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June 2006 ETC Corner
Popsicles on the Porch
By Trish Berg
Ah… those lazy hazy, hazy days of Summer are finally here!
It finally arrived, and wow, what an entrance! Summer came with a heat wave mixed with a splash of thunderstorms. The kids are home from school along with my husband (the high school math teacher). We finally have time to slow life down, and enjoy the never ending summer story in our family album full of Popsicles on the porch, sprints through sprinklers, and barefoot jaunts through the grass. At least that's what I want our summer to be like.
I love summer. That is, except for the heat. Summer would be a lot better if it only reached about eighty degrees as far as I am concerned. Yep, eighty and sunny would be just about perfect. The problem with the heat is that I sweat. A lot. I get all sticky and smelly, and that's never good. Well, if we had an in ground pool in the back yard, I might be able to enjoy the heat. But since our backyard is filled with cattle in the pasture, I usually settle for brief bouts in the yard followed by moments of comfort in the air conditioning.
But this year, I have made some profound decisions that will affect my entire family for the next three months. After much contemplation and prayer, I have decided NOT to plant a vegetable garden.
It is, in fact, the first time in over a decade that I will not have fresh, crisp green peppers to savor, or green beans to snap for dinner. I have had to admit that for the past few years, we have actually had a garden of weeds with intermittent vegetables sprouting up against all odds. With four kids under ten, I am finally realizing that my time is not my own, and weeding a garden usually hits the bottom of my priority list. Summer belongs to my kids. So goodbye vegetable garden and hello water gun fights.
But in spite of my best efforts, our summers are usually pretty busy, with or without a vegetable garden. We seem to run around, here and there, and sweat the summer away. Before we know it, summer is gone, and we forgot to take the time to just relax and enjoy those lazy days. Whatever happened to sipping lemonade on the porch swing and running barefoot through the grass with no where in particular to go?
I want to find more of those moments this summer, so I am scaling back, and letting go of my expectations. I am canceling what I can, like my vegetable garden, and trying to slow down this summer. We need fewer have-to's and more want-to's in the next three months.
So, if you stop by for a visit, you may have to step over the tall, un-mown grass to make it to the front door. Please ignore the weeds taking over my flower beds, since I am trying a new gardening technique called "survival of the fittest." Once you get past the chaos of our yard, you might find serenity sitting next to us on the front porch swing, sipping lemonade, staring out at the bright blue sky.
Well, not this week. This week Hannah has basketball camp, both the girls have softball games in the evenings, and next week is vacation Bible school at our church. Whew, it's hard to slow down when you are so used to running. But in between it all, you can find us hanging out at home. Summer is finally here, and our never ending story is just beginning. I am going to try and make it a more relaxing story this year, full of Popsicles on the porch and barefoot jaunts in the yard. I just hope we can find our way through the tall grass, and that no one gets stung by a bee on the way!
You can reach the author at trishberg@trishberg.com.
She Speaks…through Him…directly to ME!
By Kristi Turner
Are you considering attending the She Speaks Conference? Read these encouraging words written by a 2005 She Speaks graduate.
I recently attended a conference in Charlotte, NC for Christian women seeking to be better equipped in telling God's story. Actually, it is so recent that I am still here at the conference and typing this from my hotel room. It's after midnight and I am profoundly pooped out. Yes, profoundly pooped in a physical sense, yet strangely energized to write about how God, through this conference, impacts women … namely me!
A friend recommended this training venue nearly two years ago because she thought I would glean knowledge from the experts and be able to apply the lessons in my life. She approached me after learning that I recently shared my testimony at church. How perfect to improve upon a new potential speaking ministry. Have you ever dragged your feet? I have. I did. Two years later, I finally listened to this friend and made the decision to attend … as long as my sister would go with me that is. You know us women and how we like to travel in pairs.
Registration day was upon me and after two years it was time to choose my breakout sessions for the speakers track. But wait! Did I just feel led to enroll in the writer's track? That cannot be. Seriously, that cannot be. I am not a writer. I am not even close to a writer. Yes, God was prompting me to do just that. Align with the writers track and trust Him. At least I realized affirmation in this odd path I was agreeing to take. My sister, on the very same day, agreed to heed God's personal command to her. As bizarre as it was, she too knew that the writer's track would be her path.
So here we are. It's been approximately 33 hours since the opening session began and I can truly say that I am amazed by how God has touched my heart and soul through these beautiful women…these beautiful women that so awesomely reflect Proverbs 31.
"Exactly how have you been impacted?" you might ask. Well that's one large answer that I want so desperately to share. If there is one theme I have embraced this weekend, it is to lose myself to God and speak to the heart of others. To share what God calls me to share, and, by the way, be succinct! Now THAT is a rib tickler if I've ever heard one. Me. Succinct. "Succint" now becomes the strenuous part for me. But I shall press on.
We each have a story to tell. God has touched our lives in so many various ways and brought us through valleys way up to the highest mountain top experiences. We, as women, have history and mystery. We have burdens and baggage. And thankfully, we have delights and destinies in Christ. We also have choices. How do we digest and apply our valley experiences? When do we open our hearts to share God's hand in our lives? What will it take to get us out of our comfort zones and reach out to the lost? Trust me, these are questions that I am working to answer for myself. I do not have the answers yet and I may not on this side of heaven. But this I know; we must evaluate all circumstances with the backdrop of the cross in clear view.
So again, how have I been impacted? I have been rejuvenated and encouraged beyond measure. I have been reminded of the importance of loving each other, sharing truths, and seeking to live out the life God intended for me. I have been so lovingly reminded that God can give me peace, perspective and purpose, even though my daily lists are too long to conquer. If you have not read and embraced the seven principles of the Proverbs 31 Woman, I encourage you to not drag your feet as I did. Let the verses and the principles minister to your heart. And then, let God change you. Give Him sovereign power. Give Him control. Let Him reign!
The moral of this, the first article ever written by this non-writer who thought she should be in the speaker's track: Listen to God's calling, obey, and trust that He has a plan. Don't expect an audible voice. It may be a simple phrase running through your mind or a prompting from a Christian friend. For me, the word "She" in She Speaks represents many precious souls that have touched my heart at this conference. I can say with authority that She Speaks…through Him…to Me!
The Parable of the Sunflower
By Bonita Lillie
Attention Aspiring Writers! Read on as Bonita shares the lessons God is teaching her on the road to becoming a published writer.
Spring of 2002 was a busy time for me. I was planning to attend a summer writing conference and eagerly preparing my first book proposal. Two editors from major publishing companies were slotted to attend and I had appointments with both of them.
My excitement level ran high. After all, it was only my lifelong dream to be a published author and I was certain this was going to be my big break, a divine appointment set up by God.
Finally, the day arrived. One editor showed little interest in my book, but the second one, the one I had prayed fervently about, expressed a lot of interest. I left the meeting with high hopes.
For the rest of the summer I dreamed of the day the editor would contact me, wanting to publish my book. My excitement grew and spread to others. Soon everyone I knew was looking for the day the acceptance notice would come. I was peppered with questions, "Have you heard from him yet?", "When can I expect the book to hit the stores?", "Will you give me an autographed copy?"
It was on a sunny September day that the verdict arrived. I eagerly walked to the mailbox as I had so many times before. My heart started pounding when I saw the return address on the envelope. I was almost afraid to open it. I reasoned with myself, "It's a thin envelope. He didn't send the book proposal back so that's a good sign." Then the other side weighed in, "But a rejection slip is also thin." Finally, I tore open the envelope and right then and there my heart hit the pavement with a heavy thud. The dream was over and I had the death certificate to prove it.
I sat beneath my Crepe Myrtle trees and the tears began to roll. With them came a one word prayer, "Why?" When my well of tears ran dry, I simply sat taking in the pageantry of blue sky, green grass, and warm sunshine. Deep inside I heard a voice speak, "It will be alright. I have bigger, better plans than you can imagine." An unmistakable peace flowed over me.
As I got up to go in the house, I rounded the corner and saw pans of sunflower seeds drying in the sun, the bounty of our summer crop. A verse popped into my mind, "…unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24)
I picked up a sunflower seed and examined it. I looked at the hundreds of seeds in the pans, all derived from a single seed. I pictured that one poor seed buried in the cold, dark earth, seemingly to die. But God was in that earth and instead of dying the seed was changed, eventually bursting forth from the soil in new life.
Could it be, Lord? Could it really be that the dying of my dream would be like that sunflower seed? Was this only a season when it was covered up, unseen to anyone but God? My eyes scanned the pans of seeds and my heart leaped. Could this single dying dream really produce as much as the sunflower seed had done? It seemed unfathomable, but something in my heart bore witness to it.
The next few months were a blur. I barely dabbled in writing. It seemed to have lost its zest. I quit trying new things as one door after another slammed in my face. I nicknamed that period of life "the season of slamming doors."
During that time a friend requested that I teach her children to write. I flatly refused. I didn't know how to teach someone to write. After all, I wasn't much of a writer myself. Still, she persisted, suggesting that I might teach a class at a mutual friend's bookstore. Time and again, I refused.
One evening in the course of a telephone conversation she brought it up again. I replied, "I'm not comfortable with doing that. I wouldn't even know where to begin."
With great humility and love she said, "God doesn't call us to stay in our comfort zone. He calls us to walk by faith."
Something in her words pierced me. I couldn't deny that she was right. Suddenly, I was faced with some big questions that only the Lord could answer.
A short time later I agreed to teach one writing class to middle school aged home school students. My friends at the bookstore were thrilled, but I was simply nervous. Doubts surfaced. How would I know what to teach? What if no one signed up? What if I was too scared to stand in front of those kids? After all, public speaking was my greatest fear. What if the door slammed in my face? How would I handle another rejection?
The advertisements went out. I waited. I prayed, "Lord, please let me know if this is your will. If it is, you will have to fill up the class." A few minutes later the phone rang and I had my first student. Within a few weeks the class was full with another half a class on a waiting list.
That summer I sought the Lord and He gave me the idea for a writing curriculum that helps fledgling writers and those who have a writing stigma. Fun Foundations in Writing was born.
On a sunny September day, exactly one year from the day I'd received the rejection of my book proposal, I stood in front of my first writing class. An amazing thing happened, God showed up! That semester went better than I could ever have dreamed. Soon I was bombarded with requests to teach all sorts of writing classes. Now, I was the one doing the rejecting!
The following autumn the classes tripled and I added a new curriculum, Creative Adventures in Writing. Currently, I teach three classes including my newest blessing from God, Write From His Word, which uses the Bible as the textbook for writing.
As I look at the faces of the children in my classes, I don't just see kids. I see seeds, lots and lots of seeds. I'm confident that among them will arise some great writers, sunflowers, which will turn their faces to the Lord and take back the writing industry for the kingdom of God!
And one sunny day, possibly in September, my own dream of becoming a published author will also come true.
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