It's hard to fathom that I could be just finishing vacation, but my mind is still spinning! I have not experienced a busy summer like this one before, let me tell you!
Our trip to Eagle Lake was great!! We enjoyed beautiful weather, in the 90's most days, and lots of fun on the water. Auntie Jane, the power Aunt, was with us, so of course we all had a blast. Wes and Melinda McNeil visited for a day with their adorable kiddos as well. We had the party boat out on the lake usually twice a day, swam LOTS, picnicked in the middle of the lake, kayaked, fished, and put on skits by the bonfire one night. It was a blast!
Just prior to our Eagle Lake trip, my sister Sara and her family came for a visit from Manitoba. It was very hot, so we swam both days in friends' pools. We had a great time with neice, Emma, and nephew, Heath. It's very hard to live so far from family that you only see them once each year! :( But we try to make the most of our yearly visits. I love those kids to pieces.
Click here to see photos.
And now, we are gearing up for what promises to be the busiest but most exciting year yet. This is our family's first year with all 3 kids in school! Aaaaaaaagggggggghhhhhhhhh! Now that I've written it, it seems much more official! Grace begins Pre-K this Fall! Though it's only half-days, it will still be quite an adjustment for us to have her gone 5 days a week! She's excited, we're NOT! But she's definitely ready, and we think it will be great for her.
I'm adding on several new Music Classes this year under our W.A.M. (Worship Arts Mentoring) Program that we launched last winter. There's an incredible lack of good music theory and appreciation teaching here in our community, so I am adding several classes, from toddlerhood right on up to adulthood, for people to take as supplement to their private instrument lessons.
But, the most exciting change for us is the new focus we are adding to our responsibilities at the church. Scott and I are thrilled to be taking on the Senior High Youth, in addition to the Worship Arts. We have felt the Lord calling us toward Youth for quite some time (Scott for years, me for over a year), but couldn't fathom how that would ever come about, at least here. We already had a youth Pastor, and Scott already has his hands more than full with the Worship Arts Dept. More than a year ago, Scott had shared about his growing desire to minister to youth with our Sr. Pastor, but neither of them could understand what the Lord might do with that.
Over the last three years, as we have begun to mature the Worship Arts Dept., we have been raising up lay-leaders within it, so that early this summer we finally felt it had gotten to a place of semi-self-sufficiency, were Scott ever to take a small step back. Little did we know that, at the same time, the Lord was stirring the heart of our Youth Pastor to leave to take a position as a Senior Pastor.
When we heard that our Youth Pastor was leaving, our hearts leapt and together, privately, we very excitedly wondered if the Lord was opening up this opportunity for us. However, we knew we needed to rely on the Lord, and not make any effort to cause it to happen, because we did not want to manipulate circumstances to satisfy ourselves. So we just waited. And prayed.
We had a very stressful season of waiting, because we really felt called to these teens, but it seemed as though this opportunity was not going to be for us after all. We prayed a lot, cried a lot, and cried out to the Lord a lot for clarity. (These are the times when it's really hard to be a Pastor's family, because you just can't share this stuff with anyone!) We prayed that if the Lord wasn't going to give us the Youth Ministry now, that He would help our hearts to be OK with that.
Anyway, the Lord was faithful to provide clarity. When the circumstances seemed impossible and we just couldn't see why the Lord would give us a burden for these particular teens if He didn't mean to call us to shepherd them, all of a sudden the Lord gave them to us. Praise Him! We saw Him move when we simply waited, and when we didn't just trust circumstances that "seemed" to look a certain way. He is so much bigger than our circumstances...we have to trust that.
And so, the busiest and most exciting year yet lays ahead of us, God willing. We are so much looking forward to investing in the lives of the teens in our church. We have a small core group whose love for the Lord is solid, and whose hearts are burdened for their friends. What greater way to start is there than that?
Pray for us!
7 comments:
cool. glad you get to do the youth thing.
Hi Elizabeth,
Where is your sister from in Manitoba? (My brother and his family live at Providence College, which is in Otterburne, near Steinbach and about an hour from Winnipeg.)
I love when God opens doors for people after stirring in their hearts a desire for such a door to open. Grace in your new ministry!
my daughter starts school this sept and i'm a mess. To think of it really upsets me. I'm scared to let her into the world. I am scared to let her play on the playground with lots of friends and no adult eyes focused on her at all times. I'm scared of her being bullied or etc...i am a mess. I know to leave it in God's hands but he doesn't prevent everything and that scares me :*( any words to a terrified mom?
Aaron...my sister and her family are in Winnipeg. They've been out there about 5 years or so. Thanks for the encouragement about the youth ministry...we're super excited!
Roni...I hear you! With all of my kids, I keep reminding them and myself that they are being salt and light in their little community. As we surround them with Christ in our home and cover them in prayer, speaking to them of the Lord at all times, then they, even at these tender ages, will shine brightly in the darkness of the world. Pray for the kids in her class and for their families; pray for her teachers; pray for revival to be sparked by Christ making Himself knoiwn through our little ones. (And don't beat yourself up for being nervous...you love her to death and you've spent every moment with her up til now...it's understandable! And OK!)
Elizabeth,
Have you blogged about your music WAM program before. I'd really like to know more about it. I'm starting to do more little kids music classes at the store, and feel a bit over my head right now.
I can't believe how big Grace is! I remember when all your kids were babies. It makes me feel a bit old.
I'm so glad that you are able to expand your ministry. I can't imagine your and Scott doing anything other than a great job.
Scott & Elizabeth,
Welcome to the family of youth pastors/wives! What an exciting journey for you; I loved reading about it. You both are going to be so influential in the lives of every young person that comes into your home and crosses your hearts...just like you were at Bethany. Your warmth and sincerity is something that so many teens are needing these days. Blessings on your new ministry! I look forward to reading about the ways the Lord uses you in this new field.
Congrats on the exciting new time in your lives. I have no doubt that God will use you as you walk in obedience to Him.
On another note - I would tend to disagree with the stigma that pastor's can not talk about "these kinds of things". I am at the point where I feel that this "bottling up" of these tpyes of things is what can prevent real, honest, and open relationships between pastors and others.
In fact, talking about "these things" could prove to be helpful in clarifying the way God is working and moving in the lives of others involved - especially when God moving in a particular situation is interpreted differently by those involved.
I have seen pastors separate themselves in situations and feel that it is impossible to let on that they are struggling, hurt, wrestling with an issue, or that they are feeling a certain way. At this point - I just can not see how God would call pastors to live and struggle emotionally and realtionally isolated from those around them.
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