New things…..That is what Life is all about. If you come to a place where you think you know everything that you need to know YOU ARE DONE.  you can no longer move forward!   You Must be willing to try new things, new methods, new ideas, new ministries. This is where God has been taking me lately  its been all about the new.   And I have a feeling there is more “new” around the corner but That NEW is for another blog post once I know JUST what that NEW looks like!  But for now lets talk about the few new things I’ve been stretched in.

I have often told my husband over the last 12 years that when the time came I would love to donate my time and energy at a Pregnancy center. Well after attending a banquet this spring , that calling became a reality.  Hubby ad I both decided it was time.   And so for the last two months, pretty much every Wednesday I have been volunteering,, mentoring, building relationships, and doing some cleaning/organizing work as well.  My confidence in some  areas is very low(for this introverted girl)  There are some great moments and some not so great moments that are hard.   AND THEN THERE ARE AMZING MOMENTS that make me want to shout from the roof top BUT I can’t, because everything is confidential and in that I am learning to to rejoice back to the Lord, because he knows and is exceedingly happy!  In light of the planned Parenthood videos being released, I know that this work is not only  saving Physical lives but it is redeeming souls as we introduce the hurting to Jesus.   If you really want to see the needs of this world, be willing to go into these hard places….whether it be a pregnancy center,  homeless shelter, a safe house, a rehab center, a nursing home a home for the disabled, a hospital. or any other place you can think of. The needs are great, though things may be painful at times reaching out to others and sharing Jesus is HUGE.

Another area that I have been stretch in and learned some new things took place within the last two weeks.  Using my gifts and abilities in BIGGER ways and in doing that it is in the public eye more which means learning too to be more  tolerant to those who are more critical of my gifts and abilities.  God has given us all gifts and abilities to be used, it is our job to grow them…..to figure them out, to fine tune them  and then to actually USE them.   As a parent is is also my job to see them and to develop them in my children and give my children the opportunity to use their gifts and abilities.  For years I have used my artistic abilities in little ways…through homemade cards, scrapbooks, little jewelry projects, gifts and so on, and in recent years I have used to artistic/design abilities to help with a parade float each year. And most recently i(within the last two weeks) My husband and I have built an entire set for VBS.   I have NEVER done anything to that scale. It was physically draining BUT Amazing  all wrapped into one. And when I was done, I was amazed that I had done it.   I couldn’t believe I was capable of such a thing.   BUT God is completely responsible.  HE gifted me, He gave me the ability I had to just be willing to use those things.  I had to be willing to EMBRACE my gifts and talents.  Ive endured ridicule for years for “wasting my time” doing “arts and crafts” and by sill”doing little kid” Projects, All of these “little, kid-like” projects I could do for Jesus.   These things were hard to hear (especially from friends and family) and I felt rejected, because I liked these things.  or that I spent time doing something others didn’t uderstand or that they thought just were a plain waste of time.  But in reality God gave me those gifts and if I didn’t use them…even in the little things, it would be a complete waste of resources HE gave me. I would not have been a good steward of those talents. We tend to think of resources as  time, materials and money BUT our gifts and abilities fit in there too!

And the next area of stretching is about to happen….its just two short days away and its taking all kinds of Stregth and courage, I just didn’t think I had!  My husband encouraged me to take a one week writing  break…..a break away from HIM and THE KIDS! I have been a wife for 12 years and a  mom for 10.  I have never been away from my children more than 48 hours at a time.   I manage our crazy schedule.  I plan and prep everything, I co-teach Sunday school with my husband.   I help in pretty much every are and I am not used to not being involved!.   SOO to be so removed and to be focused on myself is  not normal and not easy.  I have to relinquish shopping for school supplies. Kitty getting fixed, prepping for sunday school class, being apart of a moms group at the VBS program the kids will be attending (not at our church) letting someone else watch our kids during aan AWNA mtg, business mtg and prayer mtg.  AND its quite possibly one of my kids MIGHT be ill–.. he had a phantom fever AND is now complaining of a sore throat.  Did I mention I haven’t been alone at nighttime in over 12 years…I either have a husband or kids…Im not sure I like this, but I am willing to trust, my husband and God!  But this is also two fold.  This time will be also to build my writing gift and ability, working towards a book.  That is going to be hard, fighting distractions…like bed.  I won’t have TV and I have set some very lofty goals for the week.  Can I meet them all. I have a feeling I can…if I am very focused and VERY diligent, but its still HUGE test !  (NOTE: I wrote that thought Two days ago…and now here I sit ALONE.  It’s weird, no kids to kids club, no hubby sitting next to me in church or standing in the pulpit preaching, No kids begging to go to the pool, playground or to ride their bikes)

Another amazing opportunity That has stetted me and taught me MANY new things is Working as a Part of the RAISING GENERATIONS TODAY CONFERENCE Embrace team.  I have learned oodles upon oodles of things about social media…and I know I have a whole lot more to learn.   I haven’t mastered many areas and new options are added all the time…Like the most recent…Periscope, cool idea but a whole new level.  I have learned through this how to schedule posts for FB (Yeah That was aBIG blunders on my part at the beginning))  and using the Buffer app on my iPad to schedule twitter posts…and there is the idea of writing twitter posts…and keeping within the 145 characters, all while tagging the company, adding a link AND a photo.  It takes some Mad skills…Im nowhere close to having them, but with each and every post I gain new confidence and understanding .(click on the pic below to check out RGT….This is NOT an affiliate link)

All of these things sound great but besides my own benefit it helps my children Immensely to see me struggle in areas Im not good at. It helps them to see me  accomplish something difficult and to conquer it, AND  to ask for help. So many times kids think they need to have it all together, that they need to be perfect and that they need to be good at everything. They also need to see my husband  and I are willing to stretch ourselves, to go beyond what we are comfortable with…AND to FAIL.  Yes sometimes we fall flat on our faces.  They NEED to see us get back up, dust ourselves off AND TRY AGAIN! Then we as parents need to be willing to talk about all of those things…the good, the ugly AND the Painful!. (Obviously age appropriateness  applies here) In reality the entire family can benefit from  mom and dad stepping out in faith, trusting God to grow their gifts and abilities and try new and sometimes scary things.

So what are some NEW things that you are growing in?  Are you having a willing spirit or are you dragging your feet kicking and screaming the whole way?   What would you like to learn?