Life can be funny...ha, ha

Less than a year before I graduate from college. Most people who go to school as long as I have, have the title Dr. before their first name. I am in the student observation phase and will be student teaching in August. I am going to Hawaii, Germany, or Australia for a two week vacation. After eight years, I will definitely need some R&R.

So life can be funny...ha,ha. Some times God can intervene in your life when you least expect it. It happens when someone becomes content with their current situation in life. Our church lost its pastor two years ago... then we got a new one. It was a traumatic time for people in the church and some people left. There were different reasons why people left. Some did not want to get involved in all the drama, some were extremely heart broken by what happened, others did not feel compelled to stay,etc... But God can do all things through our lives. Shaune and I had planned on staying at Crossroads long until we were good and dead. God had other plans for us though. Shaune best friend Bryce Eubanks got married in a small church which has about 58 members. That is a SMALL church! Shaune and I met the pastor and decided to visit based upon an invitation to come to church with the Eubanks clan. All this happen in May... and Shaune and I have not been back to Crossroads yet. At first, I had some problems with the small church, I was not used to it and the music is mostly Hymns. For some strange reason, we feel drawn to the little church. No one noticed that we had left Crossroad and had not gone to church in a while. It was around VBS time when people started realizing they did not see me around the church. People started calling Shaune and I and the first thing people asked was did we join another church. The answer was always no, and people started to tell us that we had to come back. We had people upset at us and call us heathens because they thought we had deserted our church.

“I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)”

God did exactly that with Shaune and I. We knew God wanted us to stay at this small church. Many of the members are just learning to read the bible within the last 5 years. Many of them have never understood the true word of God. At first I was afraid and wanted to go back to Crossroads...but now I am not so afraid anymore. God has made it clear that he has a plan to use Shaune I here. Shaune had been leading Wed. night bible study for a small groups of 10-12 people who regularly come. He has been asked to teach Sunday school as well. Shaune always knew he wanted to teach, but he thought he would do it in his later 40s. I helped out at there VBS over the summer. Its a big change going from a program of 900 kids down to 25. :) W have been praying for guidance for a while and we finally got it about a week ago. It is painful, but yet exciting. Shanda and I are going to become members at our new church and help it grow. People have been hinting for me to become the Director of Children's ministries there. We had a board meeting today where the church elected members to the board. When they got to the Director of CE, our speaker said the position was open and they have been praying for someone to take the spot. On a side note, I hate it when people talk about you in front of you! It is embarrassing, especially when people are taking about the good things you have done and will do in the future. I hate it when people do that. The body was whispering my name. Every table had my name on their lips, talking amongst themselves saying that I was talented and I should be the one to do it. Something only Shaune, Pastor Bruce and his wife Robyn know, is that I felt called to do it the first moment that I stepped inside the church doors. It was something I had been praying about and had only told those people because it was near and dear to my heart. Well, one thing, lead to another, and God made his presence know and laid His hands on me, and you are looking at the soon to be member of the FMCC church, as well as the soon to be Elder of Christian Education. ( I don't like this title for several reasons. 1st and foremost I think I am too young to be an elder in a church. I feel I need to be an older wiser woman. I prefer to call it Director of Children's Ministries instead. I gets to the point quicker, and tells what I do. So this is God's plan. Lord, I sure hope you know what you are doing. I feel so young, even though I am 26 years old.

God has a plan... I am quitting work. This school homework load does not fit in with my work schedule, so we had decided to have me concentrate on homework here at the house. Isn't it funny that after we decide this, the CE thing become more clearer? Now I have more time to write curriculum for the summer and next year. I will be setting up the ENTIRE program from scratch. Toddler, youth, middle and high school groups. God give me strength and do your work through me. Thank you for chosing me to be the vessel for this. More to come later, have to wake up in 4 hours formy 12 hour work day. Will leave work sometime half way through February. Right now I am pulling 12 hour days workingand going to school at Camey elementary school in the Colony and taking 12 hours at UNT. 2 on Monday 2 on Tuesday. Needless to say,I am excited to have more time to write in my blog in a couple of weeks.

Oh, and P.S. I will still be doing bible studies at CBC to ensure my spiritual growth and knowledge. More to come later...