God & the Ferber Method

When we first adopted Abreham we had a hard time getting him to fall asleep on his own or without being held.  There were times it took us over an hour to get him asleep in his bed ... and if he woke up during the night, we'd just have to repeat the process.

Then we read an interesting fact:  "Most babies have the ability to fall asleep on their own around 4-6 months of age."  And we suddenly became fans of the "Ferber Method" which basically means you let your kid cry for a predetermined but increasing amount of time until they fall asleep on their own (sounds cruel & unusual I know).  I picked a time when Beth was going to be out of town for a few days and decided to give it a try.  The first night Abreham cried for 45 minutes non-stop. By the 7th night, he was quiet as a mouse after about a minute or two.  Sleep problem solved ... for Abreham AND Mommy & Daddy.

Essentially, the "Ferber" Method is teaching your child to overcome his/her perceptions and rest in what is true.

• PERCEPTION:  I can't fall asleep without being cuddled up next to a warm body, preferably Mommy.
  
  
  
  • REALITY:  God designed your body so that you can enjoy sleep without depriving your parents of it.
  
  
  
  


• PERCEPTION:  When I wake up in the middle of the night, I am alone and need immediate attention.
  
  
  
  • REALITY:  You are never alone. Your parents can be in your room in 1.97 seconds if you really need them.
  
  
  
  


• PERCEPTION: Mommy & Daddy aren't meeting my needs. I'm scared.
  
  
  
  • REALITY:  Do I trust Mommy & Daddy?
  
  
  
  

Then it hit me:  this is exactly what God wants to teach us.  We perceive He is absent, when He is not.  We perceive we need something, when God knows exactly what we need.  We perceive His grace is not enough, when He knows His grace is more than sufficient. And God never sleeps, never slumbers, and never dozes off so we can rest in Him.

God wants us to rest in the reality of Himself, rather than become anxious about deceptive perceptions.

The only way we can "grow up" as a Christian is to live by the truth ... and sometimes God has to "Ferberize" us from our patterns and perceptions that are not based on truth.

When tempted to doubt God, question Him, or fear your circumstances, fall back on what is true and when it seems cloudy, go to the Cross.




 

 

 

Weekly Rundown (3.27.2010)

• We wrapped up our "What if ... ?" series today by asking, "What if we lived by the Holy Spirit?"  We covered 4 phrases that mark this life:  surrender, tension, inexplicable conquest, &  deep rooted satisfaction.
  
  
  
  • Possessing and living by the Holy Spirit IS the New Testament sign and assurance of that you are a Christian; not praying the "Sinner's Prayer", not walking an aisle, not Confirmation class, not church attendance, not baptism ... but having the Holy Spirit (see Romans 8:9).
  
  
  • The Holy Spirit is God's great gift of Himself to us.
  
  
  
  


• We have 2 mission trips going out in the next 2 months.  Please commit to pray for our teams:
  
  
  
  • April: Haiti trip (construction, food distribution, relationship building/evangelism)
  
  
  • May: Honduras trip (digging a well, relationship building, proclaiming Christ)
  
  
  
  


• Easter is about a month away! Great time to invite guests to church AND to tell others what Jesus has done for you!
  
  
  
  • We'll be announcing our Easter service times soon.
  
  
  
  


• Conversations taking place right now at Rock Bridge:
  
  
  
  • How we can live out our core value of "Reaching People" in the Hispanic community?
  
  
  • How can we be more effective at creating new campuses and/or planting new churches?
  
  
  • How can we improve how we connect people to "life" at Rock Bridge?
  
  
  • How can we expand First Wednesday services to better fulfill the biblical church purposes of prayer, worship, fellowship, and taking the Lord's Supper?
  
  
  • Are we doing anything that is not fruitful and effective? If so, why and should we overhaul it or stop doing it?
  
  
  
  


• Have a great week!!

The Latest on Beth

{I'm sorry for the major blog outage this week. Back up and running now!}

We continue to be blessed so much by your love, prayers, and genuine desire to know how Beth is doing.  Thank you!! God continues to use His church body to strengthen and comfort us.  Here's the latest on Beth:

• She has been negative for the "EB" virus for her last several lab tests.


• The nasty skin rash she had is virtually gone.


• She is feeling the best she has felt in a long time.


• She has even started a blog!!  You can read her first two amazing and beautiful posts below:
  
  
  
  • A Positive Perspective on Cancer
  
  
  • Things You See From Plane Windows
  
  
  
  

So at this point we are winning, still fighting, but winning ... still in the woods but starting to see more light breaking through in what has and will continue to be a long journey of recovery.  But we are deeply grateful for where we are.

Some other questions:

• When will Beth get to come home?
  
  
  
  • Right now the doctors are sticking with 6 months from transplant which equals late June.  They are looking for a specific number of infection-fighting "T-cells" to be present in her blood.  This number is typically reached about 6 months from transplant.  Currently, she has a little less than half of the number she needs to have before the doctors feel it is safe for her to be around crowds of people and "away" from the immediate reach of the hospital. {Pray for T-cells!!!}
  
  
  
  


• Can the boys (our sons Eyasu & Abreham) visit Beth?
  
  
  
  • We hope to bring them to NYC soon.  The doctors want to wait until cold & flu season is over.  Someone did give Beth 2 teddy bears with our boys' voices recorded "in" them.  Abreham is saying "Ma-ma" and Eyasu is saying, "I love you Mommy!!"  She uses Skype/FaceTime to talk to them on video.
  
  
  
  


• What can Beth do?
  
  
  
  • She must stay in our apartment or she can go outside for walks but no crowds, no stores, no theaters, etc. She is walking 25-45 minutes a day (weather permitting).  We were also able to order NY brick oven pizza (delicious!) from a restaurant that works with the hospital and takes the necessary precautions for immuno-suppressed patients.  This was a real treat and blessing ... first "real" pizza in months :)
  
  
  
  


• How often does she go to the hospital?
  
  
  
  • She goes 2-3 days per work for blood work, doctor examination, and to receive an anti-fungal drug via IV. She must take this while she is on steroids (steroids make fungi grow) as a preventative measure.
  
  
  
  

Weekly Rundown (3.13.2011)

• Love reminding (and challenging) ourselves with God's vision for our church.  Hard to believe this was our 9th vision weekend.  The 5 prayers we are praying based on Acts 2:42-47 --
  
  
  
  • We pray for God to send us "they's" (Acts 2:42) -- imperfect, far from God, don't have it all together people.
  
  
  • We pray for our lives are centered on the Cross where religion dies, mercy is displayed, love is displayed, and grace flows.
  
  
  • We pray for biblical community that meets each others' needs, shares life, gets uncomfortable, and shares God's love to others.
  
  
  • We pray to be an "every day, every where" church where our faith does not stop when the church service ends. We pray the weight of God's glory drives all we do and that God gives us more favor in spreading His name and love.
  
  
  • We pray people get saved and never get over it.  God's salvation is so much more than a decision or avoiding hell, it is life -- full and abundant.  We pray we display the joy of the Lord and how great He is. We pray more people are saved and experience the treasure that is Christ Jesus.
  
  
  
  


• Our volunteers rock!!


• Continuing to pray for "each one [of us] to reach one" ... that God uses each of us to point someone to Jesus Christ.


• Update on Beth:
  
  
  
  • She is now negative for the EB virus (praise!).
  
  
  • However, she has broken out in a very uncomfortable skin rash.  The doctors do not yet know what is causing the rash and are awaiting test results.  It could be something simple (and easily fixed) or it could be a symptom of something more serious.
  
  
  • So our battle continues ... we continue to thank you for your prayers and ask you to continue standing in the gap with us for Beth's healing, recovery, & comfort and for God's glory.
  
  
  
  

Weekly Rundown (3.6.2011)

• Today's message summary:  Each one reach one. What if ... each one of us prayerfully, intentionally, and boldly sought to point one person to Christ ... ?
  
  
  
  • God wants to use us to point people to Jesus.
  
  
  • Praying for the people God puts in our lives and praying for our church to boldly declare with our words, actions, and invitations who Jesus is!!
  
  
  
  


• Next week: Vision Weekend.
  
  
  
  • We'll be reminding ourselves who we are as a church and how God is leading us.
  
  
  • Great time to bring a guest to church with you.
  
  
  • Please pray for God to reveal Himself to us and to our guests!!
  
  
  
  


• Our summer children's camp is taking shape. Excited to be partnering with other churches in our area!!


• Making great progress at our new building in Calhoun.
  
  
  
  • Check out the pictures here!
  
  
  
  


• Budget update:  We made a big step of faith in our 2011 budget by substantially increasing our missions giving.  In February, our church met our monthly budget needs!!  This is a huge praise.
  
  
  
  • To put this in perspective, we rarely make budget in January due to the Christmas holiday effect and we projected "growing" into this new budget over the course of the year.
  
  
  • Making budget in February is a welcome surprise and demonstrates that God often responds AFTER we step out in faith.
  
  
  • Thanks so much for faithfully giving and letting God's grace grow you to be even more generous.  Our budget is discipling our church, providing medical care and food for expecting mothers in Bolivia, supporting 20 different missionaries in India, helping the hungry and homeless in our own community, and providing the logistical support we need to be one church in multiple locations.
  
  
  
  


• Update on Beth: Still fighting the "EB virus" but hoping to turn the corner this week as the medicines take effect. Praying for her immune system to get stronger and more mature; praying for no more infections.


• Have a great week!!

Going For God

This weekend I attended the Apostles Church, only I did more than attend, I really connected to God. Although the church staff and volunteers did things to facilitate my connection, I can't pin point anything specific that made this worship service so full of God for me.  They did not try to manufacture God's presence or manipulate my emotions to make me think I encountered God.  They were authentic, reverent, and appropriately funny. They valued Scripture highly and leaned on it mightily.

However, I think I repented of some "God blockers" that do not keep me from attending church, but they do keep me from connecting to God.

1) I prayed about and prepared for the service before I got there. I think in our "event" heavy culture, we have learned to just show up and 'hope' for a good ______ (show, performance, movie, game, church service, etc.). We have the lost the practice of preparing ourselves to meet with God.  Granted by God's grace and Jesus' blood, we can enter His presence at any time and any place; however, maybe our weekly worship with our church family deserves more intentionality. Maybe even if we are not the singer, volunteer, or preacher, we too have a role to play in worship? Maybe our role is the most important one, and prayer is acknowledging we want to connect with Him but need help overcoming ourselves? After all, God promises to draw near to us when we draw near to Him (see James 4:8).

2)  I forced myself not to critique the church but to look for God. This was so hard for me, and I had to stop several thoughts before they distracted me.  We all want to drink good coffee, find a seat relatively easily, listen to good music, and hear a good sermon.  And in our consumeristic culture, we have been trained by our likes and dislikes to be critics ... and if a "dislike" pops up, then we have a "right" to be critical, right?  Maybe. But should our "dislike" overshadow God? After all, God promises to always work through His Word (see Isaiah 55:11) and be there when two or three (or more) gather in Jesus' Name (see Matthew 18:20). This means even if we encounter a "dislike", God is still very likely to be present.

3)  I (eventually) got over myself and remembered that God is the true audience of worship. So being new, I was self-conscious when a family sat directly behind me.  I starting thinking about how bad I sing and how my southern accent screams "Not from around here!", and I became more aware of myself than God.  Then a remarkable thing happened.  The worship team started singing a song, and I could not see the lead singer (gasp!). She was out of my sight line, hidden behind a speaker bank (those crazy tech guys, don't they know I need to see the singer in order to worship!).  But the message of the song starting gripping my heart, and I starting singing to God, not through "the middle man" worship leader -- just me to God.  I even shed a tear or two (that's a big deal) and even danced a bit (that's an even bigger deal, just ask my wife) and did a fist pump. This carried over into the message:  I wasn't critiquing the preacher or waiting for him to amaze me with his oratory skills, I was simply connecting to God through the preaching of His Word.  I was convicted: how often do I think connecting to God hinges on the singer and preacher being "good" according to me?

Attending church "hoping" to hear a good sermon and some good music would be like going to Ruth Chris Steakhouse for an appetizer and coke; we could say we've been, but we'd miss the point.  We'd be settling for less than the best.  Ruth Chris is not known for appetizers, they are known for great steaks. Let's go to church for more than an event ... let's go for God.