Happy Birthday Jason

Today is Jason's birthday. This year has been different for Jason. This same week last year, we were packing up our house and getting ready for a move to Medford. Jason had resigned his position as youth pastor, worship pastor and interim pastor in Eureka, but he did more than that. He resigned from full time ministry, so that I could take a full time position at Bethel as Children's Pastor.

This year he has worked hard. He has taken the plunge into "secular" employment, yet all the while he has spent many hours volunteering himself at our church. He has told me often that it is "different" but not once has he complained to me or said that he wished that he would change the decision we made.

It has taken us this full year to adjust to our new life, and even through employment changes for him, moving houses, and daily hearing me talk and ask questions about what I should do, or how to do it, Jason has gone with the flow and been a great daddy, husband and provider. I wouldn't be able to put into words how much it has meant to me that he gave up a full time career in ministry so that I could have one. Jason is still called, and he still serves the church - a lot.

So, Happy Birthday Jason. I love you and I'm especially thankful for you this year.

What I'm reading

I often have a small stack of books I'm working on. Here is what is in my stack right now:

I read the book Crazy Love last week. I've had it either on my desk or in my bag taking it to and from the office for about 2 months now. I just haven't made it a priority to read it. I recommend this book to everyone, especially if you are pretty comfortable with your relationship with God. It is incredibly challenging, and I don't mean that casually. It will absolutely turn the way you think about your life and your walk with Christ inside out.

Another book that I should have read months ago is Think Orange. There is a lot of buzz about this book in the Children's Ministry world, and I felt like it was time for me to see what all the talk was about. Why Orange? The author, Reggie Joiner uses the color Orange as an analogy not by itself, but as a blending of the colors yellow and red. Yellow is the church and red, the family. When you blend them, you get Orange; and a ministry philosophy that is catching the eye of a lot of Children and Family Pastors.

I am also currently making myself a student of special needs ministry. There are a couple of books on this topic that I'm reading so I can be better prepared to minister, and to train our volunteers to minister to kids with special needs.

I also spend some time reading some blogs each week. I have a few favorites that include speakers I've heard, children's pastors I follow, plus other miscellaneous people who have great things to say (including my Dad). A couple I recommend - www.jonathancliff.com; www.bostern.wordpress.com; www.ryanfrank.com; and www.insidenorthpoint.org. Those are just a few of my favs.

So, what are you reading? Anything that is challenging you?

Identity of Motherhood

This will probably surprise you, but I never aspired to be a mother when I was younger. Or a wife...I just really didn't think about it much. When I was 11, God called me to full time ministry and I really never looked back. I was super involved in my youth group, went on missions trips, then after high school graduation I packed up for Bible College. Oh sure, like any fairly typically teenager I had a boyfriend here or there, but I was still pretty focused on God's calling. Then...then I started dating one Jason Peter. I was only 20 at the time, and still had a couple of years of college left, but God's Will was clear from the beginning.

So fast forward 12 years, one marriage, and three kids later. I am now a wife, a mom to three, and a full time pastor. I have been in this pastor role for a couple of years now, but only full time for almost a year. I have been battling myself for the last 11 months trying to find that perfect "balance" in life that takes care of everything and earns me the title of "Super Mom" in the process! I remember once hearing a pastor's wife talking about "juggling" all of her roles in life, and I immediately thought "I don't want to juggle all my stuff - what if I drop something!" (I tend to be a little clumsy) So, my ambition has led me to carefully balance these things, because as soon as I throw something up in the air and momentarily take my eye off it, it will surely come crashing to the ground. I realized early on in this job that I work in a world where a lot of my colleagues are men, and that presents challenges to me. I bet some of you can relate.

This revelation has led me to these thoughts:

• The following priorities: Jesus, Jason, the Kids, and the Church are to always be in that order. No discussion. Period. (I actually learned this 9 years ago when we started in ministry but I truly see the importance of it now.)
• My Mother role does not lessen my Pastor role. This goes for any of you who have a career that you are passionate about. This is a false idea that my own brain managed to conjure up when I started this job.
• I CAN read a ministry book and help with homework, and stir the dinner on the stove all at once. I didn't think I could, but indeed I can.
• It's okay if you stay at home with a sick kiddo - you aren't weak or putting your job on the "not important to me" list. Your kids need the hugging and nurturing more than anyone else does right now.
• Your life can be the perfect blend of everything you chose to put in it. Chose wisely - it's the unnecessary things that cause the out of control kind of chaos. (A little bit of chaos happens. Mothers of two-year-olds say amen.)
• My kids get excited when I teach KidzBlast and Girls Club...they don't care if I'm their children's pastor and truthfully, I like that.
• My job as a Pastor and my role as a Mother will, and do overlap daily. It's my choice to embrace that fact, and to love this season of my life. It's hectic and tiring, but exciting and exhilarating.
• And last, I love my iPhone. It allows me to check my email during the above mentioned multitasking (cooking, reading, homework...) It also allows me to stay connected to all of my friends and family via facebook and twitter without pulling out my computer. You have to love that one.

So, make sure your priorities are in check, that the chaos is managed, and most of all, that you are tuned in to what God says your identity needs to be. Oh, and make sure you tweet about it!

These three things...

Three different times in the last 24 hours I have learned of a little life that is struggling. One through a blog; a friend of a fellow Children's Pastor. One through television and one through a prayer request this morning. It has caused me to pause and be thankful for my three healthy, vibrant, happy kids. Three little lives ranging from just a few days old, to just a few months old - hanging in the balance, fighting for life.

On Monday, I started a blog post about two year olds. I was furiously typing away, talking about all of the quirky qualities that many two year olds possess (namely the ones my son possesses), and recounting my experiences with the two and three year old class that I taught on Sunday. I was intent on recommending a book to help keep your sanity during these busy mom moments. I didn't have time to finish it that day, and I'm glad I didn't. The reason why? While I humorously complained about how JJ put his snack in the dog's bowl and ate out of it, put pennies in the dishwasher, or used a half a bottle of soap to wash his hands - thousands of other families are wishing that their little ones could just make it out of the hospital, or worse - just make it.

It made me think of the times lately when the kids volume has seemed to be at an all time high as they play, or fight or do whatever it is that fills their evenings, just very very loudly. I may have asked them to quiet down! or go in the other room! or please stop fighting! But I think even more disturbing than the loud noise, would have been complete silence. Chaos has become comforting in our lives of three kids. Today, more than ever, I am thankful for that chaos. Thankful for loud laughing voices. Thankful for running through the house. Thankful for that enormous mess that JJ makes every meal.

So, three times in the last 24 hours. Three kids - Madelyn Mae, Elyse Kathryn, and Jason Lee, Jr. - that I am thankful for. I am blessed, but I'm sure the parents of the other three would tell you the same thing.