i love when that happens.

i love when you have a hisotry with someone (even if it was just a moment) and then God gives them back to you.

Julie Forester is a singer/songwriter here in Nashville. I’ve been to several of her shows over the past few years, and her voice is still as stunning as it was when I knew her first. It was a blessing to hear her singing the song we wrote. Now, we just wait and see if anyone chooses to cut it….

another insane moment: i was writing with Alexis Slifer monday night around 8. I’ve known Alexis for about 5 years, but this is the first time talked about writing together.

as we decided what to sing, praying and reading some scripture… i was reminded of a piece of music and lyrics that God had given me couple of months ago. I sang them for her, and she just looked at me. Then proceeded to tell me that God had given her the same tune and simliar lyrics two weeks before. CRAZY!!!!!

So we had our chorus, we had some affirmation that we were supposed to be writing this song, and so we wrote.

I love it.

is there anyone that God has given back to you that you just want to thank Him for?

1960 print of Jesus.

arguably the most recognizable painting of Jesus ever…

i found it in a discard pile yesterday and snatched it up!

on the back it says “the reapers class” merry christmas. december 25, 1960.

i’m pretty sure this is the Jesus that was on Good Times… can anyone confirm this?

in the meantime – i have gotten so many comments and likes and messages.

apparently this photo conjures up a lot of emotion. people remember this. many still have this picture hanging in their homes (or grandparents’ homes).

i got a message on facebook from my middle school hand bell teacher, glenda pogue…

i thought you might be interested.

she said this: Robyn, this picture, “Head of Christ” was painted by Warner Sallman in 1941 (his first). I have always loved his paintings. He also painted “Christ at Heart’s Door”, “The Lord is My Shepherd” and “Christ in Gethsemane” and more. I’m sure you already knew this.  

For the record… I had no idea!

what are some other things from our past remind us of Jesus?

just run behind me, he said.

took my kids to the park today after work, so they could play. who knew that my teenager would teach me a lesson…

this is what happened: after some lovely bickering through the kfc drive thru, we finally got to the park. Before long they had decided to play a game of tackle football. i tried to make them play touch football. they laughed at me.

teams: kavi and jax vs. quint; blaikie was playing with her soccer ball.

after a few minutes Quint asked Blaikie to come play. (read: teenager invites his elementary aged sister to join his team, mother tears up with joy) She was scared, intimidated, resistant. She didn’t know what to do. She said “What do I do?”

He said “just run behind me.”

when the play started, he gave her the ball,  held off the opposition, and shielded her so she could run behind him safely.

This made me think about how God goes before us. When we are scared, intimidated, resistant. When we don’t know what to do. When we say “What do I do?” He says, “Just run behind me.”

he gives us the ball, runs ahead, holds off the enemy, shields us and claims the victory.

i don’t think my son was trying to teach this lesson, but i know the Holy Spirit was using Him to teach me… I think I’m gonna just run behind Him.

I made a typo today … i wrote great full instead of grateful – ha. then i realized, i really am GREAT because I’m FULL from the conference.

full of new information and ideas.

full of encouragement and excitement. 

and so glad that i was able to attend. 

i told one of the other participants that i was a children’s creative minister… after a pause she asked “how many people go to your church?” i said “oh, do you think it’s weird that  a church would send a children’s minister to a leadership conference?” she said “yeah”. 

that got me thinking…  we all lead someone. so we all need to learn how to do it better. and not just better, but best.

i lead kids. by virtue of that i am also leading parents. in addition, i’m leading our team with jason. and then… i get to lead our volunteers. that’s alot of different relationships, with alot of different needs and nuances. think maybe i needed some leadership training? i think there should’ve been more kidmin…. 

at this point – yes, we have new things to learn about doing the ministry… but we also really know what we’re doing in many cases. i don’t feel confused about how to plan a service, what software to use, how to tell a bible story, what worship should look like, how to communicate with kids… i get to do that every week…. 

but leading, yeah, i needed that boot camp. i’m so GREAT because I’m so FULL from what I learned at Christian Leadership Alliance’s 2013 Authentic Leader event.

the photo i’ve attached : I was honored to be a table leader at the CLA women’s leadership summit. these are the names of the women at my table, and the images are to remind me what each woman shared as her personal mission statement. I’m praying for Ginny, Beverly, Barb, Marilyn and Cindy.

Who are you praying for this week? Prayer is crucial. Do it.

i have seen something that i can’t wait to share.

i love when excellence reigns where God resides.

http://slugsandbugsandlullabies.wordpress.com/2013/04/19/a-co-write-with-jesus-and-john-the-baptist/

My friend, extraordinary singer/songwriter (and more importantly human being) Randall goodgame has wrapped all of his talent, wisdom and knowledge around the inerrant word of God. He has taken some beautiful lessons from God and surrounded them with melody and timing that give them yet a new life… God’s word is a living thing.*

He has honored God with the choice to make an entire album of songs, with scripture-only verses and chorus. And thank the LORD… because it’s freaking awesome.

TWO SHIRTS is a song about serving others. It is about what is really important in eternity. It teaches selflessness, love and sharing. The enchanting melody places it firmly in your mind and heart, where it can change you from the inside out. I’m so thankful to have this song in the hard drive of my mind, to recall when I’m struggling with any of these things, and so grateful that my kids will have it too.

lyrics:

(luke 3:11)

anyone who has two shirts, should share with the one who has none.

anyone who has food should do the same

(mark 9:35)

anyone who wants to be first, must be the very last

and the servant of all, the servant of all

(matthew 6:19-21)

do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth

where moth and rust destroy

where theives break in and steal

store up for yourselves treasures in heaven

for where your treasure is, there your heart will be

*my recent epiphany:

i was talking to a friend about my job. i’m a kids creative minister. i usually say “i get to find as many ways as i possibly can to tell an eternal story that everyone already knows.” what hit me when i was talking to my friend is that the bible really is a living thing. how else could we continue to find new ways to share it’s truths? it’s a mindblowing realization to me.

speaking of good friday – i’ve talked about this a little bit online, but wanna capture my whole thought… my pastor (who is in recovery from his surgery yesterday) loves us so much. he planned something for our church staff family that i have never known of another group doing (i’m sure they have, i just don’t know about it). he planned a brunch for our staff families on good friday, then we went together to the first of our 21 services that would be coming over the Easter weekend experience. 

how brilliant – we were about to be spent emotionally and spiritually by an arduous schedule, in the most important weekend of the church year – so we got together to prepare for the battle ahead by loving each other. 

it makes so much sense to prepare for battle like that. don’t you think?

what ways do you prepare yourself for battle each day? each week? for big things. 

understand this… there is an enemy that does not want the story of hope and eternal salvation to be spread, he is going to go against you. you must be prepared to fight.

cue the fight song : long hollow kids : https://soundcloud.com/rbcwrites/fight

what is a sister cousin?

well, it’s not a sister-wife. it kind of looks like this:

 growing up with no siblings could’ve been lonely.

being a grown up with no siblings, frankly, even lonelier.

except for this: my mom was a master at making sure i stayed connected to my cousins. we spent
a lot of holidays and vacations going to wherever they happened to be. we stayed in each other’s lives because our moms are sisters, and they stayed connected. so, over the years the girls: Kimberly, Teri and Lindsay have called me a “sister” and treated me like it.

but they took it to whole “nutha” level this past week, in celebration of my 40th birthday.

before i say how, please indulge me as i spend a minute on the idea of growing up lonely as an adult – as you lose a parent (which i did several years) you start to realize you’re eventually gonna be the only one left behind in your immediate family.

you are the only person that has that parent-child relationship with a parent that is gone, so no one misses them the same way you do or knows them like you do. it’s very lonely-feeling. you don’t have anyone that is equally dealing with your loss, no one to sit in your specific sadness with. it’s just, really sad.

interestingly, my sister-cousins lost their dad, the year before i lost mine. this gave us definitely a more simliar understanding of each other’s pain and loss. it also, i believe chrystalized our bond. we had walked through the same loss.

this year, when i was about to turn 40 – the girls called and said that they were coming and we were gonna have a sister’s weekend.

as someone with no sisters, i’ve of course, never had one of these. (it’s kind of crazy that in 40 years, we have never done this before) – but they came to town… and boy did we have make a memory!

we started off laughing… and ended up laughing. it went a little something like this:

i checked into our hotel, as they were still on the way. when they arrived, Teri said “oh no, this isn’t how we’re welcoming 40 in!” after 30 minutes of jokes about a hotel that might you rent by the hour, etc. etc. The problem was, that the hotel was across from the general lee museum, but you could SEE Gaylord Opryland from the outside facing door of our hotel/motel room. The girls were not having that. They wanted to go across the street. (i’m not picky, because i was just astounded that they came all the way from louisiana and texas to be with my for 36 hours… didn’t really care where we were). However… I was more than thrilled to send a text to my friend Carla Burleson and ask her husband for help.

JB Burleson (the dad of one of Jackson’s best friends) saved the day… he called the hotel and arranged an amazing rate for a 2 night stay at the Gaylord Opryland hotel. I think my cousin Teri said “I love JB” no less than 20 times and … she was of course not talking about Justin Beiber. Our room was glorious, with a patio overlooking the Cascades conservatory. It just made everything we did more special.

-i had checked out what was going on in nashville and was thrilled to find out the Time Jumpers (kenny sears, dawn sears, vince gill, jeff taylor, joe spivey, larry frankly, paul franklin, ranger doug, andy reiss, billy thomas) were performing at 3rd and Lindsley. We ended up with the most perfect table, and my cousins almost died when they heard the talent in that small room. it’s just ridiculous… but only in nashville!.

-the next day we ate at the pharmacy, which was divine as usual. we shopped in the hillsboro village area. we visited a friend of mine from college, who now works at belmont – and checked out the campus – deciding that at least 3 of our collective children should go to school there one day. dinner at mafiozas where we ran into Thomas Bain (one of my favorite people, that i was thrilled for them to meet), went to see Jordan Reynolds (someone i co-write with occasionally, that i also wanted them to meet) play at The Basement.

-then they left. their gifts were: a clock, a compass in a treasure box, and a welcome sign.

i thought how fitting:

they travelled to see me (compass)

they took the time (clock)

they are my home, my family (welcome sign)

i have never felt so sister-loved…

i might have to write a song about that!

can you even stand it? this entire chair was yarn-bombed by emmy and her mom, for my 40th birthday.

it has a special diet coke piece, a couple of bears because i love bears, it has my name… it’s just divine. i can’t quit thinking about it. and loving it. even the red and black plaid on the right leg (i love that lumberjack plaid). i also love hearts (ever since blaikie had heart surgery at 6 months, i’ve been drawn to them)

this chair is a picture of being known, and being loved.

what ways can you show someone today that you love them and know them, and have been paying attention to who they are? because you know what? it feels really good.

come visit my office sometime, and check out my

“love chair.”

weird.

1 – a new version of the Bible called THE VOICE – once you read this, you’ll see why I am loving it so much.

“Through a collaboration of nearly 120 biblical scholars, pastors, writers, musicians, poets, and artists, The Voice recaptures the passion, grit, humor, and beauty that is often lost in the translation process. The result is a retelling of the story of the Bible in a form as fluid as modern literary works yet painstakingly true to the original manuscripts.”

2 – The VOICE tv show

I am loving the new coaches, and the spirit of camraderie and mutual respect among all 4 coaches is a relief. I was always so uncomfortable with the unkindness that seemed to be thrown around when the last girl judge was in the mix. 

the artists are spectacular already, and it just gets you excited for them, as you see these accomplished musicians, blake shelton, adam levine, shakira, and usher getting excited about helping them.  it really is a highlight of the week.

3 – but most importantly. God’s voice. This week more than most weeks, God is vocal and prevalent. Christians are bolder in inviting people to join them for church. Billboards, signs, songs about the Christ who came to save us are everywhere. The gospel is the theme of the week. The crucifixion is center stage, the resurrection is the evidence of prophecy fulfilled and proof that the other promises of heaven are real.