Amy Scott's Thoughts

Sharing the thoughts that bounce around in my brain!

Preach It! May 14, 2012

Filed under: Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 6:51 pm

Setting the stage for our theme: In Her Steps

I’m not even sure where to begin. There is so much I want to share about my first experience preaching. I do realize that I was a part of a tri0 – a teaching team. I wasn’t the only one on stage talking for the whole duration of the time. So yes, I think it would be safe to say that my first time in a preaching capacity was a bit of a baby step. I’m not sure I would be ready for the whole thing to be on me. Maybe next I’ll team teach with one other individual before I move to it just being me… Who really knows if I’ll ever have the opportunity again?

If I were to be honest, what I did yesterday, I thought I would never do. Not because I didn’t believe I could do, but I wasn’t sure if I would ever have the opportunity. I struggle with confidence and I know this might sound like “high school” but I never thought I would be cool enough. I never thought I would be seen as having anything worth saying. However, I can see how God has been growing me and helping me to speak up. I’m being honest about who I am and what I’m thinking. It’s been really scary – putting myself out there, not hiding. Stepping up to new challenges is risky and uncomfortable!

When Pastor Kyle asked me if I would be interested in preaching on Mother’s day, my mind went into an instant pro and con list. Pro – It would be a good opportunity to grow my ministry skill set. Con – I’m not a mom. Pro – I have a lot to say to parents. Con – I’ve never done this before. The list goes on, but let’s just say I was excited and terrified all at the same time. I’m glad that I was able to do this endeavor as a team. It was really a privilege to work beside Pastor Vicki and Shereena, our youth pastor’s wife. I feel like this shared experience has taken my relationship deeper with each of them. For that, I am blessed!

The Mother’s Day Preaching Team!

So, how did it go? Well, I feel it went awesome. I was nervous, but it didn’t control me. I feel like I was able to keep a level head and share my heart clearly. I realize that I’m not a polished public speaker and I still have room to grow, but for my first time, I think it was a great experience. Because it was a shared sermon, I never felt overwhelmed. I could have talked more and not felt in over my head. It was a good surprise to find that I liked it! I enjoy myself! Praise the Lord!

I want to keep polishing my skills and growing in my confidence as a public speaker. As painful as it was, I watched the footage from both services today (our first service wasn’t recorded, so I was able to go over 2/3 of the film). I’m not a big fan of watching myself, but I wanted to see myself from another perspective – the view of the audience. I said “um” too many times. I know it was nerves. It will take intentional thought on my part to break the ums. I also said “cuz” at one point. I almost beat my head on the desk as I watched the screen. “Cuz” – really? Do I speak English? I guess not! I know as I take a good look at myself and make notes, I’ll have a foundation laid for what not to do next time.

Oh, next time… I’m not sure when it will, but I really hope there is a next time. I don’t want to shy away from opportunities like this. My prayer is that I’ll have more opportunities to develop this skill set. I know the more I do it, the more confident I will become. I never saw myself being on-stage as a part of the preaching team. I’m viewing this weekend a big win for me personally. God was so good to me. I feel like saying, “Who am I?” Why does he keep blowing my mind? I’m not worthy! Even if I’m not, I’m willing to keep walking forward knowing that God has good in store for me. I know he is leading me, because I would have never ended up here on my own!

Note: Once it’s up, I’ll share the podcast link for those that might want to hear the sermon. I also plan on sharing my sermon notes here for those who are curious about what I said. Stay tuned!

 

Shop Till You Drop May 12, 2012

Filed under: Family Time — Amy Scott @ 12:19 pm

I really should be prepping for my first preaching experience ever… which happens tonight… t-minus 6.5 hours… But I always get the itch to write a blog when I haven’t posted the day before. Even in the busyness of life, writing my thoughts down here seems to help me keep some form of sanity. I thought I would share with you the fun I had yesterday!

It’s been such a blessing to have my sister back in the area! Over the last year I have had to go shopping by myself or with the husband. Both scenarios aren’t ideal! Shopping by myself means standing in front of the mirror for way too long and wondering from every angle if I look okay. I just can’t seem to decide on my own if I like certain things. I will admit that I can be decisive in some clothing decisions, but for the most part a good deal of thought goes into every item before it’s purchased. When I’m by myself it just takes longer to make a decision. Shopping with Jeremy is often like shopping by myself… He just drops me off at a store and finds something manly to do while I’m in there. Even if I do try something on and ask for his opinion, he usually tells me I look good. Don’t get me wrong, this is very sweet, because I honestly do believe he thinks I look good. His lack of any other opinion makes me wonder if it’s really true.

Time to Shop!

My sister and my mom have been my shopping buddies from sometime. They are very helpful. They offer up suggestions, help me decide between which items to get keep and which items should go back. April especially likes to help me see options beyond my usual styles and colors. I can’t help it that I love the colors navy and gray so much! Having a shopping buddy really does help me!

Yesterday was our first shopping trip since April’s been home. I know I’ve said this before, but I do most of my shopping for two seasons in one trip. I’ll have a fall/winter trip and a spring/summer trip. As much as I love getting new things, the process of shopping seems to wear me out. I’m not sure why. I don’t think it’s all the walking around. My guess would be it’s all psychological. As a classic over-thinker, I can make the most fun tasks complicated and tiring. I think this is my problem with shopping.

It was great to be together as a family again. Mom drove which April and I always appreciate! We went down to Portland which is our favorite shopping place. Gotta love no sales tax! We had a wonderful lunch at Claim Jumpers and a yummy afternoon treat of frozen yogurt at Menchies. Overall it was a very successful, fun day! The weather is perfect for my new spring clothes and I’m glad that I have something new to wear while preaching this weekend! Silly, I know, but the honest truth!

 

Trying To Figure It All Out May 10, 2012

Filed under: Bible,Children's Ministry,Recollections,Women in Ministry — Amy Scott @ 3:59 pm

Oh, the age old question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” We’ve all pondered it. Most would say they have it figured out. Some probably never will… I feel like I’m somewhere in the middle. It’s a weird spot to be in. Honestly, it can be confusing and complicated.

When I went off  to college with a dream about who I was going to become, I knew two things. I was either going to be a pastor or a pastor’s wife. Ministry was my passion. It was going to be the center of my life. However, I didn’t realize how multi-layered ministry roles were. In my head, I would get a ministry job and have a spouse that worked outside of the church. Or I would marry a pastor and I might work a job outside of the church or I might be a stay at home mom, but I thought if I wasn’t the pastor then I would be the behind the scenes support to my husband.

I remember when Jeremy and I were meeting with Don Detrick (the Secretary-Treasurer for our AG network and the minister who married us) for a premarital get together. He suggested I get my credentials and I laughed at him. I said one pastor in the household was enough and I was fine being behind the scenes, supporting Jeremy. Oh, if I had only known then what I know now. I might have prepared myself for life a bit better. God eventually did lay it on my heart to get my credentials and become a licensed minister which led to be becoming ordained.  That was not a part of my original plan. Seems the Bible has something to say about that, “In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.” (Proverbs 16:9 NIV)

The tension comes from the fact that I never planned to be in a two pastor family. It was always going to be one or the other in my mind. As God has unfolded his plan for my life, I’m realizing that his plans are bigger for me then I imagined. I feel my own call to ministry, outside of being paired with my husband. Let me tell you, that is a very scary thing. I’ve planned my life to be the supporter, not the one up front. In fact, I’m not a huge fan of being up front. I feel like God has certainly called me to a ministry of writing. I love to communicate through the written word. I’m never without anything to say. I always have an opinion on the matter. I love discussing things and digging deeper into God’s word. As an introvert, it’s hard for me to find the balance of ministry to people and quiet moments like these were I can process, reflect, and minister through writing.

I struggle with being viewed as a “pastor”… This is hard for me to admit, but titles do mean a lot to me. I wish they didn’t. As an administrator, I often feel like my heart for pastoral ministry is in conflict with my job that puts me behind the scenes. I know I’m called to more than pushing buttons on a copy machine and keeping track of attendance. I don’t technically have the “pastor” title, so I don’t like to presume roles that are not given to me. And yet, I am an ordained minister, how does this all fit together?

I’ve often wondered what it might look like to seek out more pastoral roles, but that seems to be tricky water as well. I don’t want to head off on my own ministry track that pulls me away from my husband. I don’t want each of us to be in our own worlds and have our calendars no longer match up. I don’t want to pull my heart away from children’s ministry, because I truly love it and I am passionate about seeing young children build a lifelong foundation on Jesus Christ.

I do think there is something to be said about saying yes to the small opportunities that come my way. Who knows if these small yeses will lead to bigger doors in the future? Doing things like co-preaching on Mother’s Day are little windows to grow my skills and expand my influence. Today I was asked if I wouldn’t mind doing the devotional for our area pastors meeting next month. While I am excited for this opportunity, I am yet again faced with the tension of being one of three women who attend these meetings and younger than most of the people in the room by a good twenty-five years. Not only is it hard to feel qualified, but it’s also hard to find people that can relate to me, who understand where I am.

I guess this leads me to another area of ministry that God has been laying on my heart. There is a very noticeable lack of women ministers in the meetings I attend. I have a passion to see women in ministry. The Lord has been fueling this fire in my heart to stand up and be a leader, to have a say, to be heard. The voice and influence of women ministers seems so small right now. It’s lonely to think that there are very few people out there who understand this call to ministry and the challenges. I’m not sure what my future looks like, but I hope that I can make a way for other women to step up. I would love to see the number of credentialed women match the number of credentialed men in our meetings. I would love to see the faces and hear the voices of other women ministers. I don’t want to be alone.

Children’s ministry, writing, public speaking, and encouraging women in ministry – I see all of these playing a big part in my future. I’m not sure exactly where these doors will lead me, but I know these are the areas that God has laid on my heart. I know that he will help Jeremy and I navigate the waters as a couple in ministry. I fully aware that my ministry affects my husband and his ministry affects me. We are connected. I know that God has a plan for us a couple and as individuals. We both have a lot to offer the Kingdom of God and we both want to use our lives to serve the Lord. I’m wrestling with a lot questions and I struggle to see  the picture sometimes. Where is this all leading me? Honestly, I’m not sure… but I do know that God is growing me. He is stretching my faith muscles more than I would like at this moment!

So, what do I want to be when I grow up? I think the safest answer would be: in ministry! The rest is up to God!

 

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!