More of what I’m learning at BSSM...

Joy

Christina Wagner spoke about joy being a choice just like love is a choice. Your circumstances don’t have to dictate how you life. Joy doesn’t have to be based on your emotions. In the mist of pain you can have joy. Joy is not a language that the enemy understands. Laughter confuses the enemy. Joy opens up your blood vessels. She challenged us to start cultivating joy by starting our morning laughing for 5 minutes.

She also shared a Marry Poppins video with us, I love to laugh. Marry Poppins symbolically represents the religious spirit. I hope you enjoy laughing with Uncle Albert: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx7lz5X2vKk

Promotion

Paul Manwaring shared about promotion. When we hear the word promotion we think it means going up. It means for motion, forward motion. What we expect from promotion isn’t what we think as going up. Going up is not synonymous with forward motion. Sometimes we find ourselves disappointed because we are anticipating a promotion and instead of getting move up we are moving forward.

Head and Heart connection-

Jason Vallotton, Kris Vallotton’s son, give the most practical helpful advice. Jason talked about a head and heart connection. Our head focuses on this is how to get life done. Our heart focuses on this would be a fulfilling life. In order for there to be a head to heart connection listen to your heart. Ask your heart, “Heart, what do you need? Are you ok with me doing this?” When you don’t listen to your heart, you are telling yourself, I don’t love me. When you understand what you need, you know how to feel loved. Until you know what is going on inside of you, you won’t be able to have deep intimacy because you don’t know what you have to give to someone. In relationships you can only give as much as you have. If you want better relationships you have to ask yourself, what do I have? Know yourself and what you have to offer to other. It’s important to take care of yourself and then minister. Work on your connection with God before doing anything. Jesus took time to connect with God and He will tell you what you need. David didn’t understand what was in his heart so he manipulated his environment.

Community Outreach

My weekly community outreach is Sidewalk Sunday School. Our team of 5 continues to go to a trailer park community to love on the kids and teach them a bible lesson. We did a lesson on: I am Important! To illustrate the point we did an object lesson. One of the team members, Fuda, brought a poster board they spent days and days creating about the nation of Singapore. It was very special to Fuda because he spent so much time working on it and thinking about it. Every little detail he made had been thought of before he put it together. I came along and told Fuda that his poster was no good. We talked about how that made Fuda feel. I ripped up the poster board and the children yelled, “No, what are you doing?”

We used the poster board to illustrate that this is the same with God. God thought of them even before they were born, and to God they are really really important, so it’s not good to call something or someone names who God has spent a long time thinking and creating. It hurts His heart and of course it’s just not true. So if anyone ever calls them a name, they can think about how much God thinks they are important to how that name is not even true!

My teammate, Nicole, had on a backpack and we pretended we were on our way to school. As we went to school, another child calls Nicole a name, so I add a rock to the backpack. When Nicole is at school, someone tells her, in a mean voice, that she is not good at reading; another rock is added to the backpack. On the way home she gets called another name, and another rock is added to the backpack.

Each time a rock is added to the backpack Nicole feels heavier and weighted down and becomes sad because she believes that she is not important. But we can do something about this! God thinks we are important and so every time we hear someone call us a name, we can say to ourselves: I am Important. We had the kids repeat the phrase with us.

We had a child volunteer do the same thing again, except this time every time someone calls the child a name, we had the child to speak out (to them self) No I’m not, I am Important. The rock was over the backpack as if I was about to put it in, and when the child said, “No I’m not, I am important”, I let the rock drop to the ground.

At the end of our lesson during our encounter time we had the children look in the mirror and say, “I am important!” I hope to share some pictures with you guys of the kids that we minister to.

Personal Note

The Hile family, who I had the pleasure of meeting on a mission trip to Nicaragua in 2009, are in Redding visiting for a few weeks. I'm looking forward to spending the evening with them tonight! :) My heart gets so happy when I see someone in Redding that I knew prior to BSSM. I can't even explain it. In January my sister, Ruby, came for a visit and we attend the Randy Clark School of Healing and Impartation. It was good to see her especially since she was not in Texas during Christmas break when I visited.

I'm planning on applying to second year and praying about what all that would entail. I will be back in Texas during the summer. My parents will be back in the country in mid-March for a few months. Needless to say I'm looking forward to seeing them when I return to Texas in the summer!