
5. Pray for their emotional and physical health.
6. Those on the left will pray blessing on Romney, those on the right will pray blessings on Obama.


http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/2012/10/prayingbackwards2012/

Whitney

Sometimes there are things that happen where words cannot even begin to express the situation or emotion at all. Over the last 4 days, this type of situation has been happening 30 minutes from my home. Whitney Heichel was a 21-year old-girl who disappeared a few days ago in Gresham. It was a normal day, she was on her way to work at Starbucks. It quickly turned into the most abnormal day her or her family will ever have. A 24-year-old man who lived in her apartment complex waited until she went to work and kidnapped her.

It just blows my mind every time I think about it. As the Gresham mayor put it, "Whitney represented our mothers, sisters, wives, daughters, friends, and loved ones." This could have been anyone... Me, my sisters, my mother, my cousin, my friends... Anyone.

My heart breaks for her... So young, so innocent. And even more, my heart breaks for her family... Her husband. The thought of losing my spouse or my family this way, or at all, is gut-wrenching. Though I did not know her and will most likely never meet her family, I will never forget her.

It was a reminder that life is short.
It was a reminder that anything can happen.
It was a reminder that this world is evil.
It was a reminder that there is no time to be mad or to fight, but only to love.

R.I.P. Whitney Heichel

Pinterest Pumpkin

I am an Oregonian through and through. We had somewhat of an Indian summer here in the Pacific Northwest.... Summer barely lasts from July-August and this year, we were into the beginning of October with temperatures still in the high 70's. Some people loved it, and I did for a time, but then my Oregonian kicked in and I longed for rain and clouds. Part of it too is that my favorite time of year is fall. I love it. I love the colors, the pumpkin cookies, the hot chocolate, the leaves, Thanksgiving, sweaters, rain, boots....

You get the idea.

Anyways, Pinterest seems to love autumn too. So I spent some of my free time (who I am kidding? I have no free time... I definitely should've been doing homework...) looking up DIY decoration ideas cause we are broke but I love me some fall decor.

I found this cute idea and thought I could do it myself. And it turned out pretty good!

First, I got this tacky, plastic, orange pumpkin from Wal-Mart for dirt cheap. I had some spray paint from another project and some thumbtacks from my office.

I then spray painted it black and waited for it to dry. This was the longest part.. The rest took me literally 7 minutes.

Here is what I came up with:

Not bad, huh? It was hard to get the "D" to actually look like a D...

I found another project I am going to do so I will keep you posted.

Lyons

Wow. It has been a LONG time since I have blogged. I really did have intentions of blogging more, but life has been a bit crazy. I know everyone says that, but seriously.

Since my last blog, my husband and I are no longer youth pastors in Lyons. My parents were the senior pastors there and we were the youth pastors. Sometimes family crisis and family issues happen. Sometimes family has to come before ministry and the church. This was one of those times. And so, we are taking a break. Yesterday we went to a new church in Salem. It was weird, just going to church and not doing anything or being in charge of anything. It was a bittersweet thing. It was both a relief and depressing.

Over the weekend, we had our annual statewide convention with many of the students in Oregon. I kept myself busy with helping behind the scenes to distract my mind from being reminded that I didn't bring any kids this year. But when it became time that everything that needed to be done was done and I sat back and watched other youth pastors pray with their students and advice their teens, I became sad. It was a bit selfish, I know, but hear me out. I am so glad that students came and that other pastors were able to be there for them. I just wish I was too.

Out of all of this, I miss the people the most, especially my students. I miss Sunday night youth groups, I miss events, I miss Sunday mornings, I miss Charlie's handshake every morning, I miss giving Gideon a hard time, I miss getting hit with a dodgeball, I miss dreaming big with Glenda... I miss my church.

But out of all of this, we are already a more united family. Out of all of this, my marriage is already stronger. Out of all of this, I believe I will be a better youth pastor. God has a reputation of taking the worst and making it the best. And I am trusting Him to do just that.