While I'm Waiting...

This week has been an extremely crazy one! We have had some extraordinary guest speakers come in to talk to us throughout the week. Friday was Dr. Dobson's last day at FOTF so all the employees gathered for a special service to honor him. It was unreal to see how many people He has impacted over the past 33 years. At one point, they presented to Him the 30,000+ pieces of mail that have come in over the past month. It was so neat to get to be a part of such a historical time... except it lasted 3 hours.

Dr. Dobson speaking for the last time.


Mrs. Dobson

Then on Saturday, we were part of the live audience for the 2nd annual Focus on Marriage Simulcast. Despite the fact that I am not married, and its not looking like marriage is anywhere in my future for now, it was extremely good. The speakers included Francis Chan, Gary Chapman, and Kirk and Chelsea Cameron, just to name a few. John Waller also led worship. It was a super day... even though we had to be at Focus at 6 am, dressed professionally.

The common theme of the week seems to have been that it is absolutely possible, though not easy by any stretch of the imagination, to live out your faith in or crazy, secular society. Some of you, especially those in the business world may remember a few years ago when the CEO of Tyco International, Dennis Kozlowski, stole hundreds of millions of dollars from the company. Prior to Tuesday, we were all given information about a person who played a role in this case, and were asked to memorize the information and "be" that person. Then, on Tuesday, Eric Pillmore, one of the guys who came in and helped straighten out the mess Kozlowski had made, came in and helped us to reinact the whole case. Afterwards, he talked to us about what it was like for him, as a Christian in a position of power, to be in a place where there was still a lot of scandal and wrongdoing going on. I really enjoyed this experience and feel like I learned so much from Mr. Pillmore about how difficult it really is to be a person of integrity in the midst of so much evil.

On Thursday, we got to hear from and interact with special guest, Tim Goeglein, who served as Special Assistant to President Bush and Deputy Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison from 2001 t0 2008, when he resigned after getting caught in the act of plagiarism. It was amazing to hear his story of how he got caught up in the ways of the world, later realized how his poor decisions had affected his colleagues and essentially, the whole country, and how he was able to learn from those mistakes, ask for forgiveness, and by the grace of God, start over. He is now the VP of External Affairs for FOTF in Washington DC. I found it scary to hear how easily one can get caught up in such actions that we all know are blatantly wrong. Even scarier is that I know that it could just as easily happen to me as it could to anyone else.

During the simulcast on Saturday while Francis Chan was speaking, I really started thinking about what it looks like for me to be a Christian entering a secular workplace, especially a public school where there seems to be even more restrictions put on sharing your faith than in other parts of the secular workplace. Then I had a revelation. This revelation was something I have thought about before, but quickly dismissed as not that important. Yes, the simulcast was about marriage, but while Chan was speaking, he posed this question: Why do we think we can just study the WORD and not actually put it into action? After that, I dont remember the whole thought process that actually took place, but Chan continued to talk on this subject giving the example of Matthew 28:19-20 when Jesus tells us to go and make disciples. God does not necessarily care whether we have that verse memorized, he would much rather us GO and DO IT! For some reason, so many of us think that having a verse memorized is good enough. Well, it's not! I started thinking: I have always been so excited about being a teacher and being able to educate students and have an impact on their lives. That's great. That's what teachers are supposed to do. But then... here's the revelation: Being called, as a Christian, into the profession of education is about SO MUCH MORE than just the students. Thinking that it is, I feel, may not be allowing God to use me at my full potential where He has placed me. So I posed this question to myself: What if God has placed me (or any other Christian teacher, for that matter) in the school not only for my students, but also to reach out to my colleagues, to bathe them in prayer, and to make disciples of them? I feel that's exactly what He has done. That's a lot to swallow. Now I am trying to figure out exactly what that might look like.

Interesting statistic: Several time this semester, Dr. Leland has shared with us the statistic that the average person will change careers at least 5 times during their life. Not just jobs, but CAREERS. Wow. So maybe I'll be teacher for the next 35 years. Maybe not. Its probably not worth my time to worry about that though. I can't plan what God wants me to do, so... in the words of Dr. Del Tackett... Dont try and dont worry about!

On Saturday John Waller played his now famous song, "While I'm Waiting". It talks about the process of waiting on God as you journey through life and being obedient to his call even in the uncertainties of life. What a beautiful song and a beautiful message for us all to hear as we strive to seek His will in all that we do: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bb7TSGptd3Y

Before I go (sorry for the super long post!), I just want to share with you all that I absolutely LOVE the church I have found to be a part of while I am here, Calvary Worship Center. The diverse make-up of the population is a huge draw for me, as it is, to me, a perfect picture of what worship in Heaven will be like, worshipping among believers of all ethnicities and races. The pastor is great too! You can go online and listen to some of his sermons at http://www.cwccs.org/ . I especially reccommend the sermon from today, which was about "being about the Father's business", taken from the text in Luke when Jesus is found in the temple among other teachers after getting separated from His parents on their trip to the Passover feast.

And... because I am so ahead on my reading, I have to have something to do while everyone else is doing theirs. Ha. So I have taken up painting. Here's my first one:


So.... there you have it!

Keep praying that I would continue to allow God to :teach me to be bold in my faith, keep my mind open and constantly soaking in all that I am learning, transform me into the woman of God He wants me to be!

Til next time... Grace and Peace!