thehouse blog

First Day of Schools

Had a unique expereince this week....

MoJ's first day of Kindergarten - wow that was pretty hard for us.

but coupled with the fact that if all goes well this is the first day of my last semester of school.  The Jumpers are in school forever.  Left me with several thoughts....I hope I've created a love for education in my kids, like I have.  I hope that learning for MoJ and Beth is still a scary but longed for adventure - kind of like the first day of kindergarten.  I'm reading some pretty heavy theology books right now.  First time in a long time.  And I find my mind soaring with them.  I don't always get what they are saying but I still like Frodo busting across the fields of Eastfarthing.  I'm in a place I know, going to a place I know, but not sure of what surrounds me.

Maybe I'm back in school again, I just didn't know it?

Elaine White Famous

OK - so Elaine and Frank wrote an article about their expereinces at thehouse and it got published!  Read what they wrote here:

http://www.sam.ag.org/top/loving_young_adults.cfm

Go Frank and Elaine!

Walk On Water - Good News for Cave Dwellers

This week our focus is failure and overcoming it.  We can't stop failure.  It is inevitable.  We discussed how people can easily overcome failure.  It' s all about how we view and handle that failure that determines whether we succeed or continue to fail.  Chenin said it well, "People don't define themselves by what they do".  It's only when we can learn from our failures and don't let it define us that we can succeed.  We also talked about how it is through pain that we can grow.  Being in the cave.  These develop into opportunities for growth.  What are some different ways you can grow due to failure?

Proud Dad

From Morganne's first day in SLAM kids church! Makes a daddy smile and say thank you Jesus!

Walk on Water- Facing our Challenges, Conquering our Fears

John Ortberg states

"Growth happens when you seek or exert control where you are able to rather than giving up in difficult circumstances.  It happens when you decide to be wholly faithful in a situation that you do not like and cannot understand.  It happens when you keep walking even though you see the wind.  Then you discover that, somehow, you are not alone.  As he was with Joseph, the Lord is also with you."

There are things in life we fear, our full-blown storms; however, during the wind and rain we have to take a step back and ask ourselves what God has for us in the storm. Once we have done that we should take the chance to "feel the fear and do it anyway" because we know God will be there one step ahead of us ready to grab our hand if we begin to sink.  How does this impact the way you view and handle fear? 

As we continue in our journey of faith and trust in God, think of ways we can beccome more dependant on Him instead of ourselves. 

Books To Read Pt. 2

Okay....so I laid in bed last night after this post and thought of some more must reads:

11.  360 Degree Leader John Maxwell

12.  Life of Pi

13.  A New King of Christian by McClaren  (don't agree with him in later books but this one was awesome)

14. On Becoming a Leader by Warren Benis

15.  Leading without Power by Max Dupree

16. Integrity by Richard Dortch

17. Preaching and Teaching with Imagination by Warre Weirsbe

18. Biblical Preaching by Haddon Robinson

19.  Summoned to Lead by Len Sweet

20.  Organic God by Margaret Feinberg

Walk on Water - Reflection

This week we did something different.  Most of us didn't talk at all.  Instead we reflected.  this reflection was on what God wanted to do in our lives through this class and not what we wanted to do, afterall, it's not a self-help book.  it will take God's help

As the week continues, I encourage each of us to think and pray about what God wants us to overcome.  What is our boat..according to God?  And are we limiting ourselves because we aren't opening our lives up to what God has?

Remember,  It's not about us... it's about God and we can't do this without him.

Any comments or reflections from the week?

Walk on Water- Discerning the Call

Now that we've become aware of our spiritual gifts, it's time to take the next step and put the to use.  We explored the difference between careers and callings, coming to the conclusion that a career is something you do for your own personal gain and glory whereas a calling focuses more on helping others and glorifying God.

This week let's try to complete this sentence: I think my calling is...

Phone Contest

Okay - here's the option for the "re-naming" of becca's phone:

Cinnamon

Bob

Herbert

Jerk

bonus:  moron from Bryant

Walk on Water- Tragedy of the Unopened Gift

This week we talked about spiritual gifts, the talents God gave us and wants us to put in use.  The Bible mentions this in 2 Corinthians 12.  To some of us this idea might have been a new one, and as promised we have included a link that will help you in becoming aware of your gifts.   http://mintools.com/spiritual-gifts-test.htm

This week I would like to encourage you to take this test and discover what your own talents are, then share them with us.  You might have already been aware of some of them and others might take you by total surprise.  My second challenge is to find a new way, or recognize a current way, that you are using your talent, not for yourself, but for God.  We would love to hear about these discoveries too!!