4 Worship Fridays: Surprised By Worship

Travis Cottrell's new book, Surprised by Worship, is out! I got my copy a couple weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised to see it arrive so early (I think the original release date was in mid-October....which would have been about now actually!).

It's not as big a book as I expected, but it is a wonderful read. Travis is an awesome worship leader - I have been following his stuff since I became I believer in 2003 during one of his songs at a Beth Moore conference. 'Just As I Am' was the name of it and Travis and his team were singing through it during an altar call of sorts. That's when I really gave my heart to the Lord.

Anyway, back to the book. Travis writes about how his idea of what worship was supposed to be was shaken up a bit by the Lord through different teachings throughout his life. He also shares quite a bit about his most recent adventure of becoming a worship 'pastor' at a church, something he never thought he'd be called to do.

I would highly recommend Travis' honest, open writings about worship to anyone who struggles with understanding WHAT worship is supposed to be, how we're supposed to FEEL about worship, and HOW we're supposed to worship.

By the way, I haven't receieved any compensation for writing/saying any of this. I've thought Travis to be a wonderful worship leader for many years and ordered the book on my own accord. I didn't receive it to write a review on...I'm just passing on info to you about a good book!  Just don't get me started on his cds.  Oh fine, just buy all of 'em!!  haha  Seriously, the top ones I'd recommend are:  Jesus Saves Live, Found, Living Proof Live 3, and Alive Forever.  All of which can be ordered straight from Travis' store by clicking here. 

For more information on Travis, visit his website.


May you find something in your surroundings today that reminds you to spend a moment worshipping our God Almighty!

Blessings,
Amy


For more posts in this series click here.

4 Worship Fridays: What Moves You?

For this 4 Worship Friday, I'd like to know what moves you.  By that, I mean what makes you feel closest to God? 

Music?

Nature?

Your kids when they're all sweet and adorable?

A beautiful piece of art, whether it's a photograph, painting, sculpture, etc?

A clean house?

Helping others?

You get the idea....now share YOUR idea.


May you find something in your surroundings today that reminds you to spend a moment worshipping our God Almighty!

Blessings,
Amy


For more posts in this series click here.

4 Worship Fridays: Sick

So I was going to launch a new meme today.  But, evidently Someone has other plans. 

I've been sick all week.

Yup, expecting #4 in May and the 'all-day-long' sickness started last Tuesday the 14th and has grown increasing worse over the last few days.  To the point that I finally called in to get this magical Rx everyone was telling me about.  Zofran.

They were right.  It IS magical. 

I haven't been able to do anything really all week and today I'm up, got my Morning Routine done already, took the kids to school, and am working on the computer.  And I'm 'with-it' enough to realize my blog didn't do an auto-post like it should have!  Then I remember, "Oh yeah, because I didn't have anything written for it to post!"  haha

So as you can see, I have a bit of catching up to do now that I'm UP. 

But I don't mind being behind. 

At least I'm feeling better. 

And that is blessing enough.


May you find something in your surroundings today that reminds you to spend a moment worshipping our God Almighty!

Blessings,
Amy


For more posts in this series click here.

4 Worship Fridays: The Gospel Song

For today, I am sharing a link I saw on Worship Matters. We use this song at our church and have for a number of years. The youth sing it during their worship time, we sing it in our large corporate worship time. It is a 'simple' song but carries a profound message indeed!

The Gospel Song - An Animation



May you find something in your surroundings today that reminds you to spend a moment worshipping our God Almighty!

Blessings,
Amy


For more posts in this series click here.

4 Worship Fridays: Update from Lifelight 2010

So one week ago I posted about my upcoming '4 Worship Weekend'. Actually, that whole 'weekend' idea is still cooking. Maybe it will turn into something soon...

But I digress. And oh so easily it seems these days.

Soooooo, our time out at Lifelight was A-W-E-S-O-M-E. And by awesome, I mean there are times I still get tears in my eyes when I think of some of the moments that touched my heart in its innermost parts. The delicate things that God used throughout the weekend to get right into my deepest parts; those spots that feel like they will burst if any more love is injected into them.

I'm not sure whether to give a play-by-play or an overall highlights kind of thing. Of course the play-by-play would be most meaningful to me and would make the most sense.  You'd be able to understand what, how and why I get to where I end up.  But, I also understand my readers would appreciate not having to read a super long post and would instead prefer the overall hightlights. So, ok readers.  You win.  Without much fight, might I say.

Actually, I've rewritten this a few times because I'm not sure what to include.  Not that I don't have anything to say.  But if I say too much, it feels like I'm breaking some sort of code of confidentiality.  Not that I'm a doctor or anything.  It just feels like there's a secret unspoken code for those who get to go backstage.  And that if I break the code, then I won't be allowed backstage anymore.  I'd get my license/pass taken away or something.  Hopefully that will not be the case.  Hopefully I'm just dreaming this up?

So the highlights...

It was interesting to see Remedy Drive backstage....their bus was parked right outside Hubby's 'cave'. Paul has an adorable little girl. Someone has a dog that sat quietly outside the bus most of the evening. I know they had a festival down in Kansas City the next day, but they didn't head out until after 12:30 to start their journey down there.  Got to visit with them here and there.  Like I said, their trailer was parked RIGHT OUTSIDE Hubby's hangout.

Not much else for highlights for Friday night...since we didn't have Little Man with us that night we decided to stay and watch some of Brian Head Welch's performance.  Alex told me later on Saturday that this ended up being a waste of time.  I guess he didn't like the "Head's" performance as much as he thought he would?  I told him it wasn't a waste of time because he had tried something new and had learned that he didn't care for that type of music.  And might I add a 'Woo Hoo' right here for the last little bit at the end of that sentence.  I obviously have my own opinions of his music, but I'll keep that quiet here. 

Saturday had an interesting start because I got a phone call from Hubby with a list of things to bring out for an artist with a sore shoulder.  She was very grateful Hubby knew what to do to help.  I wouldn't even mention all this except that if it hadn't been for her shoulder, we may not have gotten to meet her.  And, the only picture we have with her is right after Hubby showed her how to use the sling to help nurse it back to normal, so I suppose I should explain that it wasn't a serious injury.  We didn't see her in the sling again all weekend. 

But her gratitude showed up again later in the day...and this is one of my 'bursting heart' moments.  I had brought a few special people back for the Francesca Battistelli set and we were down in front of the stage.  The bass speakers are right down there and if you stand in front of them, well...you can't stand in front of them for long.  Not without being deafened.  Or causing your heart to beat irregularly.  My little sweetheart didn't want to stand in front of those and so she waited back in other spot for us.  For 4 songs she waited.  But, don't feel sorry for her just yet.  She was standing over by Kari Jobe. 

At one point I wanted to see if she did really want to come up by us but maybe thought there wasn't room or something.  I turned around and tried to catch her attention...I was looking into the sun and could hardly see.  But Kari was paying attention and nudged Bekah to show her I was motioning for her to come over.  When she didn't budge I walked over to ask her if she wanted to join us up close.  She didn't because it was too loud - well, and probably because she had a better spot where she was.  That image of the two of them standing 'together' with the blinding sun behind them is burned in my brain.  As Francesca's set came to a close we walked past Kari on our way out.  I stopped to tell her that her time of worship on Saturday afternoon turned me into puddles and as a response, I got a little hug from her.  Now the 'burning sun' image turns me into puddles too.  BTW, this wasn't the only time we ran into Kari during the weekend - I will just say she is as beautiful as her voice.  And I don't mean physically, though she is pretty for sure.  I mean soul-beauty.  She truly is a woman after God's own heart.  Uh oh, here come the puddles again.

Sunday brought adventures of its own.  Hubby was busy almost all day.  He barely had time to eat or go to the bathroom.  He also kept running out of history forms and needing more copies, which we quickly fetched for him.  I wasn't expecting much from Sunday because I wasn't sure how long Little Man would last, if he'd get a nap, etc.  We did have to run home in the middle of the afternoon to potty the dog and give Little Man a nap in the van.  But Sunday did not disappoint.  Despite running late in the morning, I still got to see Kari Jobe sing 'Revelation Song' live.  That was the only song I'd wanted to see her do - though, 'Healer' on Saturday afternoon delivered plenty of puddles with it's new personalized meaning.  Watching her sing that while knowing she was struggling to lift her arm....wow.

A quick note in the middle to mention some of the other random people we got to meet - some members of the Peterson family, a few guys from Remedy Drive, a couple guys from Family Force 5, the Barlow family, various band members from other groups too numerous to list.  Alex got to deliver some water to the Family Force 5 bus and fist-pound the lead singer.  I thought he was going to burst when he came back to the 'cave'.  By the way, I'm too old to type fist-pound.  Is it all one word?  Is it hyphenated?  I really don't know nor do I really care.

And then there was the other heart-piercing moment of the weekend, brought by Becca of BarlowGirl.  She sat and visited with my sweetie for quite awhile.  And, Barlow Mom got her a free tshirt.  AND, the sisters all signed the tshirt (well, and some dude from Family Force 5, but we were quick to snatch that shirt up from the table before any of the other 'Family' dudes signed it haha).  Becca was even doting on my Little Man when she was over by the 'cave'.  Then, later after their set, when they were just hanging out backstage, they came over to say bye and thanks.  Yes, to say thanks to us.  To the frumpy mom and her 3 kids.  Well, the Hubby was busy of course so they couldn't talk to him.  But Bekah got a hug from Becca; there was more doting; and I visited with the other sisters a bit too.  Now, because of their kindness my Bekah thinks she's best buds with Becca. 

What do I say to that??  How did we get to this place?  How did we get to be able to have these experiences?  We didn't win a contest.  We aren't important in any way.  And yet, here we were talking to people we couldn't have imagined we'd get to talk to and were only talking to because of how a series of events played out that brought Hubby backstage to serve in this way a few years ago.  And I wondered too -  how can these acts of kindness, things so small yet so big at the same time, make my little girl feel so special?  Almost more than I can make her feel in a year? 

None of this had to happen.  There were plenty of worship artists running around backstage that didn't pay any attention to the frumpy mom and her 3 kids.  We barely got a 'hi' from most of them.  In their defense, they are pretty busy when they're here...interviews, Meet-N-Greets, eating, playing in front of hundreds of thousands of people. 

Which is what makes the few we did get to interact with even more special.  Because the few that did touch our hearts, they did it with big hearts. 

With humility. 

With love and kindness. 

And for that I am overflowing with gratitude. 

And turning into puddles once again.



Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth, would care to know my name, would care to feel my hurt.


Who am I?
That the bright and morning star, would choose to light the way, for my ever wandering heart.

Not because of who I am, but because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done, but because of who you are.


I am a flower quickly fading, here today and gone tomorrow, a wave tossed in the ocean, a vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling, Lord, you catch me when I'm falling, and you've told me who I am.
I am yours.

(Who Am I? by Casting Crowns)


Pictures from our weekend:

Outside Hubby's 'cave'

W/David of Remedy Drive at about 12:15a.m.

W/Kari Jobe after Hubby dr'd her up.  She didn't wear the sling all weekend in public and I almost hate to post the pic, but that's the only one we were able to get with her.

Becca and Bekah

Bekah and BarlowGirl girls

Coloring outside the 'cave' as Little Man was too noisy and not condusive to a relaxing environment.  Like the blasting music coming from the Main Stage all weekend was.

Remedy Drive

Kari Jobe - Saturday afternoon

 Worshipper during Kari Jobe - I thought it pretty neat that the burly, cool guy could lift his arm in worship during Kari Jobe.

Even security felt the Spirit during Kari Jobe.

Bassist from Mikeschair

Hubby working hard in his 'cave'

Part of the crowd Sunday evening.  It got busier as the evening went on.

NeedtoBreathe - I love this pic cuz if you look close you can see he's smiling.  He was thoroughly enjoying himself at this point becuz the crowd was pretty worked up.  And this was the largest crowd they'd ever played for.

The whole reason - for everything.

For more posts in this series click here.

4 Worship Fridays: Lifelight!!

For MY '4 Worship Friday', I'll be heading out to the Lifelight Festival later today.  And some tomorrow.  And Sunday.  My husband helps out backstage so we have some pretty interesting experiences.  I'll have to share more next week.  :)

Actually, now that I go back and read that first paragraph I realize it's going to be a '4 Worship Weekend'!!  Hmmm....that gives me an idea.  Mmmwwwhhhaaaa


If you haven't heard of Lifelight before, here is some info for you.  BTW, it's the LARGEST FREE Christian Music Festival in the country.  Right here in South Deeekota.

Here's some pics from past Festivals:

My super chic with the Superchicks

Lincoln Brewster & Mike of Tenth Avenue North

Hubby w/Michael W (aka Smitty)

The crowd (it's bigger at night)

And because of Lifelight, we got to do THIS when Casting Crowns came through town...

Big Boy PRETENDING to play the CC drumset

Mike & baby of Tenth Avenue North

Mark Hall of Casting Crowns with the fam

For more posts in this series click here.

Sunday Setlist for 8/22/10

This post is part of the "Sunday Setlists" blog at TheWorshipCommunity.com which you can link to here.


Our set for today 8/22/10 was:

The Name of the Lord
Rejoice (Chris Tomlin)
offering...Seek Ye First
Great is Thy Faithfulness
Revelation Song


I was, unfortunately, gone as we were out-of-town.  But, the worship team said they enjoyed practicing for today on Wednesday night, so hopefully the congregation was as drawn in to worship as the team was!  :)

4 Worship Fridays: Teaching Children to Worship God

Here is an excellent resource for teaching children how to worship God from Sovereign Grace Minisries. And, really, it would be good for all of us as we're all 'children of God', yes??

Training Children to Worship God



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4 Worship Fridays: How To Lead a Lousy Worship Service

I found this while searching on the web, I thought it funny enough (and full of enough good points, though we don't have a Eucharist at OUR church) to share on here... How To Lead a Lousy Worship Service



For more posts in this series click here.

Travis Cottrell book on worship

You can preorder a book by my favorite worship leader to be released on October 8, 2010. 

Click on the pic to get yours!

Water: The Communal Life (Essentials Formation)

For: The Essentials Formation Online Worship Values Course with Dan Wilt

My answers to Dan's questions:
1) I have tried to build water into my life by being water to others (mostly on Facebook, the phone, or email due to being at home with ‘little man’ and being busy with house projects…more on that later). But, in reflection of the material this week, I realize I maybe haven’t been as deep of water as I should be. And, I may have even been some stinky, stale water at some points too. I think I’m speaking into people’s lives, but not as well as I could – due to time constraints and busyness I’m not able to get as deep of relationships as I should or pursue new relationships as much as I should.
I have also noticed the lack of water coming into my life. My husband is my primary source of water, which I know is good to a point, but some bad reasons were brought up this week that brought my attention to the lack of water coming from other sources. I was actually reflecting on this before I’d read/listened to/watched the material….that I have a lack of Titus 2 women speaking into my life right now. I have no older women mentoring me, seeking me out, or speaking into my life.  In the past month, I’ve even tried to pursue getting together with a couple of different older women and nothing has panned out. What is up with that, God?? If I didn’t have the resource of online ministries like Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss speaking into my life, I would be S-U-N-K!

2) In the next 5 years….well, I have a feeling I might again be in a similar position I am in now because we are talking about adding kid #4 to the family. But, I do know that my husband has talked about having more people over once our basement is finished (during this class we have gotten the drywall done, most of the painting done and he is now working on staining and hanging trim, so we are getting closer than we’ve been in the 10 years we’ve lived here). So I do know the immediate future does have more community in store for me! We have people from church, people from the kids’ school, kids’ friends, etc. we’ve wanted to have over for some time and the house has been a wreck because nothing can be downstairs while we’re working and everything from downstairs doesn’t fit upstairs with all the upstairs stuff!! Aaaak! Haha

3) My greatest challenge is opening up too much too quickly. I have learned I need to exercise restraint in certain things, especially because of my husband’s job (he’s a chiropractor), and also because he likes to be more on the private, quiet, side of the spectrum. So I have to find the balance between saying enough that I invite openness from whomever I’m in community with and saying too much that I end up betraying my husband’s confidence. (Prov 31:11 - The heart of her husband trusts in her…)

Fire: An Empowered Life (Essentials Formation)

For: The Essentials Formation Online Worship Values Course with Dan Wilt

When I think of the element of Fire, I go immediately in my mind to scenes from the movie "Backdraft." I don't have enough of my own experiences with fire except for the occasional extremely safe campfire...well, except for that one time when I was probably 9 or so and tried to start some Kleenex's on fire in my metal Strawberry Shortcake garbage can in my bedroom just to see what would happen. Let's just say it didn't go as well as I'd thought it would - the melted/burned carpet underneath was a permanent witness that needed silencing (by never moving the can from that spot) to keep my brief slip into pyromania a secret.

Anyway, there is a scene in Backdraft when the fire is creeping along the ceiling. I can't remember much else about the movie, or even about the other details of the scene, but I do remember the mystery of how fire works being enlarged for me during that moment. Much like this the mystery of how spiritual 'fire' spreads. Dan spoke in the video of how when we live the empowered life, the fire in us will actually spread and create little fires all around us. How does this happen? I can understand the 'wind' analogy for the Spirit of God...that it will go where it wants, that you can hear it but not tell where it comes from or where it goes. Maybe that's easier to understand because we have quite a bit of wind here in South Dakota. But fire - how does spiritual fire spread? I don't understand fire quite as much! Maybe it's time to dig out the old Strawberry Shortcake garbage can to get a better understanding....or maybe I'll just go to www.crosswalk.com intead. :)

A quick study on fire and Spirit brings up the following:
In Matthew and Luke 3, John the Baptist says (of Jesus), "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
In Acts 2:3-4, "They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."
In the middle of his short, quick commands in 1 Thessolonians 5, Paul says, "Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt."

Some basics we know: the Spirit is placed inside us when we start to follow Jesus and make Him Lord of our life; the Spirit is like a fire burning inside us; God guides us through that Spirit; and God moves in mysterious ways. Okay, so that was easier than I thought. A+B+C=D It's nice when all that Algebra I studied so many years ago proves itself useful. But seriously, I know I'm not going to completely understand "C" in this life and I'm okay with that.

The basic message of this week was that in order to live the empowered life, we need to be receiving our 'gasoline', or power, from God and His Word just as fire receives its power from oxygen (or gas). We need to do what Jesus did in Matthew 4, as Dan mentioned, when he drew His power from the words of the OT to fight against the temptation of the devi - we need to combat the devil's lies and attempts to snuff out our fire with the truths of God and with His mighty power.

Ephesians 6:10-18a
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.

And when we do that, others will catch the fire of truth and be empowered in their walk with the Lord. I do think the song says it best! Here's a video presentation with Kathy Tricolli's version from her Greatest Hits Album.

But the only way we can "hold out our candle for all to see" and "go light our world" is if we let others get close enough to us to catch a spark from our flame!

Wind: The Inspired Life 2 (Essentials Formation)

For: The Essentials Formation Online Worship Values Course with Dan Wilt

Yesterday was my grandpa's funeral. He had a very full life, living to be 91 years old, so it was more of a celebration of his life (as some so endearingly call funerals). My grandma, his wife, passed away 17 years ago and since then it seemed as though he was on pause, that he wanted to be with her more than he wanted to be here. I know he often wondered why God had taken her so early and kept him here so long. So, he finally got his wish - to be with Grandma.

With all of my thoughts on life and death this past week, I've had the idea that this post needed to be some great, theological, insightful writing that people would 'oooo' and 'ahhh' over. :) But, I haven't had the brain power (due to lack of sleep) or the time (due to helping my widowed mom with the passing of her widowed dad) to get anything down on my blog, much less have it turn out to be the awesome entry I'd built it up to be! haha

I will say, though, that I can see more clearly the purpose of my life, the purpose of being a child of God. Our pastor has been preaching through Matthew in recent weeks and today we were in 5:13-16; he focused on the idea of us being the 'salt and light' of the world. There was a point yesterday at the funeral when I was trying to juggle 8 people and their needs at once - my mom, my 16 mos old, my husband and older kids (who were watching the 16 mos old) and my brother and his family (who wasn't feeling well and arrived at the church right before the service started). To my amazement, I handled it very well and calmly...which HAD to have been the Spirit working in me because I haven't had a stressful moment like that go smoothly for quite awhile. I had prayed to be a witness to my family during the time of the funeral and other activities that go along with it so I was thankful God provided what I needed to be that witness and to care for the needs of my family (mom and bro included) during the funeral yesterday.

Most of us have heard a lesson on this verse about 'salt and light'...the thing that always jumps out at me when talking about being salt and it's many uses, is that salt is used as a 'flavor booster', to make food taste better. If I would like to be 'salt', I need to make others' lives better; I need to touch them in a way that leaves them better off than they were before they came into contact with me. That may manifest itself in different ways, depending on what is needed and what the person is going through - a friendly face smiling at them, a kind gesture, a helping hand, an instruction or exhortation, a rebuke or hard lesson, or even a discipline or truthful word that is needed for growth.

To apply this idea of being the salt of the earth to this week's lesson about the spiritual element of 'wind'...I not only need to remember to take time to catch my own wind, to inspire myself to continue running the race of faith, but I also need to look for ways, when I am serving others, to be their wind (or salt) of inspiration to continue fighting the good fight. How can I continually balance the taking care of others with the caring for myself without focusing too much on either? Out of the two, I think I get the short end of the stick most of the time - I know I need to keep my own cup full in order to be able to share the overflow with others but it always seems like I'm last on the list and by the time the end of the list gets here, I'm too ___________(fill in the blank).

Let's see...most of us have salt shakers on the table, reminding us at meal time that better tasting food is just a shake away. Why not put something in front of myself to remind me to grab some wind now and then; that an inspired spiritual life is just a 'gust' away? I've found the wind-themed picture of the sailboat to use as a visual cue this week. With it on my desktop and also on my cell phone wallpaper, I have remembered to take a moment each day to inspire myself with God's love/ creation/ word/ song/ etc. Now I'm going to extend that to the other weeks of this course and beyond...I'm going to find a picture for each element discussed in this class and put them in front of myself for 1 week each month (for the next year) to remind myself to keep the spiritual elements in balance. So, off I go to search for some fire, water and earth pics!

Wind: The Inspired Life 1 (Essentials Formation)

For: The Essentials Formation Online Worship Values Course with Dan Wilt

Dan asked us this week "What inspires you?" and I couldn't think of something right away, so I started a list. One of the things I came up with that inspires me was driving and singing in the car by myself. Well, I don't usually get the chance to do that and if I do, it's mainly for a quick errand like to the grocery store late at night after I've got the kids in bed (so hubby doesn't have to try to do that). But, an unexpected opportunity came up today for me to take a road trip...to make a short story long, my grandpa has been in the hospital and is now in hospice. My mom doesn't drive and wanted to go be with him again (she just got home yesterday, riding back with my uncle and aunt) so I drove her the 2 hours to get there. And, since she was staying until tomorrow, I had the 2 hours back to myself.

It was a little different from my usual 'inspiring' time alone when I reflect on what is happening in my life right now, what I need to improve on, what I need to stop doing, etc. The cloak of death hung over my thoughts as I sang along with the music and watched the scenery go by. Soon, everything had a clearer, deeper meaning...even the graceful flight of a field hawk in the air moved me. Needless to say, the Kleenex box was close by so I didn't have to get in an accident to reach for the tissues!! haha

At one point I thought about how I'm raising my kids - am I raising them to want to come take care of me someday when I'm old and dying? The studying and memorizing of Proverbs 31 I've done lately came to mind along with other verses in Proverbs...about building up or tearing down your 'house'. I need to be better about building up, especially with my words. I also thought about how often, and how easily, the little things of life become so big. WHY do we worry so and fret about things that just don't matter?? Maybe I'm the only one that does this...but, I'm guessing not. :) It's easy to get caught up in the 'tyranny of the urgent' instead of focusing on the eternal in all we do.

I didn't have the cd with me, but thought about the words to Jim Cowan's "When It's All Been Said and Done"....(as done by Robin Mark, my favorite version - I suppose it has something to do with my being a flute player tee hee)

When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth?
Did I live my life for You?

When it's all been said and done
All my treasures will mean nothing
Only what I've done
For love's reward
Will stand the test of time

Lord, Your mercy is so great
That You look beyond our weakness
That You found purest gold in miry clay
Turning sinners into saints

I will always sing Your praise
Here on earth and in heaven after
For You've shown me heaven's my true home
When it's all been said and done
You're my life when life is gone.

When it's all been said and done
There is just one thing that matters
Did I do my best to live for truth?
Did I live my life for You?
Lord I'll live my life for You.

So, obviously I've gotten some wind in my sails this week - which could be considered bad because of the reason for my trip (my grandpa's impending death) but also good, because this element is an area of weakness for me. I need to follow Dan's advice about scheduling some regular 'wind' time...time to inspire and move my soul to continue living my life for my awesome God! Lastly, to remind myself of Dan's story of his friend manuevering the sails and being expertly trained to do so, I've added the picture below to my desktop as a visual cue to remember to pursue my 'sailing training'...to continue growing in God's Word, being diligent and obedient to His commands, so I can expertly manuever through the trials of life by finding the wind I need to give power to my sails.

Earth: A Grounded Life (Essentials Formation)

For: The Essentials Formation Online Worship Values Course with Dan Wilt
Week 1 is done and I've done all of my assignments...except for the optional reading of "Devotional Classics" by Foster and Smith. I had read quite a bit in that book before the class, and I plan to return to it at some point but 120 pgs were just too much to read this week!

I had stated that Earth was one of my stronger elements and of course, after reflecting and studying this week, I now feel I have much growing to do! Isn't that how it usually works? You feel like you've got things figured out, only to find that you have barely made a dent in all there is to 'figure out'?

In the past 15 months (since my youngest was born), I have fluctuated in my patterns/routines quite a bit - to the point that my daily devotions have fluctuated and suffered as well. But, at the beginning of this year, I wanted to reestablish some of my older, better habits and also refresh them by pushing myself just a little bit harder. For example, I have done scripture memorization in the past. I got the routine a number of years ago from Tim LaHaye's book "How to Study the Bible for Yourself" and, with the Spirit's help, got quite a few verses memorized in a short amount of time. Then I took a couple of years to review and ruminate on those verses...but, I did not add any new verses to my regimen and found the habit grew stale because of that. Now, I've started memorizing again and was motivated to do longer passages to help stretch my Spiritual muscles. I've been doing the Master Track on Nancy Leigh DeMoss' website http://www.reviveourhearts.com/.

While I know I have much to learn still, I have been encouraged through mentoring a younger gal for the past year because I have seen how far I'm come, by God's grace, since I first became a believer. Now, don't think I'm sitting with my mentee thinking "I'm so much better than you" in a pompous sort of voice! haha I just mean that I remember going through many of the same struggles she is and how God worked those out in my life. And, I can see how she sets herself up for mistakes/falls that I also used to do to myself in my selfishness and sinfulness.

I am obviously not perfect now nor will I be in this life, but isn't it helpful to reflect on how far we've come on the path with God...to see all He's done in us, through His power and mercy? Instead of constantly beating ourselves up for messing things up again or making another mistake, we should take the time to stop and reflect on the work God has done in us. And then take time to thank Him for His faithfulness in guiding us, helping us, pushing us, and forgiving us. Reflecting on what God has done in us, we can be encouraged to continue on, through His power to fight the good fight and keep the faith.

Philippians 1:6
being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Day 1 - Essentials in Spiritual Formation

For: The Essentials Formation Online Worship Values Course with Dan Wilt

So, here we are...I'm on Day 1 of my Essentials in Spiritual Formation class thru worshiptraining.com. I'm feeling a bit out of my 'element' though because 1) I've never taken a class online before, 2) I've never blogged before, and 3) I've only led worship a few times at women's events at our church (as far as I know, women are not allowed to lead on Sunday mornings).

A little about my current 'worship' position: I'm serving at our church on one of 3 worship teams as a musician (sing and play flute mostly) and as the music planner. We have a rotation of the teams to cover Sunday mornings, so our team plays a couple times a month. I have been doing this for about 4 years now - and, I have only been a believer for a little over 7! I have enjoyed learning about worship along the way and have soaked up as much as I can from the Word in the short time I've been a follower of Christ. I have been married for 14 years and have 3 children - ages 10, 8 and 15 months.

I am excited about the class, especially because it was free. haha Just kidding! Really, I'm excited about reflecting on the Elements and growing in my worship life. I have really felt a pull from God lately to focus more on my service in worship ministry. In the past, I was involved in the Prayer Ministries and Women's Ministries of our church as well (this was all before my 15 month old arrived - now I spend more time at home) This seems to be the 'let's grow Amy' month as I'm also taking a continuing education class for renewing my teaching license (I used to be a band teacher and keep up my license as a 'Plan B' if something happened to my husband and I had to return to work). That class is about how the brain works...so, by mid-April, I should be not only be knowledgable about the elements of worship but also about how my brain remembers/processes/stores the things I've learned in my Spiritual Formation class!

Dan said I'm starting a pilgrimage, "a physical journey with a spiritual destination." I anticipate with joy the growth that will occur during this time. On the funny side, I know it will be a 'physical' journey as there will probably be quite a few times that I'll have to physically remove my baby from the trouble he's getting into while I'm listening to my assignments. But on the serious side, I eagerly desire to discover the fountain from which my life finds its power, to draw closer to the God of all creation as He opens my eyes and develops the gifts He's placed in me. As they say (whoever 'they' is), "it's not the destination that matters, but the journey"...so I will not only look forward to what I will know at the end of my classes and the enlightened person I will be but will also revel in the beauty I find along the path as I go through the journey.

Blessings!
Amy