Category Archives: Community

Jan17

If I Don’t

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Teri

CAM00022I spent last weekend at a lovely cabin near a frosty lake with twelve incredible women. We talked, we laughed, we shed just a few tears, and we enjoyed Jesus together.

Can I just say, “Ahhhh…”

The retreats started as a seed of an idea in my head about thirteen years ago when I had this overwhelming ache in my heart for more of God. I knew how to read the Bible, and do church, and pray, and study, and do most of the things I should and avoid doing most of the things I shouldn’t…but I didn’t really know God.

I was doing the Christian thing, but I didn’t know Jesus.

You know what I mean?

So, I was reading about how Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness to pray. Everything in my soul cried out for that quiet time. But, I had absolutely no idea how to be quiet. Be still and know that I am God, right? Nope. Not a clue on how to do that.

So, the retreats stemmed from my own inability to search for more of Christ.

A little over eight years ago, I meekly asked a group of women to join me in this journey to find more of Christ. I suggested a retreat that would be a safe place to explore some of the old spiritual disciplines others had used to search the deep things of God. They agreed and we set off on the adventure. We fumbled, we stumbled, we said things we shouldn’t, we didn’t say the things we should, yet, God will be found.

Well over a dozen retreats later, the group has grown to twelve powerful women who know Jesus more intimately now than they did before.

Two thoughts struck me as I looked around the room and marveled at these women;

“We’ve found more of Christ and He wanted to be found.” 

And, “I can’t screw this up.”

God takes my feeble attempts and somehow turns them into something beautiful. He takes my mistakes and redeems them.

The only way to mess this up is if I don’t try.

My job is to keep pushing on, keeping getting up after I fall, keep apologizing and repenting of my weaknesses, and keep going.

I see such incredible fruit from such weak attempts. It gives me courage to try again.

And that speaks of the deep things of God…

Abundant life is not found in our perfection but in

our imperfection being perfected.

What will you try today?

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”  Ephesians 3:20-21

Oct31

Hurricane Sandy Relief Teams

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Hey ya’ll! 

I have the rare and wonderful opportunity to work for an organization who exists to bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth.

Adventures in Missions is already trying to figure out ways to help those stricken by Hurricane Sandy. Please consider the part you could play in this Kingdom dream. 

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Adventures in Missions is sending relief trips in response to Hurricane Sandy.

As we are in the process of determining the most strategic use of our teams in the affected areas of the Northeast, we want to hear from you. Tell us where, when, and how you can be a part of our team by filling out this form. We will contact you as soon as trips are posted.

Will you join our team? Here are some ways to be a part of what we are doing:
From updates.adventures.org
1. Stay connected. Sign up to receive updates on the latest happenings and our involvement in relief efforts.
2. Donate. Find out where the need is here.
3. Prayer. No matter where you are, join us in praying for specific needs. Get updates here.
4. Spread the Word. Tell others how they can join us by sharing info on your Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets. Check out our Facebook page here.
5. Go. Get your hands dirty and join us on the scene. Whether you’re an individual or group, we want you serving with us whatever skills you may have.

Join our team and make a difference for those affected by Hurricane Sandy. Fill out this form now and let us know how you want to be a part.rt you can play in this Kingdom dream.

See full post here.

Sep5

What I’m Meant to Carry

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Teri

I’ve been really busy the last couple of weeks. So busy that I’ve been letting things drop that shouldn’t be dropped.

It’s like all of my weaknesses are tugging at my shirt sleeve vying for attention, “Look at me!” I feel every ounce of the weight of my inadequacies.

If only I was better at this. I really should have done that differently. I shouldn’t have waited on this.

I go to bed knowing I didn’t get enough done and that tomorrow will be more of the same.

AH! I can feel the avalanche overtaking me now. I’m going under…

Ever feel like that?

From what I can tell, I’m not the only who has been stuck in the cycle of taking on more than my capacity and then caving under the heavy weight.

I’m not going to offer tips and techniques for managing the cycle; there are plenty of books on the shelves already.

Instead, I just offer a few thoughts I’m leaning on this morning…

I was specifically designed with this capacity. When I hit a personal capacity boundary, I’m reminded there is too much on my plate. It helps me remember I can rely on God’s strength. And that I have an opportunity to partner with others who have different strengths that compliment my weaknesses.

God is not dismayed or disappointed in me. Instead, he invites me to come closer. It’s there where he whispers words of comfort and hope. In his arms, I find wisdom, power, and truth. He leads me. He guides me. He strengthens me. He opens the doors I need opened and closes the doors that need to be closed.

I choose to sacrifice anything from my to-do list that wasn’t meant for me to carry. I will let those things go. I won’t steal the opportunity from someone else if it was meant for them to do. And I’ll let the unimportant stuff go undone.

I’ll ask for help when I need it. And I’ll look for creative, synergistic ways to partner with others.

I will focus on doing what God lays before me and will do it with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. And I’ll go to bed tired and wake up refreshed.

Lord God, thank you for making us wacky and wonderful. Thank you for wiring us the way you do. Thank you for inviting us into your Kingdom work. Give us wisdom, strength, and power covered by your grace and love.

May your day be filled with the freshness of carrying a load that is just right for you.

“Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:29

Jul19

Community and Karaoke

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Teri

I’m still in Gainesville. We just finished up a Searchlight training and have a couple days off before we start another one.

Here’s just a glimpse into some of the dreams that were dreamed…

  • There is a gal who’s passion is to teach in the public schools. I passed her along to Rona and Molly.
  • There’s a guy who wants to go into project planning in the IT community.
  • There’s a gal who is going to love on the children of the sex trafficking victims in Atlanta.
  • There’s a guy who wants to go to G42 and learn who to disciple fatherless teenage boys.
  • There’s gal who is going into law school.
  • Most everyone here dreams of being married and raising a family.

There were many more dreams dreamed.

YET, big dreams weren’t the biggest success of the week…

It was community.

One evening everyone was feeling the affects of several 14 hour days, but also feeling the affects of being filled and compelled by the love of Christ. Testimonies were shared of hope and trust and faith about how God offers us purpose and significance and redemption.

Someone shared how her parents were transformed by the love of the group during their short visit to Searchlight. Someone else shared her dreams of  her own parents finding Christ. Someone shared about being healed from a physical disease over the last year. Someone else talked about the beauty and healing of a loving community. Others shared personal revelation received during the week.

Then prayer broke out. I mean real, serious, fervent, heart wrenching prayer.

Prayer for each other, prayer for parents and families, prayer for dreams and healing and hope and redemption to be spilled out all over the world.

Then worship was ushered into the room. Just a few voices at first and then the whole room raised in praises and thanksgiving.

And God was glorified.

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(I think Karaoke followed that but I went to bed.)

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I have a suspicion that first century Palestine felt like that. People doing life together, eating, learning, and praying. Rooms filled with people who were praising God for being filled, inspired, healed, and revealed. I’m pretty sure there was some serious singing, laughing, crying, and dreaming done in those communities.

There is no doubt that lives were changes, courses were set, and bodies and hearts were healed.

If your community doesn’t look like this, you are missing out on one of the spectacular aspects of the Christian existence.

It takes work, vulnerability, prayer, and a willingness to work through the messiness of human failings.

We serve an incredible God. And walking through this journey is infinitely better when walk together.

Jul14

Planting Seeds that Bring Life

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Teri

I’m at Project Searchlight training all week. Kingdom Dreams puts on a six day training for World Racers who’ve just come off the field. The goal is to help them discover their passion and to determine intentional ways of walking it out in the next season of their lives.

This is the third one I’ve attended.

Now, I have a good idea how it all comes together…

First, there is a team of a few 20-somethings who plan, organize, and then run the event. They learn about all the hard work that goes on behind the scenes before people get there. And then figure out how to pull plan B out of their hip pockets once people are there.

This team of  talented young adults spent countless hours preparing for the other 20-somethings participating the training. Plus, they oversee about a dozen or so of us coaches. Not to mention the handful of speakers they keep in line.

It’s the best hands-on training situation for what it takes to put a huge event on.

Secondly, there are the fifty or so participants who are reaping the benefit of their hard work.They come and work their tails off to listen, learn, connect, and grow.

I have the honor of coaching a few of them each night as they process the information they learned during the day. I get to participate in speaking truth and life into their young lives; guiding and directing; encouraging and challenging.

SO COOL!

That’s AIM. That’s their heartbeat. That’s their gig. The are intentional about tilling up soil, planting seeds, and doing all the hard work it takes to garden them to fullness.

They do it by giving real opportunities for young adults to learn and grow in real life situations with a few coaches around to help.

You wanna know a secret?

I think the coaches get more out of it than the coachees.

Maybe when you genuinely invest in someone’s growth and they in you, something fantastic happens? Maybe it’s that iron sharpening iron thing that the Bible talks about? Maybe that actually works in real life?

Huh.

There is a severe drought in the Body of Believers in the US for apprenticeship type situations like this. We don’t lack the people who want to be apprenticed, we lack the people willing to mentor by  investing their time, talents, and money into others.

If God has put a passion in your heart to \pour into the lives of others, please be intentional about doing it. They need you and you need them. I can guarantee this – you will get back more than you pour in.

Who are you investing in today?

 

Apr2

Hijacked Plans

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Molly

We were hijacked. Big time.

What we thought the beginning of the tour would be like, compared to what the Lord wanted it to be were two completely different ideas. Ain’t that the way it goes, huh?

And, for some reason His plan is just liiiitle bit better than we can plan. (Yes, that was the “The Church Lady” from SNL who just said that. Imagine magnificently pursed lips.)

Here’s a look into what happened for the first few days of the tour.

We were scheduled to launch the tour in Minneapolis on Friday, the 23rd, and do some team building things over the weekend, and have a ministry event at a local church in the city. Sounded great…until we got hijacked.

Teri, ended up needing to take care of some emergency family things and would be unable to be around for the weekend, leaving Julie and I wide open. It didn’t take long to know what to do when a friend of mine called and offered to sponsor Julie and me for a national conference for a health and wellness company I partner with, called ViSalus Sciences (most well known for the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge).

I had been praying about going knowing that it was an incredibly important event to be at, but was asking the Lord for some financial help to go. So, naturally we get provided with the means to go, so we packed up my car and drove from Minneapolis to Kansas City for a weekend that we’ll not soon forget.

Highlights of the weekend:

Conference related-

  • Being in a room with 17,000 other people who are passionate about true life change through health and wellness.
  • Being in a room when Hulk Hogan comes on stage and promotes the challenge (though I didn’t grow up being a huge Hulkomania fan, you’ve got to admit it’s fun to see the Hulkster on stage promoting the products you’re using…never a dull moment.)
  • Being in a room when Alfonso Ribeiro , better known as Carlton from “Fresh Prince of Bel Air” flash mobs the conference stage with 20 or so dancers, doing “The Carlton” dance. (They were telling us about a nation-wide event they are planning called, quite appropriately, “The World’s Largest Flash Mob”.)
  • Being a part of a health movement that is so committed to seeing others succeed in not only in their health goals but also financial goals.
  • Connecting and bonding with my personal team of 5-7 individuals who have the same heart and passion for Christ and also want to see people walking in freedom of health and finances.
  • Making a commitment with two friends, Julie and Heather, (now formally known as –Team Freedom) to stick to our 90-Day Challenge goals and enter a contest through the Body By Vi 90 Day Challenge to win some sweet prizes for our health transformations.

Non-conference related-

  • Staying in a building with an incredibly inspiring group of people with YWAM (Youth With a Mission) who were finishing up their training school and heading out for their two-month outreaches across the globe.
  • 80-degree weather in March. ‘Nuf said.
  • Seeing God provide through finances, times of prayer and encouragement with fellow believers and friends.
  • And, all around just knowing that God knew EXACLTY where He wanted Julie and I that weekend; getting fired up about taking care of temple of the Lord, meeting with passionate followers of Christ, and simply letting Him blow our minds with His plans and purposes.

So, Lord, will you ALWAYS hijack my plans, please?

They just seem to be way better than I can ask or imagine.

Feb20

More Than Just a Dream

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Pei Yee

We’ve met countless dreamers on this Tour.

Some already know what their dream is and are already pursuing it.

Some have an idea and just need people to speak truth and life into it.

Some are unsure.

Something that I’ve noticed though is when people speak out their dreams it does make a difference to them.

  • For one woman, I could see that as she spoke out her dream, she found value in her life.  It was almost as if there was a shift in her spirit, from unworthiness to worthiness.  She found a meaning, a niche that she could live out.
  • Another person just needed confirmation and a push.  She needed to not be apologetic because she doesn’t have her dream all planned out yet.
  • For some others, hearing someone else’s dream encourages, challenges and causes them to reevaluate the life they are living.

The dream that God placed in us isn’t just something for us to dream about.  It’s not just a castle in the air.

It brings meaning to why we’re here on earth, how we fit into the big picture of God.  When you speak it, share it, take the risk to be vulnerable with others to share your heart, something happens…something that makes it more than just a dream in your head.  More than just a a thought or an idea.  It brings value and helps life make sense.

Have you gathered around like-minded people lately to just share and bounce ideas off each other?

Feb5

We Need Y’all…

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Sarah

We’re finishing up our third week on the road.  We’ve spoken at a lot of churches.

There’s one idea that seems to be coming up again and again.

The idea that our generation- my generation- is going to change the world.

Last week, a pastor reminded me that Biblically speaking every time a Deliverer was going to arise, they would do everything they could to kill off that generation.  Pharaoh attempted to kill off Moses’ generation.  Herod killed all the baby boys in Jesus’ town.  And almost 40 years ago, abortion was legalized.

The world has tried to kill off my generation and the one before it.

Such oppression only stands when there is such great potential.

My generation has great potential.

Going around seeing my age group rise up and seeing us become an army that will change the world- that is changing the world- has changed my perspective so much.  I am honored that the Lord has chosen me for such a time and season as this.

I am honored to be a part of my generation.

But, God isn’t only using my age group.

In Joel 2:28, it says that “old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.”  One of my coaches, Ted Hansen, told me that the problem today is that we’ve flipflopped this passage.  In today’s world, the young men have the dreams but they can’t see the vision of how to get there.  And the old men have the visions and experiences, but they’ve stopped dreaming.

We need older men and women who dream big and have the vision on how to get there.  We need to be poured into, coached, and mentored.

We need y’all.   We are that Joel 2:28 generation.

Together we will change the world…

Jan27

Lessons From Donna

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Teri

We spent some time at Matthew’s Hope this week.

They serve the homeless of the Winter Garden community in Florida.

They provide clothes, hair cuts, food, showers, and among other things.  They’ll even provide a bicycle if you work enough in their garden.

MH partners with churches in the community.  They’re even busing in people from other communities who are in need.  They are serving hope and dignity to those who don’t usually have those things in abundance.

I got to serve hot grilled cheese sandwiches and a smile to a bunch of people that day. I even offered up a side of prayer to a few.

Lily and Sarah helping in the garden

I also got to meet three pretty wonderful dreamers.

There’s Netta.  It was her first day volunteering.   Her dream is to love and serve people with dementia.   She is a retired nurse who still looks for opportunities to teach other nurses and administrators the best patient care.  She shared several stories of how she helped change lives and how others helped change her life.

I also met Darlene.  She is a widow who comes to Florida from Jan through March.   When she’s here – she volunteers at Matthew’s Hope.  I asked her about her passion.  “I just want to serve people.”  She longs to serve people in tangible ways – like dishing out chili to people who don’t often get a hot meal.

Then there was Donna.   Donna was busy from the moment I got there until the moment I left.  Her eyes were always looking for what needed to be done.  I stood around talking to people about dreams, praying for others, laughing and chatting with others.  She worked.

I finally got her to stand still for a moment and I asked her about her passion.  She said, “It’s all around us.  There is so much to be done.  These people need help.  I can give help.”  She went on to tell me of two other places she volunteers because there is so much to be done.

Donna is not the type to stand around and dream.  She is the kind to roll-up her sleeves and DO.

We could all learn a lot from Donna. 

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you?  And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,you did it to me.’”

Matthew 25:35-40

Jan11

Dream Bigger Than Yourself

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I thought this blog post from Jon Acuff was brilliant.  He challenges people each Tuesday to a different task.  Here’s his task from this week:

Ask someone what their dream is.

It can be a friend, a spouse, a coworker or even a complete stranger. All I want you to do before Tuesday, January 17 is say to someone, “I’m working on a few things I’m really excited about this year, what would you say is one of your dreams?”

And then I want you to listen to their response.

Why is this such an important thing to do? I can think of three reasons:

1. It’s an antidote to the sneaky selfishness of dreaming.
When you start really working hard on your dreams and knocking out your Finish List, a surprising phantom of selfishness can creep in. It’s easy for healthy self-reflection to mutate into self-obsession. Asking someone their dream and listening to the answer will help you remember it’s not all about you.

2. Dreams that change the world always take more than one person.
I don’t want to finish stuff this year that just impacts my life. I want to finish big, crazy stuff that impacts my family, my community and hopefully even the world. In order to do that, I have to honestly engage with other people to learn about their dreams and see if I can help them along the way. If you want a dream to be bigger than yourself, you’ve got to invest in people other than yourself.

3. Fear wants you to feel alone.
Do you know what fear, fears? Community. Fear is terrified that you’ll build friendships and relationships in the middle of FinishYear. As I said before and will say all year, fear wants you to feel like you’re doing this alone. You’re not. This blog community proves that, and so will the conversations you have with other people this week.

There is one more thing I would add to his list…

4.  Their dream will somehow inspire your dream. 
Somehow, someway, something they say will spark something for you.  You’ll be inspired.  This is where the circle will come back and breath air into your dream.  They will help you see your dream from a different perspective.  Their passion will bolster your passion.  You will relate to their insecurity will have the words of encouragement that you need to hear yourself.  Their drive will kickstart your motor.

And your dream will become bigger than yourself.

SO…what’s your passion?  What’s your dream for 2012?