Quarry Intern Graduation

I always get excited this time of year when it comes time to graduate another class of interns from The Quarry School of Creative Ministry. As an alumni, I have a great respect for everything that the interns have poured into The Rock Church and not only that, but just the sheer life change that occurs in them. Now, as a staff member, it is amazing to be a part of their growth process and I am so proud of all that they have accomplished.

I love Romans 5:3-5; "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

To the graduating interns:
You've made it! In less than 24 hours you graduate and I am so proud of you and all that you've persevered through to forge your character. I can't wait to see what this next chapter in your life holds for you. I love you all!!!

To everyone else:
We will be honoring all THREE years of graduates tomorrow night at 7pm at The Rock Church Monroe Campus. Come celebrate their great achievement.

Guest Blog from my Mom, Linda Gorman

A letter from Mom and ‘Gramma’:

Human life is precious. My family is precious to me. I have an amazing and courageous husband. I have three of the greatest kids any Mom could dream of having; 1 daughter and 2 sons. I have a 3rd son that married my daughter, he is the best, he is beyond fantastic and he is the father of my two precious grandsons, Taber and Titan. I have a 2nd daughter who came all the way from New Jersey, and as far as I am concerned she has been ‘grafted in’ to our family by God. Whatever adjectives I just used to describe my family doesn’t begin to describe what a blessing and a fulfillment they are to me. I love them all beyond words. We are just regular people living extraordinary lives in God.

I woke up this morning with this quote in my head: “Your life can either be an example or a warning”. This is a quote that we frequently heard from the pulpit from Linda Knight in the first 15 years of The Rock Church. The same Linda Knight who taught me how to pray. The ‘example’ described living the right way and the ‘warning’ described living the wrong way. This morning I saw the news of the passing of Farrah Fawcett and as I was driving in my car this afternoon I heard also that Michael Jackson had died. It is a sad day when anyone dies, no matter who it is. God’s heart is broken. He is a Father.

In the past nine years, I have had the privilege of discovering the true meaning of who my heavenly Father is. I was saved in my late teens, but only began to ‘walk’ with God at the age of 24. Little did I know when this ‘walk’ began what God would require of me. The only way to summarize the past nine years of my life is to describe it with the scripture: “Obedience is better than sacrifice”. I have learned that true obedience will cost you something. It will cost you personally, sometimes in great measure. But that’s okay because when you come out on the other side, your joy will not only be full, but also true, you will know who you are and most importantly you will know the Love of the Father like never before.

Obedience is the key to unlocking God’s destiny for your life. There is no other way, there are no shortcuts. Obedience is the key.

On March 18, 2009, a Wednesday morning, as I was preparing to leave to babysit Taber and Titan, I was watching the news coverage of an American actress; she had fallen while skiing, had hit her head and was in a coma in a hospital.

As I watched I suddenly had a burden to pray for what I thought was her. It came over me suddenly in the form of travail; a place I have had the privilege of visiting many times. I hit the floor and suddenly found myself praying for someone that “they would live and not die” but the depth of the travail that followed was something like I’ve never experienced before. You must understand, I have prayed for 25 years. It came time to leave and I had to pick myself up off the floor with such a heavy burden and yet God lifted it from me. It affected the rest of my day though as I kept thinking of “that person”, even as I drove to be with Taber & Titan.

On Sunday, June 14, 2009 I was privileged to have heard Francis Chan’s message and was really moved when he spoke about how we question God at times, we ask Him “what are you doing?”, and just how absurd that is, that He is the very breath that we breathe.

I suddenly realized on June 17, 2009 who the travail was for.

On June 17, 2009, a Wednesday spent with my grandsons turned into a terrifying moment (see Kathryn’s blog post). We watched as our precious Titan battled for his life, to keep his very breath. I believe, I know we witnessed God breathing life back into him. Neither Kathryn nor I knew infant CPR. As we were witnessing the symptoms of no oxygen on Titan’s face (some of you understand, but I will not detail it), suddenly his little chest just filled with air and he came back to us.

While the experience was terrifying, both Kathryn and I had God’s peace that everything would be okay, it drove home to me firsthand that it’s not ‘what’ you do “in the moment of the crisis”, although of course we were praying and doing everything we could; it’s what you do ahead of time to prepare for unknown circumstances, hearing God’s voice, and acting in obedience to God that can change the course of circumstances. I take no credit for Titan’s outcome, just that I prayed when God asked me to. God is in control of every situation whether we think so or not. He knows what is coming and He is in control.

My Father God loves me and loves my family so much, that He interrupted my life, my schedule one day, for their benefit. Mom’s and Grandmothers, don’t stop praying for your children and your children’s children and your children’s children’s children. I had praying Norwegian great Grandparents before I was born (Tusen takk). This is the greatest legacy you can leave your family.

I give God the Honor due Him, the Glory due Him and the Praise due Him for a happy ending on June 17. He knows everything in advance concerning our lives and we all must stay ‘tuned-in’ to His presence and His voice. The depth of His love for us cannot be measured. He is Love.

A Mother's Faith

This Wednesday we experienced something that I pray no parent ever has to experience in their lifetime.

On Wednesday Titan woke up with a mild fever. Since he'd been teething for a few days I figured it was from that and gave him some Tylenol to bring it down. Like every other Wednesday I went off to work and my mom came over to spend the day with the boys.

Later that evening when I came home and checked his fever again it was 103! I instantly gave him some Tylenol and he continued to eat his dinner with grandma. A few minutes later he asked to be picked up and laid his head on my shoulder. My poor little man wasn't feeling good and I was more than happy to snuggle with him. As he lay there, he suddenly began to tense up and shake; he had a seizure. My motherly instinct kicked in and I knew instantly something wasn't right. I laid him in my lap and began to say his name. He was breathing and awake, but was not responding to his name. It was like his eyes were glassed over. Instantly my mom called 911. The 3 numbers you hope to never had to use for your kids (or anyone for that matter). I began to pray and continued to say his name. They instructed me to lay Titan down on the floor to cool him off and in the midst of all of this I needed to call Rory who was on his way home. I managed to say "Get home NOW! Something is wrong with Titan! I called 911!" (Looking back now a little more detail probably would have been good, but that's all that I got out in the midst of it all). As soon as I hung up with Rory I called Pastor Melinda. I needed someone in my ear who could pray, speak life and keep me calm and I knew she would do that. While I was on the phone with her Titan's lips began to turn blue and I noticed that his chest was not rising. He had stopped breathing. In that moment I could not remember infant CPR (its been a while...needless to say I will be taking a refresher course ASAP). Pastor Melinda told me to call 911 back and they would instruct me. So I did...I got as far as pinching his nose and THANK GOD he started breathing again.

Moments later 5 EMT's came through the door and began to help. They explained everything that Titan was experiencing and told me that he would be okay. Rory came in the door right behind them and I took a moment to check on Taber. He was curled up on the couch with my mom and with big tears in his eyes looked up at me and said “Something’s wrong with brother!” It broke my heart to see him so concerned. I comforted him and told him “brother” was going to be okay. They loaded us in the ambulance and took us to the ER to run further tests. When everything came back we found out that he had pneumonia which is what had caused the fever and the high fever had caused the fever seizure which apparently happens in 2-4% of children age 5 & under. Praise God there is no long-term side effects and we believe it will never happen again. The amazing part is that he had no other signs of sickness; no cough, runny nose...nothing! The nurse said he has a strong immune system (woo hoo!) After getting some medicine and instruction from the doctor we were sent home. Titan’s fever was down to 99° and he was back to himself, saying cheese for the camera and giving the doctor a high five.

I told Rory that night after we got home that in the midst of everything...the seizure, calling 911, the almost CPR....I had this amazing peace that everything was going to be okay. Even though every single scenario my mind could think of was running through my brain, I never even thought it an option for him not to be okay. Now don't get me wrong, it was incredibly terrifying, but I am so thankful for my mom, Rory and Pastor Melinda because each of them INSTANTLY began to pray for Titan. In fact, we found out later that night when we got home that one of the TRC pastors was in prayer. At the same time that Titan had the seizure, she was moved to intercession and prayed for an infant and that it would live and not die. How powerful!

I am incredibly grateful for all of our friends, family and Pastors who were in prayer for Titan. I can’t imagine having to go through the same scenario alone. I am so thankful that God protected Titan and our family.

Prayer & Worship Night @ The Rock Church

A Good Laugh

Thanks to Travis for sharing this vid.

Keepin' the Faith

Matthew 17:20 says, "He replied, ....I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.'"

A couple Sunday's ago I was at the church preparing for service and Marlys Woods handed me this tiny little clear pouch. She said 'its a mustard seed' and on it she wrote Hebrews 12:2 and Luke 17:5-6. At that moment I realized exactly how small a mustard seed really is and Matthew 17:20 took on a whole new meaning to me. I always knew they were small, but when I sat and actually considered what Jesus meant when he said all you need is faith like a mustard seed.....a mustard seed!!! Seriously? That's it? Do you realize how easy it is to have faith like a mustard seed? To give you a little perspective, look at this period . Now picture it in 3D...that's about the size of a mustard seed. Are you getting this? Jesus said all we have to do is have faith like a mustard seed and say to that mountain in our lives move from here to there and it will move. IT WILL MOVE. Not, I'll speak it and then see what happens...IT WILL MOVE. Not, I'll see if I can muster up some faith, but I'm not really sure if it will do any good....IT WILL MOVE. Give yourself no other option.

When our household is up against something, whether it be financial, health, spiritual; whatever it is the first thing we do is pray and ask God to provide for us, heal us, protect us etc. Then we stand on faith believing that he will help us. We don't allow ourselves to fall subject to anything other than what God has for us. When doubt tries to creep in, I stop myself and say 'NO!!! My God shall supply all my needs.' Now this doesn't mean that everything is perfect, but I think there's a delicate balance between the 'woe is me' mentality and the 'I'll just pretend nothing is going on' syndrome. For me I stand on Faith knowing that trials will come my way, but I have spiritual authority in my life. And you can too!!! Faith is for everyone. It's not a special thing reserved for only the most special people. Faith is for YOU!!!

So next time you find yourself doubting, just remember the mustard seed.

Hebrews 12:2, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Luke 17:5-6, "The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."

Stay tuned for part 2.....Increasing your faith.

Real Simple Organizing

I am so excited to lead a Reach Team this trimester. I am leading Real Simple Organizing, which beings this Thursday @ The Rock Church. I'm going to cover the basics of organizing your home and ultimately your life.

This has been a passion of mine for quite some time. I think often times organizing has a stigma attached to it that says "its hard" or "it takes a lot of time." My plan during this Reach Team is to bust down those stigma's and show you how you can tackle your home one simple step at a time (and have fun doing it).

If you haven't signed up for a Reach Team yet, go to www.ReachTeams.com and get connected today!!!