Preacher’s Wife Teaching Life

Part of being a child of God is receiving a gift (or gifts) from him. We call these gifts, spiritual gifts. Not all denominations believe all gifts still exist and that's okay...our church does. We feel strongly about people knowing who they are, what their gift is, and for them to operate in their gifting. It's important to us (my husband and I) to find what you're passionate about (which usually is also your gifting) and to encourage you in that area. Some of these gifts can be found in 1 Corinthians 12: Spiritual Gifts 12 Now, dear brothers and sisters,[a] regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us. I don’t want you to misunderstand this. 2 You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols. 3 So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. 4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts...

This post comes from Joshua 10 . Cliff Notes version: The Israelites have walked into the land that was promised to them. The people are aware that a living God comes with Israel and the Gibeonites have struck a deal with the Israelites for protection. The 5 Amorite Kings unite in hopes of defeating Israel by attacking Gibeon. The Gibeonites come ask for help and (Joshua 10:8) The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them; I have given them into your hand. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” God begins to fight for Israel by throwing the Amorites into a panic (they ran away) and a hail storm took out anyone not struck down by sword. Joshua realized they were running out of time and commanded the sun to stand still and from God through Joshua, it happens! (Which from my husband's research means the Earth slowed considerably which means they should have FLOWN off the planet from the sheer gravity of it. Much like slamming on the brakes in a car. There are documents i...

I took this picture after we had a little rain. It was so amazing and a happy reminder of God's blessing and promise as I stood on the front porch overlooking the land he blessed us with. The story of this promise can be found in Genesis 9: 12 Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. 13 I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth. 14 When I send clouds over the earth, the rainbow will appear in the clouds, 15 and I will remember my covenant with you and with all living creatures. Never again will the floodwaters destroy all life. 16 When I see the rainbow in the clouds, I will remember the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth.” 17 Then God said to Noah, “Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth.” People make and break promises all the time. Sometimes promises ...

Man this week was hard to get what I needed for this post. School is ramping back up (as you can tell from my last post ) so all the meetings and planning conflicted with our Bible studies. I missed a lot this week, it feels like, so all I have for you in Sunday's musings. In Joshua 9 , the Gibeonites trick Israel into giving them a place in their group. The Gibeonites heard of God's power through Israel and decided they wanted to join the team instead of fight the team. Unfortunately, Joshua did not consult with the Lord and made a covenant to help support the Gibeonites by allowing them a small part in their daily duties. ( Joshua 9:14 ) Israel made this treaty out of deception and it affected them for generations. All the way into 2 Samuel 21:1 , Saul wants to wipe them out for their deception and his desire to do this brought famine on the land. God took Israel's treaty with the Gibeonites seriously and honored it for a very long time until his people came to him an...

Most of my friends are teachers and with the start of the school year closing in, I can see people getting overwhelmed, stressed, and feeling a little dread about leaving their babies at home and leaving the free lifestyles of vacations, sleeping in, and DIY projects. (Trust me, I know all teachers work a little over the summer!). It's back to learning names, redecorating your classroom, lesson plans, paperwork, making thousands of copies, setting up your grade book, meeting parents, and countless hours with kids that will impact your day and your life more than you ever expect. I chose to write this because I'm stepping back into the world of teaching this semester at the junior college. I spent the summer in the computer lab helping students with their homework - being the hero they needed to finish a task. :) It was fun, easy, and required little to no prep. In a little over a week, I'll be teaching my first college class (developmental college class) and I have to admi...

We consider it a great privilege to watch over God's creatures. We feel a natural desire to love and take care of any furry creature that he will allow us. I recently got a mini goat (Nigerian Dwarf Goat) as a birthday gift from one of my best friends. His name is Tank and he has become quite fond of us. The friend that bought us Tank also bought a female and we agreed to name her Sparkle. She is Tank's future wife and we hope for them to start a family when they are old enough. Sparkle didn't come live with us when Tank did so she hasn't spent as much time with us. She doesn't really trust us yet, doesn't recognize our voices and touch and it shows. Watch HERE We have a calling to shepherd people. As a result, our main hobbies include shepherding animals. Through shepherding animals, we learn valuable lessons on how God feels about us, his sheep. This comes from John 10: “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than g...

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If you haven't read Joshua 8, read it here In chapter 7, Achan stole treasure and he, his family, and the nation was punished. In chapter 8, God tells the nation when they take Ai that they can have all the spoils they want. I found myself and some of my friends asking, "Why?!? Didn't they JUST get in trouble for, what my husband and I like to call, squirreling some loot away??" Well, my husband explained that it was because the nation had already been justly disciplined and now God is back onto taking the Promised Land for his people and blessing them. I relate this to how I interact with our well loved dog, Sergeant. He's a too smart, stubborn yorkie who gets his way too often. When I'm having a church group at home he likes to get mouthy so I have to exile him to our bedroom while we eat. After we are done I let him out. When he least expects it, I ask him to come back into the bedroom but having been disciplined that way before, he refuses. Refuses! I...

For those of you who get overwhelmed with all the writing I post but still want spiritual food, please visit my husband's YouTube channel: Grace Fellowship YouTube I've personally really enjoyed watching his videos (the videos that I'm not in) and love seeing what new material he comes up with as he prays and listens to God. Of course I'm a little biased because I love him so much, but I feel like I can also give a little constructive criticism when asked for. Anyway, check it out, get to know us a little better, and let us know what you want more of.

For Joshua 7, we had our youth group leader, Jason, preach and I think it is safe to say that everyone enjoyed it. He did such a good job of laying out the material in a clear way and pulling in his personal journey to make the passage more relatable. It helped this week, for me at least, that Joshua 7 was a little more fun to dissect than Joshua 6. Chapter 6 had some weighty material but was pretty cut and dry as far as the storyline went. In Chapter 7, Joshua and the army were planning on going further into the Promised Land to claim, Ai. Ai was a small community so Joshua sent a small portion of the army (about 3000 people) to take the land. They went with the confidence from their former victory in Jericho and the knowledge that their army was bigger than Ai's. Bolstered with confidence and knowledge, they marched into Ai, fought with all they had, and ran out screaming like little children over their fear and defeat. 36 men died and the takeover was unsuccessful. When Jos...