How was your Thanksgiving break?  Mine was one of the most peaceful in recent years.  No, I did not just eat and sleep all day.  In fact, I was quite busy hosting a huge Thanksgiving family get-together at my house.   Incidentally, the highlight of the Thanksgiving break for me was the success of my first-ever cooked turkey!  Thanks to the step-by-step online instructions, my turkey and all its trimmings turned out quite fabulously.   With the laptop right on the kitchen counter, it was like having a private cooking instructor right alongside me.  As wonderful as these online cooking assistances are, however, it no longer affords us an excuse not to be able to cook something.  At this rate, sooner or later, our husbands may demand we turn out Martha Stewart-ish dishes! 
The reason I felt peaceful and well-rested, I believe, has to do with how I spent the days following Thanksgiving – to be more specific, how I did not get lured into the Black Friday or Cyber Monday bargain hunting insanity.  Yes, I do confess I too have “been there and done that” in the past, but this year I had NO desire whatsoever to be a part of it.  Did I finally become completely sanctified, become like Jesus, with no worldly desires?  Did I get too old and weak to engage in this physically and mentally challenging endeavor?  Or was it because I now have everything I ever needed or wanted?  We all know that’s not the case.
Then why was it different this year?  How was I able to overcome the fierce enticement of amazing Black Friday or Cyber Monday deals?  I came up with three reasons, and I hope to apply these principles not only during the Thanksgiving holidays, but throughout the year from now on.  First, my mind was preoccupied with successfully hosting my first ever Thanksgiving party, which was going to be my way of expressing appreciation for each family member, who has so richly blessed my life.  With that “loftier” goal in mind, my selfish desire and need became less significant.  Secondly, as soon as all the sales ads were delivered home, they were dumped straight into the recycling bin.  Eve was tempted and subsequently sinned because she allowed her eyes to keep gazing at the forbidden fruit.  I knew better not to have them around to stimulate and overwhelm “the cravings of my sinful heart and the lust of my eyes.”  Thirdly, and most importantly, I had no desire to add even one more item to the ton of “stuff” we’ve accumulated over the years.  Most of these were probably things that  we ‘had to have’ at the time, but in this new season of our lives  as we prepare to go out as long-term missionaries, we wish we didn’t have as much stuff to have to get rid of. 
It’s not that we’ve lived a life of excessive luxury or indulgence (ask my children; they’ll vouch for it), but we surely could have done without a whole lot of things.  Jesus said, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Luke 12:34).  I cannot help but think, “What if all this stuff distracted us from solely looking to Jesus for true satisfaction?  How much more fruit would we have been able to bear if we had invested more into the lives of other people?”  But thank God that He is the God of second chances!  As Elder Frank and I follow the Holy Spirit’s lead into the next phase of our lives, we pray we will no longer be weighed down by the things of the world, but passionately pursue after God’s heart.  We desire to “travel light, dwell deep” for the remainder of our lives.

From Pastor Sara’s Heart
December 2, 2012

While I was on the church website recently I made the mistake of clicking on the archived recording of my first sermon from last May. Ever done that? Ever reviewed a recording of yourself giving a speech or presentation? Ugh!! It's excruciating isn't it to see and hear yourself publicly speaking? You tend to be hyper-critical of every little mistake in your delivery and overall presentation and appearance. As I watched the sermon clip I cringed at how twitchy I was- lots of constant nervous movement, my hands flailing about and I paced back and forth too. With my day job I’m in court all the time and so one would think that form of public speaking would help a little here. I think I’m comfortable speaking generally but it’s enormously humbling when it comes to speaking from the pulpit. Pastor Jamie has even commented that all of one’s nervous ticks become even more evident when preaching.
What made me cringe even more while viewing my sermon was the fact that I spoke with a speech impediment- a lisp. A lisp is the inability to enunciate the letter "s" clearly and it comes out as a "th" sound. Jesus, for example, comes out like “Jethuth”. I know that I had to take speech therapy classes for this when I was in 6th grade. I don’t think it’s as bad now as it was then but I guess I just never realized that it was still audibly noticeable some 30 years later!
The ridiculous thing is that my lisp, which is obvious to everyone else, was new to me. I was so mortified that I even Googled local speech therapists and online speech impediment exercises to try and correct it. I’m so self-conscious now I even try to avoid speaking words spelled with an “s.” It’s embarrassing and I also think some people associate a person who speaks with a lisp with having low IQ. Oh that’s just great. How am I ever going to get anyone to listen to me if they already presume I’m some kind of a moron?!? (Although I assure you I might very well be an imbecile with or without a lisp.)
I dunno but just maybe this little self-revelation of mine is a metaphor for life and our self-image we think we project. When in actuality we’re blind to all these little peculiarities apparent to everyone but ourselves. Boy, I felt so much better about myself living in “blithful ignoranthe.” But as I’ve shared before as part of my testimony, perhaps this is yet another recent instance- albeit public and embarrassing- that God uses to humble and disciple me. I’m better off because of it no doubt.
Pastor Neil preached last week we shouldn't compare ourselves with others but be thankful for who we are. But I can't help it I envy and covet all you people who can clearly pronounce your “s”. I thought of suing every one of you. But then again, it occurred to me that God uses all of us either because of or in spite of our imperfections. Besides, better speech won't draw me closer to God or give me greater clarity of thought in the Word when preaching. My only hope (and prayer) is that the message within the actual spoken Word undeniably overcomes my own human limitations. As Apostle Paul wrote of his own weaknesses, “God’s grace is sufficient for me, for His power is made perfect in weakness.”
During corporate prayer at the Alpha retreat last weekend I spoke a prophetic word of knowledge to another for the first time in my life.  . . and whew, the particular word didn't have a single "s" in it to have to pronounce. Amen to that, God is good!

From Pastor Mark’s Heart
November 25, 2012