My New Year's Goals (Not Resolutions)

Ok I know I'm a few days late posting these...but at least one of my goals wasn't to post blogs on time! : )

As always, I take time around New Year's to reflect and pray about goals and commitments for the upcoming year. I am using the word "goals" this year instead of "resolutions" because it just seems better. And since I am a life-long learner and grower who doesn't want to reach a point of "arrival", I am stealing ("re-using") some of my last year's goals. It's not about whether I fail or succeed at keeping the resolutions or conquering a specific habit-- it's more a matter of the heart and the motive. The heart to grow, to learn, to become the person God wants me to be. 

My word* for the year is Confidence.

*A few years ago when we had just gotten saved, my sis and friends and I felt led to pray over a specific biblical word or phrase that God would lay on our heart for us to focus on intentionally throughout the year.

To elaborate on this year's word...

No, it's not confidence in myself that I long for. It's confidence in Christ. Confidence does not mean arrogance. An arrogant person cannot walk humbly with the Lord. Confidence comes from finding security in the Lord. 

"I do not consider myself sufficient for the great task of changing lives for Jesus. Only Jesus is sufficient" -unknown

“Our sufficiency is of God; let us practically enjoy this truth. We are poor, leaking vessels, and the only way for us to keep full is to put our pitcher under the perpetual flow of boundless grace. Then, despite its leakage, the cup will always be full to the brim.” (Spurgeon) 

A verse that so beautifully illustrates the confidence I long for in Christ is 2 Corinthians 2:3- “You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everybody. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence as this is ours through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.”

May God give me the unshakeable confidence to rely on Him, to be used by Him, to step out of my comfort zone, to do things I never thought I could do... May He give me confidence in my finances, in my love life and relationships, in my career, in my abilities, in my calling. The kind of confidence that results of righteousness from the Lord (Isa. 32:17) and points other people directly to HIM. The confidence to care more about what HE thinks of me than anyone else. The confidence to make mistakes...and learn and grow from them. The confidence to obey even when it's hard. The confidence to know that I am nothing. The confidence to trust that everything He wants me to do, He gives me power to do. This is the prayer of my heart.

Other goals for 2010

• Intentionally invest in people and serve them.
  
• Choose gratitude.
  
• Keep learning. Maybe start grad school (?)
  
• Make friends.
  
• Read at least one book a week.
  
• Be devoted to prayer.
  
• Develop the leader within me. (Thanks John Maxwell) and become a 360 Degree Leader
  
• Manage myself well-- my time, my finances, my emotions, my relationships, etc.
  
• Keep accountability with friends and mentors.
  
• Get married. (I know. I'm working on it!)
  
• Grow in holiness.
  
• Serve and befriend the poor.
  
• Intentionally build relationships with outcast and lonely. 
  

There, I shared mine. Now what are YOURS??

-Lynne

Home for the Holidays

I was so glad I was able to make it home for the holidays! My little bro was nice enough to fly from NY to AL to drive home with me. We had a fun time, and it might be a while before we're all back together again for the holidays! 

Alex, don't text and drive! (don't worry, this was during a traffic jam...ughh! The drive took FOREVER! At least there were no break-downs or run-ins with semi trucks!)

My parents' house pretty in the snow. 

Anne and I went shopping at the Hamilton Mill mall in Indy. Trying on sunglasses in Ulta. (Note the cool new pink Carhart she got for Christmas from Tyler). 

I kept wanting to get pictures in the "lightly falling snow" -- this was perfect Christmas-y weather as we were shopping at the Hamilton Mill mall in Indy! Cold, but pretty!

Now THAT'S more like it. Relaxing by the fire with a good book inside where it's warm and cozy. (At Anne and Ty's house)

Anne got a cute sweater for Christmas, among other things.

Hoosie looks scary!! Yes, that IS a wrapped gift that Hoosier's about to open... WHAT? We don't have any children to spoil, so yes, we wrap presents for the dogs!!! : )

Me with my Buddy.

Anne and Ty on Christmas day.

Our lovely place settings for our fancy Christmas dinner.

Santa even stopped by on Christmas to give presents!

Santa brought his helper, Puppy Paws. 

Anne and Ty by the tree. 

Enjoying our annual Christmas Eve appetizer dinner. bbq cocktail hot dogs, bbq meatballs, chicken wings, cream cheese roll ups, sausage wontons, popcorn balls, pimento/ham salad sandwiches, and more! yum yum! And homemade hot wassail to drink!

Two cute boys. 

Anne and I shopping in a cute little downtown store in Marion. Stealing table scape ideas. 

An adorable little shop in Marion. 

I made a delicious sugar plum cake!

Amen.

-Lynne

Top Christmas Movies

Lynne's Top Picks for Christmas

1. Elf

2. It's a Wonderful Life

3. Home Alone

4. Polar Express

5. White Christmas

6. Old-school Rudolph

7. Miracle on 34th Street (old-school version)

8. The Nativity Story (technically this one is number 1, because it's the only one that is about the actual meaning of Christmas, and plus it's a really well-made movie!)

9. A Christmas Carol

10. Charlie Brown Christmas

Am I forgetting any other really good Christmas movies?

Dear Santa...

This year I helped my mom out again by typing Santa letters to publish in her newspaper. I typed Santa letters two years ago, and posted a few of my favs. 

It was a lot of work trying to read the messy handwriting AND not correct all the grammar errors and spelling mistakes!!! That was the hardest part!!! But here are my favorites. There's kind of a lot here, but they're cute, so it's worth it to read them (I think). 

-Lynne

Dear Santa,

I hope all of your raindeer is ok and whot I whont the most is a toy called a strech it. It is a ball that can strech but I do not cear if I get a strech it or not I just want the best Christmas ever.

Bryce Streat

 

Dear Santa,

I love all your reindeers and I no all their names and they are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, and their’s Rodolph. I love all of them and your elv’s to and you also I love all of you in the whole wide wold and I rileay rileay love all of you varey varey much and I love chrismas it is my favorit hoiday.

Louise

 

Dear Santa,

Thank you for all the toys you bring me. Santa do you really live in the North pole. Santa your cool! Santa I believe in you. Santa can you bring me a ipod. Santa do you go down the chimney. Don’t get my brother anything. I hope all of your reindeer are OK on Christmas. Fill my stocking up to the top. And I want a game for my PS3. Mack sure the bottom of our tree is full of presents. If you fill the bottom up you will be the best man ever. Have you made a snowman. You the best Santa. Bring my friend Brady a lot of presents.

Rydge Dunica

 

Dear Santa,

I just don’t know what I want. I want a baby kitten for Christmas. I hope you have a safe trip. Merry Christmas!

Katie

 

Dear Santa,

I want a Passport Journal, but I can’t have it because I am not old enough. I want a diary with a padlock. Merry Christmas!

Phoebe

Dear Santa,

I want a toy kitten. I lost 2 teeth. Merry Christmas!

Khalia

 

Dear Santa Clause,

My name is Hannah McCoin. I live at ***. My mom says I’m good you might want to check your lists from before. This is good to know if you hear barking my dog is mean. Can you awer some questions five or six. What is it like in the North pole? How do you make all the toys? Is your trip tiring? What is your favorite cookie? Now what you have been wondering what I want for Christmas. I want a Peace Bear from Build a Bear Whorkshop a hot wheel of any kind, jewlrey for my mom, a new basketball for my dad and world peace for all! Now reamber where I live *** . Don’t be afraid if oyu hear barking my dog is mean. Thanks for reading my letter and answering my questions.

Love,  Hannah McCoin

 

Dear Santa,

I would like t tell you about me questions I have and some things I would like. My name is Josselyn Schick. My house is gray and my adress is ***. Now these are my questions. Does Rudolph always lead the slay? Do you see any polar bears? Do you have any new reindeer? These are the things I would like. I would really like a baby kitten, pet sea monkeys and most of all world peace. Just to remind you my adress is *** . Thank you for every thing you’ve done and I hope you have a great time at the North Pole.

Love, Josselyn Schick

 

Dear Santa,

My name is Jerret Scott Barker. I don’t know if I have been good or bad so I will just say that I been in the middle. My adress is *** . When you get to my house I have to warn you about my dog. Anyway I have a few questions for you. How old are you? And what kind of cookies do you like? Well the presents I want for Chrismas are a new Chicago Bears jersey and a John Cena hat. Anyway it has been fun talking to you. I just have one last question for you. Some people say you are not real but if you are or aren’t real don’t tell me. Thanks for answering my questions.

Sincerley, Jerret Barker

 

Dear Santa,

I want you to know a couple of thing about me. My name is Zoe Overbey. I am 8 years old. My address is ***. I have two dogs and a wild brother. I have been very good this year. How is every one? What is your favorite cookie? How do you stay healthy? I want my dad and brother Gage to have a nice little house. I want my family to have a graet Christmas. I wanta  I pod. Thank you for evory thing this year.

Love, Zoe Overbey

 

Dear Santa

Hi! I love you. I want a tree for Christmas.

Love, Cammie

 

Dear Santa,

You are a nice guy can I have a Xbox 360. I relly won’t it relly bad but you don’t halft to get me that. You can get my any thing you can think of. I like any thing but not girl stuff. You can get that for my sisters she likes rings and all that kind of stuff. I love you Santa but I need some PS2 games. I love your reindeers. I like the red noes one he is so cute.

Brady

 

Dear Santa,

I want you to chage the fact that my mom will go to China. And I want my family to have the BEST CHRISTMISTS EVER! And for my one lap top!

Elizabeth Williams

 

Dear Santa,

My name is Emily I am six year old. For Christmas I would like my two frut teeth.

Emily

 

Dear Santa,

I would like to have a army set. With some guns and some gugs. I love presnts just remember giving is better then getting.

Love, Myles

 

Dear Santa,

I want a invisible blankie that is never visible.

Love Dustin

Not a fan of Lock-ins....

So while I may not be a big fan of Lock-ins....kids are!! Just kidding about that, I guess I like them.... :) After my protests, I got suckered into having one for our 5th and 6th graders! And the verdict is... it was a huge success and we won't be having another for at least a year! Because that's how long it takes to recover! :) 

Ingredients for a good Lock-in: Pizza, Mountain Dew, Get-to-know-you games, and AWESOME adult chaperones!

Hearing a great message about sharing the light of Christ. 

Cool games are a plus! And Dodge Ball where only the adult leaders get to throw balls= great fun!

Our preteen group, called Club 56, worked so hard to put together an awesome Christmas show, including puppets, skits, song and dance routines, and more! We got in a little rehearsal time. So proud of them!

Celebrating Logan's birthday with cupcakes!

Another must-have for lock-ins, lots of games. Pool tables, foos ball, video games, and more. 

The sweet girls hangin out in the girl room! 

When you get tired enough, you'll fall asleep anywhere...

The leaders were zonked out....

Don't let this fool you, there was not a lot of sleeping taking place...

It was definitely a good time! We got about .2 hours of sleep. We had about 30 kids and about 10 adults. So thankful for awesome leaders and the coolest kids around!

-Lynne

Trying to be like Christ

Some days I feel like I try really hard to be a good Christian. I try really hard to be patient. Loving. Compassionate. Forgiving. Grace-giving. Humble. Peaceful. Bold. Pure. Self-controlled. Generous. Holy. Submissive. And some days it seems like the harder I try, the more I fail. God is teaching me that rather than trying to be and do all these things, the most important thing is to love Him. When I focus my heart on drawing closer to HIS heart He will work in me to transform me and restore me to His image and likeness. 

Have you ever met someone who exuded the presence of God? Someone who was so full of Him that you couldn't help but feel that you were in His presence? Have you ever met a Proverbs 31 woman? Somehow I don't think those people sat down and said to themselves..."I am going to try REALLY hard to be joyful today. And patient. And loving." I think their desire is to love God and those people have such an intimate relationship with God that is made manifest in their lives. An authentic, intimate relationship with God is so rare and beautiful that it stands out in contrast to the world and it draws other people's attention to God, rather than to the person you're with. 

I think being Christ-like is less a matter of us trying and more about us submitting. It's about submitting our hearts and desires and minds to the Lord and letting Him make us like Himself.  And as Christians, when the world sees us, may we not draw attention to ourselves and show off how hard WE work at being good Christians, but may we draw people's attention directly to Christ. 

 It's not that I think we should stop trying in our Christian walk, it's just that we should let our focus be on falling more and more in love with our Savior. You see, it's impossible to fall deeply in love with Him and not be transformed. That's what He does. 

-Lynne

Who Volunteers in the Children's Ministry?

Who are the volunteers in the children's ministry at First Wesleyan Church? I'm glad you asked. Here is a brief overview of the volunteers, with some interesting statistics. 

Depending on the job, some volunteers serve every week, some serve every month, some serve several months out of the year. Here is an overview of who they are, and a look at a few key areas of the ministry.

Roughly 60% of our volunteers currently have children in the children’s ministry. (That means they are parents of kids age infant-6th grade). 

40% of them do not have kids currently in the children’s ministry (either because they are teens, young adults, parents of older youth, or older people).

Roughly 15% are older than 55 years old or older. (YEAH for seniors serving in children's ministry! The saints of the church! we love them). 

About 42% are male, 58% are female. (That's a lot better than many churches which have almost all women in children's ministry, we are intentionally getting men involved!)

 A Few Key Areas...

In the nursery…

42% of the volunteers currently have kids in the children’s ministry, and .7% are male (only one male!).

In the general security volunteer team…

19% of the volunteers have kids in the ministry, and 81% DO NOT have children currently in the children’s ministry. Most of the security volunteers are senior adults who don't have young kids. 

70% of the general security volunteers are male (that's awesome! male majority here! maybe need to get some of these guys to go to nursery...?)

 

Sunday school

83% have children currently in the children’s ministry (the few who are not parents are youth who assist the teachers), and 38% are male.

 

In the midweek ministry team…

69% of the volunteers currently have kids in the children’s ministry, and 33% are male. 

What does this say about our children's ministry volunteers? Several things: for one-- we are doing well with getting diversity in our volunteer teams, but we can always do better! We can intentionally recruit people who don't have young children (like teens, college students, and senior adults), and we can intentionally recruit more men! In fact, we can even recruit people who don't even like kids! (note: I'm not saying people who volunteer in those roles do not like kids... the point being there are many different spiritual giftings and abilities that can be valuable in children's ministry) Because there is SUCH a huge variety of roles in which one can serve the children's ministry, we can use volunteers to help run the computers, greet the parents, organize and plan events, serve food, and much more!

Also, we are thankful to have a huge percentage of our volunteers who are parents of kids in the ministry, and compared to other churches, the amount of parental involvement we have is uncommon and excellent! That's great news! Parents are taking leadership and getting involved in their kids' spiritual lives! 

We are so thankful for each and every volunteer who serves in the children's ministry. This is such a wonderful team of people to get to serve with! I am excited to spend time celebrating their service and thanking them at a Christmas Volunteer Appreciation Luncheon this Sunday after church, it will be a red carpet event where the volunteers are the guests of honor!

-Lynne

Canadian Visitors! And Thanksgiving 2009!

Tyler's family came to visit while Tyler was on vacation from work for a week for our Thanksgiving! They stayed busy! Chelsea spent 5 hours one day preparing an authentic, made from scratch Indian meal for us one day! We made Thanksgiving and had my family over, we went to a movie (the Blind Side = VERY good!), went shopping ALL night and All day, went to Olive Garden, went shopping some more, played Skipbo (Chelsea and I ROCK and beat Tyler and his mom 2 times!), went a got a Christmas tree and decorated it, went to church, and hung out a lot! It was fun and we are sad to see them go. Tyler is back to work, sadly, and I am having Tana over today to help me make 6 dozen cookies to take to a cookie swap party! I will write more later! -Anne

I think I'm becoming a Southerner...

I noticed it a few day ago. There were early signs, but I didn't put it all together until last week when I was in Indiana (it's more noticeable when you're up north). It happened slowly, over a period of a year and a half...

-They said it would happen. I'm now a wuss when it comes to cold weather. The temps dip below 60 degrees, and I'm bundled up in a winter coat, freezing. 

-I was at a restaurant in Indiana, after using the word "Y'all" to a waitress, when I was asked, "Are you from the South?"

-I caught myself watching the Alabama football game while at Buffalo Wild Wings, and I actually cared about if they beat Auburn.  

-I accidently said "might could" before I caught myself!

-I have used the phrase "a good bit".  Example: "How much turkey did you eat over Thanksgiving?" Answer: "A good bit."

-I no longer own a snow scraper (you know, for the windows of the car).

-I saw the movie "Blind Side" in the movie theater in Indiana, and was the only one in the theater who got really excited when Nick Saben came on the screen. 

I'm definitely becoming a southerner. 

The one thing I cannot do is drink sweet tea. It's just TOO sweet, I don't see how they can stand it!!

After being in Indiana for almost a week, I realized that while I love Indiana, and it will always be home to me, at the same time I was sort of homesick for Alabama because Alabama has become home to me too. Driving back into Tuscaloosa, it felt good to pull onto 20/59 and know I was headed home (my second home). I still don't think I'll ever get used to the sweet tea, and I doubt I'll ever say "oil" as if it rhymes with "bowl", but I am definitely getting used to being called M'aam, and southern cookin, southern hospitality, and southern gentlemen :). And the football thing? If you know me, that's probably the first time you've ever heard me say I care about football. It's kinda contagious if you live in Tuscaloosa. 

I'm happy to be home in sweet home Alabama. 

-Lynne

Thanksgiving

I got to go home for Thanksgiving, and Anne and Tyler hosted it at their house this year! Tyler's mom and sis from Canada were in town too. We had a great dinner! They tried to get me to go black Friday shopping w/them, but I couldn't bring myself to spend all night pushing around through crowds of people. 

The pretty place settings at Anne and Tyler's house for our Thanksgiving dinner. Anne did a good job decorating and making everything look festive. 

Family photo at Thanksgiving. Tyler (bro-in-law), Tyler's mom Denise, Chelsea (Tyler's Sister), Stella, Mom, Dad, Anne, Hoosier, me. 

The delicious feast we had for Thanksgiving dinner. Fall Pear Salad, Fruity Sangria Jello Dessert, Turkey (of course), Stuffing, Sweet Potato Pie, Green Bean Casserole, Honey Cherry Chutney, Cheesy Potato Casserole, Baked Corn, and (not pictured) Holiday Fruit Salad that never made it to the table. Desserts: Pumpkin Pie, Bread Pudding, Peach Melba Cheesecake. 

Anne and Chelsea cleaning up after dinner. We got it cleaned up in record time!

Anne and Tyler and his mom and sister went black friday shopping on Thursday at 11pm!! They shopped and shopped and shopped ALL night Thursday and all day Friday and came home with a bounty of dog beds and many other great bargains! 

Me and Tana, my BFF

I got to ride my Rosie with Tana!

Breakfast at Perkins w/Mom and Dad on my way back to AL! Man, what a LONG drive!

It was a great trip home, and a great Thanksgiving! I arrived home late Sunday night, and woke up and had breakfast with Tana at Starbucks. Then we headed over to IWU and I was able to speak to a children's ministry class at my alma mater, IWU! And it was a cool surprise to see Kami (my old roomie f/last year) there too! Then Tana and I had lunch w/Anne, and went back to my parents' house to ride the horses and get in the hot tub. We had dinner with Tana's husband and sister-in-law at IWU at Baldwin for their Thanksgiving meal! Yumm. Some other things I got to do: eat at Ivanhoe's and have breakfast w/my dad at Bob Evans (my fav!), meet my friend Drew at B-dubs for dinner, saw the movie Blind Side w/my dad, decorate my parents' house for Christmas, and more! It was a great week! Very tired and ready to get back to work and catch up on all the things I missed. One thing I definitely missed: warm weather. I love AL. 

-Lynne

30 Days of Thanksgiving

At the beginning of this month, I started a book and did a month-long devotional about thankfulness, and it has been an awesome experience to meditate on gratitude and thankfulness and all the blessings in my life. 

I don't want to just celebrate thanksgiving once a year, but every day for the rest of my life! The more I thank God, the less I focus on myself or get caught up in my own worries and challenges. Gratitude is one of the greatest attitudes to have, and I hope I can be grateful for the many blessings I have which I don't deserve! 

-Lynne

Kids are awesome. Wed., Nov. 18, 2009

I have so much fun with the kids I get to hang out with at church. They are awesome and I love them. I love seeing them make commitments to God, seeing them share the gospel with others and seeing their excitement and faith in their relationship with the Lord. 

Last night during our midweek service I was just walking around watching the kids and here are some things I saw: 1st graders praying for each other, 5th grade boys talking about sharing their faith with friends at school, several kids committing their lives to Christ during our altar call time, leaders talking and praying with their groups, 3rd grade girls looking up to their group leader and asking for advice, preschoolers remembering Bible stories because of a creative snack that brought the story to life for them, and much more! This is Kingdom stuff! There is NO better way to invest time than in things of eternal value. 

-Lynne

The Love of my Life!

Tyler and I have been through a lot of adventures in the 3 years that we have shared together. And I can't wait for all the new and exciting adventures we will get to experience in the future! We actually met at church 7 years ago and became friends for several years before we started dating. I have always admired and respected him, and I can't believe how lucky I am to get to be the woman that shares his life with him, has him call me just to tell me he loves me, to take care of and protect me, and to call my best friend. He is very talented and pretty much good at everything. I think he is the best looking man alive! He is very discerning and intelligent, a great listener, good at giving advice, and a loyal friend.

Through the years, some of our favorite memories have been horse camping, going to Canada to visit his family, officiating his sister's wedding, hiking in Canada, going to Niagra Falls, going to Calgary, Canada, riding the motorcycle, going to Georgia to pick up the motorcycle!, going on a ski trip to Wisconsin, going on a road trip to Colorado (and skiing in South Dakota and visiting friends there), going to Florida and the Bahamas, (we like to travel!), riding horses, cooking out, going to Chicago to visit a friend and to a Cubs game, going to Chicago and ice skating in an outdoor arena and getting Jamba Juice, Black Friday shopping, eating at Spicy Pickle, buying a house, (NOT remodeling that house!), buying a car together, spending time with our dogs, fondue, shopping, playing Skipbo, me BEATING Tyler at Skipbo, going to the horse auction, laughing together, and snuggling! Enjoy the pictures that document our journey!

-Anne

We bought a house! October 20 2008, 5 days before we got married!
Above, at the Bay of Fundi in Canada, below, Engagement Picture with Samson

(above hiking in Canada, below Niagra Falls)

(above, skiing in South Dakota, below at Jamba Juice!)

(above at a Cubs game in Chicago, below, well, obviously in Colorado!)



(above, in Canada, below getting engaged at the Fire Tower in Brown County)

-Anne