Sipsey Wilderness Adventure

Once a month I try to find the time to spend at least 24 hours in a remote location so I can have a one on one personal retreat with God. I love to backpack and be in the mountains or at least the woods. I’ve always heard Sipsey Wilderness was a great place to hike so I tried it. I usually go with another person but this time I really needed to be alone in a quiet place to pray and get into the Word. About 5 miles into my hike I found a great place to camp. It already had a primitive rock fire ring and a great place to hang my Hennessey Hammock. I knew it would be cold at night so I built a roaring fire and carried an additional eight pounds of winter gear with me. I’m glad I did because it was bone chilling when the sun went down. The best part about it was that the only sound I could hear was crickets. Talk about solitude. I sat by the fire and just prayed and listened to God. Last night was one of those times when I felt very compelled to read the book of Ephesians. It is my favorite of Paul’s letters because it reminds me of who I am in Christ and what He has done for me and how I can be victorious even in uncertain times.

Something else I really enjoy about backpacking is the correlations between walking with God and walking along a wilderness trail. Here’s what God spoke to me as I hiked and camped:

1. There were times when the trail seemed to just disappear and I had to rely on my map and orienteering skills. What a picture of life. Just when we think we are going in the right direction, the trail disappears. It’s in these times I have to rely on His Word as a spiritual compass/map to help me continue in making decisions and moving in the right direction.
2. You have to see the immediate and the big picture at the same time. When I first started hiking I was way too focused on my next step…probably because my next step was somewhere in West Virginia or Western Maryland where I stood a good chance of toppling off a cliff if I didn’t keep focused on the trail. As I gained more confidence in hiking I learned to look the next step and also enjoy the big picture. I was reminded of the delicate balance of that yesterday. I had been eying a huge rock outcropping in the distance and was trying to figure out how to get up there. But something told me to look down and I’m so glad I did. Nothing like a water moccasin to get your attention. He had been laying in the sun next to the Sipsey river and I interrupted his nap. He saw I had a couple of trekking poles and wasn’t afraid to use them and he slithered off. Another picture of life. I love to dream of God-sized things the future may bring but I have to stay focused on today as well. The serpent is always looking for a chance to strike!
3. There will always be things that go bump in the night and scare the “you know what” out of us! When I got ready to call it a night, I climbed into my hammock and crashed for a few hours and was rudely awakened by something rummaging around my campground. There is nothing like the sound of a buck snort to get your heart racing…especially since I heard a friend’s story of being chased by a black bear the day before. I had tons of things going through my mind like “do I turn on my head light to get a few of whatever this animal is”, “do I reach for my pistol?” Whatever it was it left and I went back to sleep only to be awakened by the occasional sound of a fox or screech owl in the distance. Talk about some freaky sounds in the middle of the night! I decided that I really want a set of night vision goggles so I can get a better look at whatever is checking me out next time. The cool thing is that I know God is my protector. When unexpected things come up, I know He is there. He has never left me and never forsaken me…even in my darkest, scariest moments.
4. Baggage…we’ve all got it. Since it was so cold at night I had to pack some extra winter gear. My pack weighed 43 pounds. That gets pretty heavy about mile 8 and it feels great to take the backpack off. It’s funny because you get used to walking a certain way with all the extra baggage and once you shed it, it takes a few minutes to adjust to a walk with no baggage. I’m so glad that Jesus is continually showing me how to shed the extra baggage that is weighing me down. I want my walk to be free from all the junk that weighs us all down!.

Here’s a few pics of the trip. Who’s up for a wilderness adventure that comes with lots of God moments that will refresh your spiritual life?

You haven't lived until you have climbed one of these on a windy day! OK...I know your not supposed to...and I didn't climb this one...but I have climbed several in New Mexico and Maryland and the views are amazing! Where do I sign up to be a forest ranger!

Fasting and Prayer

I have practiced the spiritual discipline of fasting on numerous occasions. God has always been faithful to give me direction in the midst uncertain situations. Once again, I find myself in the position of needing to fast and pray in making some huge decisions. This morning we called the entire Brook Church to pray and fast for almost a month concerning every aspect of the transition the church is going through. We will be praying and fasting together until November 23 (Vision Day). Check out this video of how and why our staff will be fasting. After watching let us know..."how will you be fasting and praying?




Fasting from Jan Owen on Vimeo.

I'm watching you!

The girls and I used this quick video as a discussion starter this evening as our devotion time together:

After watching it, I asked what kind of stuff they were watching for and what made them feel loved and secure. See their answers below the video.




Here's their answers:

1. Watching how daddy treats mommy.
2. Daddy works out so he can walk us down the aisle and live long enough to see his grandkids.
3. Daddy protects us from evil things.
4. Daddy takes us on dates to show us how ladies are supposed to be treated.
5. It's nice to hear daddy say "I love you."
6. You read us stories and tell us about God.
7. You take us on hiking trips to explore God's creation
8. You let us eat junk food when mommy is out of town and let us stay up later! ;)

Advent Conspiracy

If you are like most people, you will soon be fully immersed in all the major decisions that go with the Christmas season. The checklist of "to do's" includes:
1. The delicate act of balancing time at your parents and the in-laws without slighting anyone.
2. The super-human effort it takes to work all the extra events into your already crowded schedule.
3. If you are one of those super organized people, you will also carve out time to write one of those "here's what happened in our family" letters chronicling all the exciting blessings of the past year.
4. Due to the sagging economy this year we will also have the extra added stress of thinking through flying or driving, getting everyone a present or drawing names, etc.

If we were really honest, I think we would have to admit there are just some things about the holiday season we pretty much dread... like warp speed schedules, spending time in over-crowded malls (I don't do malls...Thank God for Ebay.com and Overstock.com!) and a little too much focus on giving stuff that will be broken or forgotten by next Christmas.

If you serve in ministry, you get the "double whammy" effect. On top of all the regular person stuff, you have an incredibly crowded December schedule that Superman himself couldn't keep up with. Think about it. Extra rehearsals, the adult musical, the children's musical, the special event that nobody even knows why we do it, and of course the feeling of obligation to make it to as many Christmas parties as possible. Church people are really good at saying stuff like "if you would come to our special event it would really say so much about how important this ministry is to our church". Nothing like a little church peer pressure to make the holiday festive!

Sometimes I think we automatically shift into "Christmas season overdrive" in ministry. As much as we want everyone to have a special Christmas season, I wonder if we don't over program ourselves to death and leave ourselves and our church family thinking "This schedule is over the top and I can't wait until all this insanity is behind us. I actually know minister's children who absolutely dread the month of December!

Before you think I am the world's biggest Scrooge, I want you to know I am all in favor of celebrating Christ's incarnation. What Paul said in 2 Co. 9:15 echoes my exact sentiments for Advent (the first coming of Christ). "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" What a perfect declaration for the miracle of the virgin birth, God dwelling with us as our Immanuel. My commitment to my family each year is to make sure we truly worship the Lord vs. getting all caught up in the Christmas chaos that engulfs so many Christians. We limit our activities in favor of carefully selected and meaningful events. We limit our gifts in favor of special family moments and giving to our favorite missions.

This year The Brook Church is going to be encouraging all our families to do four things:

• Worship fully (Giving God our presence vs. just focusing on getting presents)
• Spend less (Not defining a "good Christmas" through material gifts)
• Give more (Giving your time, talents, and treasures in honor of Jesus)
• Love all (Getting involved in missions through a financial offering and a family project)

I will be blogging about this quite a bit from now through the Christmas. So will other Brook ministry staff. I hope you will check out the link below and see just how far reaching this Christmas could be if we all committed to the "Advent Conspiracy".

http://www.adventconspiracy.org/

Puppets Rock the House!

Check out this video of The Brook's children's ministry puppet team in action for the very first time. Amazing stuff for their debut!

Vision = a comprehensive plan

This is a great post comparing schools and churches and who has the better plan to promote growth. The point is that the church should have a clear and compelling vision that is not just kept before people in words but actually carried out with results.

The Brook staff has spent several months working on a comprehensive vision. We are sharing part of it with our ministry heads tonight and will be sharing the whole thing with other leaders and the rest of the church in coming days. I think you will be pumped about how everything fits together and how this vision helps us keep the big picture in mind.

Check this out: http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2008/10/14/guest-blog-gina-mcclain-2/

What legacies will we leave?

I wonder if times got really tough in America...would our children have stories like this to tell?

Check out this amazing story of how one man's faithfulness has touched so many lives.



Rachel Davidsaver - Testimony from McKinney Church on Vimeo.

Rick and Bubba Day

We all got up at 4am this morning and headed to Birmingham to sit in the golden ticket seats to watch the Rick and Bubba Show. It was totally worth getting the fam up so early! We made a quick McDonalds stop before entering the studio and enjoyed a couple of hours of the show. We met Rick, Bubba, Greg, Speedy, and several interns. Everyone was super nice and of course Rick and Bubba were hilarious! The funniest part was when they did our "shout out". Rick misread Joi's name as "Jay" so now we have a new nickname for her. We also got our official "Rick and Bubba for President" shirts.

Just in case you ever wonder what they do during commercial breaks, they go chow down on guest-brought food, come talk to the studio audience, Bubba throws a tennis ball against a window, and Rick plays a set of drums that are there for when they have musical guests in studio.

It was a great trip and one I highly recommend as a family friendly outing!

Another breakthrough

Conversation Club was a blast today. We had two new visitors from Taiwan and Macao (I had to look this one up!)

We started today with three games that all dealt with thinking on your feet and spontaneous conversation (Concentration, Story round about, and Memory game). It was a good educational tool and it was also hilarious which breaks down all kinds of cultural barriers.

Lunch consisted of sticky rice chicken, Asian veggie salad, sesame rolls, tofu something and some lotus leaves that I tried to eat but found out it was just a garnish. Sorry, but if it's on a plate, I will try to eat it! I'm pretty sure I could give Andrew Zimmern of "Bizarre Foods" a run for his money.

Our study of Joseph has been a huge hit. Our group totally relates to Joseph's move to another country, going through trials, learning a new language and culture, etc.
Our text today (Gen. 42) led to a great discussion of how Joseph's brothers felt guilty for their sin and that led to some classic questions like:
1. Does this story have a happy ending?
2. How can there be a good God when there is so much tragedy in the world?
3. What do you do with feelings of guilt and regret?

It is totally amazing that God has allowed us to come to the point of praying and studying the Bible together each week. Not only does it help our group with word definitions, grammar rules, reading skills, story comprehension, but it also helps the group see their very real need for God's love and provision.

Several of us had the chance to share our stories of how we came into a relationship with Christ and how we no longer fall under condemnation and how our faith in Christ helps us lead lives that are full of peace vs. guilt.

I had to leave after 2 1/2 hours and the group was still talking and having a blast. This ministry is truly an amazing gift from God. Each week brings incredible experiences. Please pray for us that we would be sensitive to God's leadership and that we would truly see lives changed through this God-given ministry.

Cletus take the reel

Here's a video dedicated to all my fishing buds...and a special dedication to Phil.

FALL BREAK IS HERE!!

This is my (Faith) first time blogging, as a guest blogger, for daddy. (I hope I do well so he'll let me to it again!!) Finally, fall break is here!! We have been waiting for a whole 9 weeks for this one week. Several families from school are going to be out of town, but we're gonna be different and chill at home. This week, we'll watch some of our favorite shows like Survivor, Amazing Race, Biggest Loser, America's Toughest Jobs, Tougher in Alaska, and some good ball games. So far, we've stayed up late, slept in late, and we went shopping and watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua. We all thought it was a very intriguing and funny movie. It's a good family movie that we recommend.

Wednesday, Grandma and Grandpa Buckley are coming from Oklahoma!! We are very excited!! They'll be here for my 13th birthday, too (I'll be an official teenager)! I'm growing so fast that my parents have to buy me new clothes! For our birthdays, the birthday person gets to pick which restaurant she/he wants to go to. I'll probably pick Nothin' But Noodles because I absolutly LOVE noodles!!!

We have been dog-sitting our friends dogs (Rascal and Abby) for a week now. I really like to dog-sit. It's fun for me and Shadow!! Shadow (a huge labradoodle) considers Rascal (a tiny boston terrier) a little play toy. She wants to carry him around the house and show him off.

And finally, we hope to go on a couple of hiking or fishing trips. Hopefully, you've enjoyed my very first guest blog!!
P.S. Tell my daddy I did a good job so he'll let me do this again!)

Fireproof

Last night Amy and I enjoyed a night out at Bridgestreet. We hit Cantina Larado where I totally annialated the Fiesta dinner (ribs, quail, chicken, shrimp). We then saw the new movie Fireproof. It is a must see. You should take your spouse. It will remind you of what marriage is supposed to be all about.

Watch the trailer below and read Focus on the Family's review, then go have a date. You'll be glad you did!

Fireproof the movie

Plugged in online review from Focus on the Family

Greatest Wife in the World

After being married 20 years, Amy knows me inside and out. She continually amazes me by thinking of fun stuff we can do as a couple and as a family. Next Friday we will take an early morning trip to Birmingham to watch the The Rick and Bubba Show. I cannot believe she scored us such sweet tickets! We actually get to sit in the coveted "golden ticket seats" and be part of the in-studio audience. Since it's fall break we get to take the girls as well. They are hooked on the show because we listen every day as I take them to school. The show always leads to some interesting discussions of current events from a Christian perspective...and get some laughs at the same time. If you are in the Huntsville, AL area make sure you listen to The River (100.3) on Oct. 10. We're hoping to get a shout out and extra props for bringing Rick and Bubba's favorite dessert of the day! Let the countdown to Rick and Bubba begin!

Overwhelmed or overjoyed...your choice

I am really being challenged reading through the book of Exodus from a leader's perspective. Today I read Exodus 6:1-9. Be encouraged as you read these insights!



1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country."

2 God also said to Moses, "I am the LORD. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them. 4 I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they lived as aliens. 5 Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.

6 "Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. 7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the LORD.'"

9 Moses reported this to the Israelites, but they did not listen to him because of their discouragement and cruel bondage.

Ex 6:1-9 (NIV)


Things to remember when eveything around you seems chaotic, unpredictable, and generally "not good":

vs 1: God is still speaking...are you in listening mode or too freaked out to be still and listen?

vs. 1: God knows how to deal with our adversary(satan). God's mighty hand will cause our adversary to "let us go"

vs.2: We live under an forever covenant made with God through Christ. No matter what my emotions say or what the situation may look like, we are in a covenant relationship with God and He will keep his part of the covenant by protecting us and helping us.

vs. 5: God hears your groaning...He knows what enslaves you.

vs. 6: He will bring you out of all that enslaves and redeem us through an outstreched arm (what a great picture of the cross!)

vs. 7: Never forget...as a believer you are part of His own people and He is your God.

vs. 8: If you trust Him and cooperate with Him, He will bring you to the place He has prepared for you and you will possess what He already has in mind for you

vs. 9: Huge warning: don't be so jaded and spiritually out of tune that you don't listen to God's promises because you are overwhelmed by discouragement and cruel bondage. He is our Encourager and Liberator.