Second Stepping Stone

As promised a few weeks back, here is the second stepping stone that I made. Hope to plant a garden and put the stones around it or something!

Yesterday was my Journey Entry on Luke 9:10-17

Click here to read: http://wmcc.jointhejourney.com/log/60369

or read below . . .

Bio My name is Kim Scheidegger. I work at Watermark with the Single Adult & Pastoral Care Ministries. I've been married for a little over a year to my wonderful and always entertaining husband, Adam. He keeps me from being too serious. I love creating all kinds of things. I paint cards, pictures, and furniture. One year, I made a Christmas tree out of chocolate truffles. It was amazing and delicious. I thought about going into the truffle tree business, but I was reminded of the disaster in the "I Love Lucy" episode in the chocolate factory and thought, "Never mind"!

JESUS, THE PROVIDER

August 10, 2010

KEY VERSE

And they all ate and were satisfied; and the broken pieces which they had left over were picked up, twelve baskets full. (Luke 9:17)

CENTRAL TRUTH

Jesus is THE provision, and He can meet any and all needs that we have.

REFLECTIONS

When I was a little girl, we went to church on occasion, but my collection of Bible stories by adulthood was very small. These last few years, I’ve spent time learning the stories of the Bible to understand the power and heart of God. One story that I was blessed to learn as a little one was the feeding of the 5,000. Perhaps I learn best by repetition, because this story is actually in all four Gospels. In fact, it is the only miracle (except the resurrection) that is in every Gospel.

I can’t quite imagine what it would have been like to hear Christ say, “You give them something to eat!” (Luke 9:13) I would probably think through my skill set and my resumé of what I’m able to do. That was pretty much what the disciples initially did. They told Jesus that they could go to town and buy some food. Instead, Jesus told the disciples to have the people sit down in groups of 50, and then He carried out the miracle of feeding the 5,000.

Oftentimes, when we feel inadequate or don’t know what to do or how to meet a need, it is easy to go into problem-solving mode and just begin acting. But Christ wants us to rely on Him for our answers and to meet our needs. Christ fully met the need of 5,000 hungry people without the disciples having to rely on their own strength or means.

Last summer, I was in Ethiopia with a group from Watermark. We were sharing the gospel on the first day when a beggar approached me. Knowing it wasn’t best to give her money, I felt inadequate and initially did not know how to respond, especially with the language and custom barriers. I heard my translator speak up and say, "Acts 3!" I opened my Bible and shared Acts 3:6, "I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you," and I shared the gospel. It was through God’s Word and God’s people that I was able to respond to the woman.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. What tools can you use to help you turn to God before turning to your own strength?

2. What problem or problems are you currently trying to solve on your own strength without first turning to God?

3. What Scripture can you memorize to help you deal with that problem?

4. When you feel inadequate in a situation what is your typical response? Think through how you would like to respond differently in a way that would honor Christ.

Happy Birthday Katrina!

This is a gift I painted for Katrina!

Casa De Penn

We officially have a place to hang out hats in Pennsylvania. Wow . . . that is both a very good and weird statement at the same time. Good that the the Lord has provided and amazing place and weird that it's so official.

I am truly so thankful for our new home. It is more that we could have asked for. In my feeble mind I can wrestle with only seeing what is in front of me. I can wrestle with having faith that the Lord is going to provide. In this instance of looking for a home, I think that if there is not a viable option for a place to live then I need to work and work until there is something. Exhausting!!! That is: it is all up to me and all in my own power. Through this moving process, I have learned that I do this so much. To much in fact. That I often try and take things into my own power.

Ephesians 3:20 says, "Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us". This means that in of myself I am truly able to accomplish very little, but when we give our lives and our wills over to him he can truly give us an abundance.

I feel so thankful that I got to see this scripture come to life over the last few weeks. I wrestled with continually trying to carry the load of moving all on my own shoulders, but God's plans were to provide the place we would ultimately live through His people and not through my might. It was through a pastor up at the church that we are going to that we located this place. That's just like God . . . using his people to accomplish his tasks for his people. I am filled with thankfulness.
So here are a few pics it is a Duplex! We will post more when we are there!

Front of house:

Living Room

Porch

Trip to St. Joseph, Mo

As mentioned in my previous blog, we went to KC last weekend to Celebrate Adam's mom's Birthday! Happy Birthday Barb!!

To celebrate we had some of the most amazing cupcakes. They got them from Little Cakes in St. Joseph. Take a look here. The coconut cupcake was so fresh and light. Yum.

On our last day there, Adam and I took a walk at Krug Park. Here is a pick. It's a gorgeous park with old building, a pond, ducks, playground equipment, etc. I hadn't been to this park to walk around since my first trip there!

This picture is for Adam. To Adam's complete joy, St. Joseph, Mo now has a Chick-Fil-A. We went there 2x in 5 days. He is grieving he loss of moving to a place where we will not readily have one close by.
That's it for now, have a great day!

Pancake Morning

Good morning everyone! It's been awhile since I have been on- Adam and I were in KC for 5 days celebrating his mom's birthday and visiting his family. It was a great trip and I will post a few pics this weekend.

I took today off from work to play catch up and to work on some move stuff so I decided to get up and make Adam some pancakes before he went to work! It had a lot of fun and got a little creative!

Whatever is praiseworthy

These last few weeks have been very stretching for me. A couple of those weeks where you realize, "Wow, I still have a long way to go!"

The emotions of leaving Dallas are really starting to set it, yet I can't imagine what it is going to be like to not live in Texas. I am anxious about not having a place to live yet and it feels like there is a lot to do as we close up shop in Dallas and head out to PA.

I am starting to have thoughts like, "this is the last time that I will . . ." you fill in the blank. This has really caused me a lot of sadness.

With this mixture of stuff, I have had a hard time living one day at a time. My anxiety level has been pretty high.

I am currently reading a series of books by Beverly Lewis called Annie's People. It's about a modern-day Amish Girl who has an English friend. They are great and it's been a ton of fun to learn about the Amish through the books (we will be living close to Amish).

Anyways, when I was reading the book last night, the author used a portion of one of my favorite passages. Here I'll share the whole thing with you:

Philippians 4:4-9
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Definitely a scripture that I needed to be reminded of as I am facing so much anxiousness. Remembering that it is when we think on the things of God we gain so much peace and are no longer burdened with anxiety. For instance, I am working today to remember the ways that my heavenly father has given me so much. My sweet husband reminded me of this last night too. Remembering to be thankful for a hot meal, a talk with a friend, a safe drive home, a house to live in now, and on and on. I am working today to meditate on what is praiseworthy instead of what I don't have yet and what is troubling me trusting that God is in control and that He is going to provide for us.