Such A Profound Statement

Tonight Steve and I were doing a family devotion with Judah. After watching the short Bible lesson on DVD, Steve started reading out of the discussion guide. Judah said he wanted to read so he took the discussion guide and began to "read" from it. The next words out of his mouth were so profound...

"The God of Israel came in words."

The lesson was all about ways that we can communicate with God and how He communicates information to us through the Bible...His Word. What a nice summary that Judah put together in that 4 year old brain of his.

I didn't mean ME, I meant someone else...

Those of you who have children know that sometimes God speaks to us very directly through our kids. That happened just the other day at breakfast...

STEVE: I'm going to thank God for our warm house (it's been sub-zero here for a while now). How about you, Judah, what do you want to pray for this morning?
JUDAH: I don't know.
TERI: Maybe you could pray for all the people who don't have a warm home and are living outside in the cold. Some boys and girls don't have a nice warm house to sleep in like you do.
JUDAH: Well maybe some kids could share their house with those boys and girls.
STEVE & TERI: That's a great idea, Judah. Should we let some people stay at our house who don't have a house of their own?
JUDAH: I didn't mean MY house. I meant that maybe some OTHER boys and girls could do that. If boys and girls stayed at our house they would mess my things all up and I don't want my things getting all messed up.

Wow, God really spoke to me in this conversation! This could very well have been a conversation I was having with God inside my own head. God, please forgive my selfishness and lack of compassion (love turned into action!) for people around me who are suffering. Help me to show your love to others in practical ways and to be your hands, feet and voice to a hurting world.

Another "Boofy" Day

Today was a rainy, overcast, gloomy day. As Judah and I were driving home from playing in the play area at the mall, I heard Judah say from the back seat, "Thank you God for another boofy (beautiful) day." I giggled outloud and told Judah that he was cute.

Judah: Why did you say that, Mommy?
Teri: Because most people would not say that today is a beautiful day since it is rainy and the sun isn't shining.
Judah: But Mommy, the sun is shining. It's just behind the clouds.

What a great lesson Judah shared with me today. Even though things aren't always perfect and the way I want them to be, the SON is always shining behind the scenes. Thanks, Judah, for letting God use you to teach me a valuable lesson today. I needed that.

Judah's View on the Letter "T"

The other day at the gym, Judah and I walked by the little "announcements" chalkboard that we walk by every day. This time, though, Judah noticed a lower-case "t" written in the message. When he saw it he said to me, "Mommy, that's what Jesus died on!" I guess to his little eyes, the "t" looked like a cross. As I looked more closely at it, he was right. I thank God that I sometimes have the opportunity to see the world around me through the eyes of a little child.

The Popsicle Stick Cross

Judah has moved up to the Pre-school-Kindergarten class at church. Since he is at the low end of the age group, there are a lot of things taught in class that he doesn't fully grasp yet. Yesterday though, their lesson was on Jesus' sacrifice for our sins. Judah brought home a popsicle stick cross with a piece of paper glued to it. The paper said, "Jesus took my punishment." Last night when Steve and I were tucking Judah in to bed and praying with him, he asked for his cross. We gave it to him and talked about what that statement meant. We then prayed with Judah and thanked Jesus for loving us so much that He took our punishment. Today when I put Judah down for his nap, he asked to look at the cross again. I gave it to him and asked him if he remembered what it said. He told me word-for-word what it said and then began to tell me about Jesus going into the cave and then rolling the stone away and not being in the cave any longer. I was amazed that he was finally getting old enough to grasp the lessons that he is being taught (by us and at church). It touches my heart so deeply to know that Judah is starting to understand what Jesus did for him and that he realizes just how much Jesus loves him.

Merry CHRISTmas!

The year 2008 has been a year of change for the Meek's. As most of you know, in 2007 and 2008 we helped get Coram Deo church up and running in Reno, NV. Things were (and still are!) going great with Coram Deo and we LOVED being part of it and being in Reno but, by spring 2008, we began to feel God calling us away from Reno. Our giftings had been put to good use laying the foundational structure for the church to grow and we felt God telling us our time there was done. So, as of July, we began packing and preparing to leave Reno. As is always the case, when God closes one door, He opens another. We felt the door He was opening was Teri's hometown area of the Quad Cities in Iowa/Illinois. We made the long drive cross-country to Teri's parents' in Rock Island, IL and have been staying with our gracious hosts since early August. Steve began applying for LOTS of different jobs within the non-profit, higher education and secular realms but has not been contacted to set up even ONE interview! This is said not as a negative reflection of Steve because he has a pretty impressive resume but we just feel that God has been telling us that He has a bigger plan and we need to just trust in Him. We are waiting and trusting that the reason God brought us here to the QC's (aside from being closer to family) will be revealed to us in His perfect timing.

In the meantime, we have been attending Heritage Church's new Bettendorf, IA campus and have begun to really connect there. Steve has been volunteering 20-30 hours a week there as the Children's Ministry HUB (check-in/out, security, etc.) Coordinator while he waits on the job God is preparing for him. He is also working 20 hours a week as a lifeguard at a local fitness center.

Teri has been attending a women's study on Holiness at our church, working out at the fitness center where Steve works, spending time with family, volunteering in the Children's Ministry and, most importantly, being a stay-at-home mom for Judah.

Speaking of Judah, he will be 3 in just a couple of weeks! He is a very active, funny, smart, compassionate and caring little boy. He still loves his cars and has also grown to love trains, stickers, reading, playing with his cousins and helping daddy cook breakfast. He loves going to play with other kids at church and at the gym while mommy works out. He is our pride and joy and constantly makes us laugh. We are so blessed to have the opportunity to raise this precious gift from God.

Well, that about covers it for the Meek's and 2008. No matter what plans God has in store for us in 2009, we know that He loves and cares for us more than we could ever imagine. He cares so much for us that He brought you into our lives at some point in our journey and, for that, we are forever grateful. Don't ever doubt that God loves you infinitely more than you could ever imagine too. After all, He sent His Son to earth as a helpless child in order to bring you eternal peace and happiness in His presence. Today is the day to accept His gift of love and peace through His Son Jesus. After all, that's what CHRISTmas is all about.

Sharing God's Blessings...

This year for Christmas, we decided (both sides of our family) to take some of the money we would normally spend on giving each other gifts and send "gifts" to other families around the world that have greater needs than we do. Even though Steve has been out of full-time work for several months now, we really have lacked for nothing. God is so good to us and we wanted to share some of His blessings. There are so many worthy charitable organizations out there to choose from but we chose Samaritan's Purse. They do tremendous amounts of work around the globe to meet people's basic needs and share the love of Jesus with those who may or may not already know Him. By pooling our money, we were able to purchase a brood of 24 chicks to bring a family food and a source of income, a dairy animal (most likely a goat) to give a family milk/cheese and a source of income and also a water filtration system for a family/community that wouldn't otherwise have safe drinking water. These are all things that we, personally, take for granted each and every day. Giving such small amounts of money to help sustain the health of a family or community is truly humbling and makes me realize how blessed I really am. Thank you, God, for your faithful provision! Merry CHRISTmas!

Celebrating the Harvest

Instead of celebrating Halloween, we have chosen to teach Judah about celebrating God's provision by recognizing and celebrating the Harvest. So on Halloween night, we threw a Harvest Party at Mom and Dad's house for Judah and his cousins. Dad shared a teaching from the Bible on how the Israelites came together for various festivals to praise God for His provision and how, in the New Testament, Jesus talked about the role that we, as Believers, have in the Harvest. The kids all sat very quietly and attentively for the teaching, which is amazing considering that the oldest is 6! After the lesson, we decorated pumpkins and had some pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting, carmel apples and hot apple cider. I think a fun time was had by all, including the adults.

PHOTOS: Here are the kids decorating their pumpkins, Judah getting creative with a pom-pom and showing off his masterpiece, Uncle Matt and Will getting creative with pipecleaners, the kids proudly displaying their decorated pumpkins and Steve apprently paying homage to Burning Man??? (Reno, NV may have Burning Man but Rock Island, IL has Pipecleaner Man!)

Giving God the Glory

As most of you know, we've been trying to get our Bloomington, IN house on the market for a couple of months now. However, as in most things in life, God's timing and plan was different than my own. Once our realtor got our house on the market (it is rented to IU students and we listed it as a residential investment property), it sold in less than a week! In this housing market, I truly believe that God's hand was involved in the quick sale of our house. The investor wanted a quick sale too so I'm sure we'll be closing on it in the next couple of weeks. God is so faithful!

A Big Day

Today is a big day for us. It was our last day serving at our church, Coram Deo. For the last year and a half Steve has served as the Families Pastor and I have been the Communications Coordinator. It has been an amazing experience for both of us and we love our church family so much that it will leave a huge hole in our hearts when we finally pull out of Reno for good this week. These past three years in Reno have been an adventure of a lifetime for us. First at Outlook Christian Church then at Coram Deo. We hope that God has been able to use us in some small way to be a blessing to others and bring people closer to Him. In just a few short days Steve, Judah and I will pack all of our earthly belongings into a moving truck and drive away from here. We will take a part of Reno and all the people we've met with us. Thank you, God, for giving us such an amazing opportunity to serve You and the people of Reno. We are blessed!

Today is also my 40th birthday. I can hardly believe that both Steve and I are 40, which is an age that used to seem sooooooo OLD to me just a few short years ago. I don't feel old though. I feel like I am just beginning to hit my stride and I'm excited about the future. We're having the time of our lives, regardless of what age we are. I know God has lots of adventures still planned for us and I, for one, am ready for what lies ahead.

Coram Deo Is Meeting On Sunday Mornings!

After more than a year of meeting in our small but free facility on Sunday evenings, our church, Coram Deo, has finally begun meeting in Double Diamond Elementary on Sunday mornings! We had our first official Sunday morning service this past Sunday and it was great. Steve and I were both back in the Kids' Church area the entire time since it was a new set-up and we wanted to make sure everything went smoothly so we didn't get to experience the actual worship service but we hear it went really well. There was a buzz and energy in the air and it just felt "official and real" for the first time for me, for some reason. Not that what we've been doing so far hasn't been amazing--it was just different. Judah and I rode our bike (Judah in the pull-buggy behind my bike) there, which was fun. The school is a 5 minute ride from our house! :) We had 105 people, including kids, which is our highest yet!! Praise God for what He is doing!

Being Fed

Although we love the Sunday teaching of our Teaching Pastor, Dawson Lange, we often times miss the service because we're serving in the Kid's Ministry or doing miscellaneous work behind the scenes. So, we'll listen to Dawson's sermon online later in the week. We also try to listen to other Bible teachings online as we have time during the week. Our latest interest is listening to the two Mars Hill church pastors' teachings. Their preaching styles contrast a great deal but we really learn a lot from both of them. We also laugh a lot when we listen! Many of you have been fans of Rob Bell and Mark Driscoll for a long time so forgive our slowness in jumping on the Mars Hill bandwagon, so to speak :). For those of you who like to listen to teachings online and haven't already checked out Mars Hill (Grand Rapids, MI) or Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA), I highly recommend giving it a try. Rob Bell (MI) and Mark Driscoll (WA) also have some books out on the market if you like their teachings and delivery.