Pressing On

Snap! Snap! Snap! (Part 2)

July 12th, 2011 Filed under Intentional Living Comments Off

Last week, I shared the beginning of how the Lord has lead me to a deeper commitment to the Life movement. Here is the rest of the story. (I am going to just jump right in so you may need to go back to the previous post for context.)

Well, at that Saturday lunch meeting, I was just a consultant who came in to help facilitate the meeting and had no idea what the Lord was going to do in my heart over the next 24 hours. By the end of the night I was committed to being a part of rectifying this problem. Of being a part of bringing back the culture of Life to Houston! And being a part of closing down as many abortion providers as possible. I committed to being a part of the rectification of this discrepancy!

Even as I type this, tears are streaming down my face – why? Three reasons: #1 Passion for Life. Next to evangelism, I believe God’s second heartbeat is the Life issue and it is mine as well. I have been in this battle since 1999 and I thought when I left LifeHouse in April of 2010 I had been honorably discharged from that army. But when something burns deep in your soul, you can never leave it behind. I am passionate about seeing the sanctity of Life restored and was more than happy to re-enlist when Cynthia Wenz, CEO of The Source, asked me to join them.

Secondly, with my life before the non-profit world being totally in the business world, the concept of comparing ourselves to our competitors made complete sense to me. To end abortion in Houston, I don’t have to change the laws (even though that is wonderful and praise God for the Texas Legislature and the passing and signing of the Sonogram bill.) As Dr. Wilkinson said Wal-Mart didn’t close down K-Mart by picketing out front…they closed down K-Mart by providing greater value for the customer. When K-Mart lost so many customers, they had to shut their doors. The abortion providers will go out of business if we take their customers away!

Lastly, I am pretty literal when it comes to the Bible and I do believe that 2 Corinthians 5:10 is true! For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. One day I will stand before the Lord and He will ask me what I did about the destruction of thousands of innocent lives in my own backyard. I am taking responsibility for my part and not just giving it a passing glance and say I already served in that area. I am not just writing a check that’s, percentage-wise, less than what I tip waitresses. I am not going to stand by and just let this go on during my watch.

Cynthia has put together an amazing 4-part strategy to fulfill what was committed that night – to save 1,001 babies before May 31^st, 2012. That is a four-fold increase over last year but is still a drop in the bucket compared to our competition. But with these sustained strategies, I believe with everything in me that in the following year the number of babies saved will be 2,002…Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Baby Saved!

Then 4,004…Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Baby Saved!

Then 8,016…Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Baby Saved!

Then 16,032 in 2016…Snap! Baby Saved! Snap! Baby Saved! Snap! Baby Saved!

Five years! Y2K was over a decade ago – five years will fly by. During those years, we at The Source alongside of countless other pro-life battlers will be ending abortion in Houston!! What will you be doing?

Snap! Snap! Snap!

July 5th, 2011 Filed under Intentional Living Comments Off

In my last post I mentioned that my first contract when starting KBT Consulting was with The Source for Women. That contract as well as the words spoken to me by The Source’s CEO, Cynthia Wenz, encouraged me to “go for it” and believe the impossible. Since the completion of that contract, there have been other contracts but it was a “volunteer” engagement as a panelist at their spring banquet that has lead me back into a deeper commitment one of my two passions – the Life movement.

Let me tell you about that night…

Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Baby Saved!

The sound of Dr. Bruce Wilkinson’s, keynote speaker at the 2011 The Source for Women banquet, finger snapping still resonates in my ear. Praise the Lord for the 240 babies that were saved through the ministry of The Source in 2010. Praise Him for the estimated 2,400 little ones and their mothers who were snatched from the edge of a life changing choice by the work of the 20+ pregnancy centers in the Greater Houston area. Each life is a vast potential of unknown impact. We are grateful!

However, as Dr. Wilkinson clearly pointed it out…we are failing miserably compared to our competition – abortion providers. Yes, we did better than last year and yes, are “numbers” look great compared to other centers and even compared to other non-profits. However, when we compare our selves with our competitors – we come up sorely short, even woefully. Based on the latest annual statistics, there were at least 24,000 abortions! That means for every baby saved, nine!! were lost to the “competition.”

Every 22 minutes a baby is lost to abortion in the Greater Houston area. Every 3 hours and 40 minutes a baby is saved by a pregnancy center!

Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Abortion. Snap! Baby Saved! Snap!

Dr. Wilkinson shared a visit he once made to the Saturday morning leadership team meeting at Wal-Mart. On the screen, broken down by departments, were the weekly sales numbers of Wal-Mart as well as their leading competitors (K-Mart, Sears, etc.) Every department leader who’s sales were less than the competitors had to stand, give an explanation and provide the solution as to how he was going to rectify the difference that next week. Responsibility and accountability played out.

Before Dr. Wilkerson stood before the amazing supporters of The Source for Women the Saturday night before Easter, he stood before the board and the leadership team of The Source and said, “Here are the numbers. How are you going to rectify this in the coming year?” He challenged them to responsibility and accountability.

You may wonder, “Why ‘them’ and not ‘us’? As the Director of Development, Becky, aren’t you part of the leadership team?”… (to be continued next week)

Where in the World is Becky Today?

June 28th, 2011 Filed under Intentional Living, Personal 4 Comments

It is hard to believe that it has been almost 16 months since I resigned from LifeHouse (read about it here and here) and started out on this new adventure!! As my dear friend, Andrea, says, “Days drag but years fly.” I know this to be true.

As you know, upon leaving LifeHouse, I did not have another job and felt strongly that I was to start my own business. A few people looked at me with just a bit of skepticism (or was it pity) that I was starting a business in this current state of the economy. However, I was surrounded by many who cheered me on to do it. My first contract was with The Source for Women and it was the encouragement I needed to believe that KBT Consulting might actually be a viable business.

Just FYI, there was a BIG safety net under me and it was not some “sugar daddy” or a huge inheritance left behind for me. The safety net was that years ago the Lord had called me to live a frugal and debt free life. Because of that, when He asked me to walk away from a regular paycheck there was little fear because my cost of living was so low.

In America today, slavery is still a real issue. Millions of Americans are enslaved to their credit card company (or companies) and the ball and chain around their ankles is consumer debt. “The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.” Proverbs 22:7 (NKJV) Nine out of ten Americans claim that credit card debt has never been a source of worry but 47% would refuse to tell a friend how much they owe.

Please listen, my friends, there is NOTHING that I denied myself the years it took to get debt free that compares to the FREEDOM (read this with the emphasis of William Wallace at the end of Braveheart) I experience today. Please, if you are enslaved to consumer debt, do whatever it takes to become debt free.

I have learned a lot about myself during these past 16 months – I enjoy my quiet time but working out of my home and not going into an office can affect my emotions. Also, when working out of my home, establishing boundaries is so important. All work and no play was not good for me at all.

The Lord has been SO blessed me and has provided all that I have needed. By the middle of last summer, I had enough clients that my revenue covered all of my living expenses. This past April, God really showed off and now the revenue into KBT Consulting exceeds my salary at LifeHouse! I do give Him all the credit because every one of my clients came to me. I did not approach them and the few times I did try and “drum up” some business I never landed the contract!!

As I type this I am actually in the Middle East for six weeks teaching English. This is my second trip here this year. I have also been to Honduras for a week and have spent lots of time in Atlanta as well as Lakeland, Florida with friends and family. All of this could not have happened if I still was working a 9-5 job.

So yes, days drag and years fly and another 16 pages of the calendar will roll off before we know it. Who knows where in the world I will be in August 2012!! And who knows where in the world you will be then. But I do know this – the decisions I made 16 months ago have significantly impacted where I am today. May we all make wise decisions as we travel around the sun another 427 times!

Love Me Some Kenmore!

April 26th, 2011 Filed under Personal Comments Off

Earlier this year, I had the amazing privilege of traveling to the Middle East!! My time there was really wonderful. I taught. I learned. I experienced. I encouraged and I was encouraged. And I ate!! The scale was not my friend when I got home.

The greatest difficulty was being on opposite schedules than the States. My day was just ending when life on the East Coast was just beginning. As my friends and family were crawling into bed for the night, I was finishing up my second or third cup of coffee and was off to the races.

However, not once did I feel afraid. Not once was I concerned about my safety. As I settled into a routine, life was becoming normal, almost. Now don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t Kansas if you know what I mean.

For example, the last full day I was in country, I washed a load of clothes and it made me so appreciate my “automatic” washing machine at home! Here is what it took for me to wash a load of clothes.

Wait for the municipal electricity to come back on. (We were blessed in our neighborhood to be on a 3 hours on/3 hours off rolling blackout. Many parts of the city only have electricity for an hour or so a day. Most communities had a shared generator that residents subscribe to use. Forget about swim and tennis communities, how many amps does your generator produce?)
Remove cover and place hose in drain (see photo.)
Turn hot and cold water on to the desired temperature and begin filling tub.
Turn Cycle dial from Drain to Wash/Rinse. (Forgot to do this and stood there wondering why the tub was not filling.)
Turn Wash/Rinse dial to 15 minutes.
Turn power on at both switch and outlet. (Also, forgot this and stood there wondering why the tub was not agitating.)
Go and fix breakfast but be sure to turn the water off so that the tub does not overflow. (Did do this but remember there is a drain hole in the room so even if I didn’t “no problem!”)
After 15 minutes, turn Cycle dial from Wash/Rinse to Drain to drain tub.
When finished draining, turn Cycle dial back to Wash/Rinse.
Turn hot and cold water on to the desired temperature and begin filling tub for the rinse cycle.
Turn Wash/Rinse dial to 15 minutes.
When completed, turn Cycle dial back to Drain to empty the tub.
Wring out each item and place in second tub for the “Turbo Air Dry” cycle.
Turn the Spin Dial to 5 minutes.
While the clothes are spinning, clean out the lint filter in the agitation tub and wipe down the inside.
Remove hose and return cover to keep the rats out. (Ok, that gave me chills just thinking about it!!)
Remove clothes and move them on to the drying center (see photo.)
Go find the yellow pages and look up Laundry Services!

I almost hugged my washing machine when I arrived back in Texas! Have you ever returned home from a trip overseas and wanted to hug an appliance?

Forgiveness…Why So Hard

February 23rd, 2011 Filed under Bible, Intentional Living, Ministry Comments Off

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4.32

Forgiveness is the willingness to relinquish the pursuit of justice in response to who’s wrong you. A willingness to free them of the debt that they owe you. Our motivation to do this is because God forgave us. Because of the shed blood of Jesus, God’s justice was satisfied and He has forgiven us of the debt that we owed to Him.

Even with this great motivation, forgiveness is still one of the most challenging character traits to walk out. What makes it so difficult is our inability to forget the offense. I wish that when I forgave someone the memory of that offense could be wiped from my mind but that is just not the case. When this happens, I often want to seek justice for things that have already been forgiven and shed the blood of war in peacetime as David said to Solomon in I Kings 2:5.

David’s army commander, Joab, lost a brother in war at the hands of the enemy. After the war was over and the peace treaty was signed, Joab went and killed the man who had killed his brother. He sought justice for a wartime offense after peace had been established.

Unfortunately, I can do the exact same thing. Now, it might not be that I go and murder someone but often times I have extended forgiveness to someone, they have responded appropriately and we are fully reconciled. Then, one day, week, decade later the memory comes back and I seek justice, again. I want another, “I’m sorry.” I am seeking forgiveness in peacetime for something that was already covered.

When the memory comes back, instead of going to the forgiven offender, I need to go to God and ask for Him to heal me in that area and to walk out the forgiveness that was freely given to me.

Bear with Others

February 7th, 2011 Filed under Bible, Intentional Living, Ministry Comments Off

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3.13

Forgiveness is one of the hardest acts God calls us to do. As the wickedness in the world increases, the level of offenses increases as well thus making forgiveness even harder. To truly walk in forgiveness for these offenses takes much prayer, ministering and even counsel to move beyond the offense.

Many times I focus more on the 2^nd half of this verse, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you,” and the overwhelmingness of that concept almost paralyzes me. “How can I forgive that offense?” “It hurts so much” “They will just do it again” “It will not change anything” are some of the mantras I start rehearsing in my mind and I often do nothing to move past the offense.

However, if instead of focusing on the second half of the verse, I focus on bearing with others, walking in forgiveness becomes easier. Not because in any way it lessens the offense but because it causes my heart to begin to softer towards others and to the things of God. (Please note that this bearing with others may or may not apply to the offender.)

I like to think of bearing with others in the terms of extending grace to them. Yes, they just did something that could cause me to be offended but I am going to think the best of them and just extend grace. Yes, what just happened grieved me but I am not going to seek justice in this matter but release them of the debt I believe they owe me and trust God to deal with them. Christ Jesus on the day He was crucified bore the burdens of our sins and our offenses on His physical body. Through His Spirit, we can bear with those around us and move toward forgiveness and beyond the offense.

When you are offended, are you quick to seek justice for that offense or are you quick to bear with them and extend grace? Through out the day today bear with others and intentionally extend grace to all who are around you.

Are You a Pro?

January 31st, 2011 Filed under Intentional Living Comments Off

Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales, rather, train yourself to be godly. 1 Timothy 4:7

A dear friend of mine was an ice dancer and spent countless hours on the rink doing the same 4-minute routine again and again. They would even break down the free dance and do a specific lift or jump that may only be 10 seconds long dozens of times. Why? Because amateurs train until they get it right while professionals train until they can’t get it wrong.

The question before us today is, “Are we amateur Christians who do just enough to get by or are we professional Christians who train ourselves to be godly?”

To train ourselves in godliness takes three things: knowledge, practice and coaching. Obviously, the most logical place to gain knowledge about godliness is through the study of God’s Word. But we can also gain knowledge by doing life with others. Want to know what a godly spouse looks like? Go hang out with someone who models that. What to know how to run a business in a godly way? Read a biography of a businessman who does this.

The next step after gaining the knowledge is to start practicing what we know because to know and not do is sin (James 4:17). The key point here is that it is practice – sometimes we will nail that jump and sometimes we will fail flat on our face. But regardless, do it again!!

Lastly, we all need a coach, a mentor, an older man or woman to walk alongside of us and encourage, direct and correct. It takes a huge act of courage to be willing to be vulnerable enough to allow some one into our lives to see the good, the bad and the ugly. But when we do that not only will we grow but also we will impact those that are around us.

So strap on those skates, grab a coach and hit the ice!! The Kingdom of God is relying on us.

What areas do you need to shore up your training routine? More knowledge? More practice? A coach?

I Love My Church!!

November 7th, 2010 Filed under Personal 6 Comments

Let me say it again, I love my church!! (On a side note, I pray you feel that way about your church as well.) Many days at my church are amazing but today might have been over the top.

Houston’s First Baptist is committed to prayer and has a vibrant and effective prayer ministry. Today that ministry actively engaged in our latest building campaign, the expansion and remodel of our Preschool and Kindergarten wing, through a special time called Foundation of Prayer.

The Houston’s First Family was invited to write the names of children in their lives on the foundation of the Preschool and Kindergarten areas currently being renovated. In 2008, on the floor of the Worship Center, thousands of names were written when it was being renovated and the prayer team and others have actively prayed for those names and have seen many come to faith. Now, the church family will have the opportunity to literally “pray over” the names of thousands of children for years to come – asking God to draw their hearts to Him.

As I walked throughout this space, I was overwhelmed by the Spirit of God and felt His presence in a very tangible way. I spoke with Melinda, my dear friend and Director of the Preschool and Kindergarten ministry, but only for a moment because I wanted to continue to walk with the Spirit throughout the place. Tears freely flowed as I read names and Bible verses that parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles had written.

As I kneeled in an area off to the side, I swept the dirt away and ask the Lord what I was to write – what I was to believe for – what I desired above all else for the spiritual children in my life. Here is what He gave me:

Does this seem impossible? Yes, but my God is the God of the impossible, and I want to quit believing Him for small things and start believing Him for the miraculous. I believe one day the Lord will call me away from Houston and Houston’s First Baptist Church but what a comfort to know that they will still be ministering to me as they walk over this little spot where I wrote my desire down. Some of my spiritual children are yet to be born and how wonderful to think that faithful saints will be praying for my kids long after I have left the church.

Did I tell you that I love my church?

Not Getting to My Flesh

October 27th, 2010 Filed under Ministry Comments Off

Anyone who has ever been on a mission trip will tell you that the key to having an amazing time is flexibility. My church’s mission leaders as well as the in-country personnel plan and coordinate for as many problems as possible but whenever you are operating in a third world (or for that matter outside of the US), things do not always go so smoothly. Time schedules Emillio vary. Machines break. Supplies are depleted. If one is not flexible and willing to adjust to this challenges, the mission trip can be miserable. However, even though one has knowledge that flexibility is important and even the desire to be flexible is present, the walking out of that flexibility can be difficult. In October, during HFBC’s Living Water International mission trip to Honduras, I learned how to practically take this head knowledge and heart desire and implement it into my daily life.

We were blessed to have a wonderful in-country leader, Emillio (see photo above.) He did an amazing job! As we were driving through the mountains of Honduras on the way to Saba, our home away from home for the next six days, Emillio spoke a line that I will never forget. “I am not going to let that get to my flesh.” What was so impactful about this line was that it began with the thought process. I have been on enough trips to respond with flexibility when challenges happen, at least on the outside, but have been know to pick up an offense or respond, in my mind, judgmentally.

I remember distinctly one-time things were not going correctly (at least as I saw it) and I started to grumble and complain in my mind while I still had a fake smile on my face. (To be honest, I don’t think I was fooling anyone but myself.) Immediately, Emillio’s line came to my mind and I repeated it to myself and my “pasted-on” smile became a true grin as I chose the better way.

What has been so cool since returning to Houston is that that line works here as well! I can make the decision as to whether or not I will let something get to my flesh. When I choose to be flexible, I have won the victory and the enemy and my flesh have been defeated! As always, I go on a mission trip to help others but I ALWAYS get impacted and transformed.

How’s Your Faith Impacting Your Work

October 12th, 2010 Filed under Intentional Living, Walk by Faith Comments Off

Career Last week, I was blessed to be at a breakfast that was raising funds for an amazing ministry, WorkFaith Connection. I had heard most of the testimonies before and was close to quite a few of those testifying but I was still moved to tears. WorkFaith Connection is all about helping others understand and find the wonderful gift of work. More than a job…a new life!

As I was reviewing one of The Master’s Program books, The Spirit of Disciplines, later that same day this quote by Martin Luther helped me make another connection between Work and Faith.

[Faith] is a living well-founded confidence in the grace of God, so perfectly certain that it would die a thousand times rather than surrender its conviction. Such confidence and personal knowledge of divine grace makes its possessor joyful, bold, and full of warm affection toward God and all created things – all of which the Holy Spirit works in faith. Hence, such a man becomes without constraint willing and eager to do good to everyone, to serve everyone, to suffer all manner of ills, in order to please and glorify God, who has shown toward him such grace. Because of an unwavering faith (i.e. confidence, assurance, belief, knowledge) that God’s grace covers me, it compels me to be a good worker as well as a good friend, a good family member and even a good enemy. My gratitude for having the physical ability or mental capacity (all given by God) to even have a job should motivate me to give my “utmost for His Highest.” Assurance of His grace should not spur me on to slothfulness but to doing all things as unto the Lord!

The profound thing is this…we don’t need to “work” harder but rather have more faith. This increased faith will then impact our work. Of course, our cry will always be, “Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief!”

How is your faith being demonstrated in your work – whether at the office or at home? Do we demonstrate our faith in God’s grace by the way we do “life” with those around us?

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