i am an offering

I definitely don’t have it all figured out by any means, and I’m still working on the process, but some thoughts that were shared with me a while back really keep striking home.  Take a look at 1 Timothy 3:12-13:

A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.”

Whenever I’ve looked at and pondered those verses in the past all I saw was the qualification of a deacon to manage his children well, but the verse says children and household.  Household encompasses a great deal!  Managing your household includes, but is not limited to:

• Having the means to provide and sustain your family. (Getting out of debt if your in it and staying debt free, not living paycheck to paycheck, making wise financial decisions, etc.)
• Having the discernment to not let that provision and sustenance become your idol and god.  It is very easy to fall in love with your job, especially if it pays well and you like it.  Family comes before working 70-80 hour weeks.
• Deciding where to spend your time. (Do you spend it watching hours of TV, trying to find an excuse to go play a round of golf - or do you spend your time wisely, knowing when to stop working, when to enjoy leisure, and when to get things done that need to get done.)

The last factor of managing a household is key.  Instead of trying to balance the time that you have, begin to manage it.  If you’re like me, and are a pretty spontaneous person who also tends to procrastinate, conisder setting up a schedule.  Of course you’ll need to schedule in some spontaneous time that you can just enjoy, but a schedule might be extremely helpful.

I’m just starting to really think about these things and haven’t officially applied them yet, but after thinking about Paul’s words to Timothy to charge deacons to “manage (a) household well” I’m beginning to be convicted that I’m not really doing that - and something needs to change.  Join me and the journey - and maybe you have some ways that you’ve learned how to manage your time and household.

Yesterday was a bittersweet day at Living Word.  We had a packed service and people we’re singing out, which was great, but the service was mixed with some very hard news.

Our Pastor and his wife our going through an incredibly difficult situation right now and I would love so much for you to lift them up in prayer.

Our service looked like this:

• Pre call to worship: Come, Christians, Join to Sing - Sovereign Grace arrangement.
• Call to Worship from Psalm 46 - reminding us of God’s constant strength in times of trouble.
• In Christ Alone - Getty/Townend
• Lord Most High - Harris/Sadler
• Scripture Readings
• Once Again - Redman
• Jesus, Thank You - Sovereign Grace Music
• This list is a part of the Fred McKinnon’s Sunday Setlists community.

We were blessed with a sermon from our sister church’s intern pastor - reminding us as we continue through the book of Romans to look at our own sin before juding others.

This will be a busy week here - and I will be back in full force (finally!).  Here’s the schedule for the week:

• Tomorrow: Some general news and announcements.  Lots of things happening in my life.
• Wednesday: Blog Action Day 2008 - we’ll be discussing poverty from a Christian perspective.
• Thursday: Updates on our process of building worship teams at Living Word.
• Friday: Not sure yet - leave a comment if you’d like to hear about or discuss anything specific.

I miss blogging and being involved in the worship community - so, here we go again!