Amy Scott's Thoughts

Sharing the thoughts that bounce around in my brain!

There is a first time for everything May 9, 2012

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Cooking Experiments — Amy Scott @ 1:51 pm

For Christmas I received a mini-bundt cake pan from my sister-in-law and brother-in-law. I had requested baking cookbooks for Christmas and I was amazed to find that each gift from the Scott’s revolved around the baking theme. I will admit that I’ve never made anything “bundt” shaped in my life before. I was excited to receive the gift, but then sadly it sat in my cabinet… for 5 months. Sorry, Nate and Beckie! Last night, I decided now was the time to try this new piece of cooking equipment. Since I’d never used a mini-bundt pan before, I did learn a few valuable lessons from trial and error. One lesson being, don’t over fill the ring… My first batch looked more like cupcakes with funny bottoms! Oh well, I cut off the over-filled sections and munched on them while filling the pan again – this time with less batter! I assumed most bundt cakes are frosted with a glaze, so I used my best trick for glazing. I melted lemon frosting and put it in a frosting bottle so I could control the drizzle. The end result was pretty good if you ask me! I’m excited to share these little cakes with my class of 5th/6th grade girls tonight. I’m so lucky to have a group of ladies to bake for each week! I get to play around making goodies in the kitchen and then I get to share the results! Seems like a win-win situation to me!

 

Studying: Not Just for the College Students! May 7, 2012

Filed under: Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 8:41 pm

Let me tell you, I haven’t studied this hard since college! Why? Well, I have the honor and privilege of co-preaching on Mother’s Day alongside two wonderful ladies, Pastor Vicki Judd and Shereena Gering. I’m amazed at how much time and effort we’ve put into this one weekend! Hours of research, writing, formatting… I’m not sure I could be a senior pastor with all the prep that weekly goes into sermons! And I’m only responsible for 1/3 of the sermon! Craziness! I will admit that my inner geek has enjoyed being surrounded by statistics, books, articles, resources lists and sermon notes. It’s been very reminiscent of my good ol’ college days. However, it seems like there is no good time in life to have a special project, so it’s been a bit of a juggle to do my sermon prep and stay on top of my other responsibilities.  Speaking of other responsibilities, I’m ignoring a mound of laundry that needs to get folded and a dishwasher that needs to be emptied. One thing at time! I’m learning my ability to multitask isn’t as great as I had once  thought. In fact, I have to repeat “one thing at a time” to myself quite often these days… as well as “deep breath, don’t forget to breathe”. Remember what I said in “Flying By” – I don’t want to live life frantically. I’m still struggling with how to slow down and keep up with life at the same time. If anyone masters this, please email me ASAP! In closing, I’m so excited to have this opportunity, even if it comes with a lot of homework. Public speaking is a skill I want to develop more in ministry. Okay, let me get specific – public speaking to adults. Kids don’t phase me too much anymore, but adults are scary. Maybe I should just picture the audience as a bunch of kids? Better than picturing them in their underwear, right? Okay, I think that laundry is calling my name… I’ll let you know if all this studying pays off! Here’s hoping my first sermon involvement goes well! So far, so good… but I’ve yet to get up on stage! Pray for me!

 

By Faith May 6, 2012

Filed under: Bible — Amy Scott @ 5:21 pm

Today’s Bible reading found me Hebrews 11. This is one of my favorite passages of Scripture! It just stirs me up inside! After reading it I always feel such great conviction. My heart just wants to scream “God, I wanna be like that!!!!” My prayer is the life I live speaks of my faith. It touches my heart to see the author of Hebrews using people who live hundreds of years ago as examples of faith. There faith stood the test of time and we remember them long after they’ve parted. I want faith like that!

My favorite section of this chapter is verses 8-11:

By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.

I want to be like Abraham. I want to keep my eyes on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations.  My heart is drawn to thought that this is not where I belong. This world is not my home. In fact, my current favorite song is “Where I Belong” by Switchfoot. It speaks to this concept – the fact that we’re still searching for a world where we belong. I thought I would post a link so I could share it with you. I hope you enjoy one of my favorite heart songs!

 

Keeping It In Front of You May 4, 2012

Filed under: Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 9:38 pm

A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the three different assessments I took at our Bethel Church Ladies Retreats. Our guest speakers, Marshall and Lesley Snider, encouraged us to keep the words in front of us. They told us to find creative ways to display them as a daily reminder. I’ve been thinking about this challenging since our retreat and hadn’t had much success. I’m not super creative or artsy… I can copy an idea pretty well, but I wasn’t even sure where to start. I also didn’t want to do something so big that it hit me in the face. I thought about wall art, however, my hubby would have to be on board with that since we share our space – at home and at the office. After much pondering an idea finally took root. The advertisement for our ladies retreat had a “wordle” so it seemed appropriate to make my own with my own words.  For those of you that don’t know – http://www.wordle.net makes word clouds. You pick your words and they generate the word clouds. You can have input into the colors, font, and the direction of your words. The funny thing is, I didn’t remember what the word clouds were called, but wordle was the only thing that came to mind. I was so happy to see that it was the first thing to come up when I searched on Google. My word cloud is made up of my core value words and my spiritual gifts. These words reflect who I am. I don’t want to forget their importance or signifigance.  When I remember who I am, I am empowered to be who God created me to be and not what the world thinks I need to be. These words are a challenge to walk in God’s calling on my life and live an honest life as myself – no one else. I have placed my wordle word cloud on the desktop of my laptop. I will see it everyday – multiple times a day! I also thought about turing the graphic into a print so I could frame it and place it around the house or maybe the office… I also thought about somehow decorating a canvas… We’ll see where the creativity takes me. For now, I am happy with my new desktop background. I think it suits me well!

 

More Often May 3, 2012

Filed under: Simply Me — Amy Scott @ 5:52 pm

Oh, the words “more often”… They can bring up good feelings like – I should eat dessert more often! However, they can always bring up bad feelings like – I should really clean the toilets “more often”. As a person who tries to keep life in balance, the words more often tend to bring up guilt in my mind. They usually mean I’m not doing enough.

Today I started to think about the things I should do more often. They aren’t things that I feel obligated to do, but the things that make me happy. These are the things that fill up. After our church ladies retreat, I would say that these things fall under my spiritual gifts and my values. The month of April was incredibly busy for me and during my busy seasons something usually doesn’t happen as often as it should. For the month of April it would be mentoring and hanging out with students. My free time was just too limited. So now that it’s May, I’m happy to say that I have two dinner dates on the calendar with some lovely ladies that I am long overdue to catch up with.

The other thing I started to think about is something that I’ve gotten out of the habit of doing. I dearly love sending notes of encouragement. I used to be really on top on sending cards to the kids in my class and to my friends who live at great distances. I’ve gotten out of the habit of sending cards so I thought I would make a change and start today! I spent part of my evening writing some cards as a way to do something I love and hopefully something that will bless others. If I’m super cool (which I haven’t been months… possibly a year…) I’ll make and send a homemade cards. Crafting… that is another thing I should do more often! I always enjoy it when I do it. I’ve just gotten out of the habit of it.

I don’t want the little things in life that I enjoy to go by the wayside when life gets busy. It’s important to do things that fill you up and make you feel like yourself. Living out your gifting will not only be a blessing to others, but I’m pretty sure it will be a blessing to you as well!

What are somethings you should make time for? What should you do more often? Remember I’m talking about the things that make you happy! Not the things you feel are expected of you. No guilt! Just joy!

 

Family Bonding May 2, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 4:58 pm

As I mentioned before, I spent the weekend at the Oregon Coast with my family. It’s been a busy week with a lot going on at work, but I wanted to blog about my family bonding experience before the details got fuzzy and left my head. I know I shared that we had good times together spiritually as a family, but I would like to focus on another form of family bonding. The silly kind!

There are lots of ways to bring a family closer together and I do believe a spoons tournament did it for our group. For those that don’t know, spoons is a card game kind of like musical chairs. The first person to get three cards of the same kind grabs a spoon. There is always one less spoon than players. Once the three of kind is achieved and the first spoon is grabbed, all the players dive at the spoons and hope to get one. The person who doesn’t get a spoon is out and you remove a spoon for the next round. This game can get a little violent and is very active. It was so funny to attack together over spoons just after we all prayed together! As predicted, blood was drawn. Poor Aunt Patty was attacked by a spoon. My sister-in-law, Beckie, was literally jumped on by Aunt Cathy! Good times! Ultimately there could only be one victor and Beckie took home the prize!

Hoping for a bingo!

We all experienced something new together – Bingo at the Lions Club. I’ve only played Bingo the old fashion way and let me tell you, there are a lot of rules I didn’t know about! Very few won anything from our group, but the attempt at Bingo was pretty fun! I got a pretty purple dobber out of the deal, so I guess I did win in a way. All I can think of now is what kid’s crafts I can do with it! I really should have given it to my mother-in-law, Debbie, since purple is her color! Sorry, Deb! I should have left it for you. However, it didn’t help me win the game, so I’m thinking it was a dud. Or maybe it was my bingo sheets… or maybe it was me… I’m not sure! It was still a lot of fun to all play together and learn something new.

Saturday night as I was getting ready for bed, I realized that a prank had been pulled on me… My bed was short-sheeted. I really should have paid attention to how it was done, since I’ve never short sheeted anyone before. I couldn’t get into bed. *Insert frown here* I initially thought I was the only victim and I resolved myself to say nothing of the matter so it wouldn’t get the reaction my pranking  family had hoped for. However, my other roomies were short sheeted as well, so we made a plan to head down stairs with our pillows to attack. Let just say  heading down the stairs in the pitch black resulted in my missing the last step and almost dying of laughter. Mind you, I was trying to be quiet. We couldn’t find the door handle and I’m afraid our entrance was not smooth. However, the pillow fight that did follow after we made our way into the room was quite funny! Yet another example of family bonding through violence!  Oh my!

Other highlights from the weekend would be getting ice cream at the Tillamook Cheese Factory, exploring the town of Rockaway Beach, and making picture frames to hold our group photo. The serious stuff is good and draws us together, but so does laughter and a good attack now and then! It was all in good fun and tucked away in the memories of Family Ladies Retreat 2012!

 

Something Worth Fighting For April 30, 2012

Filed under: Bible — Amy Scott @ 9:31 pm

Here is the devotional from the second day our family ladies retreat. We had a powerful time praying each other on Saturday morning. I was honored and blessed to be in the room with such great women as we sought the Lord’s favor on each others lives. Here is hoping that you find the strength to walk into your own Promised Land!

Read Numbers 13:1-2, 17-33, 14:1-3, 6-9

Are you ready for battle?

This was the fateful moment that set the Israelites on a 40 year long walk through the wilderness. I can’t imagine being Joshua or Caleb (the only two who would see the Promised Land from the older generation). 40 years seems like a lot of wasted time when the mission of God was close at hand. They saw the Promised Land. They knew what it had to offer. However, because of the sins of the people, the mission that had been on their hearts since they left Egypt was now on hold. It must have seemed like forever as they waited.

I can’t help but look at the story from the perspective of the other 10 scouts. They all knew going into this trip that God had promised to give them the land. It was land what Abraham had journeyed to long ago. They had deep roots here even if it had been a while since their last visit. I’m not really sure what they expected to find. Part of me thinks they expected God to throw a big welcome home party for them. Upon entering the land they would find homes with the keys in the door, lights on, cleaned and cleared of all personal items such as idols. As we all know this wasn’t the case. The inhabitants of the land were strong, healthy and large. This wasn’t just any enemy. It really was an unfair battle. The Israelites felt weak in comparison, but they underestimated their number one resource: God! As a result, they wasted a lot of time. Time that they could never get back and for the older generation a promise they would never see fulfilled in their lifetime.

We all have a Promised Land. It’s the picture of God’s best for our lives. Often we assume the Promised Land comes with no battles and fights. We assume that God will just hand over the keys and we’ll walk right into it. However, life is seldom like that. The best things in life are worth fighting for. Sometimes I view struggles and set-backs as a way of God telling me this wasn’t for me. I wonder how many Promised Land experiences I’ve missed out on because I wasn’t willing to fight through it and keep going. A lot times the struggles look like giants. We see the odds and we know that they are not in our favor. The enemy is armed and we let fear stop us from going forward.

From the beginning, God told the Israelites that he was going to be with them. He told them he would give them the land. Instead of fighting for the promise, they wanted to turn around and head back to Egypt. Truthfully, it’s easier to stay in our slavery than fight for our freedom. When we resign ourselves to the fact that this how it has always been and this is how it will always be, we sell ourselves short of God’s best. Yes, fighting the battle will take effort. It will hurt. There will be moments when you want to retreat and accept the old way of life, but that would a waste. It would be like turning back into the wilderness on the cusp of the Promised Land.

When the Israelites finally made it the Promised Land, they did not fight their battles alone. God was with them. We can see that even at their first battle in Jericho the Commander of the Lord’s Army (scholars believe that this was a pre-New-Testament appearance of Jesus – God in human form) was there in person giving instruction to Joshua. The Israelites had success and God was fighting for them when they were dedicated to the cause and serving him wholeheartedly.

Just the same, we must not be afraid to claim the promises that God has made in our lives. If he has called us than he will equip us so we can accomplish our calling.  Even if we don’t feel battle ready, all we have to do is remember that the Lord is fighting for us. The heavy lifting really isn’t on our shoulders, it’s on God’s. However, we must be active in claiming our Promised Land. Even though it’s up to God, we have to give feet to our faith and live it out.  Don’t give up on your Promised Land because there is a battle ahead. Some things are worth fighting for and with God on your side you will see victory!

 

 

Another Weekend Away April 29, 2012

Filed under: Bible,Family Time,Travels — Amy Scott @ 6:51 pm

I’ve returned from another weekend away at the Oregon Coast. This time I got to hang out with my family for the weekend. The Scott/Reid/Carroll/Smith crew spent time together laughing, crying, praying, playing, crafting, walking, shopping, and eating together. This year my sis-in-law, Beckie, and my cousin-in-law, Cori, and I took over the planning. I offered to do the devotional time. It was an honor to pray for each of the ladies on our trip and share with them what I felt God laying on my heart. I thought I would share with you our devotional message from Friday evening:

Read Deuteronomy 6

God Moments and Spiritual Storytelling:

This is one of my favorite passages in the Old Testament. It calls us to be story tellers and remember what God has done for us. It’s not just enough to remember in our own quiet moments, but it calls us to be vocal and to share what the Lord has done in our lives.  We can’t keep it to keep it to ourselves. I don’t know about you, but sometimes I get so focused on the future that I forget about the past. Now, I wasn’t there when the Red Sea parted and God delivered the Israelites from Egypt (shocker, right?), but I do have my own God Moments where God showed up big in my life. For me these were moments where God re-directed my life or revealed some life-changing truth to my heart. He has helped me conquer hurdles and obstacles. For me, these God Moments are the times when the Red Sea was parted and God showed up in a big way. When these God Moments are happening, it’s easy to see his hand and recognize his work. However, as time distances us from these moments, the details get hazy. Something we couldn’t stop talking about doesn’t come up as often. We move on and get back to life. This was a big problem for the Israelites. They seemed to have the attention span of a child. God provided miracle after miracle and yet they still didn’t trust him. Even with witnessing the awesome hand of the Lord fight for them, they were still derailed by each new struggle.

This is where Spiritual Storytelling comes into play. Since I work with kids, storytelling is a key part of helping them grasp the Word of God. It’s no different really when we grow up and become adults. We still need to have the element of storytelling. We need to be sharing with each other and the coming generations where God showed up in a big way. Here a couple reasons why Spiritual Storytelling is so important:

  • It helps us remember – when we share our stories; it solidifies the lessons learned in our hearts and minds. It keeps the miracle fresh and live.
  • It inspires us and others – I love that feeling of being on the edge of our seat as you listen to a good story. It’s compelling. When we share our stories, we inspire others in the middle of their own struggles. We are living examples that the Lord is good. Also, our stories will help us in the future. All of us will have many God Moments and have many Red Seas. When we remember how he has been faithful before, we can confidently walk into the next struggle knowing he will not let us go there alone.
  • It keeps the legacy alive – There are moments in history that certainly define a family tree. I can think of couples who have broken the cycle of addiction or abuse, people who have made commitments to change the future for the next generation. These are moments that need to be shared. Even in my own life, I can see how my parents made intentional decisions and shared the reasoning with my sister and me. We are a part of their legacy. These major decisions and life altering moments can change a family tree forever. We must celebrate these changes and also guard the next generation from going back to destructive patterns.

I realize that not every environment is safe for sharing our personal stories. Some things will be shared with only a few. However, I think there is value in sharing our stories even if it is with just a few trusted people. You might feel that everyone already knows your story, but you’d be surprised how many actually don’t.  Also storytelling isn’t a onetime thing. It’s repeating the miracles over and over. It’s about writing them down and making alters of remembrance in our lives. Don’t assume that everyone knows or that no one cares. We all miss out when you keep your stories to yourself!

 

Flying By April 26, 2012

Filed under: Children's Ministry,Family Time,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 2:06 pm

It seems to happen all the time in casual conversations. Someone says, “I just can’t believe how fast the month is flying by!” I don’t know about you, but I hear this all the time. In fact, I think that very statement could be one of the anthems of my life. Time just always seems to be flying by. Things that were months or weeks out on the calendar are now just around the corner. Once one thing is off the radar, something else comes up to take its place.

Here are I am thinking about how the month of April has just flown by. Easter always takes up a huge chunk of time and energy. Add a church ladies retreat, a family ladies retreat, my sister moving home, planning a sermon for mother’s day, a local area connection dinner for women in ministry, a party for a friend, randomly getting a new king mattress (hand me down, but in great condition) and then needing to spend the day shopping to find all the bedding for it since we’ve never owned a king bed, preparing all the permissions slips for summer which means nailing down all the details for our summer activities, multiple lunch dates with friends, family and mentors, selling two vehicles… should I go on? I could list all things that I didn’t get to this month, that I now feel guilty about  – like not reading enough, not writing enough, not meeting with students enough… No wonder the days fly by! Really??? Anybody else just plain tired after reading all that? I know I am after living it!

Right now I find myself in a situation I find myself in a lot… It’s the day before something, today is the day before my family takes off for a ladies retreat at the Oregon Coast. I’ve been planning and prepping for this weekend away for months. Two weeks ago I was busy preparing the devotional times I hope to share with the ladies, on Tuesday I was printing all my materials and making a pile of all the stuff I need to be remember to bring. Somehow in all the prep and trying to keep up with life that I almost feel too tired to go… This bothers me. My life gets so busy that instead of looking at a weekend away as a blessing, I tend to view it just as another thing I need to do. I should clarify that this has nothing against the event itself or the people who will be attending it with me. It’s good stuff, but more than anything I just want to sit in my pajamas and do nothing. Instead of being social, I want to hide. I’m being real here!

This month was a tricky one for me. I really tried to balance things out, but I don’t feel like succeed. I don’t want my life to just fly by. I don’t want my time to be spent just marking dates off the calendar and throwing myself headlong into the next thing. I know I’ve mentioned it before, but with my schedule, I feel like I live my life a month in advance at times, by the time I actually get to whatever is on the calendar I’m either too tired to enjoy it or my mind is already onto the next month and all things that I need to be doing in prep for that. It’s a vicious cycle!

As I prepare to head into the next big thing on calendar, I pray that God would give me rest. Even in a room full of people, I pray that my little introverted spirit would be refreshed and feel a sense of peace and calm. I don’t want to live life frantically. I don’t want to be so busy that even the good things in my life start to look like things to check of my list. I want to savor the moments! I want to really live in them – not too tired to enjoy them and not thinking about the next big thing I need to be on top of.

I can see how this all comes back to my core value word that I got to add back (it’s really my aspiration word) – balance! I need to find balance. I know that I struggled with this month so much because my core value of balance is out of whack. Even though April has flown by, here is hoping that I can slow it for May. I guess that is the great thing about each new month and really even each new day, we can decide the pace. I’ve been trying to keep up a little too much in April. I know myself and I know I can’t live this pace continually. It’s up to me now to set the tone for May. Here’s hoping it doesn’t fly by as quickly.

 

Not in Kansas anymore! April 25, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 3:46 pm

Toby and Todd playing in the yard!

This Sunday my sister moved home from Kansas! As one of my closest friends, it was difficult to have her at such a great distance. I’m thankful for technology that allowed us to stay close while she was gone, but having her here in person is so much better. It’s been a fun couple of days as I have gotten to see her each day and make up for lost time! Here are some highlights from the past few days:

  • Our puppies got to meet for the first time! It was fun to meet April’s Todd and see him interact with my Toby. Todd is full of spunk and really loves to kiss me. It was a very exciting meeting on Sunday!
  • April agreed to be my travel buddy for my last drive in the Malibu. Monday evening we drove up to Puyallup so I could sell my Malibu to my cousin. It seemed fitting to spend the last drive with her talking about life and what we see our futures. (For those at are wondering, I feel really good about selling the Malibu and keeping it in the family. I think I worked through all my emotions on Thursday when I thought it would sell and didn’t).
  • We’ve been sharing with each other our new favorite songs and bands. We’ve also spent a good deal of time singing along to old favorites.
  • April brought me beautiful tulips that are now displayed on my table! She’s so sweet!

  • The only 2 people in the theater!

    We went to the movies and were the only two people in the theater! It was fun to talk during the movie and even text and know that I wasn’t going to get in trouble!

  • We laughed while shopping for random things and at dinner together in our favorite Mexican restaurant. It was good to have her back because we laugh so much when we’re together. There is a true goofiness that comes out when I’m with her.
  • We’ve already had a sleepover! She kept me company while my hubby was away at a conference.
  • This morning we both read for a while. April kept reading while I did quiet things around the house. It was so restful to just be ourselves. We enjoy each other’s company even when we’re not talking.

April hasn’t lived this close to me since she got married almost 4 years ago. I’m excited to see our friendship continue to grow. I’m praying for her and Andrew as they settle in to being back in the northwest. This is an exciting time as a family and I’m really happy to have them back!