Lolly is Exhausted!

I can't even begin to describe how incredibly exhausted I am!  But, just for you, I am going to push through to write this blog post so all may know about my exciting life. : )

Okay, Friday's defense comes first.  So the night before my advisor gives me a call to encourage me and to let me know what questions he is going to begin the defense with.  (That isn't cheating, is it?)  Anyway, I think it made me more nervous than anything else!  I arrived early the next morning and sat in the room waiting for impending judgement and feeling hopeless.  Then, I remembered something.  It's totally not about me or what degree I may or may not have.  My friend called me that morning to pray with me, and as I sat in the room waiting, I remembered some of what we prayed for - that God would be glorified even in my thesis defense.  I immediately had peace.  I was, in fact, quite over joyed to be alive!  I began writing out the verses to my favorite hymn (How Great Thou Art) and Scripture that deals directly with worry and anxiety.  By the time my advisor showed up, I was like a surfer I was so laid back!  Then, the rest of the committee arrived, but still I had such a beautiful peace!  When the defense officially began I was pumped.  And you want to know something?  I didn't really have to defend anything.

Come again?  That's right.  I answered maybe three questions before it became a discussion on what my title should be.  (Blast that darn elusive title!)  We did talk about other things, but mostly we just sat around throwing out words and corny catch phrases that we thought might work!  We finally decided on this - "Behind the Fan: Conservative Activists in the New Orleans Christian Woman's Exchange, 1881-1891."  For those of you Southern ladies out there, you probably totally get the first part, but for those of you who may not get it, ladies (especially Southern ladies) formerly used fans as a means of keeping cool, communicating, and freshening the air.  (Many times fans were made from the vertivert root which smells divine!)  Anyway, the point is that these women successfully held up the ideal image of the proper Southern lady while "behind the fan" they created some fairly radical reform efforts for the improvement and encouragement of destitute women.  Pretty cool, huh?

Moving on.  After the "defense" I spent another 2 1/2 hours working on completing the legal requirements for submitting my paper, but mostly, I was able to slightly share my faith with my advisor.  This professor is probably one of the best at UNO, but sadly, I do not think he is a Christian.  While we are commanded to share our faith with everyone, I do feel as if this is one person God has placed in my path with whom to share my faith.  I was able to share with him my purpose for pursuing a Master's in history and why I exist - to be a reflection of the One who created me.  To shine in the darkness, even with a history degree.  He tried to change the subject a couple of times, but he brought the conversation back around to my faith more than once!  (Totally not of my doing.)  He even encouraged me to combine my faith with my history training (that's right, he finally started to get what I've been trying to tell him for over a year now).  I'm really excited because I can see this being an open door.  Please pray for him and for my husband and I as we work to share our faith with this lost man.

Now, on to the rest of the weekend!

Saturday I worked with a neighbor we've recently begun witnessing to at her garage sale.  It was interesting to say the least.: )  I then went to lunch with a friend and his fiancee.  This couple decided to get married last Wednesday...they planned the wedding to take place this past Saturday.  That's right, ladies, less than one week of wedding planning!  This friend asked me to talk to his now wife about what it is like being the wife of a small church pastor.  (Poor thing.  She had never met me in my life, and he wanted me to introduce her to "pastor wife" life!)  I did the best that I could do, but come on.  Thomas and I have been married for three years, but I've only had one year as a "pastor's wife"!  I feel so bad for her.  The great thing is, God has been working in this woman's life for a long time.  She is going to be an excellent pastor's wife.  We then went shopping for "earrings" - we had to tell him something to let us go.:)  Just kidding, we actually bought earrings as her "something new."  The wedding was just gorgeous.  There were two other women besides myself and the bride at the wedding, and of course, all of us are running around trying to make everything as 'perfect' as we possibly can, and the guys (who out numbered us like 2-1) were sitting around, hanging out, congratulating the groom.

Men. : )

Anyway, everything went beautifully.  I was even able to videotape the whole thing in order to make it into a documentary for them.  I wanted to do it because the groom had a big to-do on Sunday!  He went through his ordination council (passed with flying colors by the way), and he was ordained Sunday evening!  Yea!  We had a very busy weekend, to say the least.  But we can't slow down because the end of the semester is drawing near!

I think the best thing to happen in the past few days happened today when I went grocery shopping with a friend.  Her daughter (age 2) was trying to say Gabrielle, but it just wasn't working.  So, I told my friend that her daughter could call me Bel, because that is my family's nickname for me and it's much easier for kids.  She doesn't call me Bel.

She calls me "Lolly."  That's the coolest nickname I've ever had.  Now, Lolly has to dash again. Please keep us in your prayers as we finish this semester!!!

Are you ever in need of a Broom Tree?

1Kings 19:2-8

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So may the gods do to me and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow." Then he was afraid, and he arose and ran for his life and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he asked that he might die, saying, "It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life, for I am no better than my fathers." And he lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, "Arise and eat." And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, "Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you." And he arose and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.


Elijah is one of those dudes I never thought would ask for his life to be taken. I think God inspired some stories like these to appear in Scripture to show us that even the prophets were - like us - human. They grew weary and frustrated. Some, like Jonah, didn't want to commit themselves to what God asked them to do because they didn't like the command.

This passage stuck out in my mind as I went over all the events of this year. I know, it's only March. However, it has been a tough year so far. The hardest part of this year, and last, has sadly been our congregation.

I won't go into great detail, but let's just say that God used this congregation to teach us perseverance and joy through trial and suffering. However, through the good, bad, and ugly times, we thought we reached a point of deliverance. We thought the congregation was moving forward and showing great promise for the work God set them apart to do.

We were mistaken.

Thomas came home from the church council meeting and told me what happened. In a nutshell, the group looked at him and said, "We shouldn't have to do anything to grow the church. The pastor is the one who does that."

This may not seem like a lot to some, but these people openly stated that the Great Commission does not apply to them, or any congregation, just the pastors.

That makes no sense. Jesus did not specify certain people of the church to fulfill the Great Commission. He looked at everyone and commanded them all to "go and make disciples of all nations." How is it that so many of our churches want to put off the work of God on those with a title? A church, in my husband's words, is a training place and a place of encouragement. It is a place where we go to get the tools we need to continue the good work Christ commands us to complete. How dare we look at Almighty God and say, "I'm not the pastor so that does not apply to me."

Pardon the expression, but that's a load of crap. I'm not always the best Christian, and I certainly am NOT perfect. I don't mean to demean anyone who honestly wants to physically serve God, but can't for one reason or another. There have been plenty of times when I have not wanted and refused to do what God called me to do for one reason or another, and those memories cause me grief and pain.

All that being said, my spirit has simply been down-trodden from their response and their hearts of stone. My husband and I need a broom tree. This is our first church, and we have made so many mistakes. But through it all, we have earnestly tried to remain true to God's calling and commands. We've now come to a point where we want to see God's hand pointing which way we should go. Stay or leave? We've received counsel on both sides, and now we wait. We wait and we pray for a broom tree to be provided in order for us to be refreshed and revived for the journey ahead.