How to Partner with God in His Work

I’ve heard plenty of Christians talking about partnering with God in His work. I think this is a great concept, but usually when that work is explained it’s incredibly limited. When people partner with God in his work, they’re often talking about building the church, and even then the church is so narrowly defined you’d think God’s work was exclusively about building small, academic institutions in which people study theories about God. I think God is truly working to build those small academic communities we commonly think of as church, but the whole church is much larger and less easily defined. God can see the church but we can only feel around in the dark and recognize it when we see a common Jesus in a neighbors heart.

That said, I think God is working on much, much more than building the church. If we look at the work God has done, we see God has made beauty, so I think creating beauty is Gods work. We see that God has created structure and order, so cultivating a place is God’s work, too. God created love, and seeks to protect love, so creating and protecting love is Gods work and we can partner with him in that work. God created brains that can solve problems, so science is God’s work as well as theater and literature.

When we narrowly define God’s work, we end up channeling people into working for the church, often motivated by guilt, rather than partnering with God in whatever skill or passion he has given to them as a gift, as a way of bonding with him.

So, do you really believe planting a garden is a way to partner with God in his work? Do you believe writing and performing a play is partnering with God in his work? What about studying micro-organisms? What about baking a cake? It’s all God’s world, and in everything we do we can partner with him in his love for it. How do you partner with God?

How to Partner with God in His Work is a post from: Donald Miller's Blog

Fredericksburg, TX

Elizabeth Walker and I met in high school through random friends and she has been such a consistent friend since.  She went to Baylor for college and was a Chi O there!  Throughout the years and all the miles, we have remained friends, even though we do not get to see each other very often at all. Each Christmas break when everyone was home from college, my friends Kaylan, Liz, and I would always meet up and spent hours catching up in Liz's hot tub.  She drove all the way from Waco and back just to come to my wedding. Such a sweet, dedicated friend.  

Christmas 2005

Kayan, me, and Liz

Fastforward to 2011 and Liz will be marrying Mr. Joel Wilkins this July.  Here's the lovely couple.  The wonderful Casey and Laura Z will be shooting their wedding and I'm so excited!  

Last weekend was spent in Fredericksburg, TX for a bachelorette weekend in honor of Liz... and it was so much fun!  Kaylan and I made plans to fly to TX to meet Liz's college friends and spend the weekend celebrating her and the next phase of her life.  It was such a great weekend of relaxation and catching up.  

I apologize... the rest of the pictures were taken from my phone, so they aren't the best.  I can't believe I forgot my camera!!!

It really is so much more fun to fly with friends!

We arrived in Houston, then piled in the car to head to Fredericksburg, "The Heart of the Texas Hill Country"!  For those of you (like myself) who are not very familiar with Texas, here's where we were.  Fredericksburg is such a cool place!  There is an adorable downtown areas with tons of places to shop, eat, and hang out! 

We arrived in town and pulled up at the cutest bed and breakfast.  The girls planning the weekend booked the whole house, which is normally divided up into two separate spaces; the Keidel Inn and Guesthouse, and the Legacy Suite on Main.  It was AWESOME.  

Our first meal in town as at Der Lindenbaum, an authenic german restaurant, where I learned the definition of scnitzel.  I had Wiener Scnitzel (basically a fried pork chop) and Kaylan had the Sausage Sampler. It was yummy!

We came back to the house for some yummy cupcakes from Sprinkles!  Red Velvet and Strawberry. Yum.

 Some bubbly before Liz opened her gifts.  :)

The next morning, we woke up, got breakfast, and hit the town shopping!  I didn't get anything, but this picture is from one of the cute shops downtown!

We had lunch at an amazing restaurant called The Peach Tree.  It was SO GOOD.  I recommend the "Super Good For You Sandwhich." What a name. haha  The food was so fresh and delicious.  After lunch we made out way out to Becker Vineyards.   I didn't realize how many wineries there were in TX, but it was awesome!  Liz's sister works at a winery, so she used her expertise in selecting this particular one to visit.  $10 for 6 tastings and a wine glass?  Sign me up!

I brought home a bottle of Malbec for me and the hubs.

We all purchased our favorite wine, then headed back to the bed and breakfast for the evening. The next morning, we loaded up the car, headed back to Houston, and Kaylan and I flew back to the 'sip.  It was such a great, relaxing weekend. I'm so glad that I was able to go! 

Side note:  Kaylan just got engaged and is getting married this December, so we got to talk "wedding" a lot during the weekend.  She asked me to be a bridesmaid and I am so excited!  I've been thinking about running the St. Jude Half again, and this wedding might be the best motivation to do it!

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!  Jesse, Kelley, Trae, and I all walked to the farmers market and then onto the garden this morning.  Guess who is having fresh veggies for dinner?!?! Yummy.

I want to be a Landscape Architect

So, raise your hand if you think being a landscape architect means, someone who knows a lot about grass, or if you think it means planning someone's yard.

If so, this may blow your mind.  Although there are people in the landscape business who do those things very well, landscape architecture is something so much more than that.  Jesse works so hard every day in his major and I want all of you to get a better understanding of what he is working towards.

We sometimes say that Jesse getting laid off was a blessing.... because although he found himself in a field that he enjoyed, he was in a position that wasn't challenging him creatively and one that didn't ignite his passions.  As hard as that time was in our lives and in our marriage, I could not imagine us being anywhere else right now than at Mississippi State in Starkville, MS.  I know I have blogged a lot recently about MSU, but I truly am grateful for the Lord's hand in our life and for the place that he has brought us right now.  We are about a year away from the next step in our life together, and who knows where that will take us.  We could still be here in Starkville for all we know!  As scary as it can be, I have no reason not to trust in the Lord and in His plan for us!

In the meantime, if you are interested in getting a good idea of the field that Jesse has thrown himself into 100%, check out this video!

Alumni Recruiting Network

Hey Bulldog Alumni - check out my friend Stacey's post on being a part of the Alumni Recruiting Network HERE!  If you find some extra time on your hands and want to help recruit students from your area to MSU, let us know!  We would love to have you as part of our team.

Grind for your STATE!

Bulldog Country

These past few days have been very eventful and filled to the brim with MSU!  This weekend was Super Bulldog Weekend - one of the best weekends in the Spring, if you ask me.  It's such a fun time to be on campus, watch some baseball, eat some crawfish, MSU ice cream, and finish the night with the Maroon and White spring football game.  Mom and Dad came to town to visit and attend the festivities.  We started the day Saturday with the one and only City Bagel, then headed out to Dudy Noble.  Unfortunately, we lost the baseball game, but the good news was that we would definitely win the spring football game.  :)  

One of the most unique experiences at MSU is left field lounge at Dudy Noble.  It is truly unique in college baseball, and has enabled the grounds to be named the "#1 place to watch college baseball" and among the "100 things you gotta do before you graduate" by Sports Illustrated.  In 2009 the Left Field Lounge was named "the country's best tailgaiting experience" (among all venues and sports) by ESPN Magazine.  (Sorry, random Roadrunner fact.)  But really, it is awesome.  Here is an example of one of the rigs out in left field lounge:

Just imagine all of the creative set ups parked along the back wall overlooking the outfield.

After the unfortunate loss and a sunburn, we took off to Davis Wade Stadium for the spring game.  For the one game of the whole year, we got to sit on the West side, which means NO SUN in your face!  It was fun to see what is in store for football season this fall with this guy leading the way.

I actually ran into him on Friday in the Union and snagged a photo:

Overall, it was a great weekend, which led to the start of the week hosting over 1,000 people on campus for Honors Orientation.  

This was my first Orientation session to work and I definitely got a taste of what the month of June will be like this summer.  Although it made for a long day, it was SO awesome to see families that I have met with and students that I have recruited show up on campus for Orientation. I love to see students fall in love with MSU!  One student in particular from Georgia gave me a big hug when she left and said how she is so ready to be here in August.  That makes everything so worth it!  To quote the famous YouTube video, "Is this real life???"  And I know I'm going to sound cheesy (as I already have) but it's weekends like Super Bulldog Weekend that get me even more pumped up about my job as an Admissions Counselor.  This is what I am recruiting students to be a part of - The Bulldog Family. I have the best job ever, hands down.   

On a side note, I seriously need this mug.  My life seems to be covered with dog hair right now.  Maggie is shedding her winter undercoat like CRAZY right now!  I sweep the house (wood floors) at least one time a day and it looks like I haven't swept in weeks each time.  Definitely ready for this time of major shedding to be over with!  

Spring Cleaning

The blog has undergone some spring cleaning on this beautiful spring day of thunderstorms. It pays to have a husband with skilz. Hope you like it!  Makes me feel so fresh and so clean clean.  If you like, share the love!

Mr. English

In need of a good spring music mix?  My husband has a knack for good music and making mixtapes.  He has revived an old blog and will be posting about music, mostly and whatever else comes to mind.  The mixtape he has featured now, "welcome, spring"is in honor of Laura O. Zumwalt who has been requesting one for a while.  Check it out!!  You can either stream it live or download it to your computer for later listening.

Also, in need of some quotes or good reads, check out his tumblr, here.

I am so blessed to have such a creative, smart, and HOTT husband.  :)  Love you, Jesse!