Who Am I?

As I was doing dishes tonight (they were way overdue) I was talking to God about where I am in life right now and I began thinking, "who am I?" That is a very complex question that's very difficult to answer because it's always changing. Who I am today is not who I will be tomorrow or who I was yesterday. Every year, month, week, day God is changing me and shaping me. Who am I? I don't know.

If you were to ask me that question 25 years ago I would say...
I am a baby
I am a daughter
I'm grandpa's pride and joy
I'm grandma's "Baby Bunting"
I am completely dependant on others

20 years ago...
I'm a kindergratener
I am a counter
I am a writter
I'm a Christian
I'm daddy's little girl
I'm a big sister
I'm Nana's rival for the remote control

15 years ago...
I'm a fifth grader
I am a total geek
I'm a four eyes
I'm friendless
I'm shy
I'm a bike rider
I'm a big sister to four

10 years ago...
I'm a freshman in high school
I'm still shy
I'm pretty lonely
I'm "the new girl"
I'm extremely insecure, but getting better
I'm a drama team leader

5 years ago...
I'm a freshman in college (again)
I'm a cafeteria server
I am a best friend
I am a youth major

4 years ago...
I'm a sophmore
I'm a Christian Education major
I'm a cafeteria cashier "clicker"
I'm the student fellowship association president
I'm a summer team member

3 years ago...
I'm a junior
I'm a D-group leader
I'm a cafeteria weekend worker
I'm a peg leg
I'm a fairly good ping pong player

2 years ago...
I'm a senior
I'm a girlfriend
I am the Blazer Deli Snackbar cook
I'm a Euchre fanatic

1 year ago...
I'm an intern
I'm single
I'm a friend
I'm a strong, mostly secure woman
I'm a mentor

Now...
I'm a youth pastor
I'm a Wisconsinite
I'm a home renter
I'm a cat owner

Hopefully one day...
I'll be a guitar player
I'll be a house owner
I will have a dog
I'll be a wife
I'll be a mother
I'll be a good cook
I'll be a woman of God

I'm still changing, growing, being molded and shaped into God's image. Everyday has new challenges and new trials to help bring me to maturity and completion (James 1:2ff) Who am I you ask... I don't know; it changes every minute.

All Creatures

My thoughts are pretty scattered today, so I hope you follow what I'm trying to say.

Inspired by a friend's blog and in much need of some time alone with Jesus I went for a bike ride with just me and my Zune. The very fist song that came on was "All Creatures of Our God and King" sung by David Crowder.
"All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Oh praise Him, Halleluiah"
As I rode along thinking about the words, "all creatures" and "lift up your voice" I passed a few birds, a couple of emus, a lama, donkey, horse, and some goats. "All creatures...lift up your voice" All God's creatures are stirring with praise for Him. Even these creatures are able to lift up their voices and praise the King, yet we as people who are able to have a personal relationship with Christ don't give God the praise he's worthy of.
As the song continued...
"Though burning sun with golden beam
Though silver moon with softer gleam
Oh praise Him, oh praise Him Halleluiah..."
I looked at the bright sun that was warming my right side then something caught my eye on my left side, it was the moon. "Oh praise Him"
I got to thinking of the Luke 19:40 (thanks Matt) '"I tell"' you he replied, "if they keep quiet the stones will cry out."' Again, God's creation will praise Him and too often we fail to.
I continued on hearing the crickets over my music and the bugs hitting my teeth and sticking in my hair. Coincidently enough the Doxology came on,

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow
Praise Him all creatures here below
Praise Him above ye heavenly hosts
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost"

The bugs didn't so much bother me even though I rode through swarms of nats and could feel 50 of them hitting my face every 5 minutes, but I thought "hmmmm, here are some more creatures to praise God's name"
My thoughts were pretty scattered, but overall I think we need to be more intentional about praising our Creator. My most intimate times with God are when I am just praising Him and sometimes life gets so distracting that I need that reminder.

PS. I really did see all those animals on my 16 mile bike ride.

Treasure

This weekend has been extremely busy but awesome. We had a cookout with all our teens and their families and there was a total of 48 people there. We ate, gave out prizes, and played a game of kickball. I don't think I've played kickball since junior high and I'm just as bad at it now as I was then. I went for about a ten mile bike ride with my teens and went to a carnaval. It's very rare for me to get motion sickness, but I was so sick after about 3 rides and really sick after 6. My stomach was still woozy the next morning. I wonder if that comes with age? Also this weekend I watched the movie Pirates of the Carribean. At one point the ever so wise Jack Sparrow says, "treasure can be more than silver or gold." Jack has a compass that points to the one thing that you want the most and in the second movie his compass is very confused as to which way to point. I'm pretty sure that if I had a compass like that it too would not know which direction to point in. My question for you this time is what is your treasure? What is the one thing you want more than anything else? Matthew 6:21 says, "where your treasure is there your heart will be also." So where is your treasure, where is your heart?

You CAN Teach an Old Dog New Tricks

First of all I'd like to congratulate all the 2007 Bethany graduates. Way to go guys! Welcome to the real world. When I graduated last year Pres Medders (the college president) challenged me to learn something new every year. Ever since this concept I've been praying about what I should focus my energy on this year. Well, instead of just focusing on and learning one thing, the Lord has placed several new tasks in my lap and I've really enjoyed learning. So far this year I've learned to be a youth pastor, to live on my own, to budget my money and pay my own bills. I've just started learning how to play guitar for the past few weeks. A few months ago I taught myself how to crochet and am in the process of making a purse. I just started learning how to make a quilt and it's going to look sweet Now I am learning to drive standard. I've known for several years now how to drive stick, but I've been really unsure of it and haven't driven on the road at all until last night. I started car shopping the other day and a few hours later my car gave up. Right now I'm borrowing a standard car from a couple in my church so I had to learn and I'm doing pretty good. This year has pretty much been a year of learning new tricks, things I've always wanted to learn and finally am. I love learning new stuff. What are some things you've been learning and challenging yourself to be stretched in?