New Favorite Bible People: Bezalel and Oholiab

Exodus 35:30-35 (NLT)

Then Moses told the people of Israel, “The Lord has specifically chosen Bezalel son of Uri, grandson of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. The Lord has filled Bezalel with the Spirit of God, giving him great wisdom, ability, and expertise in all kinds of crafts. He is a master craftsman, expert in working with gold, silver, and bronze. He is skilled in engraving and mounting gemstones and in carving wood. He is a master at every craft. And the Lord has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach their skills to others. The Lord has given them special skills as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet thread on fine linen cloth, and weavers. They excel as craftsmen and as designers.

Have you ever felt like you had a gift or ability that you had to keep under wraps?  You knew it was something you liked to do, yet you felt like you might not be good enough.  Or maybe you wanted to develop the talent but the people surrounding you didn't encourage you to grow in that area.  Perhaps you may have even felt judged for having that desire or talent.

That was how I felt in my heart for a long time about my interest and abilities in the arts.  As a Christian, especially as I got older, I really didn't meet many in my faith community that were supportive of the arts.  Sure, my family was supportive, but once outside of that comfort zone, things seemed uncomfortable.  And of course it became more uncomfortable for me because many in the artistic community couldn't understand why I would incorporate my faith into the arts, that it was too cliche', not edgy enough, like the monologue I did for competitive drama.  I couldn't reconcile the artistic side with my faith, so for a long time, I just ignored it.  

My senior year in college, I took an art for non-majors class and I loved it.  In the class, the professor told us how he incorporated his Native American spirituality into all of his paintings.  A light bulb went off in my head.  If he could be bold enough and do that, then why couldn't I do the same with my Christian faith?  Ever since then, I have tried to do incorporate my faith in various pieces I do.  

Last fall, after being moved by some very spiritually intimate worship music, my soul was stirred to continue to develop this artistic nature through my dancing ability.  I found a local Christian dance studio and enrolled in their adult ballet class.  It has been fun-in fact sometimes it feels like I had memorized ballet so deeply I had never stopped.  (Which I do dream about dancing quite often.)  As I'm learning and developing this ability to worship God, I have felt more at peace with myself.

Now the passage from Exodus.  How does this all come together?  One day as I was listening to my one year reading plan aloud, I was struck by the actual naming of Bezalel and Oholiab and the fact that it says that the Lord gave them their abilities.  It touched my heart.  I felt the Holy Spirit whispering to me that God has given me artistic abilities like these two men to worship Him.  I may not be able to sing or play an instrument like most people think what qualifies as worship.  But, I can paint or draw a picture that can express my heart to the Lord.  I can create art that encourages and further's God's mission on earth.  I can dance for the Lord, telling a story of His love and compassion for all.  These are my special gifts and abilities God has given me to worship Him.  Being artistic isn't bad, it isn't a divergent from traditional Christianity.  Just like Bezalel and Oholiab, this is how God made me and I can use it for His Glory.  I will not hide it away anymore!

What I'm Listening to Wednesday...

Happy Wintery Wednesday!  Enjoy!

Soulful Sunday

I was listening to some old playlists on my ipod this week and came across this song from about five years ago.  I loved it then, and I love it still.  The words are so pure and honest.  It reminds me of a modern day Psalm.  Listen and be refreshed!

Saturday's List

Things I've Learned in the First Two Months of 2014

1. Winter can be really cold. Really cold. Really really cold. Winter is definitely NOT my favorite!

2. Most people think Valentine's Day is for love. Well, according to my kindergarten class it isn't. Valentine's Day is about making everything pink and eating lots of candy. Now that we all know the true meaning of Valentine's Day, let's go forward celebrating pink and candy!

3. Dansko clogs are the best shoe for standing all day long. They may not be the most fashion forward shoe on the planet, but they are awesome for my feet and my back at the end of the day. Plus they provide great protection from accidentally getting stepped on by five and six year olds.

4. Honesty is important and telling only a part of the story has the same impact as lying. As one of my best friends from high school can tell you, I would always say, "Honesty is the best policy."

5. I'm trying to follow a reading plan to read through the Bible entirely this year. It started off a bit different than traditional plans, and I read Daniel first. That is an amazing book and probably one of my favorites right now. Currently though I'm struggling through Exodus. It's been hard for me to read. What is your favorite book of the Bible? What is a book that is hard for you to read?

6. I jumped on the bandwagon and read the Divergent series. I liked the first book a lot, but I was disappointed with the way the trilogy finished. I didn't disagree with the ending but I didn't like the style of writing. 

7. Speaking of reading, I thought I would take some book recommendations. Anything super amazing out there that I need to read?

8. Kindergarteners make me laugh. It is pretty much like those ATT&T commericals everyday. I had a conversation with a few of them the other day that was hilarious. They asked me what I did with my kids at home. I told them I didn't have any kids because I wasn't married. One kid totally flipped out and said, "How are you living? How can you survive? You need a husband to pay for your house and your food." Then another kid piped up, "Miss Leochner is a grown-up, she can take care of herself. She doesn't have to have a husband."  Too funny.

9. We start our Dr. Seuss unit at school next week. This always is a marking point because it usually means we only have three months left in the school year.  Every year, I always start thinking, "This is the last..." or "I really need to do this so they are ready for next year...." It becomes a mixed time of emotions as my time to shepherd them winds down. 

10.  Relationships are important, especially with family. Don't ever forget that. Learn to forgive and love. No one is perfect and if you spend your time looking for perfection or harboring unforgiveness, you might miss out on a rich and abundant life. Love is the answer. 

How is that New Year word coming along?

Hello my friends!

I am back after a long hiatus.  As you may remember, I wrote about having a having a specific word from God to focus on in the new year, and my word is PEACE.  Within the idea of peace, I have listened to God and I needed to take some steps to have a more simplified life, both in my spiritual times and in my physical, waking life.  Hence, the new layout, which I need to do some cleaning up and changes to it so it is completely simple.  I view the new look to the blog as part of a fresh start for 2014.

With the idea of peace, I was really trying to listen to what God wanted me to learn or do about peace.  Instead of instantly walking on a peaceful cloud, God has brought lots of situations in my life where I have had to claim His peace.  I am six weeks into the new year and there is already lots of change happening.  I share with you a few:

1. I stopped serving in LifeKids. Yes, you have read that right.  I was on call as a sub, but things kept happening where I couldn't sub.  After much debate and praying, I feel like I'm on a break from serving in LifeKids right now.  While I enjoyed sharing God's love with all kinds of kids from birth to ??, God has shown me right now I need to be still.  I am ministering to kids five days a week with my job as a teacher.  I was finding it hard to have enough in me to minister six days a week.  God has shown me there are seasons in life, and right now, my season is not serving in LifeKids.  It has been difficult for me to accept because I can't imagine not serving.  In fact, it has felt strange to just go to church.  But I know that God has a purpose and a plan, and if this some how, right now, leads to more peace, then I need to submit to it.  I know that one day, God will call me back to serve and I need to rest now to be ready at the right time.
2. My lifegroup for the past four years has stopped meeting together.  (Notice I didn't say stopped being friends...we have just stopped meeting to study the Word together in a discipleship manner.)  This one was really hard for me to have peace about.  I was fearful I would lose the friendships that I have made.  It still terrifies me a little to think about going to a new lifegroup.  I loved the women that God brought into my life the past four years.  However, it is very apparent that for the majority of the group, God has a new season up ahead for them and frankly, our group just wasn't the right place.  I am thankful for the lifelong friendships I've made and I trust God's guidance for a new group.  I have quite worked up the courage to go to a new one yet.  I did some looking, and really felt like I should look for a co-ed group.  I tried to look at singles groups, but have found that 31 is over quite a few group's age limit.  At the same time, I'm too young for the 'older' single groups that start around 40.  I looked at some of the ones that included both married and single people, but the day or time wasn't right.  So now I'm just waiting and hoping to make a connection to another group.  I know that God is got this, but I would be lying if I didn't say that I'm still anxious about it at times and have to turn to peace from Him.
3. Speaking of peace...I don't know if it is because I know so many people ushering in a new season of life or because Valentine's Day is around the corner and EVERY commercial on TV is about it, but I'm having a hard time finding peace about being single.  I look at my life and think to myself, "God, you know that I've really prayed to have a husband and to meet him for the past seven years.  What is taking so long?"  I have even found myself considering myself a permanent bachelorette.  In fact, the other day, I really found myself making some long term goals and when I finished, I realized that none of the goals really allowed for a husband to be involved.  I even think to myself, "Well this is it.  It is the end.  All those feeble online dating attempts, all the set-ups, they didn't work.  You're over 30 now, in fact, you will be 32 in May, so just forget about it.  If a man your age range wanted to get married, he is going to pick someone in their 20s because that is the way it goes." As you can probably tell, there is no peace there in my heart.  So once again, I'm turning to God to ask Him to get me that peace.

As I reflected on God and His word for me, peace, I realized that He is giving me peace by placing me in situations where I am having to call on Him for the peace.  I'm reminded of the lyric from Oceans, "And I will call upon Your name, and keep my eyes above the waves.  When oceans rise my soul will rest in Your embrace for I am Yours and You are mine."  Even though I don't know when I can serve in LifeKids again, when I will find my next lifegroup, if I will ever get married, I know God is holding my future in His hands.  If I call on Him, He will let the peace of Christ rule in my heart and that will be enough for me to walk daily through the uncertainty and change right now.