This fall, Casey and I, along with our two friends Steve & Marcus, got to start a class for the sixth graders at church on Wednesday nights. We call it "The Bridge". Our hope is that the class will not only bridge the gap between childhood and adulthood, but most importantly, that the class will introduce them to The Bridge [to the Father], Christ Jesus.

None of the four of us have a ton of experience working with kids...excuse me, young adults...so we've been learning a lot. Last night, I think we learned several crucial lessons.

Lesson #1: Don't send one young adult into the classroom holding two bags of candy without also sending two bodyguards to accompany him. He will be mauled.

Lesson #2: If you buy candy for your class, only buy enough for them to each have a couple pieces. Buying two bags means they will eat two bags. Even if that means they each eat 10 pieces of candy, thus darkening any favorable light their parents would have previously seen you in, once their children come home so hyped up on sugar that they won't go to bed, and they keep repeating the names of the teachers who so generously gave them TWO BAGS OF CANDY.

Lesson #3: If you must get the class to answer questions by bribing them with candy, you should also follow up the giving-out-of-candy with the instruction that all who eat the candy during class will forfeit that candy, and all chances at earning any more candy. Or else, you will hear the ripping of candy packages, the getting up-and-down to throw trash away, and the whining for more candy from anyone has still has it in their hands the entire class.

With these lessons in mind, we charge forward, ready to love some kids and share some Gospel and praise some Jesus...just with a little less candy involved.

The answer to yesterday's question:

Yes, it's wrong. Sitting on the edge of the pool, afraid to jump in, is not okay. When God says get in the pool, you get in the pool. Doesn't matter if you don't know what temperature it is, or even if you don't know how to swim. Trust Him. The end.

For more on this conclusion, go watch the sermon, "Treasure & Trust", about God calling Abraham, and blessing him to be a blessing to others. Also, if you can endure horrendously cheesy powerpoint presentations, overlooking them for a time, to enjoy a song and lyrics, you can listen to the Dave Barnes (are you reading this Melissa!? Proud?) song "Close your eyes", which I think pretty much encapsulates the current struggle.

My Life.

I've never been the kind of person who jumps full-speed-ahead into the pool, no matter how hot it is outside. And people keep trying to convince me that it's the best way to go. "Your body will adjust...after the initial shock...It really won't feel that bad..." But that's not me. Me - I dip a toe in, then a few toes. I sit down on the edge of the pool, put my feet in, one at a time. Gradually...scoot into the pool...little bit by little bit. You know what? I probably won't make it in to my waist before you jump in, swim around, get out, and dry off. Is that wrong? Question of the day.

I believe, Lord, help my unbelief!

Last night we got the chance to go fellowship with a church family in a different part of the county, where our pastor and our band are leading services for a few days.

The sermon was a good word from Luke 24 about having high expectations of what God will do, because He's called us to do big things for Him, and He's given us big power through the Holy Spirit to accomplish that work. It was exactly what Casey & I both agreed we needed to hear, which is cool, because we had decided we couldn't go last night. We had too many things to do. But, by the end of a cold and dreary day, I was needing some encouragement big-time, and God told Casey we should go, before I ever told him I was feeling down. Isn't that cool how He works? He also told him to get me some flowers at lunchtime to cheer me up. They did. Sweet boy. I digress...

So, good sermon, like I said. But the real heart surgery was before we ever got to the sermon. We arrived to the service as they were singing together. One of the songs was "I Surrender All". And, I thought, "Really? You just won't let this go!" I mean, really, I just cannot escape what I first wrote about one week ago. The reality that God can and does demand my all. That He can take things from me. That He has a good plan. But it might hurt. I didn't want to sing the song. I don't want to surrender all. But Andrew (leading the music) said something about saying this as a declaration, and I did. It was a declaration that I will fight against my flesh that does not want to surrender, and I will acknowledge with my lips that it IS good to surrender to Jesus.

After the song, Andrew was talking about his guitar---how it has this little broken place on it that needs to be fixed, but how he's unwilling to surrender it into the hands of someone who can fix it, because he's afraid they'll mess it up. He asked, though, what if that person would not only repair it, but also give him new strings and add some other things that would make it work even better than it already does? This is where my attention was caught. He then said something which I wish I had word-for-word, because it was like a flash-of-light-I-finally-get-it moment for me, but it was something to this effect, "I think God is asking me to give things up for the sake of giving them up, but He wants me to give them up so He can fill me with His love and His power."

So, that's it. That's my problem. In this past week, I couldn't imagine that if God were to take away thing x, y, or z, that it would be anything but a painful void. I couldn't imagine that when God creates a void by taking something away, He Will fill that void with His love and His power. He will. Less of me, more of Jesus.

I wish that cleared things up, and that I didn't still have to wrestle with this. But I am (wrestling, that is). Our church is reading the Bible together and we just finished reading the story of Joseph, and now are reading the story of Job. Two men who lost everything. See, I told you God won't let this thing go with me. Everywhere I go, there it is. The good thing about them is I know the end of their stories...I know God was in control every step of the way, and had a good plan that always outwitted the plans of their enemies. If Joseph's brothers meant to kill him, God used it to preserve life for many. If satan meant for Job to end up cursing God because he lost everything, God taught Job how good He is. If God does something in my life that sends me to my knees, or on my face, and the enemy means for me to despair, I must, I must, trust that God is absolutely in control of my life, and has a good plan in it for me. He has not given me a spirit that makes me a slave again to fear, but the Spirit of adoption. I am His daughter.