"for all that you've done I will thank you
for all that you're going to do
for all that you've promised
and all that you are
is all that has carried me through...
thank you for loving and setting me free
thank you for giving your life just for me
Jesus, I thank You."
--dennis jernigan
So... posting everyday hasn't so much happened. This past week was crazy around our house- we had JM's last soccer game, a party, small group, church, a thanksgiving feast, NEW MOON MIDNIGHT PREMIERE, girls retreat... needless to say- I haven't been home one night this week to even think about posting!! But it's been an awesome week and I wouldn't trade it for the world.
For starters- John Mark ended his soccer season last Saturday.
Ten years ago when I moved to Edmond, I started going to the BCM on campus. I met a lot of people there and had a ton of fun. A friend and I would always make up random nicknames for people and never called anyone by their ACTUAL name. A couple of years into college, we met a girl (I'm using the term MET loosely- observed from a distance and never spoke to would probably be a more accurate term) who we named "Robin's friend." All I knew about her was that she was Robin's friend (obviously) and that a few years later she was dating our friend Chris Howell. I didn't DISLIKE her, but I wasn't really looking to be her friend either.
Four years later, we both ended up teaching 8th grade girls at (shocker) Henderson Hills. We ended up talking a lot every Sunday and actually kind of, sort of becoming friends. I knew Chris from my BCM days and so we were actually kind of friends. We all got engaged and married at the same time.
At the end of that summer of weddings, she called me up and invited me to come to a newly married group she and Chris had started attending. We went and really enjoyed the people and leaders. One couple in particular seemed "appealing" to us to seek out.
Here is where I will let you all in on a little secret: I'm actually quite shy when it comes to meeting people. I have a HUGE fear of rejection and I also seem to assume that everyone hates me until I get to know them. Talking up a person I don't really know is probably in my list of top 10 fears! So what happens next in the story is a little shocking actually!
One night (probably a month or so after the idea had entered my head, I had to work up the courage to actually DO IT) after FLOCK, I walked up to the girl and just blurted out "So, we all work kind of close together. I think we should do lunch sometime." She almost jumped up and down and said "YESSSSSS!" I think that maybe she was as hungry for a friend as I was!
What started as one lunch turned into lunch once a week. Those lunches turned into fun nights hanging out together and we would cook dinner every Sunday night after church together. Over probably three short months, the three of us became SO close.
Five years later- enter my very best friends- my kindred spirits, the sisters of my heart: Jamie and Natalie.
Beyond being blessed by my job and my bosses, I am so thankful for the sweet friends that I have there. When I started working at HHBC in January of 2005, there was only one other girl there my age. Now I'm blessed to be surrouneded by friends my own age (although, a couple of them are BABIES and make me feel old... MALLORY).
I am so blessed, ya'll! Seriously- how can I ever complain about my life again?? Taking a long hard look at myself and the things I am thankful for has really made me step back and reevaluate my sometimes (read: far too frequent!) bad moods about my life. I couldn't ask for more!
With this post I will finally be caught up to the day of the month... woo-hoo!
Today I am so thankful for my church. When I moved to Edmond 10 years ago, I went to Henderson Hills on my very first Sunday in Edmond. Now for a little background- I grew up in the smallest town, smallest church ever- think 150 on high attendance day... and for those of you who don't know of Henderson Hills, well- let's just say that the student ministry alone is SIGNIFICANTLY larger than where I come from. So yeah- it was a LITTLE overwhelming. I walked in, wanted to cry through the whole service and ran out the door as soo as it was over. It was at that moment that I SWORE I would NEVER, EVER, EVER go to a big church- I just wasn't cut out for it.
3 years later, enter Micah and an internship at- GASP, Henderson Hills. I was going to a much smaller church in the city at the time, but I knew that if I was going to marry Micah, a larger church might be in my future. So I started going with him from time to time and fell in love with the worship and the teaching... and over time, as I began serving- fell in love with the people.
Today I can't imagine being a part of any other church. We've been here since 2003 and it truly is home. While it is still HUGE, I've learned the secret to big churches- involvement. It was once I found my place- student ministry- that the church began to get smaller. And the more involved I've become, the more people I meet and get to be a part of their lives.
To be a part of a church that so unashamedly preaches the Word and has such godly leadership is SUCH an awesome blessing. Being part of the staff- both as a wife and assistant- I am amazed at the godly men and women God has brought to this church. I love that the families of the staff are a priority; that we as wives are encouraged to be the best we can for our husbands... I have learned, grown and become who I am today because of this wonderful place.
This flows directly into my thankfulness for my ministry. When I was a junior in high school, I felt a definite call on my life from the Lord. At the time I just assumed I would probably marry a small town, small church preacher and do preacher's wife sorts of things. Later in college I worked in the children's ministry at my church and loved that. I knew that whatever God wanted me to do, I was CERTAIN that student ministry would NEVER be part of it... funny how God has a way of changing our plans!
But I love students- especially awkward, nerdy middle schoolers!! God has totally changed my heart and I am so glad. I love teaching- my small group girls, large groups of girls at retreats- it makes my heart sing to share the truth with these students. I want so badly for them to know the TRUTH.
I am so very thankful that God changed my heart- and that I was finally open to allow Him to move in my life. Henderson Hills and their student ministry is where I've found my place and the thing that brings me the greatest joy- besides my family.
Posting everyday is hard! I've had this post floating around in my head since yesterday and just haven't had a chance to sit down and type it!
Anyway, things I'm thankful for parts 4, 5 ad 6.
I am so, so, so, SO unbelievably blessed to have been given the family that I have. See, two months after I was born I was adopted.
*To answer the questions that statement always brings I will say this: I've just always known, I've never met (nor do I really have the desire to) my biological family and I look just like my daddy.*
So the first aspect of my family that I'm thankful is a woman I've never met- my biological mother. Without her and her sacrifice, I wouldn't be here now. I'm thankful that she chose to give me LIFE and that she made the most difficult choice to give me a BETTER life.
I had a couple of friends growing up who were also adopted. I've often wondered if my life would look like theirs if I had been adopted by THEIR family... but that's a question only the Lord knows how to answer.
That thankfulness flows directly into my parents. How blessed am I to have been adopted into a family who loves the Lord and seeks Him wholeheartedly... who taught me of Him from an early age... who loved me as their own without any hesitation?
My parents have always supported me and wanted the very best for me. Have I always believed that- of course not! I was a teenager too, you know! Have we always gotten along beautifully- no. But I have NEVER once doubted their love, never once doubted they would be there to pick me up when I fell. I have always known and FELT their prayers surrounding me. I couldn't ask for more than that in parents.
I remember when I was in the first grade, a girl who knew I was adopted said to me- "you know, you're mom isn't REALLY your mom." I immediately burst into tears and ran away... when I got home from school, I collapsed into my mommy's arms crying. When I told her what my friend said, she took my chin and wiped my tears and said to me: "What is a mommy? Let's make a list..." She walked to my desk and got a pad of paper and began to make a list. We sat there on the bed for an hour, writing out all the things that SHE did for me day in and day out... at the end of the list she wrote: "now THAT is a real mommy."
Even now, 21 years later, tears fill my eyes as I remember that night. I can close my eyes and SEE my mom's handwriting, I can picture the list. I still have that list and would have to say that's one of my most prized posessions.
My daddy took care of me like no one else could! To this day, I believe that my love language of "acts of service" stems from my relationship with him. It was obvious that he took his responsibility of taking care of his girls most seriously.
While some dads were too busy to be at their kids activities, my dad never missed a single basketball game, piano recital, church play... he was always sitting there proudly with my mom (and usually a couple of grandparenst!) and was happy to be there. That's something I'm sure I've taken for granted far to often.
Ephesians 1:5 says "God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ..." I've always thought that it was so cool and such a privilege to have been adopted twice.
