Jesus, Life Coach

My dad bought me a devo book called this (Jesus, Life Coach) for Christmas a few years ago. This week I've been thinking about how true that title is.

He isn't a coach that is negative & yells all the time.
He isn't a coach that believes we are just out there to have fun.
He is a coach that encourages, gives positive feedback, and provides us with constructive criticism. This helps us to not only become better people, but to have fun along the way as well.

I experienced God's coaching in a tremendous way this week. Champions never have an easy path to their victory. It requires hard work, commitment, and determination. But, in the end it is always worth it. The path to becoming a champion is much easier if you have a coach pushing you to your max, yet encouraging & giving you confidence along the way.

This week was one of those weeks that God encouraged me that Kyle and I are on the right track, but His challenge was still obvious.

Genesis 12:1
Then the Lord told Abram, "Leave your country, your relatives, and your father's house, and go to the land that I will show you."

Check: we have done this. We have left everything familiar to go where we felt God was calling us to go. If you back track a little you see the story of Abram's father, Terah. Terah had been called by God to go exactly where he was calling Abram to go now. But, here is Terah's story:

Genesis 11:31-32
"Terah took his family and left Ur to go to the land of Canaan. But they stopped instead at the village of Haran and settled there. Terah lived for 205 years and died while still at Haran."

Challenge: Don't settle. We are on the track, we are doing good stuff, but the great stuff is our goal. If we choose to stop, and settle for less than God's best, we will die. Maybe not physically, but emotionally and spiritually.

Drained Moses

Guess what?!?! Moses got caught in the Drained Zone! In a sick, morbid way it makes me feel better that the guy God gave the 10 commandments to struggled. It also freaks me out, because holy burning bushes Moses, if I overcome it like he did what will God use me for?!?! (credit to Kyle for phrase)
See Exodus 18:14-24 for this story. Moses was doing good stuff. He was just trying to do way too much on his own, so he wasn't able to be GREAT. Finally, he focused on what God wanted him to do instead of what he & others thought he needed to do.

For all the non-LifePointers, here are the notes I promised from Bob's lesson on how to get out of the drained zone...it's only a Sunday behind. :)

Bob's given remarkable visuals using plates. First, it was the plate spinning. For this lesson Bob demonstrated how we pile on more & more plates (even good stuff) and try to carry the heavy load. Eventually the load is too much and we drop the entire stack and....BOOM!

We should only have 4 plates to carry:
1 - Relationship with Jesus
Most would agree, yet, it's the first thing to go when we are crunched for time
2 - Relationship with Spouse
3 - Relationship with Kids
4 - Purpose
Your career might be a part of this. Basically, stay away from the "someday" disease & get passionate now

No spouse? No kids? That's even less plates you should be carrying!!

If you don't know your purpose, God is being merciful. You probably have too many plates and if He added that plate you would be devasted by the load.

If Moses had not prioritized, who would we be reading about?
Once we get our priorities straight, we wait for what's next.
God is preparing us for what He has prepared for us.
Challenge:

What do we need to give up to hear God?

Real freedom takes real work!

Earthquake!!

So this is for the Texans....everyone here is probably tired of hearing it! :)

This morning I woke up to this funny feeling....our house was shaking and my insides felt like I was on an old wooden roller coaster. (like the Texas Giant!!) I thought to myself...it feels like an earthquake. So I looked at Kyle...then the dogs....not a flinch. It stopped as quickly as it started so I told myself I was an idiot...it must be thunder or something and went back to sleep.

About 7:00am Valinda called and told me we DID have an earthquake!!

I've always wondered what one would feel like. I'm glad I got to experience one! It was kind of cool! Of course I am very thankful it wasn't bad enough to do major damage or anything, and I for sure don't want anyone hurt.

As for the earthquake...it happened about 130 miles from St. Louis (on the Illinois/Indiana border) and recorded a magnitude of 5.2 at 4:36 this morning.

Clouds

Ok...Be warned...I may be reaching a little in this analogy.

The other day we were walking out of El Torero with the James' family. This is a pleasure we enjoy at least once a week. Kyle was carrying their youngest boy, Griffin, on his shoulders. When we got outside Kyle told him to reach up and touch the clouds. He replied with, "I can't. I would have to sit on God's shoulders to touch them."

I've really been thinking about how true that statement is. I know...a 4 year old has jacked up my brain.

We really can't live to our full potential and touch the clouds unless we are allowing God to carry us.

Dream Zone

I cannot express in words how blown away I am at God's pursuit.

Bob's lesson on Sunday put labels to what I talked about in my last post. That being said, it was a good day for me to have some clarification to where I am right now. It was a bad day because I do not like at all where I am. It was an exciting day because I see God pursuing and working and building.

Bob's Reminder: You can't get to where God wants you to be unless you're willing to admit where you are at now.

I referred in my last post to the up and downs of my passion and mediocracy. I have said for a long time that God wants to break those cycles in our lives, but I haven't truly lived that out in my own life. Deep down I have focused on having great days instead of a great life.

Bob's Reminder: Living in the dream zone (see below) has nothing to do with our circumstances.
Bob's Reminder: God wants us to THRIVE not SURVIVE.

So, he set up a little chart thingy to describe the 3 zones. (scale 10-100)
10-20 = Danger Zone
20 - 50 = Drained Zone
50 - 100 = Dream Zone

Dream Zone:
This is not referring to me being the next American Idol, although we all know I could be.
This is about giving up our dreams for God's incredible dreams for us.
This is the zone I have dipped into here and there. This is the zone I'm determined to live in.
This is going all-in. This is breaking free.

John 10:10b My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.

Danger Zone:
Living with unconfessed sin. Goal is to not get caught.

Drained Zone:
You feel stress, tired, and frustrated a lot of the time. You live life like an energy drink - get fired up & then crash. (to see a visual of this come to my classroom after lunch)
We believe the lie that it will eventually get better. "Once I get through this, I will have more time."
Goal is plate spinning. You keep trying to add more plates. If you continue to add & spin eventually you are left with one option: dropping plates.

Bob's Reminder: You don't always get to choose which plate falls....and shatters. (see LifePoint video for this visual)

Unfortunately, this is where most church people reside. This is where I camp out too much and too often.

If you find the Drained Zone sounding too familiar, 2 things:
1 - Bob is talking about how to move out of this zone next week. Be there or check back for an update!
2 - The book Breaking Free goes so hand in hand with this. Let me know if you want a copy!
From opening prayer in book: "We know, God, that You desire to have the fullness of our lives so You can cause us to live in the victory Your Son died for us to have."

Pulling Weeds

I used to say that I never wanted to be important, famous, rich, or great. They are the people always kidnapped, killed, or targeted.

As I have gone along my journey with Christ I realize that He hasn't called us to play it safe or be comfortable. But, He has promised us strength, protection, and companionship for the journey.

This a truth that keeps confronting me and has fired up a passion in me to find this freedom. Problem: I get fired up for a few days and then fall back into mediocracy.

In January we did a poker-parallel series called "All In". One of Bob's messages was specifically titled "Playing It Safe Is Risky". Bob challenged us to ask ourselves what in our lives were keeping us from going all in. That was one of those confrontational times for me. As I searched myself to figure out what my hold-back was, I felt a book calling my name. Breaking Free by Beth Moore is a book I previously read and loved dearly. Problem: I didn't let it penetrate into my entire life. I decided that if I truly wanted to go all-in, I had to truly break free from all the lies and bondage in my path. This book is a great tool to help me. I've been filling my life for way too long with good stuff instead of great, life-changing stuff. Luckily, God never stops pursuing me.

Last Sunday we started a series called Stuck. Again that fire was lighted. Bob has a strong conviction to get through to us that God really wants to use us to change the world. His 4 main points last Sunday were:
1. God's pursuit is bigger than our circumstances.
2. God's plan is bigger than my imagination.
3. God's power is bigger than my excuses.
4. God's promise is bigger than my problem.

So, I had to write this today to put some accountability out there. If I stay silent I'll fall right back into mediocracy. I know for me to change the world I've got to be proactive at getting my poop in a group. (special thanks to Chad Imboden for my new favorite phrase) I plan to share some of my journey with all of you and would appreciate any input along the way. (or chewing out if I start to slack)

If you are actually still reading you are asking, Why is the title Pulling Weeds? Well, since I am working on pulling the weeds in my life to change the world, I don't have time to pull the weeds in my yard to change my curb apeal. I am accepting volunteers! You have your own life weeds that need pulling? Well, come start with a baby step...a hands-on example. Then take a bigger step into your life.

Emily Kay Blankenship

So I totally feel like I'm bragging when I talk about this...but I'm pretty proud so whatever.

Emily Kay Blankenship was born this morning!!! Don't have all the details of time, weight, etc...but I did get a great pic of her screaming her lungs out at about 6:45 this morning.

Background Knowledge: Emily's parents are Jason & Kristen Blankenship. Jason (Coach B) was my basketball coach my senior year and they became very good friends of ours. And I was shocked and honored when he called me in January to see if it was okay for them to name their future daughter Emily! They may be a little crazy.

Kyle's comment this AM..."Great...another Emily."
I think it's a great reason to visit Texas!!!