Monday, October 16, 2006

Another Baby?

No, don't worry, not another baby. Just read this funny story.

I am amazed at what things stick in my son's head. He's three, at what age did he start having such a long term memory?
The other day, we were driving past a store that is very near our house. We drive by it all the time. It's a Farm and Fleet that sells all kinds of odds and ends things. Last year, around the time that we had Alissa and my mom was here with us, she bought a wagon for the kids. The Farm and Fleet was one place that she looked for the wagon (to no avail). At that time, rather than getting Andrew and Anna and a very pregnant me out of the car to go into the store, we let grandma go in and look quickly by herself. This must have been significant to Andrew cause as we drove by the Farm and Fleet on this particular day only a couple days ago, Andrew said "Mommy, is Grandma going to get us a wagon?" Quickly making the connection I said, "Well, no, but Grandma did buy us a wagon didn't she?" "Yeah" Andrew said, "But she went in by herself. I didn't go with her." Wow, I thought, that's some memory.

The very next day, we had to run an errand at the hospital where I work. Having been there with me before, Andrew said, "Are we going to mommy's work?" I told him we were. Then, his memory not only amazed me again, but this time really made me laugh. He said, "Are we going to go have another baby?" Oh, man! The connection he made was not to my work this time, but to having babies at the same hosptial. I guess when you have two sisters in two years, both delivered at the same hospital, one might start to think that 's just what we do. Of course, I told him no, no more babies. He then asked, "Are we going to check your heart?" The reference this time I am guessing, was to the number of prenatal appointments he had been with me for where we would hear the babies heart beat.

So funny and sooooo cute! It's moments like these I hope I never forget!

In Threes

I can remember learning that there are numbers that are thought to be "holy." Three and seven are two that I remember specifically. I haven't had time to go back and research these numbers as they pertain to their holiness, but you can bet that I will. Especially in light of the recent things that God has been showing me in my life. I know that not everyone, even Christ followers, can say that they "hear" God. I know this because I've been a Christ follower for 17 years and I have not always "heard" God, but this time in my life stands alone. I hear God speaking to me and it's come in the form of three separate incidences all with the same message.

This is such a big deal to me, so big in fact that its almost easier to try to minimize it. I can honestly say that I've never received anything like this, in the spiritual sense. I've shared this with a few other people, but I believe its bigger than I'm able to communicate. I know that people are interested in sharing this part of my life, but there's something about it that perhaps God desires to stay between Him and me because I have not the words to express how much of an impact this is truly having on my life. Being that I'm the type of person who is expressive and likes for people to understand me with the magnitude and heart with which I speak, this idea of keeping something back is a little hard for me. Interestingly, I also believe that part of what God is teaching me is the next level of humility for me. The way that this is manifesting at least for now is that I am not able to force someone to fully "get it." The huge-ness of this, that is!

I know it has the tendency to sound like I've gone off the deep end and stepped into the bizaare part of spirituality, but know my heart on this. At some level, I'm scared and fearful of what this is that God has for me, but what I'm learning is that perhaps the "deep end" is where I'm being called. And I believe that the "deep end" is different for everyone. Which finally leads me to the tip of the iceberg that is the way that God has been speaking to me.

As I've shared in another post, I am doing a Beth Moore Bible Study called "Beloved Disciple." In this we are studying the life of the disciple John. In the first 5 weeks of this study (where we are currently) God has caused one main point to jump out at me over and over multiple times each week as I do my homework and then when I hear the message presented by Beth. That point is about "The great adventure." In a nutshell, when Jesus called his first 4 disciples, Andrew, Peter, James and John and asked them to "follow me" the 4 layed down their nets (representing the lives that were normal and ordinary) and they followed Jesus. This was the beginning of their "great adventure."
This is the first of the three.

At our celebration service this weekend, God once again used the lives of these 4 disciples to drive home this idea of the great adventure. The message was really about how Jesus never called us to be "Christians." The word Christian is not found in the Bible. It's about being a Christ follower. That's what Andrew, Peter, James and John were-- Christ followers. The same message was delivered in the context of this message, it's a "great adventure."
That's number 2.

As Christ followers we participate, and Eric helps lead, a small group that we hang out with weekly and share our lives with. For our next study we've agreed to study the Gospel of John. You might be thinking, "how can this be number 3, you could have decided to this study out of intrigue due to these other things." But no, we agreed to do this study long before I had any of these other revelations. So, this, I call number 3. I am certain that God will once again show me some reference to the "great adventure" as I begin studying this book.

Okay, so now that you know just the tip of what God has been saying to me, you might be wondering what it all means. Ahh, I ask myself the same question. The truth is that I don't know yet. I have some ideas of what God might be getting at with me, but until I have searched my heart and know that my ideas are not from selfish ambition, I will keep them to myself. What I do know is that God is calling me to something different, something great, probably something out of my comfort zone. I understand that anyone who's ever done something great has had to step out. What's my next step?