Greek keys

I am really into Greek key patterns lately. I have seen them a few places, but I have a suspicion they will be showing up more and more. I love that it’s graphic but also simple and repetitive. Black and white is so classic, but in different colors, the greek key pattern takes on a modern look. New York penthouse? It works. Tween girl’s room? It works. Because of its simplicity, it is easily replicable and because of the strength of the pattern, a little bit goes a long way. I’m definitely going to find a place to put in my house. Where would you put this?

Bathroom tile

Floor tile

Pillow

Pillow

Go, therefore…

If you are a Christian, you know Matthew 28:19. We call it the Great Commission. It says,

“Go therefore into all the nations and make converts, telling them the Gospel briefly and then leaving.”

Wait.

That’s not what it says. It says make disciples. It says teach them to obey. To the chagrin of Missions walls in church foyers everywhere, I submit to you that going on a short term mission trip is not you fulfilling the Great Commission.  But often we interpret the Great Commission as a call to evangelism, and think, “well, if I do evangelize, and they do accept Jesus, then they are a disciple of Jesus so I’ve done my job right?”

Nope. The Great Commission isn’t calling you to tell people about Jesus. It is calling you to make disciples. Don’t get me wrong, evangelism and missions are both biblical commands of the utmost importance in our lives. As followers of Jesus, we do a great job of the obeying the Great Commandment – loving God and loving people. But we tend to miss the call of the Great Commission. God is telling you to make disciples – of you. As a disciple of Jesus, I don’t have to go out and make perfect little Jesus disciples. I get to start with making Emily disciples. And through that, they will also become Jesus disciples. I am to impart to them MY life, and the life of God and Spirit of God that is in me will be imparted to them.

My husband says it like this. Being a disciple-maker means coming up to someone and saying, “I want to come and be a servant of your life, a force of good in your life, and to help you do everything you dream about doing and become everything Jesus created you to be.”

Who would say no to that? But it takes time, love and perseverance on your part. And be encouraged, not everyone in your life will be your disciple. You will evangelize to people who are not your disciples, pray for people who are not your disciples, and even be in relationships with people who are not your disciples. Jesus ministered to a lot more than twelve people. But he just discipled them. Here are a few things to note about Jesus’ model of discipleship:

1. He lived real life with them. He let them see his true character in the ins and outs of his life, not just who he was in ministry.
2. He taught them in every day situations. He found teaching moments as he walked by a tree, or overlooked a city, or figuring out what to eat for lunch. Every moment was an opportunity to show a Kingdom principle.
3. He invited them into movement. They were to follow him in this movement of the Kingdom of Heaven smashing into the kingdom of earth and all the scary, crazy, amazing, wonderful things that came with that.
4. He saw Fishers of Men in fishermen. He saw beyond their brokenness into their heavenly identity and treated them as such.

Right about now, you may be thinking that discipleship is just impossible to do with young kids at home, or a full time job, or both. Here are a few practical ways I have found that discipling not only fits into my life as a mom, but actually continues to bless me.

Disciple your babysitter. She might know Jesus, and she might not. But the chances are that she doesn’t have anyone discipling her. When you and Mr. get home from your date, bring her home some ice cream and talk to her for 20 minutes on the couch before you take her home. She might not even know you are discipling her at first, but as she sees that you want to be a force for good in her life, and that you believe in her, she will start wanting to spend more time with you, calling you, coming to you with problems. Young people want discipleship, surprisingly.

Disciple a young girl from your church. I guarantee that if you go to the youth pastor at your church and say, “Hey, I have time to disciple one girl, who do you think is a good fit for me?”, they will have someone in mind. Take her grocery shopping, run errands with her. She can help with the kids and laugh when you try on something that looks horrible, and also be learning Kingdom principles by the way you mother your kids.

Disciple a friend who doesn’t know Jesus as well as you. Peer to peer mentorship is the most intimidating, because we feel like we have nothing to offer. But you do. All discipleship really means is to teach. When you are at coffee, just tell her what God has been saying to you in devotions. Tell her what the Spirit is doing in your marriage. Tell her how God has been influencing your parenting.

Discipleship takes work. It takes sacrifice. But it is THE last command Jesus gave to his disciples; THE most important thing he wanted them to do. It is, frankly, not an option in your walk with Jesus. If you aren’t discipling, you won’t grow. But it’s not about feeling bad for not doing something. It’s about YOU also stepping into everything God created you to do and to be. And when we are living in what God has called us to do and be, we are, in the end, the most blessed because we are living in our fulfillment.

We find our fulfillment as we come along someone and help them into their fulfillment.

Go therefore, and make disciples.

The glamorous life of disciple-making

Dining room -before-

Do you have a formal dining room?

RH Monastery Dining

via Pinterest

Southern dining room

My grandparents used to own the cutest little house in North Carolina with pecan trees in the front yard and a fireplace in the dining room. Ever since then, I have dreamed of a beautiful, formal dining room. I know most people don’t use them anymore, but I love my memories of sitting around a big table with lots of family and eating and talking and playing games. Plus, one more room to decorate is fine by me.

In the house we are renting, there is a space for a formal dining room in the back next to the kitchen. It’s not small, but it’s not really big enough to be comfortable with a lot of people. I want our dining room to be a place people want to hang out once dinner is over, not a room that feels too small and you bump your chair against the wall as you get up and you just can’t wait to get to the family room. So as soon as we moved in, I switched the back dining room with a front room that was supposed to be the formal living room. I’m all about two living spaces, but I think it is more practical to have one in the back of the house that you can just keep messy. (I like ‘pretty’ when you walk into a house, even if it ends there). So I decided to make the big front room into our dining room and turn the back room into a play room/office, which is really nice because I can see the kids playing while I’m cooking dinner. Also, the front room has bay windows. Need I say more?

Bay windows

But there are some real lame things about the front room. One, there is no overhead lighting at all. No pot lights, no light fixture. And even though there is a bay window, there is a tree outside that blocks most of the sun. (I’m not complaining about the tree, and I’m sure I will be grateful once Atlanta summer hits!) One of the first things we did when we moved in was to put in an overhead light, but it’s just a hanging cord kit and lampshade from Ikea. Pretty unglamorous.

My magnolia tree

Two, the paint is just really dark. As far as colors go, it’s not a bad camel. But next to our grayish table and yellowish piano, it just makes the whole room look like a muddy cavern. One of my friends says the word “beige” sounds like the noise a potato makes when it hits the plate. That’s what this room feels like too. A potato hitting a plate. Three, an amazingly generous family friend gave us six dining chairs. My “one day” chairs are the ones that go with the table from RH, but until I have an extra $1500, I am thrilled with these ones. The wood is pretty but looks awful with our dining table, and the covers need to be updated. Four, the bay window just looks a little naked with no coverings. But since there are five windows, I am going to have to find c.h.e.a.p covers for them.

Our piano

Hand-me-down chairs and blah beige walls

So that is my next project. Layer by layer, and with a very tight budget (about $150), I am going to transform this blah beige room into my favorite room in the house. Let’s go!

To Seattle

This weekend we went back for our first trip to Seattle. Even though we have only been in Atlanta for two months, we had a church planting retreat already planned back in Washington, so we brought the boys with us for a visit. I tried to think about the highlights of the trip and realized that every day offered a few. Nonetheless, here are some highlights of the highlights:

* The church planters retreat itself – We always are inspired and learn so much, but the real value of these retreats is spending two whole days with amazing people.  There are the other church planters, people like ourselves who are embarking on a very unknown path, and everyone is able to encourage and empathize with each other. And there are “coaches”, the leaders in our district who love us for who we are, and not for the church we are going to plant or anything we have to offer. Just for who we are. I feel valued and heard more than I do in most arenas, and we got to stay in a stunning hotel for a night without kids. Hey-o!

* Going to church on Sunday at MC4  – I have never been part of a church I love so much, and as a church plant from MC4, I know we will always be family with them. Sitting in worship, praising God, and pausing to look around and see person after person who brings me joy was one of the best feelings I’ve had in a long time. That’s where I feel most at home. I know it will change, slowly, but for this trip, it was just nice being home.

* Spending time with my sister Jenifer – I married into this sisterhood, and after ten years our relationship is so much different than it began. I have always looked up to her and admired her, as I still do, but I love that the term “sister” is now not just a description of how we are related, but how deep our friendship is. We drove up to the outlet mall to go to (where else) Restoration Hardware Outlet, and as we drove she simply said, “I have really needed this.” I don’t know if she knows how much those words meant to me. We need to talk to each other, get advice from each other, vent to each other.  It’s a big deal to have a relationship with someone you love be reciprocated.

* A play date with two of my best friends, Hillary and Libby. You know those friends that you can sit on their couch from 8 am to 4 pm and not really feel any urge to go home? You don’t think about what else you have to do, where else you need to be, or trying to find a way to politely say you need to leave? And in that time of sitting, and drinking coffee, and taking turns going upstairs to “check on the kids,” you also find yourselves sharing the deepest of life with each other? It’s so natural. I also kind of hope our kids get married so we have an excuse to spend lots more holidays with them.

* Girls night – There is a group of friends I have had since I first moved to Seattle, and every once in awhile we have an excuse to all go out together. We ate a lot, laughed a lot, and most of us wore heels because it’s the only time we don’t have a diaper bag or a person to carry. At one point I looked around the table and couldn’t help but smile. Really, God? You gave me ALL of these women as friends? One or two would have been enough, but you gave me more than enough. That’s the kind of God you are.

Looking back, the common theme in all of these highlights is relationships. Not activities, or things, but people. Relationships are the most important things in life, bar none. They are the only things that last forever, the only things we get to take into the next life. They are the most important things to God too. He cares, above anything else, about having a relationship with you.

So how are your relationships? Do you have people who love you for who you are and not what you can offer? Do you have someone who reciprocates your need for them? Do you have friends whose couches are as comfortable as yours? Do you have people you get to wear heels with? If you do, you must know how lucky you are. Take a minute to let them know, and tell God thanks. And if you don’t, find them. Easier said than done, I know, but a great place to start is with the people of God. We aren’t perfect, by any means, but we do tend to be good with relationships because our whole understanding of life is based on one.

We’d love to have you.