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The “Jimmy Leg”
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Today’s guest post is by Laci Tompkins. Laci is the head women’s basketball coach at the University of Science and Arts in Chickasha. She serves on the BGCO state women’s leadership team and on the state human trafficking task force. You can contact Laci at ltompkins@usao.edu.
Do you or your spouse have the “jimmy leg?” You know, the restless leg that kicks randomly in the night with sporadic jerks? It’s somewhat interesting at first, but then as time goes by, it becomes a problem. There is no sleep, no rest, anxiety and so on. There are times in our lives when we too become restless. We become discontent and unsettled with anything from our house, our job, our marriage, our place in life, our church responsibilities and an assortment of other things. In all these areas, we need to learn how to model contentment, not restlessness.
Being content is easier said than done. That’s like asking a child who just had a candy bar and a soft drink to sit still on a bench in a toy store for thirty minutes! It’s not happening. It’s our nature to keep a demanding pace, set higher goals and strive for more. But in the midst of our restlessness, are we demonstrating our lack of dependence on God? Simply put, is God enough for you?
Sometimes I believe God allows difficult times and situations to humble us. It is during these times He reminds us He is everything. He is enough and more. In Luke 10:7-8 Jesus sends out seventy-two new disciples and He gives them instructions on how to conduct themselves. He tells them don’t move around from house to house, and eat and drink what their hosts gives them. In other words, model contentment and not restlessness. Psalm 46:10 says, “Be still and know that I am God.” It also states, “But godliness with contentment is great gain.” If you are going through a difficult time, be still, acknowledge God is all you need and unclench your fingers from your fists. Give up your dream for God’s dream, and your wants for His will. Pray His desires become your desires.
If you find you have the “spiritual jimmy leg”, then recognize it for what it is. The Bible says we are drawn away by our own lusts. Reel it back in and simmer down. Count your blessings and model contentment. And when you catch yourself behaving like the child hyped up on sugar, remind yourself, “I will not be that child.”
There’s No Retirement Here
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It will be several years before I can officially retire from working. But, a few days ago I was reminded that retirement from working does not mean retiring from ministry.
Last week I blogged about the precious little girls I met at the annual Lottie Moon Tea. On Friday, I met with a group of women from Baptist Village Communities to share the message of missions. Instead of me teaching them, I was the one who “got schooled!”
First, these women all live independently and are quite active. Their activities director told me, “They wear me out! I can’t find enough things for them to do!” One of the women was the Children’s Specialist for our convention until her retirement in 1998. Another was an education minister in our state for many years. Talk about organizers! I’ve known Joyce Shelby since I was in college, and she was a woman in ministry long before it was acceptable in many of our churches. She paved the way for women in full time ministry.
These women had the room completely decorated. They had placemats made with the Lottie Moon artwork. They had refreshments. They had an agenda. They had it going on – even down to their Christmas sweaters. One woman even came straight from her church where she had been a volunteer for their food pantry. (In the back of my mind, I kept telling myself that I was looking into the future. I can just see me running the women’s meetings at the retirement center and looking for the right centerpieces!)
As I stood before them to speak and share my heart for the world, I was overwhelmed with emotion. For those of you who know me, that’s not too difficult to believe. As I looked into their faces, I was reminded that this generation raised me. They taught me about Jesus. They sacrificed for me. They gave of their finances and time. Most importantly, they prayed for me. They encouraged me when I came to the convention. How could I not feel like I was standing in a room full of spiritual mothers?
Today I received a thank you note from their leader. Yes, people still actually write thank you notes that aren’t a Facebook message. Once again, I was reminded we should honor those who have gone before us.
As a leader, how have you honored those before you? How can you be an encouragement to them? I shudder at the thought of losing this generation of women. They are the backbone of many churches. The biggest honor we could bestow is to take up the mantle for missions by giving, praying, sending and going. We can honor them by deciding our retirement from work is only a step into a new phase of servanthood. Until we face eternity, let’s press on toward the mark of Christ Jesus. He’s not through with you.
Celebrating Lottie and Her Life
Posted by: | CommentsLottie Moon is a name I’ve heard since I was a little girl. Growing up in a Southern Baptist church, December was not only a time to celebrate the birth of Christ, but to celebrate the life of a woman who encouraged churches to pray and give to mission efforts. Today, many of our churches still focus on giving to international missions during the holiday season, but I wonder how many of our young people are familiar with Lottie’s story.
Last Saturday my daughter and I had the privilege of sharing missions with 100 Girls in Action at an annual Lottie Moon Christmas Tea. Gina McKean, the children’s minister at Portland Avenue has coordinated this event for several years and includes all of the churches from Capital Association. These little girls were precious and we had a blast! Gina is the type of woman who takes an idea and carries it out like none other. From the invitations to the food, to the mission project, to the craft, it was a morning that girls will remember for a long time. Here are some photos to give you a glimpse of how incredible it was.
Our tea included food just right for little girls–peanut butter and jelly, eggroll, oranges and yummy sweets.
Chopsticks were given to each girl as an ornament and prayer reminder.
The program was Asian inspired and all the decorations had cherry blossoms.
We even painted a cherry blossom tea cup.
Girls love taking their picture with our life-size cutout of Lottie Moon. She really was that small!
During one portion of the morning, Gina gave the girls a “quiz” on their Lottie Moon knowledge. Courtney is a senior in high school and I discovered I haven’t done a very good job of sharing the Lottie story with my own daughter! When I told her that Lottie died on Christmas Eve from starvation, she couldn’t believe it. No one had told her about the sacrifice Lottie made so that the Chinese people could hear the news of Jesus. This really struck home because Courtney and I spent a week in East Asia this year and our hearts were touched by students who had never heard the simple words of John 3:16. To put it simply, Lottie’s work continues today. Out of the 1.6 billion people living in East Asia, more than 98 percent do not know Christ as their Savior. Many of them work in factories where Christmas ornaments and lights are produced, but very few understand the story behind the decorations.
I’m grateful for the work of Lottie, but I’m more grateful to Southern Baptist missionaries who continue to share the hope of eternal life. I’m grateful to Southern Baptists for giving to the Cooperative Program and to the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering. I’m grateful that as believers we can be His Heart, His Hands and His Voice. What will you give this year to support international missions?
For more information about Lottie’s life or this year’s offering, visit www.imb.org.
Thank You Steve Jobs
Posted by: | CommentsMany of us went to bed last night knowing that Apple founder Steve Jobs had passed away. You might have learned of his death on the device he invented. I’m typing this post on my fourth Apple computer. I have an iPhone and an iPad. Today I’m thankful for Jobs’ genius.
1) Apple changed the way I worked. My first job was a typesetter in college. The machine I worked on took up an entire room. I worked in the public relations department at Oklahoma Baptist University where I studied journalism. I would painfully take the typed pages of the writers and input them into an enormous machine that would spew out the copy into nice strips of glossy white paper. They would be waxed, cut and placed on boards before they could be printed. Five years later, I saw my first MacIntosh computer at a conference. I marveled at the way someone could actually input copy, manipulate type and place it directly on a page that could be sent to a printer. I coaxed my boss to make the investment, learned the process, and became an instant fan. Thank you Steve Jobs for completely changing the print business for the better and for making work easier.
2) Apple actually gave me a platform for work. I left my job after giving birth to our first child. Within six months, a graphic designer friend called me and asked if I would be willing to take on some free lance work. I told him I didn’t have a personal Mac. He said, “buy one” and start a business. My little layout business, called K2 Communications, provided extra income for our family for more than 9 years while I stayed home with young children.
3) My Apple computers have allowed me to design things I could never have imagined. Whether it’s a video for my children, a pocket size book with photos or a handout for a seminar, my MacBook has allowed me to be creative far beyond my imagination or my ability. Why? Because they are simple, easy to use and just plain fun. Thank you Steve Jobs for making technology good looking and fun. (my computer has also saved me storage space because now I don’t print pictures, I don’t buy actual CDs and now I don’t buy printed books. I can carry it all on my computer, my phone and my iPad.)
4) Thank you for being a company who stood beside me when my MacBook actually failed. Yep, that’s right. The MacBook that I’m typing this post on crashed a couple of years ago. I have to tell you that my stomach actually felt sick. When I took it to the Apple Store, I was told the computer had failed and I had lost all my data. They tried desperately to recover the loss of my data, and although it was unsuccessful, they fixed the computer at no charge. I learned a valuable lesson in that experience. Apple backs its products and I need to back up my hard drive!
So, today, I’m grateful for Steve Jobs. I’m grateful for his creative and innovative mind that has honestly changed the way we communicate. I do not know if Jobs’ accepted Christ as his personal Savior. I have been told he was a Zen Buddhist. He wasn’t philanthropic. He even took money from Steve Wozniak on the sale of a game. I would like to think that in his final days, someone shared the Gospel with him. It’s a sober reminder to all believers that no matter how much influence you have on earth, your eternal destiny is the most important decision you can make. You and I may not leave a legacy of technological advances, but we can leave a legacy of making Kingdom advances.
Beyond Sunday Morning
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Some of the greatest servants in the local church are many times the people who get very little recognition. Many times it’s the men and women who prepare each week to teach your children about God’s love and His plan for their life.
I know how grateful I am for those who are called to minister to children. Both of my children had wonderful men and women of God who challenged them to learn scripture, to serve others and even develop wonderful musical skills. (well, at least Courtney–she’s the singer in our family)
Our office is joining the Children’s Office this weekend to offer a unique afternoon of training children’s workers who go “Beyond Sunday Morning.” There is no cost to attend this training event that will be held Sunday, September 11 from 2 to 4 p.m. at Portland Avenue Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.
Breakouts will include specific training in the areas of: I’m a Christian Now, TeamKid, Bible Drill, Mission Friends, Girls in Action, Royal Ambassadors, Children in Action and Children’s Music.
We hope your children’s workers are able to attend, but please make sure they register in the next couple of days at www.bgco.org.
Mission Monday: Chaplaincy (Even if it’s Tuesday)
Posted by: | CommentsSMO 2011 Chaplaincy-Vimeo HD from BGCO on Vimeo.
I had been at the BGCO for less than a couple of months when Paul Bettis, BGCO Chaplaincy Specialist, came to my office and gave me the opportunity to go on a “field trip”. I didn’t know much about Paul at the time, but I would quickly learn my idea of chaplaincy was pretty limited to what I knew about hospital chaplains.
My field trip destination was the Oklahoma County jail. This was not my idea of a fun field trip. I had never parked in the jail parking lot, much less walked the halls of a jail. Paul introduced me to Argyl Dick, a veteran chaplain who had many volunteers who sat face-to-face with those who had been incarcerated. It wasn’t until later in the year that I discovered Oklahoma has more women per capita in our prisons and jails than any other state in our country. I remember him making a comment, “You never know Kelly. God might just call you to be a prison chaplain.”
While I haven’t sensed a calling to commit a weekly time at the jail, I have learned a great deal about the various kinds of chaplains in our state. They are on our oil fields, our military bases, at biker rallies and in the midst of disaster relief. They are volunteers who have a heart to see people as the way God sees them–individuals He has created with a plan and a purpose.
I’m extremely grateful for the ministry of chaplains and with your support of the Oklahoma State Missions Offering, chaplaincy ministry is able to minister to a greater number of people who need to hear the Gospel.
And P.S.–about two years after my jail visit, I found myself entering the jail again for a chaplaincy visit. But this time it was a lot more personal. A high school friend had just been convicted of murder in a DUI case and was waiting her sentence. While it had been close to 30 years since we had seen each other, I was able to hold her hand, cry with her and pray for God to comfort her in the midst of a tragedy she wished had never happened. Without that first visit, I might not have considered going to see her. I’m glad I did. Because I was the one who received the blessing.
Organization: It’s Time for New Blog Thoughts
Posted by: | CommentsI want to be a good blogger. Really, I do. I can multi-task with the best of them, but I’ve realized recently that my orgnizational skills are a bit lacking in the way I write my blog. And I’m usually a good organizer! I write out of a sense of urgency, a need to promote our next event or just whenever the thoughts in my brain actually make it on the computer screen.
So, here’s some thoughts on how I plan to organize my blog. I can’t promise that I will blog every day, but at least this will give me a framework of what to write and the days you’ll want to read!
Monday: Moms, Missions and Multi-tasking
Tuesday: Theology and Devotional Thoughts
Wednesday: Women and Work (BGCO events and happenings)
Thursday: The Leadership Task
Friday: Fun, Family and Fashion
Hope you’ll continue to read and engage as we encourage women to embrace and echo God’s heart for the world!
Disaster Relief Brings Relief
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Tornadoes are no laughing matter in Oklahoma. While we may sometimes joke about running outside to watch for twisters instead of taking shelter, the truth is most Oklahomans know the devastation that can be caused in a few short minutes. We often marvel at the calm and sunshine that seems to immediately come after the damage has been done.
Victims may also marvel at the way Oklahoma Baptist Disaster Relief teams are quickly called into action. This year, the Oklahoma State Missions Offering features this ministry and its ability to reach into the lives of those who need good news. Take a quick look at this video segment and make sure your church as ordered its State Mission Offering materials.
Reach Your Community By Being In the Community
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SMO 2011 Church Planting-Vimeo HD from BGCO on Vimeo.
Each year our office has the privilege of educating Oklahoma Baptists about the wonderful work accomplished through their gifts to the Oklahoma State Missions Offering. While most people tend to perceive our office as only working with women, at this time of year we get a birds-eye view of several ways God is at work around our state.
One of the joys I encounter is being on location during the filming of the videos we produce each year. This year was no exception. Today I’ve embedded one video which shares the impact of church planting in our state.
Many people ask the question, “Why does Oklahoma need more churches?” Good question. It might seem there is a Baptist church on every corner. But the fact of the matter is that there are still a million Oklahomans who aren’t associated with any church. There is a growing need for Hispanic churches (the latest census reported that Oklahoma Hispanics have increased 85% in the last ten years).
For pastor Ernie Tullis, his calling to begin a church came from God’s prompting to go back to the neighborhood where he was raised.
What Tullis found was a neighborhood of high poverty, drugs and crime. A talented musician, Tullis began the process of working with the BGCO to begin a new church by being the church to this community. In just over a year, Tri-church meets at a local elementary, runs around 80 people each week and most importantly, they are seeing lives transformed with the Gospel.
Now is the time for your church to begin ordering their complimentary State Mission Offering supplies. Order online here and begin promoting the offer this fall in your church.
A Carnival With No Clowns
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As our office approaches the early deadline for our SWEET Experience event, I thought I would share some of the exciting speakers who will challenge and encourage you. While we are using a carnival theme, I can assure you there will be no clowns on stage–just women who are passionate about helping women change the world. (although I’d love to find someone who wants to come and make animal balloons for free.)
We’re calling the morning session, “Under the Big Top”. It will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the Worship Center at First Baptist, Moore. You’ll be greeted by our amazing worship leader, Amy Hill. Amy has been speaking and leading worship at women’s events for several years and you will find that she will get you ready for a day of experiencing the Lord.
Andrea Mullins will be one of the featured speakers under the Big Top. From the first time I met Andrea, I knew she was one sharp lady. She has been with WMU for several years, and although she leads a team of people who accomplish incredible work, one of her interesting passions is her love for Olympic ministry. She’s attended several Olympics over the years with the mission of sharing the Gospel. She heads up the WorldCraft ministry at WMU, a ministry offering small business owners in developing countries the opportunity to sell their products. WorldCrafts is a fair trade ministry that offers hope to women and men who struggle with poverty, disease and human trafficking. She also serves as the publisher for New Hope, the publishing arm of WMU. Some of the best missional authors are represented by New Hope. I love this publisher’s ability to not just publish books that sell, but books that are impacting missional living.
Our final speaker under the Big Top is Jaye Martin. Jaye is no stranger in the world of women’s work. Many of you may be familiar with her resource, Heart Call, which was produced by the North American Mission Board. She is currently the Director of Women’s Leadership at The Southern Seminary in Kentucky. She is respected and admired for her passion to help women connect their calling to their spiritual gifts.
This is just the Big Top! In addition, there are more than 20 Side Shows offered in the morning. All of them will be led by women who are experts in their field. (not the bearded lady) I can’t wait for you to be a part of this exciting day of women’s leadership development. Are you coming? Are you bringing other women? Don’t forget the early registration deadline is August 8. We’re looking forward to serving you.
I am the Women's Missions and Ministries Specialist for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. Our purpose is to encourage women to embrace and echo God's heart for the world.
