the flood

Reports have it that the flood we experienced last night was the highest level in this area in over 100 years.

We now have no driveway - no way across the creek without driving across our neighbors property...

not good. But...we are safe and our home sits up high - others lost far more.

not a good patient

Being sick is NOT in the plans!

I admit it - I am a very bad patient. I don't like to be waited on (good for my husband), I don't like sympathy and have too much to do to be sick!

So...here I sit wiping my nose and popping vitamins and wonder whether I have to go to the doctor or not!

This could potentially be the busiest week of my life - second only to our daughters wedding last summer! So - terrible time to be sick.

So why? Of course a cold gives me no room to complain when there are so many around me really suffering. This puts my little problems into perspective and makes me praise the Lord for His ongoing protection of our health. So, I'll try not to whine too much and focus on the coming week. Got to go - need to sleep!

Stay well!

peggy lintern

Peggy was a friend to all who were fortunate enough to cross her path. She cared for all, professionally and personally. She cared for me. She showed her care in my life by serving refreshments at countless soccer games in years gone by, she always asked me how my kids were doing and she also faithfully created the Crossroads Praise team rehearsal packets for the past 13 years as a volunteer. YES, I said 13 years. Faithful describes her life well.

She loved the Lord and everything she did, said and everywhere she went supported that love.

She was unlike many who claim the name of Christ. They claim Him and abandon Him until it's convenient or they need Him. You knew Peggy had a personal relationship with the God of the Universe simply by being around her.

It is hard for us with our limited view of eternity to understand why God would choose to take Peggy so early. I think He took her because He wanted her with him, He wanted her worshipping at the throne and maybe He took her now to protect her from unknown suffering or difficult circumstances that an earthly future may have secretly held had she remained.

Regardless, it wasn't an evil disease that randomly claimed the earthly life of Peggy - it was God who called her home. She is at his feet rejoicing that she was chosen to worship Him face to face while for now we wait behind. To picture her there gives at least temporary relief to the earthly sorrow we now feel. Worship well Peggy - we all love you!

intentions

We recently bought a gift for our daughter - a new coffee maker with a thermal pot instead of one that sits on the burner.

Much to our dismay when she took it out of the box and fired it up - it leaked out of the bottom! Water just came pouring out! What we thought was going to be an amazing gift turned out to be SUCH a disappointment!

A leaking pot basically makes it totally worthless. Have you ever given something intended to be a great gift only to find out it was not what you thought it was? Good intentions gone bad?

Good intentions are not enough, I have good intentions about a lot of things in my life. But without action behind the intention it means nothing. Action - seriously, I feel challenged on a lot of levels by the people in my life recently.

My son and I recently talked for hours about the future, about life and about his desire to know the Lord more intimately. One thing he said has made me think a lot. He said, "I often think about the fact that in the days of Noah, his family was the only family that was 'good' in the eyes of the Lord." He went on to say, "I often wonder how many people that think they are believers will be surprised to know they are not acceptable in the eyes of the Lord. 'Depart from me for I never knew you'."

My intention is to become someone whose actions speak WAY louder than intentions or words. I have become way too complacent in my walk with the Lord. Are you full of good intentions?

one of the babies

This is a picture of one of the beautiful baby faces - one of the orphans with Asia's Hope.

We will travel soon to see them. Many help to support these orphans way across the world - it only costs a little over one hundred dollars each month to support all the needs of one orphan. What a privilege - actually a duty - seriously, I spend that much eating out twice with my family...

So beautiful!

This is Stephanie, "mini me", who I am grooming to learn everything that my job includes.

She is a girl of MANY talents and on this day I snapped a picture of her taping announcements for the weekend in our little studio.

We laughed until we cried, she should be a comedian, and I am anxiously awaiting the final video that will be used this weekend.

Just one more example of the abundance of talent that God has blessed Crossroads with.

I have learned to trust the Lord to always provide the personnel we need at the church, time and time again He provides just the right person at just the right time. That happened again tonight. I was at visiting hours at a local funeral home and ran into a girl from church that I am just getting to know. She told me she would be unable to attend an upcoming workshop due to leading a dance team. As we talked I realized she was working with the exact style dancers I have been trying to locate! So exciting!!

I look forward with anticipation to Stephanie's role this weekend along with all the other amazing volunteers and staff at Crossroads!

to dance

Today I got to spend some time with one of our areas professional dancers. This young man has a heart both for God as well as the arts.

We discussed all things creative with specific focus on the local church and Crossroads' creative needs for Easter - for which I was seeking his help.

I hope this was the beginning of a long, community building relationship as well as a whole new level of excellent art used in the local church. We live in a community that does not embrace 'the arts' as such. But what if we could be part of introducing them to art connected to their heavenly Father? Art that helps describe His magnificence or at least the way we feel about Him? This is an endeavor worth pursuing - and I plan to!

what I learned today

It never fails, you step out in obedience to lead something and POW you are the one learning the most!

Today as I prepared for the young woman's Bible study I'll lead Thursday night, I read about how both Ruth and Rebekah prepared for their future, not being concerned about their outward appearance or circumstances but focusing totally on their God and His will. It really is quite simple, in all areas of our lives we simply trust God or we don't. We either obey Him or we take matters into our own hands which ALWAYS results in compromise.

To be filled with His Holy Spirit. I desire it - but, am I?

To be filled means you must first be empty. There in lines my problem.

When I stop and examine I am so FULL of duties, desires and goals that I don't think there is hardly an inch for His will...

It is so easy to hide inside my Christianese and not really experience God fully.

As I prepare to lead today - I will first do what I will ask the girls to do Thursday night - identify what fills me and purge it from my life. Will you?

biggest competition = status quo

Our biggest competition is the status quo. I just heard someone say this on a commercial and it got my attention .

This statement applies to everything we do.

I often feel like I am competing against peers, better ideas, not enough time, too little money or other's accomplishments. But the main thing I should avoid is ever becoming satisfied.

Everyone can accomplish the status quo. I have no desire to be everyone.

being on a team

I prefer working as a team than alone any day. Sometimes a team you lead takes a lot of guiding, that is tough and takes strength and determination and clarity of vision.

But what I really love is to serve on a team of peers. This is the way work gets done, fun is had and support happens best.

I serve in many capacities at Crossroads Community Church, buy one of my favorites is as one of six Directors. I am the Director of Magnification (programming/creative arts stuff), Wendell Anderson is Director/Spiritual Maturity Pastor, Deering Dyer is our House Church Pastor/Small Group Pastor, Jeanette Chase is our Director of Family Ministries, and my hubby Ron Biddle (extra bonus) is the Director of Membership. Pastor Tim, our Senior Pastor is our leader and we meet each Friday to vision cast for the future, support one another and to work on the day to day projects of the church.

I treasure my time with these people and the fact that they trust me leading part of the church.

Today I came across this quote from Doug Fields, "There’s something about having fun in the context of knowing that you’re loved that adds to the depth and effectiveness of the team. If you just have fun, and it’s not apparent that you’re loved, it can lead to wounding, hurt feelings, and an environment of fear. I don’t know all the elements of building a great team, but I do know two important ones: (1) loving one another & (2) having fun together."

This is how I feel about the Directors at Crossroads as well as the Staff and Elders. We are one big team - all moving in the same direction with a little help from fun along the way!

what would you say

On the radio today I heard the following question asked, "Why do you believe in Jesus and not in another religion?"

So what would you say?

I heard things like, "He's the only one that rose from the dead" ...the problem is, they don't believe that He did, they think it's just a story.

Another caller, "I would just take them to the scripture and prove that God is real and Jesus is alive"...the problem is, they think your book is just a religious book like the book they follow.

An interesting answer was, "it's the only religion where God reached down to man giving the gift of Jesus freely, all other religions are religions of spending your whole life trying to be good enough, reaching up, following requirements and ultimately 'earning' your way in"...the problem with other religions is where is the magic line you finally cross that says you are good enough?

I remember a pastor teaching once that the only thing NO ONE can argue with is your personal testimony of how Christ has changed your life.

The religions that require 'works' work to reach good enough from the time they can walk until the day they die, never reaching a point of 'life change' like only Jesus offers us. That is why how we live our lives is so important, they truly are the only glimpse of the Lord that some people ever see.

So...what would you say - how do you defend your faith when challenged to explain or witness to someone who is far from being a believer in the one and only God?

coffeemate rules!

We started our work day with a free coffee mate party - complete with many breakfast food selections from our amazing Family Ministry Director, Jeanette Chase. Jeanette entered us to win a free party and she got chosen!

The party came complete with free creamers and some prizes for several of us who got chosen to receive even more free

creamer coupons! SO FUN!

We even invited the 'plastic people' who
have been hanging around the office ever since they participated in our Christmas services.

Pictured here is Deering after just a little too much coffee! Save us all!!

In the final picture you can see the plastic people got so excited that they spilled their creamer...can't take them anywhere!

Our staff sincerely appreciates all of Jeanette's fabulous cooking and the efforts to get this party for us!

peaceful existance

Do you ever wonder why we get to live in peace while most of the world is in chaos?

Watching what is going on in Egypt right now makes me so thankful for the amazing county we live in. Despite whatever things you may not love about America - it is a blessing to live here more than any of us will probably ever know.

I just heard one of the reporters who got beat up in Egypt describing the incident. He said, "I just searched the crowd in front of me for one person who looked horrified by what was happening to me and grabbed on to him and begged him to help me." How terrifying would that be?

I don't take my country for granted, I thank God for it and I pray for it and our leaders.

I suspect I will become even more thankful for my country as I travel to Cambodia. My prayer for that trip is simply this, "Dear Lord - teach me what you want me to know about our beautiful orphans and about my responsibility to the rest of the world."

weekend report

We had one of the most beautiful worship services this weekend that I have been in! Unfortunately I didn't bring the cue sheet home with me so I can't remember the whole list !

You really should go to ww.crossroadswired.com and watch the amazing service.

Pastor Tim taught on the Gray Areas - such a great teaching.

As our small group enjoyed the Superbowl tonight, I kept hearing 'it's a gray area' followed by laughter. Hilarious!

I hope you all had as amazing a weekend as we did at Crossroads! May God Richly Bless You!

are you passionate?

Is there anything in your life that you are passionate about? I hope so, especially if you are a child of God.

God's love for us should fill us with passion about serving Him, loving Him and living for Him.

Passion: a strong feeling, powerful emotion or boundless enthusiasm

My passion is at it's peak when I get to be creative in anyway for Him. Creating services, leading artists of any kind, writing or brainstorming with others about what might be.

Rory Noland writes, 'The psalmist compares his enthusiasm for God to that of an eager writer ready to express the desire of his heart. "My tongue is the pen of a skillful writer" (Psalm 45:1)

What are you passionate about? Can others see a passion in your life that points them toward God - something that they cannot find in the world?

from mess to organized

I have used the entire day to work on all the things organizationally that I never have time to do. Unfortunately you cannot judge that there has been any progress made based on this picture that I just took of my living room.

A work in progress for sure!

It feels so good though to chip away at all those pesky projects!

I have been blessed by Crossroads, my family and friends more than I can ever say. I want to always do my best and I care desperately about improving. The picture is symbolic of all the things that require a portion of my time. A pile of thank you cards, syllabus for new programs and future events and services. A very rewarding day snowed in my living room.

The only thing that could be any better would have been to have our kids with us in our living room creating even more mess!