Comparing Ourselves to the Manicured Gardens

[caption id="attachment_19" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis[/caption]

Look at this house. It is beautiful and quaint. Who lives inside? We all will see something different in this house. I see a gorgeous home with manicured gardens. I imagine the people who live there are fairly well off in careers they love. They have exactly the number of children they always wanted and they behave. It is a home filled with love and earthly perfection.

You can look at any home and make assumptions about the situation inside based on the appearance outside. Those manicured gardens and beautiful walls are only shells masking what is inside. Inside this home might be a couple on the verge of divorce or a family who can barely afford the payments of a too expensive home. Who ever it is that lives here, you better bet that they aren't perfect. They are struggling with something just like each of us.

The problem comes when we compare ourselves to the façade. We look at a big beautiful home and compare our lives and situation to it. We are inundated with Facebook feeds that present only the highest highlights of each others lives. We build a façade on ourselves and do our best to only show our best. Then we look at the people around us and think, "Their life is better than mine."

When we compare ourselves to the manicured garden of someone else's life we are being very unfair to ourselves. We aren't even comparing our problems with their problems. We are comparing ourselves to our own ideas of what their perfect life must be like. So, ultimately, we are transposing our ideals onto the people around us and then saying that we are the ones that are lacking. What?! It sounds kind of ridiculous, doesn't it? But I bet you have done it just like I have.

Let's be real and realistic. I don't want people to think my life is perfect, not that I think anyone does, and I don't want to think your life is perfect either. We all deal with stuff everyday. We each have our own unique frustrations and trials. Let's spend our time giving each other support and love instead of creating ridiculous standards that no one can live up to. Let's live life like it was meant to be, full of love, hope, and support.

Taking a Sabbath Day

Once upon a time there was a family who booked every day of the week, became totally drained and irritable, and couldn't figure out to fix it. They said yes to too many service activities, to many get togethers, and tried to fit in extra curriculars on top of it all. They were exhausted, taken advantage of, and tired of living every day like a race to the end.

I know that our family is not the only one this story is about. We want others to be happy. We want to serve. We also want a chance to breathe from time to time and make sure our family is healthy both mentally and physically. One day I read this passage from Exodus:

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Exodus 20:8-11

God, the one who made every living thing and breathed out the stars, works for 6 days and then takes a day off. God took a day to rest and we were not. God even tells us to take a day off and we ignore Him. Maybe we think we know better or maybe we don't want to waste our limited time on earth. But is it a waste? When I am weary, exhausted, and irritable no one is getting my best. If I am constantly thinking about the next thing for me to do then no one is getting my full attention. But, if we take one day a week to rejuvenate our minds, bodies, and spirit, we can serve and work in gladness, giving our best.

We realized we needed a Sabbath day in March. We had to wait till May for our commitments to be over so we could begin taking one. Unfortunately, our Sabbath day was the most booked day of the week, Wednesday. Adam has 2 days off a week, Sunday and Wednesday. Many people think of Sunday as the Sabbath day. That doesn't work for us because we generally serve in our church or are support raising for our mission trip on Sunday. Wednesday was once booked with Bible studies, Awana, and youth group. Now it is the day that we take life slow and easy. We don't work, serve, or run errands unless it is an absolute necessity.

What do you take out? Everything we have chosen to take out has been a good thing to do. Mostly everything that is vying for our time is a "good thing". If we take on every good thing because it is "good" we become like the sad family at the beginning of my post. We need to stop letting others place their expectations on us or to feed us guilt so we will say "Yes". Let's all lighten the load on ourselves and take a Sabbath day!

Do you take a Sabbath? What day do you take it? If not, when do you think you would want to take one each week? If it is good for God, it can only be that much more good for us!

The Wayfinding Bible: A Book Review

I think I have a new favorite reading Bible and it is The Wayfinding Bible. This Bible is incredibly well done. I am so impressed by all it's features. The Wayfinding Bible has many reading paths for you to choose from. Each path is color coded throughout the Bible so you always know where the passages on your path start and end. You can choose from a short overview of the Bible in 54 readings, a medium length run through with 215 readings, or the scenic route which goes into more depth with 386 readings. I had such a hard time choosing and finally went with the scenic route, which covers all the important stories but leaves out quite a lot of genealogy and repetition. You can also take in the whole Bible with the reading plan in the very back of the book.

The reading plans are not all this Bible has to offer though. Throughout the book there are timelines, pictures and maps. There is information about what was happening in the world as the story is happening. There are pictures and diagrams of important structures and how they may have looked. For instance, there is a fantastic diagram of Noah's Ark, including how its size compares to other famous ships. At the beginning of each book of the Bible there is a section that shows how Jesus is connected to the story within.

This Bible does a fantastic job of pulling the reader in and helping them to be absorbed by the word of God. It is put together with the New Living Translation, which is not my favorite, but is so easy to read. It will not replace my favorite versions for deep study, but for simply reading and enjoying the word of God, it is fantastic. I am also partial to hardcover so I am not digging the softcover on my copy. Even the soft cover cannot take away my overall love of this Bible though. I will be reading and rereading it for years.

I received a free copy of this Bible to review from Tyndale House Publishers.

The Wayfinding Bible book trailer: http://goo.gl/9qpoal

The Update That Took 7 Months to Write

Really, this is the update that took 7 months to happen. It all started with a crazy question to the Reach Global missions organization In mid-December...but you can check out all those updates in the Living Faith tab. Today we are starting with last night.

Adam and I headed to Apple Valley where we met the lead of the Montreal team. He was visiting MN to teach at a missions training week. It was wonderful getting to know him. We talked for 3 hours about so many subjects. We chatted a bit about our faith and what works we are currently doing for the Lord. There was a little bit of budget talk and he asked about our technology needs and apartment needs. He also gave us some wonderful advise about the work we have to do ahead.

In the end the important things we came away with were that he is very encouraged about the works that we are currently doing and feels that we will be a great fit in Montreal. That he wants us to come for 15 months instead of 12 so we can do language training for those additional months. The immersion training that he wants us to do would involve our living in someone else's home for 6 or so weeks. The people in this home would not speak any English and we would be learning in survival mode. It sounds quite intense, but God would not put us into something he did not think we could do and so, with Him, we will make it through. Plus he is planning to have the team up there really train us on being missionaries so we won't be tossed out to the sharks alone, thank God for that.

We also learned that not all missionaries have the gift of faith. The gift of faith is the highest gift for both Adam and I and I can't imagine how difficult it must be to go into missions without it. The lead got to see a glimpse of this faith in us and he was really amazed, so far as to say he could learn a lot from us (commence blushing).

It was after 11pm when we finally made it home and I always check my messages before bed. There was a pile of junk mail, the lead's e-mail to us and our rep detailing our night's conversation, and a surprise for the lead and us...

I am very pleased to let you know that we are accepting you for an 12-15 month term to serve with ReachGlobal in Montreal!

What an exciting way to end the night! Let's just say it was hard to get to sleep and poor Adam worked at 5am this morning.

It is time for the 2 of us to get to work as the ideal leave time for us would be April. There is a lot to pull together, letters to write, people to connect with, and everyday life needs to be in there too. We wanted to share all of this exciting news with all of you. You have been a fantastic support team so far and we look forward to having you all continue in this journey with us!

Half the News

We came back from a 3 day vacation on Wednesday and the house and our routine are mostly back in order. The highlight of our stay in the Twin Cities was visiting the EFCA headquarters in Bloomington where we were able to meet our ReachGlobal rep in person. Yes, the Como Zoo and science museum were fun, but this was a big deal.

These past 6 months we have done all of our communications through phone or computer so getting to see our rep face to face was great. The most exciting, of course, was finally getting to talk to him about our acceptance. It was the reason we went to visit him after all. I will stop stalling now and get to all the nitty gritty.

ReachGlobal is very excited to have us on board and wants to send us out on a 1 year mission trip. The position that we are going into the field for is quite new and 1 year gives everyone a chance to feel out how it will work. There will be a possibility of a 1 year extension which we can apply for toward the end of our stay, any longer and we will be looking at making the transition from short term to long term missionaries.

We do not have our "official" acceptance yet. For that we need our location to be finalized. That is taking a little longer as Jay, the Montreal lead is just getting back from Haiti...possibly helping to translate for our own church's mission trip. How crazy would that small world connection be. We are meeting with Jay on Wednesday to chat and just start building a relationship with him. It is also a time for him and us to see if we will mesh well on the same team.

There is a lot on our minds right now. We are planning a trip back to the headquarters in August for orientation and training. With our trip being only 1 year we have to make a decision about what to do with the house. In the coming weeks we will be determining a shop closing plan for The Crazy Elephant, how and when to get our wordpress blog up and running, what technology needs we will need filled, and a plan of attack for how determine what to bring, leave, or get rid of as far as stuff in our house goes.

It is all a bit overwhelming right now to look at all there is to do and plan. We will be turning to the Lord to help us in all of this. It is a comfort to know that He will be guiding us in this journey. We want to thank everyone for your prayers over these months. Please continue to pray for us as we begin making huge life changes in preparation for our trip. We look forward to seeing how God uses us to change the lives of those we will be serving and those who will be serving with us.

Still Waiting

Here we are 4 weeks since our missions interview and we are still waiting. We even got an e-mail this afternoon from our rep apologizing for not calling us while ON VACATION! What ever he has to tell us must be of great importance. Perhaps it is a yes, perhaps something else is going on.

A week ago the wait, and missed phone call, was eating away at me. I was going crazy knowing that we could have had our answer had we simply been home. God used that time to show me a thing or two. First of all he reminded me that this is HIS plan, not mine. God will see to all of the details, I simply need to come along for the ride and be a willing vessel for Him.

He showed us the peace we can have in waiting. We have really enjoyed this quiet week knowing the chances of our rep calling us while on vacation are slim. We have not thought much at all of our mission trip this week. Instead we devoted our time to bible study and family togetherness. I think God much preferred that, as did we.

He also laid out more of his design for us. God is already placing the support net on his plan for us to be missionaries. It is quite incredible to watch! With out any solicitation, we now have 3 churches and a fantastic business woman who want to talk to us about partnership when the time comes. While I am not willing to take that as a guaranteed yes. till I actually get one, I can see that this is God's work preparing us in advance for the next step.

There is a good chance we will have another week to wait. We decided a short vacation was in order after all these months of hard work. So we will be taking a mini trip to have some much needed fun and recharge our batteries. Then we can come back, get our answer, and get to work. In the meantime, I will enjoy the quiet stillness of the wait...and try desperately not to itch my bug bites any more (a result from outdoors family togetherness).

Extra Interview

It has been 2 weeks since our interview and we heard from our rep yesterday (2 weeks to the day). Sadly, it wasn't the definitive answer we were hoping for. Cue awesome facebook graphic...

https://www.facebook.com/busyhomeschoolmom?hc_location=stream

This morning we had yet another interview. This one was all about our family life. We discussed how we discipline, touched shortly on homeschooling, and talked about how we connect together as a family. It went very well! The rep was laughing and having a good time with us which put us at ease and made it so much easier to chat.

She said at the end that we are very wise parents for our young age (complimentary in so many ways). We said that we are always praying that God would make us wise in our parenting. It was wonderful to hear because most of the time we feel like we are total failures as parents. I guess it is like standardized testing for school. You don't know if you are doing well or not based on your own guesses on the matter.

We also learned that the highest number of missionaries leaving the field are families. It is the reason that they really want to make sure a family is right for the job. It does make sense as the position we originally applied for became open because the man currently doing it left when he got married.

She said that our rep would get back to us with an answer quickly (early next week) because they realize that this process has taken especially long for us. It has felt long, but has gone by quickly. We have been going through the application process for 6 months! It was nice to hear that they also think it has been drawn out and not just that we are impatient.

So, we still don't have an answer but have gotten some great affirmation. God answered our prayers of the Reach Global team continuing to be punctual in their communications even if the communications were not what we expected them to be.

We are looking forward to what God has planned for us this summer. It could be a very busy one. Over the past 6 months of application time we have had several people tell us that they believe our fundraising will take 6 months. If we get our approval right away next week that could mean leaving in November. That is by no means our goal, but it will be very exciting to see God put this all together and to see when exactly He has decided we should go.

Mission Interview

Thank you to everyone that has been praying for us this week.We went into our interview today with calm and peace. 3 hours on the phone is a very long time, but we filled the entire time.

The first 2.5 hours we discussed our entire lives. That includes our past and current sins/temptations, our marriage, our ministry work, and most importantly our walks with Christ. We did our best and with help from God Almighty, we didn't fumble over our words and were able to speak clearly and decisively.

In the last half hour we talked about what will be happening should we be green lighted and move ahead in this process, training, funds, timeline, ect. We found our chat during this time to be very optimistic. Our rep is planning on putting together our mission description and budget during the 2 weeks we will be waiting for our answer. Since mission description and budget are supposed to be the next step after we are approved, we are feeling pretty strongly that we will be approved. Until we get a definitive answer, we will continue life as usual.

Life as usual means taking the next 2 weeks to do major and deep spring cleaning. Our house needs it and it is great ground work for putting our house on the market this summer. I am going to enjoy the peace of these next 2 weeks. Should we be approved 2 weeks from now, we are going to have a lot to do!

A Video on Montreal

I found this video tonight featuring Jay, the Montreal lead. These are the people we would be working with and the place we would be living in if we do end up in Montreal. Take a look!
Jay and Kathy Pinney ministering in Montreal with ReachGlobal from Jay Pinney on Vimeo.

Mission Update

Sorry to keep all my Facebook friends on pins and needles all day! I know you have all been looking forward to this update. As it turns out, it is great that I waited because we just got off the phone with one of the Reps we are working with and we have even more to share now!

One thing is set and figured out now. That is a nice feeling! We will not be in the media producer position  This is not a let down in any way for us. This spot got us motivated to apply but was never the one thing we had our heart set on. We were also connected with 2 of the team leaders from Europe to find out about some other opportunities we asked about and others that may be available. That happened this afternoon and was exciting enough for one day...but then it got even more exciting.

We got a call from one of the leaders this evening. He shared 3 locations he thought would work well for us. Budapest, Montreal, and Lisbon. Canada was the one place he mentioned in his e-mail and it just made my heart jump to see it, which I did not expect it to do. I told Adam over the phone and he sounded thrilled. My Mom had a similar reaction. We shared this with the Rep and he told us that he had already mentioned us to the leaders in Montreal and they are very excited to talk to us. This is absolutely the first one we are going to check into. We would still be doing video and internet work most likely. We will be getting in contact with them soon to find out more about their actual needs and where we might fit into their ministry plans. We are just so excited after our chat! We will definitely be looking into the cities he mentioned tonight and seeing what they are like, as we were asked to do. I won't lie though, we are having a very strong leaning toward Canada right now.

Sunday's Comin'

This is a powerful video for your good Friday! See you Sunday!

Life in Christ

Today churches and people around the world are honoring Christ's sacrifice for us on the cross. I thought it would be fitting to share what Christ means to us in the Morgan home. We have accepted Him as our savior. That means that we can join him one day in heaven. We put our faith and lives in his hands too. We have relinquished control of our lives to our Heavenly Father. You don't have to be a missionary to do this and you will be handsomely rewarded. I think many people are scared to do this. They might like the way things are and don't want them to change. Maybe they are scared of what could happen if they do. What ever the reason, it keeps people from accepting the truth of Christ. They are blinded by society's views of the world and harden their hearts to God. Our relationship with Christ means we can have a worry free life. Here is a short list of some of the things we do not worry about...

• Money - Any time we have had a financial need or struggle, God has provided for us. When I lost my job a few years back, God gave me a new one within the week in a bad economy. When we wanted to start tithing at church but didn't have the extra funds, Adam got a raise out of the blue that gave him the exact dollar amount he wanted to tithe each month. Are we worried about funds for mission trip? No! God has provided time and again and we have complete faith that he will bring us all we need...no worries.
• Safety - I could worry myself sick over our biking on busy streets to get to places such as the grocery store. I put it in God's way more capable hands instead. If the unfortunate happens I will know my fate and that it happened for an important reason. God uses tragedy to change peoples hearts too.
• Our marriage - Believe it or not, there was a time when we bickered like crazy. We can both be hot tempered from time to time and it was hard on our marriage. When we let Christ be the center of our marriage and began to following more biblical roles, our marriage flourished. I don't even remember the last time we had an actual argument. FYI, we made this marital change for the better long before we started attending church, for those of you that seem to think church "brainwashed" us.
• The Future - I don't know where we will be, or what we will be doing. I am excited to find out, but not worried in the least. It is in more capable hands than my own!

Life is wonderful in God's hands, so put your hand in His and let Him lead the way. You don't need to worry because God's got your back! He loves you and wants to take care of you. What is holding you back? Think about it and decide if it is really worth holding onto! I would love to hear about how God has worked in your life too. feel free to share in the comments below, anonymously if you like, so that we can all be blessed by your story!

Less and More

So many posts to write! Since missions updates are in slot #1 of the blog post priority list, I will start there. Tomorrow I will be sharing our Squinkies craft. Thursday I will share our 100th day of school. Friday will be a book review and giveaway. And ending the week with a post about Balloon Volleyball. Now that you know what to look forward to, let's get to the meat of the day...

We had a long chat on the phone today with our new Reach Global rep. He spent a large amount of time asking us questions to get to know us a little better. Then we got into missions talk. Somehow we now have less of an idea of what we are going to be doing but know more, in general. The missions team has found themselves in a unique position  They have several people who have applied for this one spot. This is very out of the ordinary for them. They normally get 1 applicant for each posting. Crazy, right?

At any rate, he wanted to know our thoughts on taking another post. We discussed where our gifts lie and locations we would and would not be interested in (NOT Africa, you're welcome mom!). He said he will be looking into other opportunities for us and was happy to hear that we are planning that this short term trip will be a launching point for long term.

Ultimately, we came away feeling that ReachGlobal is looking forward to having us on board. We may not end up in a media position but we will end up where God wants us to be. If we remember back to the beginning, this was not a job we initially planned to apply for. It did open the door for us to get started on our missions path though and that may be the purpose God had in mind.

Lots of Help

We have been working on our missions application forms for about 2 1/2 weeks now. The form that had given us the most difficult time was the Theological form. Thank goodness we have gotten so much help with them! First off, we have fantastic pastors who have given us resources to help us. Second, we prayed and waited patiently for the Spirit to help us put the words to paper. Third, was our past studies. In all the places we needed a verse reference but there weren't any suggestions we wanted to use in the books, we were able to draw from our past bible studies and our Sunday school classes. It has been incredible to use what we have learned over the last few years for something other than personal growth. I guess you just never know when you will get to take your knowledge out for a spin.

Our Theo forms are coming along. We are taking our time and the second drafts are far better than the first rough, very rough, drafts. We were hoping to get the remaining forms in by the end of the week, but now I will be happy if it is by the next. I never thought they would be so time consuming or difficult to fill out. We will keep plugging away at them and hopefully we will have all our applications in (including the demo reel) by the end of March. As long as we keep working on them and making progress, I will be happy!

Dream Prayers

Last spring I was doing a bible study with some wonderful ladies from church. We were discussing that when you are awake in the middle of the night it is a perfect time to pray for whoever or what ever is on your mind. Of course, I have been praying that way ever since. I don't normally get the chance because I have been blessed with night long sleep. Last week I was awake at about 3am several nights in a row. The last night I did not wake up, but I still prayed.

I had a dream that there was glowing script written on the air (think Star Wars holograms). I was scanning this list of names and prayed for 2 of them. I have no idea who these people were. I could barely pronounce their names. I guess it was incredibly important that these people be prayed for for the Holy Spirit to make it happen in this way. Whoever they were, I am glad someone was looking over them that night!

Humbling to Say the Least

Some accurate, but not to be used, slogans for becoming a missionary...

Relive every dark moment from your past - fill out a missions app!

Put your doctrinal and biblical knowledge to the test - fill out a missions app!

Seriously though, it has been a very humbling experience thus far. I don't think anything could make me feel less adequate as a spokeswoman for Christ than these applications. I thought waiting to get them was hard. Turns out that was a piece of cake! I don't think I ever claimed to know it all when it comes to, well, anything to be frank, but I am starting to really feel just how much I really don't know.

There are 2 things holding me through this application process...well, 2 things that are not God. First are all the encouragement and prayers from our family and friends. Second is this post on the ReachGlobal Facebook page, "Jesus entrusted the leadership of that which he died for to non-professionals after just 3 years with them. And you're dragging your heels?" It is so true! I am doing my best to remember that God doesn't need me to be an expert, he needs me to be willing. That, I can do!

Being Wrong

Love this song! It is like the author of this song was reading our minds or something. It perfectly describes how we have been feeling the last few years. I chose to share the version showing lyrics so you all can read what it says and not miss a word.

I'm alright being wrong, are you?

Moving Forward

After 4 long weeks of complete stand still, we are finally moving forward in the missions process! It is so exciting, but makes me a little nervous too. Not doing anything for so long kind of makes you comfortable.

The main issue holding us back was location. After a meeting they were able to have on Monday, this was resolved...in a way. They are planning on placing a 3rd team in Europe and the Media Producer position (the one we are applying for) would be part of that team. Amsterdam is high on the list of locations, but the actual location has not been finalized yet. So, the question was, "Will you be okay with going forward and not knowing where you will actually be going?" We said yes and that we feel called to use our skills, not called to a particular location.

Next we talked a bit about the position. Before filling out the application to be missionaries with Reach Global we have to fill out a questionnaire for the particular position and make up a demo reel. For those who don't know what that is, a demo reel is a DVD that showcases our video/editing abilities. This is a special step for this position. She also told us that there are other people that have applied for this same position. She wanted to clarify that this will not be a competition. We let her know that we would be more than willing to take a different position should we not be chosen for this one. This is how we ended, for the last time, with our rep yesterday.

Today she sent me the questionnaire. She also introduced us to our new rep, in the short term department. That was all I was expecting, questionnaire - check...new rep - check. We got an extra surprise though! Since we have expressed an interest in doing missions in general and are not necessarily dependent on the Media Producer position, she is also hooking us up with a rep from the engage team who will be sending out our application pack! This is awesome because we weren't planning on filling that out for at least a month, when we plan to have our demo reel sent in. I am all smiles and excitement today! I was happy to just take another baby step, but here we are taking leaps and bounds. We will be busy at work on our forms the next few weeks and happy to do so!

I almost forgot! We were brainstorming video ideas for our reel and we were informed of a need in our church for a very particular video that will be a prefect fit for our reel. I love how God provides everything you need.

You are Called

Since "coming out" about our missions aspirations I have had several people tell me that they have always felt called to missions but their spouse isn't. I have got a great book for all of you to sink your teeth into! It is called Godspeed: Making Christ's Mission Your Own by Britt Merrick.

This is a great starting point for missions activities. The whole point of the book is that we are all meant to be "on mission". What we all tend to forget is that God has purposely put us where we currently are. That doesn't mean we won't eventually be called to the far reaches of the earth. It does mean that each of us has a mission purpose where we currently are. It is worth a read. We started it before we started setting things up for our own mission trip and it really opened our eyes to our purpose in little SE Minnesota. 

It is available on the kindle, in hard cover, or soft cover on amazon, or check your local library/bookstore!

Miracle for Jen: a Book Review

Thank you to Tyndale Blog Network for giving me a copy of this book to review!

This is an incredible true story told by Linda Barrick. Linda, her husband, daughter (Jen), and son are the victims of a horrible car crash leaving Jen in a coma after serious head trauma. The book starts out with a detailed account of the crash itself. How they reacted, a recap of the events leading to the crash, and journey from the car to the hospital. Throughout the entire ordeal we can see how God is working wonders to help this family. Mom and Dad are seriously injured and wheel chair bound for months. Their son escapes with only minor injuries. Jen, however, is not even expected to live through the first night. Gradually, Jen comes to and praises God with nearly every waking moment.

I was crying from the get go on this book! It is 262 pages and I read a quarter of it each time I picked it up. I could hardly put it down. It is simply amazing to see how God has worked in the lives of the Barrick family. Their tragedy brought so many people to know Christ and grow in their faith. It is a must read in my book! My prayer is that anyone who reads this book and is amazed at the works of God's hands would come to realize that God is working those same wonders in their own life, they need only notice them!

P.S. The soft cover is super soft to the touch, making it great for long hours of reading!