Milestones.  We all have them - certain birthdays, graduations, marriage, childbirth, moves.  For most people, they arrive in a specific order.  The major birthdays (at least in our family) - 10, 13, 16, 18, 21 - are predictable and celebrated for what they are - a change from one phase of life to the next.  Generally, after high school would come college, graduation, marriage, career and/or children, retirement.  My life, however, has taken some interesting diversions from that path.

For starters, when I graduated from high school, I wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I wasn't planning on college, since I had been discouraged from even exploring that option because my high school experience was, well, less than stellar.  So I started working at Fireman's Fund of America, an insurance company in Cleveland, Ohio.  I was a file clerk. Yippee. It was a job I quickly tired of, so I started looking at something different.  My brother was in the Air Force at the time, so I decided to explore that option.  Talks with recruiters, physicals, tests, taking the oath of office, and soon I was on my way to Lackland Air Force Base.  I trained as an administrative specialist (file clerk!) at Keesler AFB, Mississippi, then moved to Omaha, Nebraska.  I worked in a vault, in the basement of the Strategic Air Command Headquarters, doing administrative work for a team that gave classified briefings. 

Boredom set in, as we only worked when there was a briefing to present, about once every 10 days or so.  So, I looked for other opportunities.  I heard that I could cross train into the legal field, and put in my application.  Approval meant another trip to Biloxi, Mississippi for more training, and I returned to Omaha as a paralegal specialist. 

While I was in the military, there was another milestone - marriage.  I married my first husband within 4 months of meeting him.  I would say we rushed into it, with little to no marriage counseling, and had that been different, then things would likely have turned out differently. But that is another story for another time. 

Milestones continued - more children, health issues, an overseas move and back, getting out of the military, starting college, moving cross country, working, then not.  Then came a move to Washington DC, where a significant milestone, which I have written previously about, came - and that was divorce and having to find my way alone again.  But God provided in so many ways, leading to yet another milestone - a move to Arizona.

Life here was fairly normal, as normal as you can get in a blended family.  After all the kids graduated (a milestone for them!), and I puttered around for two years, I decided to finally reach the milestone I hadn't yet - college.  I graduated this year from Liberty University (also written about previously), and just this past week reached yet another milestone - I started a job as an administrative assistant to the worship pastor at our church.  This, to me, is a significant milestone. I've wanted to work in full time ministry for as long as I can remember.   It hasn't been a reality until now.  My prayer is that I will not disappoint the Lord, but do well to represent him and the church in everything I do. 

Milestones.  There are only a few remaining.  I have grand children, so that milestone is checked off.  Next comes retirement for Tom and only the Lord knows what that is going to bring. 

Challenges and Growth

Every year, every day is an opportunity for growth. If I can't look back a year and see growth, or a change, then what have I been doing this entire year?  Spinning my wheels?  I can read back through my journal entries and see where I have grown, and how that has made me a different person. 

To begin with, I have increased my reading. I was somewhat sporadic before, but I've been much more consistent in my daily Quiet Time with the Lord.  I'm not necessarily writing out all my prayers as I did earlier this year, which I do need to get back to.  Sometimes, I'll admit, that's difficult when I'm writing the exact same thing from day to day.  The prayers haven't changed much.  They are pretty much the same as always for my children:  additional support and spiritual growth for Amanda, wisdom in relationships, spiritual growth, and career guidance for Matt, a return to the Lord for Dianna and wisdom in finances and raising children for Chuck and Jodie.  Those have been my prayers for a long time for them, changing as a specific need arises.

I’m also reading other books a lot more. I’m sure some of that was prompted by the constant reading I was doing while taking classes, but I’ve kind of forced myself to continue reading. I really am trying to get to the point where I am constantly reading a good, edifying non-fiction, or a fiction book that serves the purpose of providing a comfortable escape.  I’m also reading to challenge myself, either academically, or challenge my thinking on certain topics.  My current reading list is pretty broad: Missions in the 21st Century, by Tom Telford – an assigned reading for the Missions Committee; Kate Megill’s book Silver Threads, Weaving Godly Wisdom Into the Lives of Younger Women;  Overcoming Sin and Temptation, an ancient text by John Owen, which I’m reading as part of a blog challenge; and finally, From Good to Great, by Chip Ingram. 

I’ve been interviewing for a job.  It’s a different job setting than I’ve ever been in before, since it’s in a church.  In all my other jobs, they highly valued being task-oriented, so I’ve been trained to think that way. That the job is #1, getting it finished is much more important than anything else.  People skills were important, but not as high (in the positions I held) as staying focused on completing assignments.  In this job, the opposite is true.  I hope I communicated well enough that I can relate to people, but for so long I’ve had to focus on the job at hand that it may take me a bit to get my mind re-set!  It’s rather scary being under the microscope of a job interview once again, and thinking of the BEST answer AFTER I leave, of course.   Getting this job will certainly offer more opportunities for growth, in so many ways. 

I found an interesting quote by Gary Busey, who I wouldn’t normally go to for quotes, but this one is so very true right now:  “You know what 'FAILING' stands for? It stands for 'Finding An Important Lesson, Inviting Needed Growth.'” * I’ve failed so many times, but I’ve seen lots and lots of growth.  

I’ll close with this quote from John Maxwell:  Success is due to our stretching to the challenges of life. Failure comes when we shrink from them.  **
Lord, help me face, not shrink from the challenges ahead of me.

*http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/growth.html#BWhMx5zvuJOyyVyR.99
**http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/j/johncmaxw600864.html#D8DVafgUsyFhzraa.99

Overcoming Sin, Chapter 1

This blog series will be slightly different, and more academic, than my other blogs. I have joined with others reading the book, Overcoming Sin and Temptation, by John Owen.  Tim Challies, a pastor, author, and blogger at Challies.com, challenged his followers to read and comment on this classic volume.  It is a little intimidating, but I am up for the adventure.  I am looking forward to discover how it will challenge, encourage and inspire me. 

I am reading the free PDF version. (Available here:) It contains three parts, The Necessity of Mortification, The Nature of Mortification, and The Means of Mortification.  The PDF also includes two other works of Owen’s, Of Temptation, the Nature and Power of It, and Indwelling Sin. 

I read the introduction and all the preface material first. And I am glad I did.  It contained a wealth of information, frequently overlooked in a rush to get to the meat of the book.  Justin Taylor, one of the co-editors of the version that I am reading, wrote the overview.  His overview includes a synopsis of the work, including nine “directions for the soul”.  These directions alone are a very good tool to use in examining my life.  I am interested in reading further to see how they are developed in the second part of the book, so even if this particular exercise ends after the first part, I do intend to continue reading.  It may take some time to digest, but I suspect it will be well worth it.

The first chapter lays the foundation for the remainder of the book.  Owen describes five foundations on which he is going to build his thesis:

1. A duty prescribed: “Mortify the deeds of the body.”

2. The persons denoted to whom it is prescribed: “You”—“if you mortify.”

3. A promise annexed to that duty: “You shall live.”

4. The cause or means of the performance of this duty—the Spirit: “If you through the Spirit.”

5. The conditionality of the whole proposition, wherein duty, means, and promise are contained: “If you,” etc. [1]

Challies noted in his article about this first chapter the same things that I did, so I will not repeat them.  I have to agree that it is impossible to die to my sins without the help of the Holy Spirit.  I know I can’t do it on my own. I’ve tried, and failed far too often. 

I’m looking forward to the next chapter. 

---

[1]Owen, John. Overcoming Sin and Temptation: Three Classic works by John Owen. Edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 2006.

What's in a Name?

If you look at my profile, you may think that my name is Teri.  However, my given name is actually Teresia (and yes, that is spelled correctly.)  The story goes that my grandmother suggested my name in honor of St. Theresa, and my mother, who's name was Julia, thought since they sounded the same, they must be spelled the same.  So, instead of the common spellings of Teresa and Theresa, I became Teresia.  I thought I was the only one who spelled it that way, but I have met at least two others who spell it the same way, one of which pronounces it the same as I do, and one who pronounces it with an emphasis on the ia.  I have since discovered that my spelling isn't all that uncommon, in fact it is listed in www.behindthenames.com as a Swedish variation.  And no, my mom isn't Swedish - she's English/Scotch/Irish/Cherokee/Jewish/maybe a little German… (in other words, a Heinz 57.  I can't claim to be "Something-American", I'm just plain ole American.

I know the common meaning of my name, but I'm not sure exactly what it MEANS.  Does it mean that I bring summertime into people's lives?  Summertime, which generally means freedom, vacations, relaxation, respite?  Is it summer harvest?  Things that are harvested in the summer include primarily good things - yummy fruits and vegetables. I really have no idea! 

I researched a little bit about St. Theresa.  There are actually five figures known as St. Theresa.  Of course,

there is the most famous, Mother Teresa.  Her story is well known and she is held in high regard by nearly everyone.  She saw beyond classes, beyond color, beyond race, beyond status and simply saw people who needed help. 

The other prominent St. Theresa (and the one that I was told I was named after) is the saint that was sculpted by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in his Ecstasy of St. Theresa.  This St. Therese was a 16th century mystic, known for experiencing visions of Christ.  I'm not Catholic, but I did find the write up of her on the American Catholic website to be informative and interesting.  She wasn't a quiet, reserved, retiring nun, but was something of a reformer who was acquainted with suffering. I do like some of the character traits that are listed about her, and hope that I exhibit some of the same: 

Beautiful, talented, outgoing, adaptable, affectionate, courageous, enthusiastic, she was totally human. Like Jesus, she was a mystery of paradoxes: wise, yet practical; intelligent, yet much in tune with her experience; a mystic, yet an energetic reformer. A holy woman, a womanly woman. *

Even though I'm not a Roman Catholic, both of these women epitomize the fruit of the Spirit that I am praying is being developed in me -  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).  Does my life reflect the name that I claim - that of Christ?  That's more important than anything else.  

*http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx?id=1169