green pastures: Archive

“let me be open / let me be humble / let me find the joy of my salvation in your...”

– (Caedmon’s Call, song: Let me be)

Jan 30th

1 tag

i love you too.

was listening to a clip from Beth Moore who implored us to, anytime we were overwhelmed with love for God, to say “i love you too” because we never get those feelings without first being covered with love FROM God. Loving God is something we cannot do on our own. It’s divine. And we love because God first loved us. Heard that scripture from John so many times, but the act of...

Jan 13th

“High above the valley of Quito An old man and his bride grow roses Red and...”

– caedmon’s call (song: The Roses). I remember this perspective after coming back from Turkey. I hate the distractions that are in the world and the things that tell us what will make us happy. When really all I want is to know Jesus.

Jan 5th

Simplicity

Reading the “Celebration of Discipline” by Richard Foster and am on the “Simplicity” chapter. If I give to the poor and put that before seeking first the kingdom of God or if I choose a job before seeking first the kingdom of God, I am not living in Simplicity - it comes down to the heart. And how do I know I am living “simply”? I’m not anxious - my...

Dec 9th

“Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a...”

– Proverbs 17:27-28 (a reminder for me to think before I speak.)

Jun 28th

2 tags

May 18th

1 note

1 tag

When you don't know the answer

Lord, I don’t know what is right and what is wrong. Help your Church to be faithful and in love with Christ. Give us hearts to follow you and love each other. #pcusa

May 18th

2 tags

Park

About to go to my last service at Park as a citizen of Chicago in this single season of my life. I say all those qualifiers in the event God brings me and Shane back to this city, in another time. I remember more than 5 years ago going to a 5:30 p.m. service at Francis Parker’s auditorium, and for months I came and I went - without talking to a soul. I prayed for a church home. And once I...

Mar 20th

2 tags

“I’m trying to find a moment with You These days are speeding by This...”

– Bethany Dillon (song: Say Your Name, album: Stop and Listen)

Mar 15th

Watch

Ashley Barwig & Shane Smith: Save The Date (by Shane Smith) My fiance is talented beyond belief. I am a lucky, lucky girl.

Feb 22nd

Jan 24th

126 notes

The last name Smith →

Shane emails me this today and joyfully says that we’ll have family no matter where we move.

Jan 20th

2 tags

Jan 6th

“My soul magnifies the Lord And my spirit rejoices in God my Savior For he has...”

– Luke 1:46-55

Dec 25th

Dec 23rd

Dec 14th

Where do ideas come from?

1. Ideas don’t come from watching television 2. Ideas sometimes come from listening to a lecture 3. Ideas often come while reading a book 4. Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them 5. Ideas hate conference rooms, particularly conference rooms where there is a history of criticism, personal attacks or boredom 6. Ideas occur when dissimilar universes collide ...

Dec 3rd

“all of my life, in every season, you are still God, I have a reason to sing. I...”

– song that @ParkChurch is singing right now. Sitting in Park Cafe. One of my favorite lyrics of all time.

Nov 21st

There's not another city I feel so at home as...

—

Nov 17th

Nov 16th

Nov 7th

1 tag

Watch

(source: 12 Cities|12 Conversations) Reflections from Cape Town| While were in Cape Town we met with 12 Cities | 12 Conversations panelists Skye Jethani, Jim Belcher, Margaret Feinberg, Dan Cho, Paco Amador, Sara Groves, Jedd Medefind, Bobby Gruenewald, and Bethany Hoang to hear their thoughts and reflections from their experience in Cape Town.

Nov 5th

“I find it very easy to be true.”

– Johnny Cash (song: I Walk the Line, album: Overdubbed audio on Pandora here: http://bit.ly/dzUEhy)

Nov 2nd

2 tags

Watch

Michael Ramsden at Cape Town 2010, speaking about “Bearing Witness to Christ’s Love.” Powerful story beginning at 10:50.

Oct 31st

“Our calling is to offer the grace of Christ”

– Lindsay Brown’s sermon at Cape Town 2010 about why anything without Christ at the center is NOT mission.

Oct 24th

FOR GOD'S WILL

God’s will is for our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Because Thursday was a day of rest for all the Congress participants, what a great day to reflect on the ways that God is sanctifying. Or, as one of my mentors says, what is my feet of clay (what is God still working on with me)? I know it’s often hard for me to receive God’s love fully because I like to and often look...

Oct 23rd

2 tags

CALLING

I am called to the city. I am called to a people group that is not like my own. That is what God taught me on Wednesday. It was a big day. The day started with John Piper preaching on Ephesians 3 in which he said and asked the 4,000+ if we could all agree to this statement: “As as Church, we care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering.” Other highlights were: A woman, Mrs....

Oct 22nd

1 tag

Church History, Part 1 [VIDEO] →

Oct 21st

1 tag

Church History, Part 2 [VIDEO] →

Oct 21st

2 tags

ENCOURAGEMENT

Yesterday, I thanked God for a FULL day. Full because there was so much great discussion. Full because I met some awesome people. Full because God gave me opportunities to pray with believers in multiple languages (with them doing the praying out loud in Arabic and German, of course). Full because I am learning some things that I frankly didn’t anticipate. But God has a way of surprising me,...

Oct 20th

2 tags

Midway Point

Second day of the conference yesterday . Midway through my time in South Africa. First FULL day. We gave out free bibles at the welcome desk from Crossway and specifically hoped to give them to people in areas where access to bibles were more difficult to find. Within 10 minutes, I had given out so many to people from all over the world - Morocco, Malaysia, Niger and unnamed places. In a smaller...

Oct 19th

CONTENTMENT

Today, was the first day of the conference. The first day of really working at the Global Executive Leadership Forum welcome desk. During a few quick breaks, I was able to meet a pastor in the Philippinnes, a reverand from Germany but her Lutheran church is in Switzerland and a missions director at a church in Detroit. And that was like a happiness shot to my heart. Amidst the busy and the...

Oct 17th

When God speaks

Today was the last day of prep before the conference starts tomorrow. Lucky for me, the conference organizers are so well organized that I got to meander around Cape Town a bit today. No agenda. No tourist destinations. I knew some fun streets to walk around on, so that’s where I headed. After a lot of walking, I grabbed a coke (with real sugar, yum) and ice cream and sat down overlooking...

Oct 16th

“So if there’s any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any...”

– For following Christ - Philippians 2:1-3

Oct 16th

GIVING

I learned about my assignment at Lausanne today. I’ll be working with the Global Executive Leadership Forum, helping with the welcome desk throughout the conference. I have to admit, I felt full of pride when I thought about the amount of event planning experience and communications experience I have that is not going to be used by me being behind a welcome desk. But God’s teaching me...

Oct 15th

GRACE

Experienced God’s grace multiples ways today. A day that really didn’t leave me physically feeling too hot, but all the while, God showed me his grace through the good stuff and the rough batches. Here are just a couple of the ways God showed his grace to me: - through Amanda getting me bananas and ginger tea when I was in the hotel not feeling good. - through the sea air, sound of...

Oct 14th

1 tag

Oct 12th

At least faith. →

Couldn’t have articulated what I don’t want better myself. So, I’ll let « Stuff Christians Like – Jon Acuff explain it for me.

Oct 6th

Watch

Seeing Detroit Through the Eyes of a Jackass. This makes me want to move to Detroit.

Sep 23rd

1 tag

God's grace

Read 2 Kings 13-14 today. Even when the kings of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, God didn’t turn his back on Israel because he had made a promise to Abraham and David. And that’s the beautiful reminder I needed today. That the grace that comes from Jesus Christ covers me. No matter what I do. And that changes me. God used 2 Kings and a convo with a man that shows me so much...

Sep 10th