Teresa's Ponderings

I've never sat down and read through all of my blog entries at one time. I imagine if I did, the theme would be something along the lines of, "Here's what Teresa did. Don't be like Teresa." Or, "Here's what Teresa did. But God..." At least, that's how it feels. I've never been one to hide my feelings or emotions very well. I can promise you that if I'm sad, I look sad. If I am full of happiness, my smile is contagious. I can't play poker. I imagine that if I was an actor I would be along the lines of Heath Ledger where I encompass every part of my character or I just wouldn't be able to do it. I struggle with slapping a smile on my face when I am not actually happy. This isn't to say I don't know how. In fact, I have leftover issues from doing it all through my teen years but that's a totally different story and not at all relevant to what happened this morning. Or better yet, what has been happening the last yea...

The theme of my current season of life can be summed up in a few words:  fear, faith, and freedom. When God placed this call upon our life, we didn't know what to do with it. We tried to reason our way through it. We attempted to explain it on our terms. We even denied it for the longest time. God had asked us to do something that was outside of the cookie cutter mold and we had no idea what we were doing. Our calling looked different than the current battle cries coming from SBC life. How much easier it would have been if God had called us to strictly work within our current city, or our state, or even a NAMB SEND city or an IMB unreached people group. Jesus busted up our comfort zone. God works through established churches and denominations. I've seen the evidence of this, but I think we do a grave disservice to Jesus if we don't recognize He works outside the establishment as well. I am a missionary. We are self supported missionaries, which means we are...

I have to make several qualifications and explanations before I ever begin typing this blog post. My thoughts are all over the place. My brain feels like it has been completely flooded with thoughts and revelations that I just have to get on paper before I lose them completely. Things to note before reading: I believe with everything I am that gathering weekly to worship Jesus Christ is vital to the Christian life. There are groups of believers doing exactly what I am about to describe. I am not targeting anyone in particular (it burns my britches that I even have to type that, but I've been accused of being passive aggressive in the past, which I am not, so there is THAT qualification just to chill people out) I realize I was just passive aggressive in acknowledging I am not passive aggressive, but whatever. The last 10 months I have essentially been without a church home. There isn't a lick of Southern Baptist work going on in Henry (or the entire county), and alt...

It's that time of year! As I begin to ponder putting together my annual year end blog, I can't help but feel as if I have been completely run over by 2017. SO much happened in the space of a short time.  No need for me to sit and dwell on it here in the opening paragraph, I'll get right to it! January We began the new year with a hike on the Illinois River Bluff Trail (IRBT). For Christmas we all received lots of new backpacking and camping gear and we were excited to try it all out. The temperatures were extremely mild for January 1 in Central Illinois and we had a great time on our "First Day Hike." When the weather didn't cooperate, the littles would just camp inside. This little boy was super excited to wear PJs that were very similar to Daddy's. Emily rocked out her first semester at Union with this celebratory award. Even more new gear was purchased. Our plans were to hike a section of the Smoky Mountains in July. My f...