Serenity Vanderschoot and The Nashville Napkin Interview: Christmas Included

“Nashville has proudly called itself the “Athens of the South” and its civic participation in performing arts and entertainment has enhanced this reputation. Just one year after the city incorporated in 1806, the first theatrical performance was staged. Musical societies, amateur dramatic clubs and music publishing flourished creating an artistic environment that made Nashville an attractive stop for performers … .”

I found these facts in the Curtain Call display on the second level of the Downtown Nashville Public Library in December one year ago.  And the hidden gem for me was that I found the Jeter-Smith dance troupe. Yes, tucked in the Nashville Conservatory of Music was a School of Dance. The display contained old black and white photos of this dance troupe. I had no idea there was a heritage of dance in this city known for music. 

So, it is no wonder that God brought this next interviewee for The Nashville Napkin to this city. Let’s learn together about Serenity Vanderschoot, the visionary, dancer, certified deaf interpreter, and now blog writer in responding to these questions prepared for her!

1)      Like me, you are a transplant to Nashville.  What brought you to this fair city?

The Lord in his goodness led us! My husband had a good friend and some family here and was familiar with the area. After serving in church ministry in Illinois for two years, we desired to branch out from our hometown and prayerfully considered Tennessee. It was a harder move for me than Matthew. But I trusted the wisdom God gave him. I could not have dreamt up the blessing we’ve been allowed here for raising a family and serving.

2)      How would you describe Nashville to someone who has never visited?

A rich community of families, art and compassion. Very laid back, something I have come to appreciate.   

3)      What delights you during this year’s holiday season?

Anticipating Christ’s birth with our kids and creating traditions with them that mean so much. I love how they recall last year’s celebrations and get so excited about repeating the littlest details. Our favorite this year has been rewrapping old Christmas books that they take turns opening one for each night. Also Christmas movies, cookies, gifts to bless others, spending time with loved ones near and far, hot drinks and lights, quiet nights-just being still.

4)      What is one of your favorite Christmas traditions? 

As a child we didn’t have much at all and yet those simple Christmases, listening to Sandi Patty’s Christmas record, were so full because we had each other, seriously. We had a tall tree with bear branches that was kept in the apartment all year round, so when Christmas time came my brother and I were thrilled to decorate it with our ornaments and garland. Another favorite was going to my grandparent’s house, enjoying their company and a warm fire.

Today it is one thing - circling up with my husband and kids Christmas morning to read Luke and watch them piece together the nativity as we reflect on the one important gift. We appreciate how Luke seems to elaborate more on events that happened around Christ’s birth than other gospels and because Paul gives the lineage in reverse order all the way back to Adam. But with our boys being so small, we’re lucky if they can sit still long enough for the first half of chapter 2!

5)      I know you are a woman of prayer.  Recall for us a time when God answered a prayer extravagantly.

That’s a hard one. There are a few.

The most important would be His confirmation given for marriage. After witnessing broken marriages as a child, I had much fear to work through. I had a longing for security. I knew I loved Matthew with my whole being. But we live in a fallen world with great challenge. Sixteen years ago (at college) we spent seven days fasting, staying after in chapel services, coming back in the evenings to the alter to just read the word together in prayer … just waiting on God. He met us in three different ways to confirm that the glory He had planned was a new thing, nothing I had known before, and personally that I could trust Him with it. 

The most life changing answer has been one of healing and grace that comes with true forgiveness. Something I don’t have strength to accomplish on my own. Yet surrendering I can.  Turning to Jesus with great expectation for impossible things. The painful places He allows me to go in life, until desperate for Him to invade, this is where I meet Jesus. And this is something He does for His children time and time again until they are set free. That is the kind of love that draws me, that is the love that saves.

6)      What principle or lesson is the Holy Spirit teaching you right now? 

It always seems to be a life journey of grace. 1 Corinthians 13:12 comes to mind, where it says “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” It is the Father that reveals mysteries to us. His love in spite of me and my filth is just that, a mystery. How he loves us! When I look at Jesus and what he did for me on the cross, I’m compelled. I don’t feel like I have much time here. This is not my home forever. So I want to invest love as intensely as I can while I have today. 

7)      What was the last thing you scribbled on a paper napkin? 

Probably a verse from the book of Isaiah. I have spent the entirety of all seven of my pregnancies there. Saying good-bye to three of them by the second trimester and raising the other four with Matthew in truth and love and peace, Isaiah seems to be where the Lord speaks to me most. And I am left changed.

8)      You have served in ministry in several places around the world.  Tell us about one of your best memories.

Dancing at an orphanage in Kiev, Ukraine, and sharing in the presence of God with the deaf as we lifted up the name of the Lord in sign, not dependent on song but as an outpouring of our response to His presence, and His great love toward us.

9)      You are the founder of Adonai International, a dance studio that has taken on a broader vision.  Give us a brief history and take us into your future plans.

Adonai International, Inc. is a nonprofit organization devoted to reaching the world for Christ through the visual and performing arts. Our programs provide professional training for student artists of all backgrounds, abilities and ages in order to enhance their gifts and equip them for ministry using the arts.

 

The seeds for Adonai International were planted in 2007 with a summer program to provide Christ-centered dance instruction for girls. This first program, God’s Princess, was attended by 12 girls. Adonai Dance, a full dance academy, opened in Lebanon, in fall 2009 with 25 students.

 

In order to expand its reach into all art forms, Adonai International incorporated in 2011. In 2012 we introduced painting and a program for boys named Royal Knights. The summer programs can currently accommodate 130 boys and girls. In the fall of 2013, we started a music program, offering guitar, percussion, piano, and voice instruction.

Today Adonai Dance is at maximum capacity for its current facility, and we are praying and working toward a future Adonai Arts Centre. It will provide beautiful and creative spaces for professional training in the visual and performing arts as well as venues for student performances and exhibitions.

10)  Are you planning any resolutions for 2014?

... Foot rubs, Legos, Bible, dolls. Just to be more on the floor with those I love and listening more for the voice and whispers of God.  Jesus has been so patient with me. 

Back to that library display …

 “Throughout Nashville’s history residents could participate in the performing arts and entertainment through local organizations and could also attend performances by national known artists.  With such a rich history it is no wonder today’s Nashville performance venues, historic and new, continue to promote Nashville performing arts and entertainment traditions, including its world class symphony, opera and ballet, active community theatre companies and hit-making musical artists.”

I think Nashville has another hidden jewel, and they just might want to make room for Adonai Arts Centre and Serenity Vanderschoot!

Loose Ends

In previous posts I have made a few statements that I want to follow-up with or just get off my chest.

I wrote in August that I wanted to read Peggy Joyce Ruth's book about Psalm 91. Recently, I requested it through interlibrary loan. I have read many books through interlibrary loan. But this time, no library that had the book would loan it out for free. I would have to pay a fee of $15. 

I was mad and I was sad. The library is a place where I never felt second class because I had "no money." I could with honor read and read and read. When I received that e-mail, it sucked the air right out of my lungs. It is hard to put into words what that "wall" meant.

How quickly we forget. As I looked up the information for the above two paragraphs. I reread the August post. Oh, how I needed that reminder. God will not disappoint me. I was failing to trust him today in my impossible situation. Lord, please forgive my unbelief.

I am waiting on Charles Swindoll's book about Jesus. I finally feel like I can read it. It was way back in March of 2012 when I first mentioned the book. It has "only" taken me 21 months to get here. I wonder what He has to teach me. Thank you interlibrary loan, Nashville Public Library and that other wonderful library letting me use your book! Please forgive my above outburst.

In September, I wrote something judgmental about a book. I had been reading articles about how to improve your blog writing. They said things like ... shake things up, state your opinions, call a spade a spade, reveal industries secrets. La. La. La. Oh, I wish I had never listened. Please forgive me Mr. Lupton. I lacked humility. 

I thought about just editing the post and removing the offense. No one would ever know. Nope, the good book says to confess your sins, and He is faithful and just to forgive them. I need forgiveness.

Laptop Saga

This laptop.  Yes, this laptop I am typing on is the one once thought dead.  Thanks to a very smart church secretary who knew from her husband's own finicky laptop to plug it in, turn it on and wait ... and wait and wait.  It eventually turns on and works.  Volume also seems to be working.  Who knows what it will or won't do next!

It is November, and I have been reading about people posting the things for which they are thankful.  So ... I am thankful to have it back!  Not sure how much to trust it.  Did rescue the files I had on it.  I am thankful for not having to retype them.

I am thankful, Lord, for this crazy laptop.  I guess it is somewhat like me.  Sometimes I am reliable and some times not.  Make me like a new laptop ... quick to respond to you and consistently fully functioning.  Make my mind like a clean hard drive with no bugs or viruses to confuse my operations. 

Make me more like your son, Jesus.  Who said in John 5:19, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise."

Do you want to be a leader?

"... And the Lord said to you, 'You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler.'"  2 Samuel 5:2

King David is the one being discussed here. At the pinnacle of his leadership he had the heart of God. According to Beth Moore, "For a time, he was the greatest king that ever lived - the apple of God's eye." (p. 145)

I am no bible scholar like Beth Moore, Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer or Hayley DiMarco, yet I feel like the Holy Spirit gave me a quick glimpse into the process of leadership.

One: Shepherd People.

Immediately I though of my family. Have I shepherd them? Have I done all I can do to point them to Christ, to love them, to help them? 

Two: Then you will become their ruler.

Shepherd first. Love first. Tend first. Feed first. Guard first. Then they will choose you, accept you, as their leader.

One of the oldest known occupations in the world holds the secret to leadership. When they (sheep or people) know you will pay attention to their needs, they will incrementally accept your leadership. 

Time, action and trust are factors. The pattern is seen here in 2 Samuel 5:1-3. All the tribes of Israel came to David to ask him to be their king. See it. They asked him. Why? Because in their own words, "In the past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns."  One of the jobs of a shepherd is to guard, and he had done it well.

Have you conquered the shepherding part? Can you be like David and say with confidence "Hey, I know how to do that! I have spent years doing it." Then you will be ready for leadership.

This insight may just be for me. I know some areas I need to work on. 

Update on Africa

Four years ago ... oh, let me quote myself. 

"If you have found me here, you have received some type of communication about our family going on a mission trip to Africa in June of next year. Together we will all watch and see if the Lord does send our family, and if so, how he does it. We have many obstacles in our way but we believe we are to try. So here goes .... "

This was my first entry into this blog back in 2009. We have yet to make that trip, but during my "David" Bible study time I was reminded of a gift I received last week in a bag from Africa.  I had asked the Holy Spirit about that.

I think I received the answer to that question. He was reminding me of the covenant He had made with me that we would go. 

In 1 Samuel 21, David is running for his life from King Saul.  He goes to a priest and asks for bread to eat.  The priest has only the bread of presence that had just that day been removed from before the Lord in the tabernacle.

Beth Moore says that "through the bread of the presence, God may have been "reminding" David that He had not broken the everlasting covenant He had made with David's kingdom (p. 53)."  Remember he had been anointed to be the next king, yet right then with fleeing feet he is no where near that promise.

Second, she states that she feels the bread was also a private symbol of a personal covenant to David.  "As He offered bread to David through Ahimelech the priest, I believe God pledged His presence to David throughout his exile (p. 53)."

If I can be so bold, I believe that was what God did with me and that unexpected present.  He was reminding me that he has not forgotten about that mission trip to Africa.

Are there promises you hold in your heart?  He has not forgotten them.

More about David

Five of us gathered three weeks ago to begin our next Bible study.

According to LifeWay, "David: Seeking a Heart Like His by Beth Moore is a compelling women's Bible study of David. In this examination of the "man after God's own heart," David will delight and disappoint you. If you've ever experienced doubt, temptation, loss, family problems, or personal inconsistencies, this study is for you!"

Just three weeks in and the Holy Spirit has given us each new revelation for our lives. If you are not currently in a Bible study, find one and go. Male or female. Time spent in God's word is never wasted, and it produces a harvest in your life that cannot be matched.

Onward, soldiers. There is a battle to be won and it starts with you!

Toxic Charity?

The hospitality class at church read Toxic Charity by Robert D. Lupton. I did not make it to any of those nights of discussion, but I did read at home. Most of the time I kept my head cocked to the side wondering if I could come into agreement with him.

Re-neighboring as a mission endeavor was a new concept for me to consider. The author and his family choose to buy a house in a low income area to serve those living there - serve as in befriending and entering into life with them. 

Can I put us in that category living here in the hotel?

We have walked through a shooting of a child on the premises with the staff. Watched drug deals go down outside our window wondering about safety yet still calling the police. Yet on the other hand, some would say we are poor. We have benefited from the help of government, family, friend, and stranger.

One new friend asked me, "Why did you choose a hotel to live in?

"Because it was the Lord's direction to me," I responded. 

She said, "Then you can say he sent you there."

Why then do I feel shame sometimes and confidence other times? I wonder if the author would see me as one in need of help or as a helper. 

Can you be both?  I don't remember that possibility in the book. He seemed to present an either/or case.  You were either the giver or the receiver.

Now here is the hardest part.  I have harshly judged the poor and the needy.  I have been the mighty missionary going oversees.  I had a haughty attitude that the Lord has adjusted during the now four plus years we have been out of our house. 

As I think back over the book, what I missed between the lines was humility. Writing a book takes courage, and I commend Mr. Lupton for stepping out on that limb with a very difficult subject.  You do have me re-thinking.

Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed

I unintentionally left something out of the blog when telling you about our summer Bible study ... C Square Ministries was on the road again! 

My laptop went to a black screen and never came back.  With no way to show the DVDs in the exercise room, there would be no hotel study.  The only other friend taking the class offered her home, so on the road I went. 

She and I enjoyed the shorter sessions offered with the conference format.  The new teachers and styles of homework lead to discussions.  We liked Faithful, Abundant, True so much we moved onto the next one which was actually the previous one.

Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed, according to Lifeway's website, was taped at the 2007 Deeper Still women's event.  The message is divided into three segments.  Each segment focuses on the life of David at a different stage of his life: as a young man (sessions one and two by Priscilla Shirer), as a middle-aged man (sessions three and four by Beth Moore), and as a man facing the final third of his life (sessions five and six by Kay Arthur).

In this study I saw David decide to trust God in a disappointing situation.  After the ark almost fell of the new cart and Uzzah died trying to steady it, David was not willing to go on.  He was disappointed.  After some time and good news that God was blessing the temporary home of the ark, he choose to trust God.  Armed with knowledge of the correct way to carry the ark, they continued with the journey of the ark to Jerusalem.  (Dare I say David did a "Bible study" to figure out what had gone wrong?) God's presence was again with them.  He choose to trust God and was not disappointed.  Sound familiar?

Last night was our last session.  The laptop has been officially pronounced dead by a trained technician.  I wonder about God's new plan. 

Those who trust in the Lord will not be disappointed. 1 Peter 2: 6

Lord, in this particular situation of ______________________, I choose to trust you. 

Did you fill in the blank?  Is there an impossible situation in your life right now?  Did you know God will not disappoint you in it?

I have lived and am living in the middle of some hard situations, and a little book with a very long title by Peggy Joyce Ruth is helping me.  In Those Who Trust In The Lord Shall Not Be Disappointed, the above statement (p. 18) is what the author has said more than 10,000 times when she is faced with the temptation to become disappointed.  And she concludes in every aspect of life, ministry, and business, she has seen God keep this covenant promise.

Chapter one is my favorite part of the book.  In it she lays out her theology based on 1 Peter 2:6-8.  It is so easy to understand.  So faith building. 

She is real.  No super human believer here.  She writes about when the Lord began to really call her to faith through this scripture.  "I remember arguing, 'But Lord, I think I do trust you, but sometimes the Word looks like it's not working and I get confused - and even disappointed - but that doesn't mean I'm not trusting you (p.16)."

I see me.  Do you see you?  She says just like fear and faith can't operate together, neither can trust and disappointment.  The tenses of the verbs are clues to how this promise works.  We trust now and lack of disappointment comes in the future. 

If we continue to trust, even in lacking of understanding, the day will come when we will not be disappointed with God.  There it is.  There it is.  The hard part.  No pity parties.  No wallowing in disappointment, Deborah.  Trust.  Trust is the "pre-requisite before we see the outcome (p. 17)."

Oh, I know what you are thinking because I thought it too.  Yeah, yeah, in heaven it will all make sense.  No, she gives example after example of God working out this absolute truth in her life.  Some took just hours others days to, yes, even years.  Why do I think so poorly of God?  He tells me He knows how to give good gifts in Matthew 7:11.

I chose to trust! 

... And I am going to read her other book, Psalm 91 God's Umbrella of Protection.

Reality and Hospitality

The leaders of my Wednesday night class at church are Jon and Kathy Mowry.  Each are knee deep in Christian work.  At the bottom of the paper they gave out the first day of class is written this sentence. "Hospitality is one of the hardest and most profoundly transformational Christian practices."  Hardest?  Hardest!

Both authors, Pohl and Schaeffer, agree there is a reality to consider in the realm of hospitality.  Pohl talks about the issues of safety that comes with strangers in your home, the complexity of raising a family in front of others, and when it takes longer for people to move on than originally thought. 

Schaeffer expounds, "It has not been an exciting succession of 'success.'  There have been sicknesses, accidents, depressions, discouragement, frustrations and exhaustion.  There has been a succession of difficulties which arise from having little money, a succession of temptations to give up, to call it too much, to say we have had enough and that we want to have a 'normal life like other people.' There have been what we feel sure are direct attacks of Satan to stop us, to make us give up." 

She continues, "If you read what the Bible says about living by 'faith', read in Hebrews the 11th chapter, and the first four verses of the 12th.  It is not an account of easy lives and a succession of 'high points.'  To say the least, there is a variety of things to be experienced.  It is far from a soft life (p.226)."

On the positive side Pohl highlights that each guest brings a gift to the hospitality table.  Workers in the places she interviewed often told stories of how the guest helped the workers through their sharing of encouragement and life experiences.  These moments helped make the hard ones worth it.

The Mowry experience points out that people with money no longer rely on hospitality.  Today it is no longer an issue of life and death.  But, could it, could it, mean the difference in the life or death of someone's spiritual life?

1 Timothy 3:2 tells us that hospitality was even a requirement for leadership in the early church.  It is rubber to the road Christianity.  Is it on your resume?

L'Abri

As I said before my interest was drawn to L'Abri because of my background, and it is similar, though on a much smaller scale, to what we have seen God do in our home.  Here are some insights I gained from the L'Abri Fellowship that one day could be applied in this ministry.

• Insight 1:  You need a deliberate and vibrant prayer life. 

According to Schaeffer, "We have established our purpose as this:  'To show forth by demonstration, in our life and work, the existence of God.'  We have in other words decided to live on the basis of prayer in several realms, so that we might demonstrate to any who care to look the existence of God.  We have set forth to live by prayer in these four specific realms:

1.  We make our financial and material needs known to God alone, in prayer, rather than sending out pleas for money.  We believe that He can put it into the minds of people of His choice the share they should have in the work.

2.  We pray that God will bring the people of His choice to us, and keep all others away.  There are no advertising leaflets, and this book is the first to be written about the work.

3.  We pray that God will plan the work, and unfold His plan to us (guiding us, leading us) day by day, rather than planning the future in some clever or efficient way in committee meetings.

4.  We pray that God will send the workers of His choice to us rather than pleading for workers in the usual channels (p. 16)."

• Insight 2: A balance between study and work makes for a successful Christian and ministry.

Who were the L'Abri guests, and what did they do?  The guests were students, professionals and even some families.  They varied in ages from early teens to sixties.  Spiritual growth came through one-on-one conversations, reading, listening to lectures in person and on tape, and in Schaeffer's words "half the day is spent entering into the practical work in a family setting (p. 15)."

The way I see it guests helped the ministry function and grow while they received from the ministry personally.  That is brilliant.  It is a two way street - receiving and giving all at once.

• Insight 3:  God is provider, with a capitol P.  Provider!

When our author answered the question of how this was all financed she said, "The factual human answer is that gifts come in from many different places, and are placed in a general fund out of which rents, mortgage payments and electric bills are paid, and the housekeepers are given money for food.  No one asks anybody to give money, however.  No pleas are made to human beings or organizations, and no pledges are asked for.  Guests and helpers at L'Abri do not pay anything, and all expenses for them are met out of the general fund (p.15)."

That is faith, with a capitol F, to trust God for all income.  They originally when to Switzerland as missionaries for a particular denomination.  When they felt God leading them to start L'Abri they resigned that position, i.e. no regular paycheck, and trusted Him with everything - food, shelter, even care for strangers in your home, and all of this in a foreign country.  WOW.

• Insight 4:  He equips uniquely for His purpose.

I wondered how one would be prepared to enter into a work like this before she gave this insight about her husband.  Mrs. Schaeffer writes that "God has given him an education in addition to unfolding a work (p.227)."

"We believe the people who have come, have come for help they themselves needed.  However, we believe God can do two things at once. (A masterpiece of understatement!)  In this case I am certain He brought people for their own sakes but also brought a variety of people as a training-ground and as a means of developing, in the arena of live conservations, that which Fran (her husband) is giving in his apologetic today (p. 226-227)."  (FYI.  He became a highly requested speaker about their work.)

How comforting that is to me.  We don't have to know it all before we begin.  They allowed God to unfold a plan, and He equipped them along the way. 

I love the way she summaries their story at the beginning of the book.  "The story which follows is one in which the author has attempted to show the reality that God exists, and that He is the One who has, time after time, answered prayer in the midst of well-nigh impossible circumstances to bring about something out of nothing (p. 17)."

Oh, Father, bring something out of nothing here in Nashville, Tennessee, with the Coppedge six.

Christian Hospitality

Sadly, there is no Nashville Napkin this month.  I contacted someone but have yet to receive a response.  I will continue working on it for you.  So, drum roll please, we are going to dive into a series of entries on Christian hospitality. 

I am not talking about entertaining but about the hospitality we see practiced in the Bible.  Christians took shelter with other Christians when they traveled about.  Organizations like hotels and hospitals originated out of the practice of hospitality shown by Christians. 

Often hospitality meant the difference between life and death in that culture.  Just think about the hospitality shown by Abraham in Genesis 18 and Lot in just the next chapter.  Today, we have many more options for shelter; however, hospitality in our culture can still have a huge impact on the vigor of our spiritual lives.

When I felt that the Lord was leading me away from the choir at church, my director asked me what do you think the Lord is calling you to.  I did not have an answer.  That was back in December.  Now, I have a answer.  He has replaced my Wednesday night choir practice with a class on hospitality.

We are reading books on Christian hospitality.  The first was Making Room:  Recovering Hospitality as a Christian Tradition by Christine Pohl.  It is a survey book looking back at the pattern of hospitality in the Bible and in historical practice plus our modern variances of the principle. 

My favorite statement in the whole book was that through this research the author hoped to add credibility to what some have been doing intuitively in their homes for years.  The other critical factor she brings up is that people need to be home to host hospitality.  We are, oh so, busy today. 

Yet, some have made the decision to open their homes as a means to help others.  And, oh so, many years ago, I benefited from an in-home ministry.  A retired couple hosted a weekly covered dish supper in their home.  We listened to a brief teaching, worshiped, and then had time for personal ministry.  They also offered individual counseling in their home as a team.  I grew so much spiritually under that mentoring relationship.

One of the ministries Pohl highlighted in her book interested me.  This lead to reading book number two, L'Abri by Edith Schaeffer.  It chronicles the building of a ministry in Switzerland by an American family beginning in the late 1950s.  L'Abri is the French word for shelter.  The family chose to live by faith to show that God is real.  Their home was open to "any in need of spiritual help - especially those seeking the answers to basic philosophical problems ... (p.13)." 

She describes what God did like this. "A family of six, two of them sick children, move into a beat up chalet in a tiny mountain village without even a living room ... and pray that God will send them the people to talk to! (p.227)"  And that he did.  In eleven years the work grew to include a complex of chalets, a chapel and locations in other countries.

How does this apply to C Square Ministries, Inc.?  Read on next week.

The Nashville Napkin: Lunch'n with the Gonzaleses

Mmm.  I was treated to a lunch date with Johnny and Sylvia Gonzales this week at Panera Bread Company.  The table was set with ½ turkey sandwich, chicken and wild rice soup, and sweet tea; ½ strawberry, poppy seed and grilled chicken salad, cup of chicken and wild rice soup, plus water; and asiego roast beef sandwich with café mocha.  Can you guess who had what?  I wish I could turn this screen upside down and write the answers in tiny print on the bottom!  If you think the food sounds good, the conversation was so much better.  Here is what I learned from the Minister of Students at Hermitage Hills Baptist Church and his wife and partner in ministry.

Q:  Moving to Nashville from Florida you probably noticed things that are different from the Sunshine State.  Can you name a few?

His Answer:  Diversity is much wider here than in Panama City.  Being so close to Alabama, Panama City sometimes didn’t feel like Florida.  Some joked it was LA for Lower Alabama or even the Redneck Riviera. 

Hers:  It was much slower there.  Here it is faster paced with the interstates, traffic, and even opportunities.

Q:  As a pastor and teacher to youth from middle school to college, what takes you to prayer most for the youth of this generation?

His:  It is the lack of purpose.  Our students have access to so much so quick.  They finally reach a point when they realize I have all I need and ask what is the point of my life.  Do I go get more stuff?  What do I do? 

Hers:  The need to be loved and accepted.  They yearn for acceptance and unconditional love.

Q:  As parents of seven children ranging from ages 15 to 1, how do you find time for your personal Bible study?

His:  I do it in the mornings.  I try to get to work early.  That study and prayer time is important.  When I don’t get there, it is challenging. 

Hers:  It is in the morning and not as long as I like.  This morning at five the house was quiet.  It was a sweet time.  I drink it in.  I have to.

Q:  What is the Holy Spirit teaching you both right now?

Hers:  I just read about loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind.  Your entire mind means to think on these things that are true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8).  That is what he has been teaching me.  When my mind goes to complaining or being discontent, the Lord has brought that back to me ... whatever is true.  And what is true is that he loves me.  He loves me.  (And she smiled.)

His:  For me, it is when I want to be discontented I am reminded that Jesus came to serve, not to be served (Matthew 20:28).  I am reminded I am not better than him.  He came to be a servant.

Q:  I have walked with Sylvia for the past few years, and it has opened my eyes that being the wife of a pastor is a job similar to First Lady.  Your husband was elected President but you are expected to do certain things also.  What advice can you give to a couple first starting out in ministry together?

His:  If you had rather do something else, you need to go do that.  (This was said with such certainty that it left my jaw slack.)

Hers:  It is a privilege.  What an opportunity to speak truth to others who are hurting and share that you too are certainly not exempt from the hurts of life.

Q:  What was the last thing you scribbled on a paper napkin?

His:  Does it have to be a paper napkin?  Just recently, I didn’t have any business cards with me and a gentleman needed my phone number.  I took out a Chick-Fil-A card I had in my wallet and scribbled my number.

Hers:  I wrote a reminder in the memo part of my phone - something about “You can’t fix stupid.”  Does that count?

Q:  What is your favorite food?

Hers:  Anything chocolate, girl.  (That reminded her that she needed go up to the counter to get her free birthday pastry.  What else but a chocolate duet cookie!)

His:  Chick-Fil-A sandwich. (Yes, that scribbled phone number came along with a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich.  I think I see Jesus.)

Q:  If you could go back in your life and do something over again, what would that be?

His:  Tons of stuff.  There is not enough paper to write it all down.  I think I would seek out someone to disciple me.  I felt the call to ministry at age 15, but there was no one to disciple me to tell me what to do.

Hers:  Yikes!  I think I would have gone to a Christian college.  Maybe my circle of influence would have led me closer to the Lord instead of away.  There were 40,000 people at UT (Texas).  Signs for gays and lesbians lined the streets.  I was shocked as a little 18-year-old girl.  Sixth Street, a street with bars and clubs, was prominent.  Partying was just calling me.

Q:  What brings you the greatest joy in your life right now?

A:  My children. (Both answered with the same words … Johnny with laughter and Sylvia with tears.)

Q:  If your family had a pet, what could it be?

His:  A border collie.  Growing up I had one.  A trained one.  I know a family that has a trained one.  When their toddler goes outside, the dog will lean on her and not let her out the gate.  Some dogs nip, but he just leans on her and pushes her back.

Hers:  They would want anything.

See.  See what I mean.  The conversation was real.  This roast beef sandwich thanks the turkey sandwich and his wife, the green salad!

Faithful, Abundant, True

The Daniel study wrapped up last week, and we celebrated with appetizers and fellowship this Sunday night.  The Deuteronomy study was an eye-opener of Jewish culture for me.  The Daniel study has opened up history for me.  Did you know there was a "good" Cleopatra?  Did you know Daniel reads like a history book when it was prophecy?  Oh, Daniel, what an faith-filled example you were for me these past months.

Two of us will return to the hotel's exercise room with the next study beginning in mid-May.  The remaining will rejoin us in the fall for Beth Moore's David, Seeking A Heart Like His.

That wonderful sister in Christ who loaned us Moore's Revelation has trusted us with Faithful, Abundant, True.  It is a seven week study broadening our Bible teachers to include Kay Arthur and Priscilla Shirer. 

According to the promotional materials ...

Faithful, Abundant, True: Three Lives Going Deeper Still
While these three women each speak on the distinctive topic the Holy Spirit had lead them to teach, the messages result in a marvelous blend.

• Kay Arthur teaches from basically, the entire book of Hebrews! Hebrews is both an example of God's faithfulness and a challenge to believers to be faithful in difficult times.
• Priscilla Shirer teaches from Ephesians 3:20-21 on God's abundance. A fundamental basis for every believer is the absolute reality that God can do whatever He chooses to do. God's ability empowers our faithfulness.
• Beth Moore teaches on the topic of discernment. In these difficult days it is absolutely essential that we learn to trust the Holy Spirit to enable us to determine what is true and what is false.

I received permission from the hotel manager to advertise this study in the hotel lobby.  I can place a flyer on the table with local attractions.  I might even be able to play a promotional video if I knew how to make the DVD segment work on a loop.  I need wisdom and technical expertise.  Does anyone have some? 

 

Please pray for God to bring those ladies ready to receive His word.  Maybe you could you be one of them.

Best Selling Author and The Nashville Napkin

Southern Living has nothing on this blog.  They had Condoleezza Rice for their April interview, and we have our own smart, confident and accomplished lady - Hayley DiMarco.  Read on and learn of and from this wise woman of God.  I sure did!

Steam rises off of the lake as I open my computer and begin to ponder the questions I’m about to answer. This home we chose for its inspirational view has become a spiritual radar dish that has allowed me to write some 40 books in 10 years. God’s serene gift of nature inspires me and keeps my mind from the busyness of the world, opening me up to the very nature of God himself and teaching me to keep the main thing the main thing. 

1)   Being from Oregon, what surprised you about living in Nashville?

Probably the general acceptance of Christianity. If you are a believer in Oregon you are a sold-out one because to be a Christian in the Northwest is a tough road. It’s not for the faint of heart. In the south everyone believes in God and this really shocked my system. No one was out to get me because of my faith. No one was arguing with me or making fun of me because I call myself a Christian. That was a definite culture shock for me.

2) You are the author of thirty plus books. What draws you to writing?

Learning initially drew me to books. I consider myself to have been discipled by many of the great writers of our time. Though they are long dead, they have taught me and helped me to understand the depths of God. And so when I write, I write because I am compelled to translate the amazing stuff I read from the greats into a modern voice. What they have to say is so important and incredible to the life of faith that I want it to be consumed by the people who wouldn’t ordinarily read the classics.

I write also because it’s how I make what I am learning real to myself. Oswald Chambers once said something that encouraged my prolific writing when he said to, “try to re-state to yourself what you implicitly feel to be God’s truth, and you give God a chance to pass it on to someone else through you.” These words he penned before I was even born have really energized me in my writing.

3) To what or to whom do you credit your insight and wisdom?

I credit all of my wisdom and insight to the Holy Spirit who gives me his divine light and allows me to have eyes to see things that I couldn’t otherwise even conceive of. And as He communicates that same light to others they have shared it with me. My husband is probably the most used of God’s vessels in the providing of wisdom to my mind. He is continually showing me the things of God and encouraging me in my sanctification and devotion to the Father.

4) What lesson or principle is the Holy Spirit teaching you right now in your life?

He has been teaching about dying to self for many years now. After writing our book Die Young, burying yourself in Christ, I have been continually returning to life found in the death of self that is so terrible to the flesh but so invaluable to the soul. Humility, being the foundation of all righteousness is continually under attack from my pride, which is the foundation of all sin. And so the battle rages inside me as my flesh desperately wants what it wants. Grrr!

5) You use a variety of quotes in your writing.  Do you have a favorite author or type of book to read?  If so, why.

I think I already kinda answered this, but my favorite authors are the dead guys; ones who have died over 75 years ago. All of their content is public domain, which just means it’s free and that’s a fun side note, but it means that you can read their stuff for free. Which is kinda nice. And I really appreciate the way the classic thinkers approached life. Not a lot of fluff, but tons of meat. That’s my kind of reading!

6) What's the last thing you scribbled on a paper napkin?

Couldn’t say, but I suppose the modern version of the paper napkin is my iphone reminders list. I use it like it’s going out of style. I have a ton of reminder lists that I use on a daily basis. Book ideas being one of them. I’m working a lot on the topic of grace right now so I’ve jotted down lots of notes of the idea of grace, or kindness, being the idea of me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me. 

7) The writer of a book entitled Technical Virgin must be a courageous woman.  What prompted you to pen such a project?

 

Yeah, I know, right? It was just that on our website, Godgirl.com I get hundreds of questions from girls all over the world, and I see that in good Christian homes girls are coming up with loop holes for their sexual appetites. And the “I’m technically a virgin” was quite a popular thing at the time I wrote that book. I don’t write books for perfect girls, but for girls who love God but are unaware of the slippery slope of sin they have been surfing down for years. Seeing a title like Technical Virgin would get this girl’s attention and hopefully help her before she made a tragic decision.

8) After reading a sample chapter of The Fruitful Wife, and liking the candor I found there, I find myself wondering about your husband.  How does he deal with your frankness?

The most amazing thing about my husband is that he has taught me much of what I know and therefore he has taught me much of what I write. The truth, that not a lot of people know, is that my husband and I do all of our writing together, and that means he edits and improves all of my work. Which I love! We have created in our home a culture of confession. Taking from the verse in James 5:16, that says to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another so that you may be healed, we have made our home a healing one by being quick to confess, and that includes not only to one another and our daughter, but to others. We find that sin is of no good use unless the redemption of it is shared with others so that they can learn from it and see God’s grace at work. So he’s right there with me in the middle of all the frankness and confession and I thank God for that!

9) Located right here in Nashville is a very creative population and several renown publishing houses, including Hungry Planet, the company you founded which has best sellers on the Christian Booksellers Association lists, what advice would you give to someone desiring to write or publish a book?

I wouldn’t call us a publishing house, we are simply an imprint, or a brand. But to answer your Q I would suggest that getting a following is now the best way to get published. You do that by writing a really good and well visited blog. Publishers are getting very picky about who they publish now days. And they are looking for authors with a platform. Most publishers won’t even look at a manuscript that doesn’t come from an agent, so you will need to pound the pavement to find a good one for yourself.

10) What is on the horizon for Hayley DiMarco?

 

I’m not sure where God will take us next. I feel kind of like Sarah, God has said go, but he hasn’t said where, so we just continue to walk. Each day we know we are serving Him we know we are walking in the right direction.

Tip of the Iceberg

You know the saying ... most of the iceberg is under the water.  That is what has been happening here at C Square Ministries.  I have posted nothing for days and days but things have been going on. 

These actions are in no particular order.  I am sure I have not remembered everything but here goes.

1) I finished that book about non-profits.  It was not what I had hoped.
2) Followed the pattern in Courageous Leaders Transforming Their World by James Holcomb, David Hamilton and Howard Malmstadt and prepared a "ministry business plan" presenting it to Woody for his feedback.
3) The ladies Bible study is in week 10.  Two weeks to go.
4) Waited on the Lord with a 30 day prayer request about the Worship Without Walls events.  Received direction.  Still chewing on part of it.
5) Met and prayed with the board of directors for the ministry in several meetings.

6) Considering adding people to the board of directors for the ministry.  Made personal contacts.  Drafted a letter.  Waiting for confirmation.
7) Prayed with my ladies Bible study at our homeschool co-op about the ministry.  Had a meeting to discuss it more in depth with one lady whom God has placed a similar call on and she wants to get involved with a proposal we presented to several people about two years ago.  Maybe now is finally the time for it.
8) Waiting on someone to recommend a book on vision casting.
9) Read Wild At Heart by John Eldredge.  Have a better understanding of many things.
10) Contacted bestselling author Hayley DiMarco for The Nashville Napkin, wrote questions, and she is working on them. Yea!

11) May be seeing God bring about something I felt he was leading me to do more than five years ago. 
12) Researched and obtained a six week Bible study to present to the ladies to take us through to a summer break.
13) Contacted a pastor for a future Nashville Napkin.
14) Contacted a former NBA player for a future Nashville Napkin.
15) In our home we have begun an international intercessory prayer time once a month.  We have now prayed for Zimbabwe and Okinawa, Japan.  The Holy Spirit has given us a list of places to pray for through about August.

16) Read The Beloved Disciple by Beth Moore.  Really enlarged my view of God's love.
17) Prayers, prayers, and prayers have been made for situations presented to us for lifting heavenward.
18) Watched a few Answers In Genesis DVDs.  Learned something new every time!  I love that church library.
19) Read and am now applying principles from Joy Dawson's book entitled Intercession, Thrilling and Fulfilling.
20) Wrote a mission statement for the ministry.

Now, now, I hope you can see the tip of the iceberg.

The Nashville Napkin and a Grammy Award Winner

Bobby E. Boyd has written many hit songs including Grammy Award Winning Bless the Broken Road (Rascal Flatts), In Pictures (No. 1 Hit for Alabama), Workin’ Mans Ph.D. (Aaron Tippin), Swinging Doors (Martina McBride).  He also has cuts and singles by Linda Davis, Deryl Dodd, Mark McGuin, and many more. 

With credentials like that who needs to write, you just compose the questions, e-mail them, and back comes a wonderful Q&A.  Love it!  You will too.  Read on.

You are a native of Texas.  Can you draw any parallels between Texas and Tennessee (or may be Nashville)?

Texas is way hotter and drier. Tennessee has farms & farmers, Texas has ranches & ranchers, but all in all the people in both are very similar. I'm from Bandera, TX. – which is in the Hill Country part of the state – so the terrain in Middle TN. feels familiar.  

Nashville is a place all to itself with a crazy mixture of folks from Florida, Texas, California, Oklahoma, South Carolina, etc., all trying to reach their dreams, in a town with 3 major interstates, that's also filled with bankers, lawyer, hillbillies, and college kids..... I thought I hated the traffic here until I spent two days in Atlanta last week!!!!

As a Grammy award winning songwriter, what advice would you give to someone aspiring to have success in the music industry?

Be very sure that music is what you want to do, because there are many, many easier ways to make a living. If it's anything less than a calling on your life then make sure that you are ready for a lot of hard roads, and patience is not only a virtue, it is a requirement.... After that, I tell people wanting to be in music to learn their craft by studying the masters and NOT by listening to current radio all the time.

You need to be career minded and not thinking about how fast you can get a cut or a contract. When I first moved here a great writer/friend named Chapin Hartford told me to “build your catalog” because once you get the first cut or two you need to have more to follow. I didn't follow that advice closely enough and have had gaps in my career where I didn't get any cuts and the funds got very tight....

The other key is “quality not quantity.” I would rather spend six months on a song and have a song like “I Hope You Dance” than a whole shelf full of OK songs. I see a lot of younger writers posting on Facebook about writing “5 songs before lunch,” and I wonder just how good any of those songs could be....

The last 6 years of my career have been devoted to spending hours every day agonizing over a few songs or ideas that have potential, and every night I spend hours on YouTube “rabbit-trailing” over songs by Jimmy Webb, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, Lefty Frizzell, Paul McCartney, David Gates, Paul Williams, Bacharach and David, etc., etc., etc.

The longer that I do this and the more that I learn about it, the more I realize how little I know about music, but it's such a beautiful discovery every time I write something new or find a new melody or idea.....

What is your next goal in life?

To be a better example of what following Jesus means. To be a better husband and father. To be a better writer.

If you could go back in your life, what one thing would you change?

Fear. If I could take fear out of the equation, it would have saved me so much agony and loss due to trying to escape it with things of the world, only to find out, now that I'm older, that most of what I was fearing was in my mind......

You have had multiple hits on the radio.  How do you feel when you hear one of them on the radio today?

It will always be a great feeling to hear something I've had a part in playing on the air, but the best feeling is when you play it live and hear the air go out of the room when the audience recognizes the song. And then to hear them tell how it changed their lives and meant so much to them.....

As the father of both girls and boys, so far what has been the biggest eye-opener for you about raising children?

That girls are wired for drama even before the hormones arrive!!!! And that there is a mandatory chemical change that makes teenagers smarter than everyone else!!! Ha-ha...

Honestly, though, I think that having kids makes you really think about what comes after this life and how I want to help them get to the right place.

What lesson or principle is the Holy Spirit teaching you right now in your life?

The synopsis of that would be longer than War and Peace!!! Almost every idea, notion, belief that I've held for most of my life has been turned over, flipped upside down, and flattened out. God just won't stay in his box, and it's taking a lot of stretching and pruning for me to find that out!!!....

What brings you joy?

Of course, my family is always a great source of joy..... Music seems to be one of the great direct connections to heaven, and many times I find myself being overwhelmed with emotions when I'm listening to certain things. All my life I've had times where some music can just shatter me and I even feel a sadness or a joy that's deeper than just the human experience and not of this world!!!! (And, I believe that we are just hearing a tiny echo of what it will sound like in heaven.)

I know your family just welcomed a new puppy to the family at Christmas.  How do you feel about cats?

I don't like cats, because I'm usually allergic to them. Plus, most cats are truly divas...

What is the last thing you scribbled on a paper napkin?

In the old days it would have been a song idea. Now it's probably an email address or website...

The Nashville Napkin Addendum

In The Nashville Napkin board of director Diane Vazquez with candor admitted she was learning about the dog breeding business. I have good news. Her Cavalier King Charles Spaniel is pregnant! Puppies are on the way!!!

Big Mouth Must Wait

As I so gleefully proclaimed several posts ago, I was set to complete the tax exempt paperwork for the ministry. Four days of sickness behind me. That fat library book sitting at the ready by the computer. Federal tax form on the screen, and I couldn't finish it. 

I completed page one without a problem but all the while my mind whirled. I don't think I am ready for this. It requires filing fees of $400 to $850. I need copies of all the original corporate filings with the state which is an additional $20. Money is just one concern. 

I still need a more complete picture on how this thing is to work. I need help with my own thoughts. I do have another book from the library about starting a non-profit. What does God want to accomplish here? Big Mouth must slow down.

Just took the dog out and realized that pride is my problem. I have been like Joseph in Genesis 37 when he went and told his brothers about his dreams. Big Mouth must bow down. 

God is merciful. Thankfully, I don't think any of you will throw me into a cistern and sell me to the Midianites. Maybe you should though. I told you I didn't like this blog. I struggle. How do you walk rightly before your God? I think it requires friends who love and forgive a very fallible blogger and an ever-present, ever-teaching Holy Spirit. I need both.

Humbly I have a new game plan.  I will read that other book on non-profits.  It has knowledge I don't have.  Other than that I am going to wait on the Lord.  This strategy is straight from Psalm 31: 23-24.  "Love the Lord all you saints!  The Lord preserves all the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.  Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all who wait on the Lord!"

Big Mouth is waiting.

The Nashville Napkin Inauguration

We begin our first interview with C Square Ministries’ own star, Board of Directors member Diane Vazquez.  Our meeting was held at that trendy spot Starbucks.  As a gold card carrying customer, I was surprised to hear a hint of panic in Diane when we were in line to order.  Scanning the menu she said out loud, “What is it that I get?  What is it that I get?”  She is a rare lady indeed – only been to Starbucks maybe four times in her life. 

So what was in her cup?  The New Vanilla Spice Latte with Vanilla Almond Biscotti.  New to Starbucks maybe, but the coffee revolution has not missed her!  I think she may have some coffee secrets to tell.  Until then, here is what we know about this hometown girl of Donelson, Tennessee, and employee of American Blue Ribbon Holdings.

Q:  As a native of Nashville, what is the biggest change to the city you have seen in your lifetime?

A:  Name only one?  Upward growth.  Nashville had no skyscrapers when I was young.  Now, I know compared to New York they may not be that big, but to us they are big.  There is also the increase in the number of people and ethnic population.  Years ago there were just two ethnics – black and white.  Adding a NFL football team was also a plus.

Q:  What do you want to say about your hometown?

A:  I love Nashville.  I moved away twice and both times came back home.  There were other reasons involved, but both times I missed home.  I think the people of Nashville have a lot going for them. 

My hometown is called Music City, USA, and as a child I remember during the summer all the traffic that flowed into Nashville, especially around Opryland.  I use to complain about it.  My Dad said that these tourists are the bread and butter of Nashville.  I saw the truth in that as an adult.  I have lived off the bread and butter of the tourists in Nashville. 

I see Nashville as a welcoming city.  We have our own traditions and roots, but we are a very opening and welcoming city to others.

Q:  I know your father was “an accountant to the stars.”  Do you have a story you could tell?

A:  Two clients that I knew about were Loretta Lynn and Barbara Mandrell.  If there were others I didn’t hear about them.  He was very impressed with the business sense of Barbara Mandrell and her husband.  We saw her and her husband at Rivergate Mall once, and she was tiny.  My Dad was careful of what he said due to the private nature of finances.

Q:  What principle or lesson is the Holy Spirit teaching you right now in your life?

A:  I think, one, it is not all about me, and two, at the same time I matter to him.

Q:  How did your involvement with C Square Ministries begin?

A:  Well … in a church service in a school gym, someone that I did not really know came up to me.  We will not mention any names.  (She stared directly at me, Deborah.)  She came up to me and asked me to lay hands on her and pray for her reproductive organs, and I did with trembling knees.  A few weeks later you came up to me and said you felt something shift in your body when I prayed.  I was awed.  I had never heard of a response like that where God had used me in the process. 

Fast forward to spring … I asked you about helping me take over an existing bread ministry.  We had both served as substitutes picking up bread from Panera and distributing it to help families.  I was taking it over from a friend and knew I couldn’t do it alone.  In two years that ministry grew from one pick up to three per week.  That was the true coming together with C Square Ministries.

Q:  What is one of the greatest answers to prayer you have seen?

A:  My healing of epilepsy.

Q:  You speak Spanish as a second language.  What advice would you give to an adult on the journey of learning another language?

A:  Talk to people who speak the language.  Learn the phonetics and practice everything you learn.

Q:  Tell me about your adventure into the registered dog breeding business?

A:  I don’t know yet.  (Said with laughter.)  Know your dates for mating.  I missed the last one, therefore, no Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppies.

Q:  As a working, homeschooling mother of five and a great cook, you have had some Holy Spirit insight for a cookbook.  Tell me about it.

A:  I felt very inspired by the Lord to help families return to the table.  I have learned over the years a method that works.  I thought putting it on paper and into Moms and Dads hands would be a tool to bring families back together at the supper table for family time.

Q:  What was the last thing you scribbled on a paper napkin?

A:  I just did the other day.  I scribbled some numbers and added them.  I don’t write on paper napkins very often.

Daniel Study Moves

We began Bible study again last night. Four wonderful ladies plus me. Yes, five. That is five!!! This count put us beyond the number of chairs I had and the exercise room would hold.  You know that huge equipment takes up some floor space!

We are meeting in the home of a first-time sojourner with the group. Sitting on new comfy furniture by a glowing electric fireplace, I have never attended a Bible study in such a cozy environment. Thank you, Father. Thank you for her open heart and home.

During our prayer time one Bible student said she was grateful that I had lit a match under her to join that first study. Could I strike one your way? We have room for one more on the new couch.  And, of course, there is still the floor.

Sidebar:

Did you know it is now not acceptable to place two spaces after final punctuation in a sentence?  Learned that ten minutes ago from a reliable source. Just took those nasty little spaces out. Looks strange but who says you can't teach an old journalist a new trick!  That is if a M.A. in Journalism counts to be a journalist.