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New Post it note:

Surrender your expectations!

It stems from lingering thoughts of the Easter celebration this year. (Ok, so I am a bit slow) I tried to read through the events in Christ life during the Easter season. It was a great journey, but the events of the two men on the road to Emmaus have left me with a new truth this year. You can check out the whole story in Luke 24:13-35.

Verse 21 is the killer verse. Well actually the first four words.

Are you ready?

Here they are….

“But we had hoped”

Life changing now isn’t it? Actually those four words were the start of the men describing what they had thought Jesus was going to do and be.

They planned on a great political leader who would redeem them. Well Jesus rather blew that plan out of the water. He redeemed them but in an eternal way! What hit me was,  because of their expectations of what they wanted Jesus to do and be they missed it. They missed Gods plan and who Jesus was. They even missed that he was walking right there with them! It is tempting to call them both dense in the head!  Then I think of my own expectations at times. I have my plans and agenda of how Jesus is going to work, how the situation will be! When it does not fit my plan…”but I had hoped”…well, I miss all that Jesus wanted to be in that situation and what he wanted me to discover about Him. Dense in the head!

So it is time to surrender my expectations!

By the way…Happy Easter!

Oh The Web We Weave!

I have a new post-it-note on my computer. It simply says:

Word
Before
Web

The insight is not especially deep; the inspiration is lacking, and the construction of the composition is pre-school level at best! So let me explain why this note is important enough for me to be on here blogging about it.

I enjoy facebook, email, and my bookmarked blogs. It is just part of the day to check up on the new entries, post and happenings in the life of people I know. It causes no harm to my day. In fact, often times I find myself praying for people and giving words of encouragement! Ok, maybe sometimes I linger too long or pop in too much, but it is really good stuff!

But then recently I found myself in a two-way, one person, conversation (In other words I was talking to myself!). How is it I can get to the end of the day and have not spent even a moment in the Bible but have spent time on the web? Or why do I sometimes rush through my time with the King of Kings and linger at the computer taking in who is doing laundry today and looking at vacation pictures of people I sometimes don’t even really know? What would happen if I treated my time with Jesus like I do my face book. Anxious to see Him and what is happening, lingering, enjoying, praying, rejoicing and searching? And what would happen if I made time for the creator of the world before the web of the world?

Need I say more! I think not! Word before Web! Not deep, not inspiring and very basic! And right now the most important post-it-note strategically placed on the edge of my computer screen!

Ok, I have a confession to make!

I am a post-it note junkie!

If it were not for the little pieces of pure genius my life would be a disaster. I have them everywhere and use them for everything from bookmarks to copying recipes that stick on the inside of my kitchen cabinets. (Although I have found they don’t stick to well to things in the freezer!)  My favorites are stuck around my computer and hidden in my daily calendar. They are thoughts from sermons, authors and my quiet time.

One of the challenges as staff is to blog consistently on our site. Another confession is about to take place. I am not a writer or blogger and have not done my job well! So at the encouragement of Eric I will be sharing Post-it note thoughts! I will do my best not to include recipes or weird notes to myself. The following is one that is stuck on my computer after hearing the thoughts of Michael Roberson, a Collegiate Staff member at camp last summer, on servanthood. It’s a great reminder of who we are!

*Servanthood– a condition of being a servant—state or condition of something

* A servant sees people through compassionate eyes and seeks to minister to them.

*A servant sees a situation and seeks to improve upon it.

Small note, but big truths. The last one is the one that has stuck with me. It is much like the challenge that Pastor Andy gave us several weeks ago. Go ahead and try it! See it and improve upon it! It may be at the line in Wal-Mart, at the restaurant, the work place, the parking lot, the lunch room, in Math class, or maybe even in your own home. It is the way Jesus lived for the hungry, the sick, the dead, the lonely, the sinner! He improved things everywhere he went. It may take some sacrifice and risk. It sure did for Jesus! We should know, he did it for us!

Thanks to Michael for the sticky note thoughts! She not only explains it well, she lives it out!