Women

Hey Girls!

I have loved the opportunity to be allowed into your hearts, minds, and computer screens! This blog project has come to an end, and I just wanted to end it with a few thoughts.

First, I want to publicly thank my wonderful writers: Paula Guest, Tammy Circeo, Melissa Twitchell, Becky Phillips, and guest writer, Maria Loesell. It was so great getting to know each of their hearts a little more, and seeing what God has been doing in their lives. Sometimes as women, we have trouble keeping our “eyes on our own paper”, in terms of appreciating the curriculum God has laid out for each of us. Hearing other womens’ stories makes me realize that I’m glad I’m not God, and that I need to work, with God, on the things He has given me.

Secondly, writing in a journal or “for yourself” is fine. Writing for “public consumption” was VERY vulnerable, and I did NOT take that into account, when starting on this project. I also realized, about myself, that having an ongoing project is difficult for someone, such as myself, who is more into quick, instant results and not great on follow-thru. Its kind of like God HAND-PICKED this project for me…oh wait, I think He did! He has allowed me to get beyond myself and write the things that He’s perfecting in me, so that, hopefully, that encourages you to do the same.

I trust that each of you will focus on God’s grace and goodness in your life. I had entitled this blog “Women, Awake”. I hope that as Christmas is here, we can live *Awake* with God, our families, and our friendships. I’m talking to myself! That is very hard to do.

I have likened God’s workings in my life, as one of those 80’s 3D dot pictures. Do you remember those? A bunch of tiny dots, that people “claimed” would turn into a picture if you stared at it long enough. I never believed it. My brother had one in his room. But, one day, I decided I wanted to “see” this picture, feeling as though I’d missed out. I stood still and FINALLY saw it! This is kind of how I feel God works in our lives. We will see Him at work, and even if we don’t stand still, He is still there, working. Let’s stand still together, this Christmas season, and watch what He’s doing.

Thanks again for letting me participate in this project, and I’ll see you all standin’ around!
Lauren Neal

article by Lauren Neal, for Melissa Twitchell; photo by John Twitchell

I wanted to give the “rest of the story”, for Melissa. As you will see below, God has done a miraculous work in her (and John’s life) in the past weeks. God has fulfilled her desire to become a mother, as well as, more than she could have thought to ask for. She sent an email out to some of us, a week or so before delivering sweet baby Jackson, outlining some of her impending fears. She used that email to show how God answered each and every one of her fears, and then some! Isn’t He always that way?! Please read below how He worked in her life, and praise your God for how He works in your life, too!

Two weeks ago, I wrote you all with some unexpected circumstances and prayer requests.  Tonight, I am writing to give an update on our situation and on those prayer requests.

Fear 1) The baby is able to stay in as long as feasible.  If the baby comes early, the baby is born with no major complications and will be able to be with us and spend little time in the NICU. 

Answer 1) Jackson was able to stay in 10 extra days and was born on Monday, 11/16 @ 1:24 AM.  He spent a total of 36 hours in the Special Delivery Nursery (not NICU) with no major issues. He was able to come home with us yesterday and has already surpassed his birth weight (he’s now 5 lbs).  Doctors & nurses are saying he is doing great.

Fear 2) We have peace about this surprise, really trust God and let Him handle the details and for us to “obtain” a parent mindset.  I don’t exactly feel like a ‘Mom’ yet.

Answer 2) I was at peace with delivering Jackson 3-4 weeks early and especially so with the level of medical care we were receiving.  I definitely am in Mommy mode and love my little guy in a way I can’t quite describe yet.  John is ecstatic to have Jackson here and loves holding and taking naps (the few we can) with him.

Fear 3) Our moving will go smoothly and I, Melissa to be at peace with not being involved in it.

Answer 3) We were moved and moved quickly.  My sister, Mindy was sent down from Alaska to help us for little over a week and John’s mom came for a day to help with the actual move.  We were unpacked and had everything that “needed” to get done done before I was re-admitted into the hospital this last Saturday morning.

Fear 4) I, Melissa am able to finish up transition pieces at work tomorrow (using my laptop at the hospital) and be able to be finished with work for now.

Answer 4) I was able to go back to work for a few more days when I was discharged from the hospital last week.  I was able to “finish” enough for me to be able to walk away for the next three months.

Fear 5) John interviewed for a great position this week.  Pray that this is the job for John and we don’t need to worry about what this month early change might have on our savings and finances.

Answer 5) Today, John accepted an offer from this position/interview.  This job has been a perfect job fit for him from the very beginning. The timing of every aspect of this job/interview process has been impeccable and only God’s doing.  After a counter offer, he was offered what we needed and was given one extra week of vacation a year.  John and I both agree that the extra week of vacation is so valuable and worth more than extra money.   John starts Monday, November 30 so Jackson and I have him for a little bit longer here at home.

I know some of this is somewhat redundant with the other emails John & I have sent out.  But when I went to send an email stating we were home and the news about John’s employment situation, I remembered this specific list I had sent out.  After reviewing it, I am once again amazed and humbled at God’s provisions, timing and His ways of accomplishing His plans.  I sit here and look at my sleeping son and it brought tears of gratitude and love for Him and for our friends and family who have been incredibly supportive of us during this time in prayer, words of encouragement and actions. Thank you again.

article by Paula Guest/photo by Christiana Childers

This morning, as I was riding my bike along the Deschutes River, I was struck yet again by the perfection of God’s creation. The blue of the water and sky, the green of the grass.  The intricacy of a flower blossom.  The majesty of a water fall.  The beauty of a bird’s song.  When I experience something so incredibly beautiful it takes my breath away, I hear God whisper, “I did this for you. To bring you joy.”

Ps 19:1-3   The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands……There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.

Rom 1:20   For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood by what has been made.

As I prepare a special meal for a birthday, crochet an afghan for a sister, plan an outing with a grandchild, the inner joy comes from anticipating the pleasure that the gift will bring.  And I can only imagine that as God created, He too, did so with a smile as He anticipated the pleasure His creation would bring to future generations. I don’t believe in ‘intelligent design’ so much as I believe in ‘loving design.’

People feel God’s presence differently. I am most in awe of His ‘might, majesty, dominion, and power,’ and best able to feel His divine nature, when I am outside. I take it personally. The entirety of creation is a giant cathedral. How can I not stand in awe, and as I hear that gentle whisper yet again,” not whisper back, “Thank you, Lord!”

article and photo by Tammy Circeo
As a young homemaker and mom, I had all kinds of decorating ideas for my children’s rooms. For the girls, I always thought I would decorate with a vintage flair. You know, pink, chenille, chandeliers … VERY girly, very ME! 

For the record, I’ve never been able to decorate my daughters’ rooms that way. Just as I got the pink paint can open for my first daughter’s room, her dad took her to Home Depot to ‘pick out wallpaper and paint’. Keep in mind that she was only about 18 months old, had her daddy wrapped around her little finger, and furthermore, had her own little ideas of what she wanted in her room. They came back with primary colored stripes and …

…Sesame Street Character Wall Border!

The conversation that ensued between my husband and me went something like this:
ME: “Primary colors? Really? What about PINK? And girly stuff? And NOTHING TV or character-related?! This isn’t what I wanted!”

My gentle husband said, “Well, Sweetie, this is what EMILY picked out.”

My reaction wasn’t because I am against Sesame Street at all! Sesame Street saved my sanity on more days than I care to admit! But, I’m pretty sure if I’d been at Home Depot with her, I would’ve been able to gently persuade her towards pink hues, soft edges, a bit of lace …

I’m sure I could’ve done that.

Yeah, pretty sure I could’ve.

My husband understood that it wasn’t a hill to die on, especially with a child of 18 months of age! Did it matter really? Pink and frills versus primary colors and characters?

But for me, the mom, the home decorator, the homemaker … this was a twist on my vision. I had my own ideas and thoughts. I wanted my little girls’ rooms to be what *I* wanted.

I should’ve seen this as a red flag about my control issues. But it has taken many more experiences and warnings, especially my children entering the teen years, for me to realize that my ideas of parenting were way off base!

Contrary to what I thought and what many parents of young children believe, parenting is not about controlling another human. We tend to think that if we can control their behavior and teach them to respond to us the way we desire, then we must be good parents, right?

That might work until the child hits roughly 11 years old or so, the time that these sweet babies start sprouting wings and discovering who they are, what life is all about, and whether this whole ‘spiritual’ stuff that mom and dad have been flapping about has any weight. This is the time that they try to fly the coop, making their own identity known. We know they are not ready to go anywhere yet, but our guiding through the next phase is what MAKES them ready. It seems to be an overwhelmingly hard time for parents.

The whole wing-testing thing can easily blindside us parents and cause us to wonder what we got ourselves into! We start asking, “Who is this questioning human standing in front of me with attitude and what have you done with my beautiful little baby?!” 

I’m going to be a bit radical and stand up in defense of those beautiful babies that are now questioning humans with attitude … And I’m going to tell us parents, “Embrace that attitude! Accept it! Love it! Learn from it! Teach to it!” Understand that what we as adults see as “attitude” is more immaturity than rebellion. It is wing-testing, God-ordained, and totally normal in the growth process.

In case you think that by encouraging the acceptance of “attitude”, I’m also advocating disrespect of parents, I will put an end to that thought! That should not be allowed, but respect must be earned. Keeping our fleshly selves out of the picture and allowing God to shine through us will encourage our children to seek God. Our actions, rather than our words, will demand the respect. Ephesians 5 encourages us to “be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live a life of love”. As we imitate God, and work through our human weaknesses, our children can be drawn to God.

Parenting, ultimately, has very little to nothing to do with the birth process or with our own perception of effective parenting. It is all about teaching our children how to grow up with God’s power. It’s about realizing that we are an instrument used by God to bring another human to responsible adulthood.

Sometimes it means allowing our kids to make mistakes, not voicing our own opinions, and allowing their questions. I believe that parenting teens requires providing a path for our children to follow, being their cheerleader, and most importantly their mentor as they test their God-given wings.

As a collector of quotes and lover of words, I find the following to be the embodiment of my raising teens experience: “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on.” Henry Ellis

May God give me wisdom to do both at the appropriate times.

article by Paula Guest/graphic by Tammy Circeo

He knows my name.  How many times have I read that, or sung that??  But did I believe it??  Did I assume it was meant for someone else?  Or did I just assume it was symbolic? Or allegorical?   Or a metaphorical?  Or an idiom? Or any other figure of speech – except literal!

The following is the story that forever proved to me that not only does God know MY name, but He also orders my days.

I retired from teaching in June ’05.  Mid July of that year we were having a family reunion at our house here in Seattle.  My 87 year old father was failing.  The family felt we needed to come together to celebrate him, and introduce him to his great grandchildren. All five siblings, and 11 of his 13 grandchildren came from all over the country.

Three days into the reunion, while at a picnic on Lake Washington, Dad fell and broke his hip.  He never recovered, and ended up in hospice.  He was an incredible and much beloved father. Sitting by his bedside as his life inched away was an honor that I cherish.

He died mid August.  Since he had spent his entire adult life in Phoenix, we scheduled his memorial service in Phoenix, in mid September.  After returning from the services, I escaped to Sunriver, and spent three weeks in solitude.

Keep in mind the time line here:  Mid July through mid October.

The week I got home from Sunriver, I picked up a phone message.  “This is Jenny. Please call.” 

Jenny was Elizabeth’s mother.  And Elizabeth had been in my 2nd grade classroom five years earlier.  The next year, I moved from 2nd grade to become the reading specialist, and had worked with Elizabeth for an additional two years.  I had acted as mentor and counselor for Elizabeth and Jenny both.  Elizabeth was now in Junior High. I had not seen or talked to Jenny in two years. The message, “Please call” was not a welcome one.  I did not WANT to call.  I was retired now!

When I finally, begrudgingly, returned the call.  Jenny’s first question was, “Are you all right?” I said, “Why do you ask?”  She replied that in early July God had told her, “Pray for Paula.”  She said simply, “So I did.  Every day.  I prayed for you.  For your husband. For your kids and grandkids.  And for your father.”

God had asked her to pray for me BY NAME. And had prompted her to pray for my father.  She had been faithful until He told her to stop.  She said, “About early October, God told me that you were OK now, and I could stop praying.  But, Paula, could you tell me what was happening in your life between Mid-July, and Mid-October?” About this point, I just started sobbing.

I was blessed beyond measure.  And convicted to my core.  When I received that phone message, I had reacted very selfishly, thinking, “Leave me alone.  I’m retired.  I don’t want to give any more school advice.”

God trusted Jenny to be obedient in prayer even when she had no idea why she was praying. Jenny was faithful.  She listened.  She obeyed.

I was absolutely dumbfounded to know that God cared enough about me to ask someone else to pray for our entire family.  How unbelievable to have been mentioned by name. How humbling for me who so often promises, “I’ll pray” and then promptly forgets.
 
Oh LORD, I want to be a Jenny.  I want to hear Your voice.  I want to be trusted to do Your work.  Make me a Jenny.

I knew you all would want to know about what’s happening this weekend at Northshore. We are presenting “Christmas Delivered – Joy to the World”. Come and celebrate the wonder and beauty of Christmas.

Christmas Delivered
Come and Join Us!

We thought you might enjoy seeing a sneak peek of our much anticipated weekend performances of “Christmas Delivered – Joy to the World” .

Click the video to the left to catch a glimpse of the transformation happening in the Worship Center.
To encourage and enable younger families to reach out to neighbors, colleagues, family and friends, our Children’s Department has offered to provide FREE child care (4 years of age and younger) during the Sat. 2PM & Sun. 2PM performances. Bless young families with a joyous and meaningful Christmas celebration. Invite your friends, and give Dorene the courtesy of how many children to expect; Email Dorene .
Need additional incentives?
* Many of you are already inviting your circle of friends to come and experience “Christmas Delivered”, but if cost is keeping you from inviting more un-churched folks to the show, we have made a limited number of comp tickets for each performance available for you. Enter the discount code “GRACE” on the checkout page to order tickets and order quickly , DON’T MISS OUT!
* All right. So you came to a show. It was FANTASTIC! You realize you have a friend(s) that just HAS to see it. Buy tickets to another performance and bring your friend at a reduced rate of 25% off EACH ticket. Enter “LOVED IT” as a discount code on the checkout page. Buy additional tickets . (all children’s tickets are already discounted)
We are looking forward to what God is going to do this weekend; take advantage of this opportunity to share this message of Hope during this Christmas season. Continue to pray with us that God would use this weekend to change lives.

Home | Christmas Delivered | Order Tickets

article by Paula Guest/photo by oOlemon

Listening to a missionary in from the field talk about working with the women in Nepal broke my heart.  In Nepal, a woman has no value.  Quite often she doesn’t even know her own name.  The missionary went on, “She was probably given one at birth, but has never heard it spoken.”  A woman is called, “wife of…” “daughter of…” “mother of…” She has no value other than a beast of burden, and does a beast of burden care if it has a name?

In Nepal, a woman’s only worth is in the number of sons she bears.  Each son will bring home a wife – to work the fields, carry the water, cook the meals.  The more sons, the more wives, the more status the mother-in-law has.  A woman with no sons has no value.  A widow with daughters has even less.

Listening to the story of the women as they learned to write their name, and for the first time saw themselves as having worth, was enough to break even the most callused heart.

How blessed we are to know the Creator God, who not only knows our name, but has it engraved on the palm of His hand. Each of us. It is beyond thinking. Each of us has intrinsic value, because we are created in the image of a God who knows us, and loves us.

Our value comes, not from what we accomplish.  Not from what we do.  Not for who we are.  But from who He is.

Did you know that God thinks about you??  Another translation for the well known verse from Jeremiah “I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord,” is “I know the thoughts I think for you.”  God is THINKING about us. EACH of us.  Individually.  By name.

How awesome is that??

article by Paula Guest/photo by Christiana Childers

One morning while running errands with three young grandchildren in tow, we began discussing names for their soon to arrive new baby brother.  Dillan, age four, began asking me what everyone’s ‘whole name’ was.  “What is Isaac’s name?”
“Isaac Michael Guest”
“What is Jocelyn’s name?”
“Jocelyn Elaine Guest”
“What is Papa Ron’s name?”
And so on until we had named every cousin, aunt, uncle, and parent.

In sheer delight he cried, “We all have the same name!” And so began a somewhat lengthy discussion on what it means to be part of a family. What an incredible, bone deep, sense of security comes from knowing that you belong to a family who will love and protect you, no matter what. That you not alone, nor ever will be.  And, although I didn’t discuss it with a four year old, how important it is to take care to keep your ‘good name’, not doing anything to bring shame or disgrace to your family name.

My heart immediately turned to our greater family – the family of God.  And the new name we have adopted, “Christian,” child of God.

If we find peace and security in our earthly family, how much greater is that peace and security in our Heavenly family?  How much greater care should we take to bring honor to the Name above all names?

To be called a ‘child of God’, and to bear His Name, is an honor that we cannot grasp.  It brings eternal security that we cannot fathom.  In 2 Chronicles 7:16, speaking of Solomon’s temple, the LORD said, “I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever.  My eyes and my heart will always be there.”

We are told in the New Testament that our very bodies have become the temple of the LORD. 1 Cor 3:16 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?”  WE are God’s temple, and He has promised that HIS name will be within us forever.  That HIS eyes, and HIS heart will be with us always.  Wow!

And the ‘new name’ that He will bestow upon you.  Do you ever wonder about that??  What will my name be for all eternity?  And how will it reflect on how God sees me?

article by Melissa Twitchell/ photo by Christiana Childers

Well, God continues to show me how much He loves me in some of the most ordinary and simple ways but also in the most extraordinary ways.

I have felt extremely isolated in the last couple of months. Like Becky, I am new to the area so my long-time friends and family are far away. I also work remotely for a health care system in Oregon, so the people I work with are long distance too.

I started to focus on how lonely I was feeling. I cried about it several times.  With the baby coming, I didn’t see any new opportunities for relationship building in the near future and my existing relationships seemed stalled.

I even wondered about who would throw me a baby shower.  Don’t get me wrong when I say this…I just wanted to have a local relationship that would be far enough along and deep enough for this to occur.  I do have one person that fits that definition but her life had more than enough going on in it.

Why was I so lonely?  What was bothering me so much about it this time?  I thought about John and me not really having strong roots here or anywhere because we’ve moved around quite a bit.  I wondered about what this would mean as we raised our child?  Who would fill those supporting roles in our child’s life? I started to pray about it.

One recent Sunday morning, I was in the shower thinking about it again and the reason started to solidify.  I wanted to be known, to be missed, to be valued.  How many people really know me?

Almost immediately, Psalm 139 came to mind. It’s one of my favorite Psalms.  It’s about how God searches and knows the author inside and out.  It’s about how God knew about the author before he was even born and had all his ordained days written in His book. It hit me hard…God knows me!  He knows me in a way that I have only dreamed about.  And because He knows me that should be sufficient for me.  I felt better.

That morning I prayed at breakfast and asked that He would speak directly to me that morning.  That morning Pastor Jonathan was teaching on Phil 1:12-26.  His two takeaways spoke to me.  The first was centering all aspects of our lives on Jesus.  That when we lose focus things tend to go awry.  This was part of my problem.  Over the last couple of months, I have let my focus slip.  I have been focusing on my physical pain, my loneliness, planning for the baby, on John’s employment situation and definitely not my relationship with Jesus Christ. The second take away hit home with me…

We were to make much of Christ and our actions should make Him known. I should be worried about making Jesus Christ and what He has to offer known…not about making myself known.  What Jesus has to offer me thrills me or at least it used to.  I remembered when I first really understood what His offer meant to me and how I wanted to share that with everyone. It had been awhile since I had felt that way.  I was so humbled and thrilled to have heard from Him so clearly.  I felt a million times better and didn’t even think about feeling lonely until the next night.

The following day, God showed me I was known both by Him and others in eight different, unique and definitely God-inspired situations. In one situation, I had heard from one of my co-worker on maternity leave who logged into her email to wish me a ‘Happy Birthday’, to tell me that she missed talking to me and she would try to call and talk later in the week.  In another situation, John heard from someone in our Sunday class that he had missed seeing us in class yesterday.  The other situations were just as random and awesome.  I think the most awesome situation, which also was my last situation from the day, was an offer by someone to throw me a baby shower.  This is the same person who has so much going on in her life that I would have never fathomed her volunteering. 

I felt so incredibly loved by God that evening.  I knew that without a doubt it was all God’s doing.  I knew that He gave me all these to remind me of His love for me and to let me know He knew all of my needs.  My job was to focus on His Son and make much of Him and the rest will fall the way it is suppose to.

article by Paula Guest/photo by Tammy Circeo

The Bible has many good things to say about getting older; gaining wisdom, respect – and all that.  But it says nothing, gives you no guidance whatsoever on how to deal with the day you look in the mirror, and find yourself facing a stranger.  “Who is that??  And what have you done with my body??”  Where is that ‘sweet young thing’ who used to turn heads?

Grandchildren bring great joy.  But they also bring great humility.  There was the day that Nathan said, “Grandma, how did your hair get so gray??”  “Well, Nathan, that is what happens when you start getting older.”  “How old are you, Grandma?”  “I’m 60” “Oooohhh Grandma, that IS old!”

And then there was Isaac.  While I was sitting on the bottom stair helping Dillan put on his shoes, Isaac came up beside me and gave my upper arm a swing.  “Grandma, why do your arms do this?”

At 20, you cannot imagine being 40.  At 40, you cannot imagine being 60.  But at 60, you can imagine all too well, being 80.  Because at 60, you have  watched your parents age – and perhaps die. You have entered, once again, into the care giving stage. And the fear is always with you, “Oh Lord, is this going to happen to me?  Am I going to become my child’s child??”

Time begins to speed up after 50.  Each moment becomes precious, a chance to make a memory. These days, and years, speed by with breathtaking speed. We look back and rehearse the memories from when our children were young, and we now see them parenting children of their own.  In each adult child, we see echoes of the past.  We celebrate what they are today, but we are nostalgic for the days when we were young, and so were they.

The birth of each grandchild is a day to savor.  While parents celebrate when the last child is potty trained; grandparents mourn.  “No more babies.”  It is a joy, an honor, and a privilege, each moment we have these precious grandchildren to ourselves.  But we are relieved, oh so relieved, when their parents come to retrieve them.  Because we are tired, oh so tired.  It is abundantly clear why God gave children to young people.

These years between 60 and 80 are precious years.  God’s plan is perfect.  These years are to be treasured. In these years, God has given us the gift of time. As we retire, hopefully with the feeling of a ‘job well done,’ we have the chance to rediscover our mate without the stress of careers, or child rearing.  We enter into a period where we have time.  Time to read.  Time to serve. Time to give back.  Time to simply enjoy God, and all His creation.

These are the years of Jubilee.