Busy is our banner...

Earlier this week, I got an email that asked "what if Jesus had been in such a hurry that he walked past the woman at the well and said, “How are you?” then just walked right on by?"

And then this morning reading this is my bible study I came across this.... "I think of how Jesus lived. I've heard many a sermon on what a busy man Jesus must have been. I'm not so sure about that. He had demands pressing on Him from every direction, but he wasn't busy in the same way we are. He wasn't running from meeting to meeting or from practice to practice. He very well might have spent many nights sitting with a group of friends over dinner, lingering for hours and hours, just talking about life. By today's standards, that might even be called lazy and self indulgent. But what mattered to Jesus was PEOPLE- listening to them, loving them, and helping them. He was busy with the slow work of taking time to care for people. He was never too busy too stop and help someone. I want to be like that. But in my dreadfully busy life, I hear myself singing along with that Veggie Tales song from the story of the Good Samaritan: Busy, busy, dreadfully busy.... Much much too busy for you"

It made me think of my little brother, Aaron. He annoys the crap out of me because he refuses to live on anyone else's time table or schedule and he's hours late to almost everything. But he always has time to love on and listen to people. I admire the way he always make time to love the people in his life and is willing to set aside his own schedule to step inside other people's life!

This week I have been "dreadfully busy" and distracted by things from people. Last night me and the kids (not Drew) played hookie from some other responsibilities we had... we went to library, borrowed a radio Disney CD, and then had an impromptu dance party (really I walked in on Jimso dancing and then Ashlyn and I joined him and got our silly on). It was the most fun I have had in months! Putting aside running from meeting to meeting or thing to thing and just enjoying the precious people in my life is something I need to do more. And by the way, dancing to the Macerena, Kung Fu Fighting, and the Cha Cha slide is a pretty good aerobic workout too!

There is a quote from Spurgeon that I love... "A good character is the best tombstone. Carve your name on hearts <3 not marble."

Sometimes we just need to slow down and take time for what matters most in life.... PEOPLE!

CHCC YOUTH- Sunday school electives....

TONIGHT we will have sign up's for our new fall Sunday school electives!!! We are going to limit the class size to 12 students per class. If the class you want is full this time around, don't worry you can catch it next time (we will be rotating through several times). Here are your choices (drum roll please)....

1. Be Transformed~Taught by Dusty Crabtree and Dondi Rodgers

In the "Be Transformed" series, we will be exploring common beliefs we have, whether we realize them or not, about our salvation, God, and ourselves and how those beliefs affect us. We will work at replacing the lies we've believed with God's truth, which is truly a freeing experience! The last few lessons also deal with letting the Spirit live through you and helping you control your emotions. I'm excited to be able to share these life-"transforming" lessons with you

2. Road Trip~ Taught by Belinda Lechtenberg and Rob Sisk

How much time do you spend each day thinking about yourself and what you need/want? How much of your life is focused on you? Well Road Trip is your chance to get out of the box and serve other people. Each week we will take a road trip to a new destination and do something entirely for someone else... what kind of road trips well..... it could be pulling weeds, serving communion, washing windows, rocking babies, singing...... you name it we can do it!!! This class is for the brave adventurous types!!

3. Hope Lives~ Taught by Tiffanie Lenhart and Christy Ausley

Jesus said the poor would be with us always. But he never mentioned ignoring them. POVERTY. The sheer size of the problem pins overwhelmed Christians to their couches. What can we do? Where should we start? And is the occasional short term mission trip enough? This 5 week series will show you God's heart for the poor, prompt you to examine your own heart, and hopefully move you to respond. This is a video and discussion based study that has an optional daily devotional for purchase for those wanting to go EVEN deeper into God's heart and God's word. By the end of the study, you will DISCOVER what keeps you from engaging in global issues, EXPLORE what scripture really says about the poor, UNDERSTAND the true nature of poverty, DRAW CLOSE to the poor through prayer, and RESPOND to God's voice as he speaks to you about poverty.

4. God is Here~ Taught by Jake Lenhart and Tristan Swang

What if your God connection was always on? You know that perfect feeling? That life is good moment on the open highway with the windows down and the radio up, when the perfect song comes on and you sing along with the carefree, top of your lungs abandon? When you and contentment and life well up from somewhere deep in your soul? What if you could live that way? A 17-century monk named Brother Lawrence figured out how, and wrote about it in the devotional classic, The Practice of the Presence of God. He found a way to connect with God moment by moment, to experience the joy of His divine presence every minute of every day-whether during deep, contemplative prayer or while washing a sink full of dishes. In this class we will unearths that 17th century wisdom and remixes it into a 21st century guide to everyday life. We will explore how to take Brother Lawrence's original writings, and apply it to your life today and show you how to connect with a God who's always available.

LENHART FAMILY CREED

One of the things that we learned in our foster care parenting classes is the importance of establishing structure and a concrete set of rules for our family.... that way when new children come into our home, they have a set of clear expectations to refer to. At first I thought it was kind of dumb (especially since we will be doing infants) but the idea has really grown on me. Everyone needs and craves rules and boundaries in life. Josh Mayo wrote a really good book about growing up as a youth minister's family called "Help! I'm Raising My Kids While Doing Ministry" and in that he too suggested establishing a family creed.

A few nights ago, Jake and I were watching Glen Beck interview Rev Run (from Run DMC and Run's House) and although he presented a lot of ideas I do not agree with.... he also suggested that you run your family much like you would run a business (with family meetings, family manuals with policies and procedures). So after stewing on it a bit, we came up with a Lenhart family creed (more like goals for our family and the kind of atmosphere/ culture we would like to see in our home and less like "rules" set in stone). So here is what we have come up with so far....

Lenhart Family Creed/
Rules for Family Life


1.Choices in life are everything! Every choice has a natural consequence (good or bad). Parents are here to guide you and empower you to make healthy choices that will lead you into becoming a responsible adult. We choose our destiny. Choose joy. No person or circumstance has the power to impact your happiness without your permission to do so.

2.Daily time with the Lord (although sometimes unfeeling or routine) is the cornerstone of your spiritual walk and the “oxygen” of life. We must fight and protect each other’s quiet time and spiritual wellness. We must go to battle for each other in prayer daily and remember that we have an enemy who would like to devour us (especially by attacking the family unit).

3.LOVE IS SPOKEN HERE! Ephesians 4:29 guides our daily conversations. We only speak words that build each other up and encourage each other. Our home is a refuge and a safe place for each other and others.

4.In regards to all media influences (music, TV, movies, books, etc), Psalm 101:3 is the standard, “I will set before my eyes, NO vile thing.”

5.All relationships require grace; therefore grace (unmerited favor) will be given freely and DAILY.

6.Because we are painfully aware of our shortcomings and weaknesses, we need to embrace correction (constructive criticism) and the art of apologies. Every proper apology consists of three components: admitting the wrong, asking for forgiveness, and then asking what I can do to make the situation better.

7.No member of this precious family is here by accident. God has hand created this family together for greater purposes and greater things. Though friends come and go, family is FOREVER! We remain deeply committed to each other. The Lenhart family is your God given anchor in life and your “cheering squad” that is always in your corner in life’s battles.

8.In a world of self centeredness, we choose to “throw the one starfish back in.” Our daily prayer is to be “Jesus with skin on” to those around us. Knowing that treasures of this world are temporary and could be gone tomorrow; we choose to invest in people rather than things. We are very blessed and according to Luke 12:48, “he who has been given much, much will be required”. We have a responsibility to care for the people and things God has loaned us or entrusted us with.

9.Priorities determine all decisions (whether big or small). God first, family second, work/ school/ friends third.

10. Finally, we are not our own, we were bought at a price and must remember “he is no fool who gives what he can not keep to gain what he can not lose."

If Momma aint happy...

The last few days I have been evaluating my parenting skills and falling short of my own standards. It kind of started on Saturday when I was trying to overcome a case of guilt because on that day I missed not one but two of Jimso’s soccer games (which then lead me to realize that although he has been playing soccer for 4 weeks, I have attended 0 , count them, 0 games). All week long, I found myself having to be in two places at one time and since cloning myself is not scientifically possible (yet), I came to realize some things are going to have to change before I lose my sanity and /or my children end up in a lifetime of therapy due to my poor parenting skills, poor time management skills, and my inability to say “no” when I need to. Here’s a sample of parenting report card lately…

• I lose my temper because my youngest son has taken 45 minutes to brush his teeth in morning and thrown a severe loop in our tight morning schedule = Bad Mom

• My daughter and oldest son actually want to spend time hanging out with me in the evening= Good Mom, but I have too much to do and don’t make it in there until its already past bedtime= Bad Mom

• I send lunch money (BEFORE I start getting ugly notes about the negative balance) and fill out the field trip permission slip on the first day it comes home (which I have graciously volunteered to help with)= Good Mom

• I am 20 minutes late to my son’s football game, sit and cheer obnoxiously on the opposing team’s side of the bleachers, and embarrassingly insist on waving at him until he realizes we are in fact there = Bad Mom

• Because of a schedule that is completely unmanageable, I have yet to have one meaningful conversation with their Dad all week long = Bad Mom

• My baby reminds me that he loves me to the “moon and back” as I tuck him into bed= Good Mom

Whether it is my own perfectionist standards that I am failing to meet or that annoying little Proverbs 31 woman that seems to be reminding me over and over how short I am falling, I don’t know but I do know that this particular season we are in is teaching me to slow down or else. Sometimes saying “no” to one thing means being able to say “yes” to something else that matters most (which usually mean my precious family). Proverbs 31:28 says, “Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:” I learned this weekend at DIVA day, that the word for blessed in that verse means is “Asher” and means “happy”. If you asked my children or husband to describe me in the last few days, I am pretty sure “happy” would not be on the list. But when they are grown up and look back on their childhood and the woman that raised them, I hope that they would describe me as “happy.” Not tired, not worried, not stressed, not organized, not clean, not really busy…. Just happy. I want them to be able to say “my mom was really really happy”. Cuz we all know, “if Momma aint happy, aint no one happy”

my dirty flip flop feet

I hate getting dirty! And having dirty feet drives me insane! As much as I love flip flops and camp, the two do not go together well. But I think lately God has been calling me to get dirty in Jesus’ name. And today He confirmed that call to dirty feet. I was at a women’s bible study this morning and a lady came in late… I really don’t know how to describe her other than to say that she wasn’t the typical “church lady”. It was easy to tell that she had experienced a tough life and in need of some help. She apologized for being late and then explained she had to walk over a mile to get to church and just underestimated how long it would take. She shared how she was out of work, out of money, and just trying to get by. As I sat there, I wondered if the shoe was on the other foot, would I be willing to walk over a mile in the brutal Oklahoma summer heat for a ladies bible study? Sadly I don’t think I would. As she was leaving, I chased her down to give her my number so that next time, I could give her a ride. In my efforts to catch her before she left, I ran through a mud puddle in the parking lot. I am proud to say my pretty pink flip flops are now a bit brown and dirty. But I also made a new friend who will be coming with me to church tomorrow morning!


Somehow over the years, I have molded our awesome God into a more comfortable god. Living in obedience for Him is not supposed to be comfortable at all. It is going to require me to get out of my comfort zone and break a sweat moving mountains. I am going to have to be willing to get dirty and befriend people who are a lot different than I am. We should all be able to say confidently that we are willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES to reach the lost and hurting people in our world. Our God has a sense of humor and so lately He has been calling me to get my flip flop wearing feet dirty.


It reminds me of the story in Mark 2:1-12, in which four friends were so desperate to introduce their friend to Jesus that they broke through a roof and lowered him down into the room that Jesus was preaching. I once heard this story taught and the teacher said that the roofs in that time were made with manure. So these friends were sooo determined to help bring their friend to Jesus that they were willing to literally go through some crap to bring him there. They were WAY more dirty than I am comfortable getting. When we were cleaning apartments on our mission trip in Nashville, I remember cleaning one bathroom and looking down at my shoes and realizing that I was standing in S*** or fecal matter. Jake and his crew experienced something similar in their apartment when the tenant they were serving told them that he had been sick and unable to ambulate to the restroom so they had to clean the “buckets” to he had been using to dispose of his waste. But as much as I hate being dirty, I have come to realize that it’s totally worth it (and usually temporary because God made us all washable)! God has been opening my eyes to so many opportunities to serve Him and even though these things might require me to move out of my comfort zone and get a bit dirty, I have never felt more clean and pure!



Give Me Your Eyes~ Brandon Heath
Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight
Touched down on the cold black tile
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breath in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
Chorus:
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Wasn’t it far beyond my reach?
Give me your heart for the once forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see
again

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what’s underneath
There’s a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
To ashamed to tell his wife
He’s out of work
He’s buying time
Are those people going somewhere?
Why have I never cared?
Chorus
I’ve Been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just moving past me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong
Well I want a second glance
So give me a second chance
To see the way you see the people all alone

my big fat Greek heart <3

“Weak willed woman or Greek Goddess?”

This weekend, I went to a woman’s conference that one of my favorite authors, Angela Thomas, spoke at. We had an extra ticket and all week long I was kind of stressed about what to do with it. I knew God wanted it to be used by a person who needed encouraged but I had no idea who. Needless to say, about ten minutes before it was time to leave, the ticket fell into the hands of one my precious friends who really needed some extra encouragement this week. I just LOVE how God orchestrates even the little details of our life like that!! All weekend, Angela spoke so many amazing truths over us but after the last session I have been asking myself over and over “am I living like a weak willed woman or a Greek Goddess?”

The session was centered on these verses in 2 Timothy 3:1-7…. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.”

Lately it seems like God has put a lot of people in my life like those people described in the first few verses. People that love themselves and money, who are proud, unforgiving, and slanderous, lovers of the pleasures of this world, and who have a form of godliness but deny its power. I know how to spot these broken people because I lived like one for a long time. It says that people who live like this have no power (and I think that they love those things in efforts to try to compensate for their lack of power and the helpless less they feel in life). But there the part that shocks me is that Paul says to Timothy “HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THEM!” I don’t know that just seems a little extreme to me. Shouldn’t we love them and be a part of their lives so we can help restore them from their brokenness? But in then on the other hand, I know how discouraging it can feel to be friends and love people who are loaded down and feeling helpless like that.

The weak willed woman opens the door and invites people like that into her life. Last night I was talking to a former student of ours who is going into full time ministry and Satan is just trying to wreck havoc in that person’s life. I told him that as someone going into ministry, he now has a huge target on his back and to expect one attack after another to come at times. Satan is sooo familiar with our weakness, he loves it attack those vulnerable parts of our life. The weak willed woman has many of those areas in her life. We ALL have different weakness, but Satan plan is the same regardless of where our weakness lies. His plan is always to do whatever he can to distract us and pull us away from the call God has placed in our lives.

So Angela gave us a list of characteristics of weak willed women and I have been trying to evaluate how many of those would describe me at times…..

She can be consumed by fear. Are my fears bigger than my faith?

She can be self absorbed at times. If I think more about myself and my circumstances than God… I am self worshiping.

She can care too much about what others think of her.

She can walk around downcast and beaten down or the other extreme and be very loud, out spoken, and brash. Usually the woman who put on the front of being loud and the demanding to be the center of attention are doing that in efforts to hide her weakness.

She can have no personal ambition and plenty of suggestions for what other people should do with their lives.

She can be unsure of God’s love for her or she knows it but doesn’t live like it.

She can have an empty soul and live in perpetual disappointment because no one can seem to fill her empty cup.

She can hold a grudge and bitterness for years.

She can play with gossips but as a church lady under the umbrella of prayer requests.

She can secretly indulge in her obsessions (shopping, TV, internet)

She can be easily hurt or offended.

She can be spiritually knowledgeable but lost inside.

She can have a critically negative spirit. She finds the cup of life to always be have empty and can point out flaws in everything!

She is unable to distinguish between the accuser’s voice and God’s voice.


But we have a choice before us…. to live life as weak willed women who are empty and helpless or as a Greek goddess. The challenge is to live like Greek goddess not like those in ancient Greece but like the characters who starred in the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. The movie is centered on Toula (Fotoula), a Greek-American woman, who falls in love with a non-Greek American. Toula’s big Greek family is the center of her life. Throughout the movie, homely Toula is transformed by the love of her new man and by the fact he calls her beautiful. Eventually Toula finally begins to live like she believes it. The Greek family at the center of the movie loves those God has placed in their life with so much passion and with their entire beings. They love and live like God has called us to do… with our WHOLE hearts.

I want to be that kind of woman. One who loves until it hurts and then loves some more. One who is free to love with a heart that is completely whole all because I was courted by a very determined carpenter from Nazareth. One who has confidence in herself because she knows that there is one man who is completely crazy about her, call her beautiful, and adores her in a way that enables her to love others without fear.

So get up and dance you weak willed woman… OMPA!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkRItrcGjvA

SLOW FADE

“Lessons from a modern day smurf...”

So last night Ashlyn woke up in the middle of the night with a funky stomach thing going on. Once we got her settled back in bed, I was wide awake (trying to keep my own dinner down) and the early morning television selections were pretty bleak. So I began watching a news piece about the blue man. The story has been on the news a lot but basically this guy named Paul Karason started to self medicate using a treatment called colloidal silver, which is made by extracting silver from metal. After years of injecting it and rubbing it on his skin, he has permanently turned BLUE!! But the part of the story that is absolutely mind blowing is that he claims he didn’t even notice the change!!! He said “the change was so gradual that I didn't perceive it and other people around me likewise. It wasn't until a friend I hadn't seen in several months came by to see me and he asked me 'what did you do?”. So I as watched stunned, I’m thinking “dude, are you BLIND? you are completely as blue as a smurf! How could you not notice? Do you own a mirror? And how could those closest to you not notice either?!”

But spiritually we can backslide so easily, I have been there myself. We can make small gradual changes here and there until the person looking at us in the mirror is not even the same person we were just a few months ago. I have seen it happen too many times. Recently I have watch helplessly as friends who once loved the Lord with all their hearts changed right before my eyes into someone I don’t EVEN recognize anymore!

When I am backsliding, I pray that I have real friends who love me enough to tell what I NEED to hear verses just telling me what I WANT to hear. I want to have friends who look me straight in the eyes and say “Tiff! What did you do? You are blue as a smurf!” Friends who love me enough to open my eyes to the gradual changes that are turning me into someone I don’t wanna be.

I went to a Casting Crowns concert last year and I love their new CD. On it is a song called “Slow Fade.” It is about how “little” sin in our life can take us on a slow fade away from God. With each step away from God, the Holy Spirit’s voice in our head and tug at our heart gets quieter and quieter, until eventually we don’t hear it at all anymore. Each and every little compromise we make in our faith is one step closer to collapse. Fortunately, we have a merciful and loving God who is always faithful to welcome us back into the arms of grace.


"Slow Fade" by Casting Crowns
Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade
Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking
It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to gray
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day
Oh be careful little eyes what see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

“So, if you think you are standing firm, BE CAREFUL that you don't fall!” ~ 1 Corinthians 10:12

“BE CAREFUL then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.” ~ Hebrews 3:12, 13