Ode to the Tallest Redwood (poem for church planters) - Christian Articles Archive

Ode to the Tallest Redwood (poem for church planters) - Christian Articles Archive

Just Growing Pains

Do you ever feel alone? Even when your surrounded? Having one of those kinds of days...or weeks...well OK for about a month now. YIKES! Dont really know what to do about it. I think I am just having a hard time adjusting to the sudden (and amazing!)growth of our Church and the way relationships change so much when you are "the Pastor's Wife" People don't realize what all it entails or the burdens that come with it. I think the majority just thinks that it is an easy job and there really is nothing to it. I beg to differ. Is it OK to be transparent here??
I have rearranged my life for this Calling...don't get me wrong...I LOVE it and wouldn't want to do anything else, but sometimes (like right now) I remember how Human I am, I am far from perfect.
I would be lying if I said it doesnt hurt just a little that I haven't visited Family in ID in almost 5 years.
Or, that We haven't gone out of town even once for more than 3 days since we started our Church in January 2008.
If I said that it isn't hard to feel like you live in a glass house, and everyone is watching everything you do and say...and same for our kids.
If I said that sometimes I give and do and be even when I just don't even feel like I can...I have 4 children at home and all of my normal responsibilities. I can't meet everyone expectations...I can't do everything that needs done...I can't tie up ALL of the loose ends. Sometimes I just run out of "me."
The hardest part though is the feeling of loneliness... Every friendship I have has been altered in some way...I am no longer just Tiffany...I strive to be, but I am not. Atleast not to some. I am now the "Pastors wife" Who wants to pal around with her? So you see, I am surrounded by all these precious people in my Life, but I feel like I am held at arm's length.
I know the Lord hears my prayers though and I am trusting that He has something in His plan for me to fill this void, this sudden feeling of loneliness. Until then I will continue to lean on Him...He is, afterall, the Friend that sticketh closer than a Brother. He never leaves us or forsakes us. He Knows my Name. He calls me Friend.

Yay for Family Time...Boo!! for the Flu

Yes...we are having a week of family time, while Michael's Mom is here visiting from Hawaii. Unfortunately, the flu has decided to visit at the same time. Thankfully it seems to be a short one and leaves almost as quickly as it comes. It has hit each of us one at a time tho, so atleast one of us has been sick all week. :o(
Susan is experiencing first-hand what life is like in a 2 parent, 4 children, 1 cat and 1 dog home. Busy. Loud. Demanding. Beautiful. Happy. Fulfilling. Sometimes Messy. Loud...did i say Loud already? :o) We are having a fun time shopping, eating, and just spending time together. Life gets SOOO busy sometimes, and it is just nice to have some down-time. The kids are loving having their Tutu here, and also their Daddy off work for the week. I love my babies...they make my life complete. each of them. Even if they are puking.

Dog Days of Summer

So we have a new member in our Family...a cute little maltese puppy named Lola. It is a very good thing she's cute at this point. Because she is most definately a puppy. In every sense of the word. What was I thinking?? We already have four children, I guess I needed another.
Today, Keegan decided he was going to baptize her in the pool...by immersion, yes. He threw her in the pool...luckily I saw, and she kept her head out of the water. All fun and games until I took her out and she no longer looked like cute little Lola. She looked like a drowned rat. Her head was all fluffy still and the rest of her was "skinny to the bones", the girls said. The boys were both terrified of her and I had to carry them screaming into the house. Poor Lola didn't know what happened to her. Ashlynn asked, "Is she ever going to look the same again?" and ran to her room crying. It was all quite hilarious, after the fact. I brushed her out and gave her a little blow-dry and she was just as cute as ever.
Never a dull moment at the Tempke's.

Inspiration

So I have been inspired to post an update by my new and very sweet friend April Winslow. She is new to our area and in a very similar spot in her life...as far as being a Pastor's Wife. She is not just any Pastor's wife though,She is wife to a Man who is answering the Call of God to Plant a Church. It isn't an easy job to "start" a Church from scratch. Especially when you move to a whole new part of the Country. Not just across town or even across state. She has came from a far away place and left all of her friends and Family...all things familiar in her life. She is an inspiration, and I know God is going to Bless her tremendously. I am thankful to have met her and even more thankful to call her my friend. We are all in this together, and sometimes we just need a friend.

Building Cathedrals

I saw this recently and just had to share it, as it rings so very true sometimes. There are days when we all feel this way. Mary must have to. As she held Baby Jesus, she had no idea, he was going to be the Savior of the World. She didn't know the little hands she was holding would touch the leper and make him whole. That His words would speak to the hurting...

Here is the video and then the text...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9YU0aNAHXP0

The Invisible Mom


It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, "Can't you see I'm on the phone?" Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The Invisible Mom.

Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, "What time is it?" I'm a satellite guide to answer,"What number is the Disney Channel?" I'm a car to order, "Right around 5:30, please."

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude- but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!


One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well.

It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself as I looked down at my out-of-style dress; it was the only thing I could find that was clean. My unwashed hair was pulled up in a hair clip and I was afraid I could actually smell peanut butter in it. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, "I brought you this." It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe.

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription:
"To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees."
In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, "Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it." And the workman replied, "Because God sees."
I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, "I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over.

You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.
At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.


When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, "My mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table." That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, "You're gonna love it there."

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

We are Family...I ♥ faces

This Picture really depicts our family quite well. This was a very true shot while trying to capture a photo recently. Everyone is pulling on someone while Mom tries to hold it all together. Dad seems to think the whole thing is quite comical. I LOVE this picture and even have it framed on my living room wall. :-) I have just entered it in the I heart Faces Photo contest...check them out. http://iheartfaces.blogspot.com/