on a flight to Seattle, earlier today

I’m banging out this blog from high in the sky – somewhere between Denver and Seattle over some big, never ending, brown mountains.  Let me take a picture for you… 

This has been a very, very, very busy few weeks, but it’s also been a very rewarding and fun season.  I’ve accepted several invitations to help with fundraisers this fall.  Austin, Texas, was first.  A couple weeks ago, it was a real joy to work with some very talented radio professionals who are doing some great radio in Austin.  That station feels poised to be #1 someday soon.  Then last week I flew to Portland and drove down to Albany to help raise money for a station that covers the central valley of Oregon with 100,000 watts of Christian radio.  At both these stations, I made new friends and thoroughly enjoyed sharing my heart with them and their listeners about the deep value of Christian radio.

Today, I’m travelling to Lynden, Washington, to help a station there raise their budget for their year.  Everything I can perceive about this station thus far is that it is loved and effective – and the radio girl in me can’t wait to walk in the studio and be with passionate radio people yet again.

Flying is a great time to be quiet and process.  It’s been over a year since we moved to Denver – and it’s been a time of great healing for me.  The first few months were the “cocoon” phase, where the depth of my burnout became apparent and I spent many hours waiting on the Lord.  What helped so much is that the church that brought us to Denver is filled with real, broken, fervent people.  Their love and friendship has facilitated my return to “being Lisa” again.

“It’s okay to be Lisa” are the words I think I heard the Holy Spirit whisper to me on December 31^st while I was praying.  I responded with a big smile and the words, “It’s okay to be Lisa??”  I knew what He meant.  Loud, happy, enthusiastic, unafraid, childlike, funny, driven, focused, passionate – these are the parts of being Lisa that I love dearly.  Too many years of pushing way hard had left me edgy and aching.  I remember talking about God’s goodness on the radio towards the end of my full-time radio season and thinking as I was speaking – do I even believe what I’m saying?  That was a red-flag to me that I was burned out.  Thankfully the Lord restored me as I cocooned in His presence in the fall and winter of 2011.

So the big thing that happened in the spring of 2012 was a revelation that became a burden and then subsequently a delight:  working with children with special needs.  I am overwhelmed with awareness that this is a path God has illuminated in front of me.  There is much, much more I want to write about this in the days to come.  My heart burns for what He has planned for our church and for our country.  Every day, He gives me another sign that this is my path.  Because I know Him, my soul is wide-eyed in anticipation for what He has planned.

From now until Thanksgiving, our family has manipulated our schedule to allow me to travel a couple days a week to help on the radio.  It helps our family budget, keeps me home most of the week, and allows me to work in my giftings to help projects that matter.  Next week, I fly into Milwaukee and then will drive to Rockford, Illinois, to help raise money for a homeless mission.  When I think of the privilege of articulating needs, helping to open the door for people to pour money into the lives of Americans who are hurting, ill, poor, homeless – it gives my heart a rush.

I am very thankful.  Thankful for being able to stay home with my boys, thankful that God has met all our financial needs, thankful for my husband operating in His calling, thankful for a healed marriage, thankful for so many deep, important friendships that have developed in our year in Denver, thankful for the many treasured friendships across the country, thankful for the children who attend our church who we love dearly, thankful for how radio is still a part of my life, thankful for my eyes being open to the need for special needs children’s ministry, thankful for getting to “be Lisa” again, thankful for His faithfulness to me and my family, thankful, thankful, thankful, thankful, thankful, thankful, thankful, thankful, thankful, thankful, thankful… 🙂

If you’ve read this far, well then I’m thankful for you, too:)  Oooo, I just looked out the window after typing all this and there are two big mountains out there.  Wait, I’ll take another picture for you: