challenged or changed?

This morning at church I think I cried more than I have ever cried before in church. The words that the message held, had more truth for me than I've felt, or allowed myself to feel for a long time. I was surprised by my own tears, and the overwhelming feeling that things in my life, that priorities in my life NEED to change. I pray that each of you take the opportunity to listen to this message, and hopefully it strikes you in somewhat of a similar way that you are left with no other choice, but to share it.

Here are a few things that I scribbled down as I was watching and listening.
What does a true expression of the church look like?
Is God an end or is He a means?
How do I break down and get rid of my self-serving reasons for doing God's work?
Am I only trembling because my sin is about to be singed?
God is calling me to repentance, do I want my life to be worth God's suffering?

I pray that you check out this video, that your heart & soul are willing to hear the message there within, and that you feel led to pass it on. Something you should know... the biggest stumbling block to you may be that this video is 30+ minutes long, but I know that these words are worth that amount of time.

"The question isn't were you challenged, the question is were you changed!"

There are two versions of the compilation, one is strictly an audio version, the other is the audio with the words printed along with it. I would suggest looking at the latter of the two.

If for some reason, either of those two hyperlinks don't work, you can try going here, and clicking on them yourself.

a ridiculous russian doll situation

So it's been awhile, my apologies, but sometimes this whole blogging thing can be a little intimidating... especially when you've been too busy to do it for a while.

Well, good news, school's out. I no longer have cable, or internet at my home, or a third roommate for that matter. I've wanted to start reading books, but I haven't finished cleaning my classroom yet, and until that's done I am enslaved to my job. The school year finished well, although I think my students somehow forgot how to clean up after themselves by the end of the school year. It will be nice to be free of them for a while.

I have now planned a road trip for this summer... that takes me to and through about 15 or so states on my way to adding 5,000 more miles on my odometer. I'm excited about it, and am sure I'll be giving more details as to the tour stops on that trip in the near future.

Wow, what have I been up to since I blogged last... I remember thinking that all of my stress would be over once I finished the play, but that was not so. I always forget that May is one of the busiest months of the school year. In May, I missed 3 days of school to go to 'Trees for Tomorrow' which is like an outdoor ed program. I planned, setup, sat through, and took down for prom. I pushed through a few extra projects with my students. I bought an iron & wine cd and wondered why I hadn't done that before. I went camping over memorial day weekend. I saw numerous phenomenal finales before my roommate moved out and took the dvr with her. I purchased Blockbuster Online. In June we started off with graduation, which meant plenty of graduation parties, and far too much food... the parties continue through the coming weekends as well. My calendar for the summer is filling up all too quickly, and I have a feeling it will fly by and I'll be back in school in no time.

I'll have to keep reminding myself to breathe the summer in & let it simmer.