Erica Buchanan Blog Spot

Anniversary - Take Two

2009-03-16T10:22:00.005-05:00

So, Saturday morning I blogged about Jeff & I's anniversary. It started out so great and then it got bad. :( I had some sort of 12 hour stomach bug and was throwing up the entire day. I completely ruined our day. It broke my heart, but yet my AMAZING husband was awesome. He took such good care of me. I got me a washcloth for my forehead while I was puking!! He got me crackers, medicine, and chicken noodle soup. No one but my mom has ever bought me chicken noodle soup. I'm so blessed to have such an awesome guy. I've learned a lot about God's love for me through Jeff. As I went to bed Saturday night, I was thanking God for loving me enough to send Jeff into my life.

Encouraging Words

2009-03-16T10:22:00.002-05:00

These are the encouraging words that went out to the people I work with at LifeChurch.tv.
What an amazing place we work!! Have you ever stopped to think about how many people yearn to be on staff at LifeChurch.tv?? How fortunate are we that we work in a place where we can talk about our faith freely? We can talk about our struggles and our successes within all aspects of our lives. We have amazing rules on accountability that keep us safe from a physical and/or spiritual attack. We are getting paid to make a difference in the Kingdom of God. Here we are in this awesome atmosphere where we can stop and pray at any moment, but do we? I’ve recently been convicted about praying. I’ve gotten to know quite a few people on staff and I know the struggles and the heartache that we walk around with on our backs. I talk to people and hear their very intimate struggles and I have to ask myself why am I not praying for the people that I work with, aren’t we all working to lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ?? I recently stumbled on James 1:5, so I decided to look it up so I could get the full context of the verse.
James 1:2-6
2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4 Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. 6 But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.
God, wants us to come to him. He wants to be involved in the details of our lives. My encouragement to you this morning is that you would seek God in every detail of your day. I would also challenge you to find out what is going on in the lives of those around you. Find out how you can pray for people and then do it. What would happen if we took time out of our work day and prayed for 3 or 5 or 10 people?

Happy Anniversary

2009-03-14T10:07:00.003-05:00

Today is Jeff & I's sixth wedding anniversary!! Happy Anniversary, Honey. I love you! This past year has probably been one of the hardest and most marked by change. Man, we have been through a lot this year. Not all of it bad, but most of it could be labeled such. Everything that has happened to my family, Jeff's health, our marriage, my career etc. has instigated such emmense growth in me. It's been a great year, hard but great. I have really become more comfortable in my own skin this year than any other year on record. The funny thing is I really feel like I've only scratched the surface of seeing the potential God has for me and my family. I'm super excited and looking forward to the next year as Mrs. Jeff Buchanan!

North Carolina

2009-01-23T08:57:00.003-06:00

Jeff & I along with my very best friend Allyson and her husband took our annual January vacation. The past few years we have gone to Vegas, but this year we opted not to go to Vegas, but instead went to North Carolina. You, like me are probably thinking that's a little random and you would be correct. But my husband had an opportunity to go to a training class up there so we just made a go of it and I'm glad we did. I have to say I took the trip rather lightly thinking there wouldn't be much to do especially since I gave up my Vegas trip to go. Well, not really, but sort of. We were all pleasantly surprised. It was beautiful there and so rich in history. The great thing is that most of the stuff we did was free or very cheap (who doesn't like that)! Although we did manage to see a movie every night we were there which made up the difference for our daily activities being free!! :) The other thing that surprised me about NC is we had some of the best Mexican food ever! In fact, we ate it three times and each time it was excellent. Who knew?

Migraines

2009-01-13T09:32:00.006-06:00

So, if you have known me over the past 18 months you know that I started getting migraines at the age of 31-ish. They came on fast and furious and tried to take me out. I struggled to find medication that would keep them from coming while still trying to rid myself of a constant migraine that lasted over 6 months. I was in and out of the hospital for rounds of IV drugs and then finally admitted to the hospital for three days for round the clock IV drugs. Today, I am finally managing my headaches with daily medication and prayer. I've gone a good 6 months now without a migraine and then over the past month I've been struggling. What happens with me is I get just a little headache that I barely notice but it just won't go away and it just starts to get worse - like ebs and flows. Any way, I've had a headache and it won't go away. I can't tell you how much I HATE going to the hospital to get IV drugs. I dread it. It is the worst feeling in the world being drugged and trying to function and counting on people to (my husband) pick up the pieces I drop when I am debilitated with a headache. I just pray that this in not the beginning of a new chapter in the book of Erica's migraines. Will you pray with me??

5 Steps of Attentive Listening - From Group Publishing

2008-05-06T10:31:00.000-05:00

1. Look and listen—Pay attention to both actual words and nonverbal clues, such as body language, tone of voice, and inflection. When a person's words and their body language disagree, the body language is more likely to be communicating their true feelings.

2. Project interest—Sincere acknowledgment, even a nod of the head or an encouraging "uh-huh," can reassure the other person you're following what's being said. Looking around the room, allowing your eyes to glaze over as you think of other things, or checking out the text message on your mobile phone will communicate the opposite.

3. Invite expansion—Don't jump in with a response at the first opportunity—no matter how much you think you've got the perfect comment. When there's a pause, prompt the speaker to continue with what he or she was saying with open-ended things like, "Tell me more about that."

4. Clarify information—Ask for specific details or examples to help fill in missing information. This is especially important if the person has a tendency to use words like "always"—you want to know if in this case that really means once every six months. Again, remember open-ended questions like "Why?" do the most to prompt open communication.

5. Summarize—Repeat in your own words the main points of the conversation. Ask the other person to confirm whether you understand accurately. "So it sounds like you're saying...is that right?"

Habakkuk

2008-05-02T09:47:00.002-05:00

We are starting a new series at church that I feel is extremely relevant to the many cries I make to the Lord. "Why do you 'let' bad things happen to good people"?, I often wonder when conversing with God. Not really understanding that He doesn't give us anymore than we can handle on this Earth. I think we often get confused. This is not our home. Our come is in Heaven with our Wonderful Maker.
No one is exempt from trouble; the Bible is clear on that. Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble" (John 16:33). But the Bible also gives us good news about trouble. God has promised that although there will be trouble, we will "pass through" it ( Zechariah 10:11); he will be with us not matter what—nothing will separate us from his love (see Romans 8:35-39). And God will strengthen us again when the trouble is past ( Zechariah 10:12).

Responsibility Vs. Rest - From TBC Ministries

2008-04-24T15:02:00.000-05:00

I find myself feeling responsible for getting things done and for the outcome or result. Feeling responsible has been something I’ve battled much of my life and every now and then it comes back to haunt me. After we got moved in to our new office my “To Do” list (in my mind) began to get longer and longer. Everything seemed urgent and necessary to get TBC Ministries up and running and fully funded.

Before long I begin to physically feel the emotional stress as pain in my neck and shoulder and emotionally I felt anxious. Both of these were a big clue that there were things I was carrying that needed to be given to God. Beneath the emotion of stress was lurking a mindset or belief that “if I don’t do it, it won’t get done, and if I don’t get it done, TBC Ministries won’t get off the ground”. Holy Spirit had to remind me that I was not responsible for the success of this ministry, God was. You see, God has not called us to be responsible but faithful.

I use to think being faithful was the same as being responsible. Faithful actually means to be full of faith in God. Jesus told his disciples that the work God had called them to do was to believe in Him (John 6:29). In Galatians, Paul tells us that “the righteous are to live by faith”, not works (Galatians 3:11). But sadly, many people mistakenly think that being responsible is a virtue taught in the Bible. But what God calls us to is “rest” not responsibility. When we take responsibility for something, it means that we need to make it happen and control the outcome. But this is totally opposite of how God created us to live.

Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart; and you shall find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and My load is light. -- Matthew 11:28-30

Weary and heavy laden refers to being exhausted from working from self-effort. The word “rest” literally means to “cease from laboring in your own strength”. It doesn’t mean inactivity. It means living by the life and energy of another. How do we experience this rest? First, we come to Jesus and in honest dialogue cast all our cares upon Him. (1Peter 5:7) In other words, tell him what is stressing you out. Then we take His yoke and learn from Him. The “yoke” was a metaphor which referred to the teachings of a particular Rabbi. Their teachings were full of rules about how to keep the Law. Some teachers had stricter rules than others when it came to living responsibly. Jesus invited worn out believers to learn from Him how to live dependent on God and not self-effort. Jesus’ way of doing life is gentle and easy (kind) and it produces rest in our soul (mind, will and emotions). In affect Jesus was saying, you no longer have to work to earn God’s love and acceptance. And better still, you don’t have to try to be good enough to get God’s blessing. You can only experience His life by faith; trusting in His love and depending on Him to live through you. (John 15:5, 9; Galatians 2:20-21)

Her are some of the things that I’ve been programmed to feel responsible for:
1) Making right choices – this determines the outcome and whether God blesses or not
2) Those that I love and care about – this leads to judging and controlling others in order to make them who I think they should be.
3) Being a good steward – waste not, want not my grandma use to say
4) Glorifying God – by trying to be like Jesus
5) Serving God – living for Him and putting Him first

Now, you would think that feeling responsible for these “good” things would make me more like Jesus. Wrong! They just make me tired and guilty. You see God never intended for humans to be anything but receivers and containers of Him, expressing His life. The only way this happens is by trusting His love and realizing that we can’t produce anything good for God out of our own puny effort. Thinking we are responsible is really believing the LIE that we can be like God by knowing and doing good and avoiding evil.

God has reminded me to daily, receive and rest in His love and in His ability to live through me, as me. He is responsible for the results and He gets all the glory. Whatever TBC Ministries is to be, is God’s responsibility. Mine is to be faithful, full of faith in Christ who is my life.

I am so glad that my ministry team reminds me of this regularly. Joni, used the illustration of us being in a wagon but I was trying to pull the wagon loaded down with all of the responsibilities, instead of allowing God to pull it. She reminded me that we are along for the ride and our job is to ride in the wagon and let God accomplish His will through us. When we are thinking we are responsible for the outcome, we work against Him instead of with Him, carrying the responsibility on our own shoulders instead of His.

How many things do you feel responsible for?
What burdens or concerns are you currently carrying that are stressing you out?
Have you come to the place where you recognize that your best effort is just not good enough?
Do you long to be free from responsibility and simply rest in who God is, allowing Him to live through you?

Arbonne Cars

2008-04-08T14:49:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I really need to get this off my chest. We all know that once you've reached a certain level on the Arbonne ladder you get a Mercedes. Now, I don't sell Arbonne, I don't use Arbonne, and I don't know anyone personally that has received a Mercedes. I do know people that sell Arbonne and people that use Arbonne. So, here's what I don't get and if you have any insight into this please for the love of PETE share with me......Is there a rule (written or unwritten) that says once you have received a Mercedes from Arbonne that you have to come up w/ some catchy phrase that fits into 7 characters for your license plate? Is there a contest or something?? What do you get if you win? What happens if you don't have a catchy phrase on your Benz? I just don't get it. If you want to know the truth, I really don't understand personalized license plates at all. Especially the ones that I can't figure out.

Choose Joy

2008-03-28T15:04:00.000-05:00

This devotional was written by Jim Liebelt (I wish I could take credit)

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.—James 1:2-4
The story has been told of an elderly blind woman who was being moved to a nursing home. When she arrived, she was taken to her room. She entered and told her attendant enthusiastically, "I love it!" The attendant questioned the woman, "How can you say you love it, when you've never been in it before - and you can't see what it looks like?" The woman spoke up, "Seeing the room doesn't have anything to do with it. Happiness is my choice. I have decided to love my room. Every morning, I have a choice on whether I focus on what I don't like about my life or what I do like about it. I'm choosing right now to love the new room where I'm going to live."
Life has its share of trials and everyone will face situations that are less than desirable. Yet, so much about the quality of our lives is determined not by the situation itself, but rather how we respond to it. Honestly, I don't know if I could handle being moved into a nursing home with the grace demonstrated by the woman in the story. I hope I would, but I'm not sure.
I am always amazed at stories I read or hear along life's journey of people who choose joy, and even happiness, in the face of difficult life situations. Recently, I saw another example of someone choosing to celebrate in the midst of pain. I learned of an acquaintance who died at the age of 46 of melanoma. In the obituary, the reporter remarked how the man's wife didn't sound like someone who had just lost her husband. Instead, she was smiling, beaming with pride, because of the life and character of the man she had been married to for 20 years. This is not to say the woman is not experiencing deep pain and grief. I'm certain she is. But it is remarkable to me that even in the midst of grief, she chose joy.
One thing we all can count on for sure: Our lives will not be lived without trial, struggle and pain. It would be ridiculous to suggest that we ought to be happy when tragedy strikes. Still, it is clear from the Scriptures that God can bring good even out of life's most difficult situations. Here's a most important question: How will we respond to difficult seasons in our lives? Within ourselves, we all have the power to choose joy. It's God's desire for our lives that we do so, and I believe that for our own sakes, joy will always prove to be the better option over bitterness or despair.
Today, choose joy.

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

2007-10-01T16:44:00.000-05:00

I was helping my daughter with her math homework recently: and quite frankly, we both got tripped up on the order of operations. Luckily, we were able to revert back to the helpful phrase – Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally which ever so politely reminds us to do parenthesis first, followed by exponents, multiplication, division, addition and finally subtraction. So that got me to thinking - Is there an order of operations for Christ followers and could this presumed order of operations be something that diverts non-believers from making a commitment to follow Him? In mathematics, there is really no way to deflect from the Aunt Sally phrase and get the correct answer, but why is it that so many believers feel that they have to have an order to their fellowship with God? The truth is they don’t. God doesn’t care if we are sitting, standing, kneeling, humming, singing. He just wants our attention on Him and Him alone. He doesn’t care if we can quote scripture or how many (if any) bible verses we can recall from memory. He just wants us to be in His Word daily so that we can get to know His character and be more like Him. He doesn’t care if we bring addictions to His door as long as we knock. One of the best things about the God we serve is that He accepts us where we are, knows the order that got us here, and loves us anyway.

Great article from Monday Morning Insight!!!!

2007-06-18T12:10:00.001-05:00

Maybe the Church Should Become a Little More Like Wal-Mart…
What is the price or value of a soul?
$215,000.
That’s the price that Wal-mart has put on each of their customers. A couple weeks ago, I happened upon a documentary on CNBC about the inner workings of Wal-mart. It was a very interesting program. One of the main things that stood out to me is that Wal-mart has done extensive research into their business.
If, for example, I go into my local Wal-mart store and get bad service; can’t find what I need; have to wait in the checkout line too long; or anything else that really makes me upset, Wal-mart knows that they have a lot to lose. In fact, they’ve calculated the value of what I’m worth to them. If I get mad at Wal-mart and never return, I have just cost the company (on average) $215,000. That’s how much sales they have figured they will lose from the average customer over their lifetime if they don’t come back...
Wal-mart puts a high value on me and every other person and family in my community.
Many churches, on the other hand, seemingly couldn’t care less about the people in their community. Sure, we give them lip service, but when it really comes down to reaching our target, many of us are too busy arguing about carpet color, worship styles, and how much to ‘give’ to missions in Africa, all the while missing the main point of reaching our own community for Christ.
Wal-mart provides diapers and socks and hemorrhoid cream for a profit.
The church offers eternal life and salvation for free.
Shouldn’t our communities know we value them at least as much as Wal-mart?
FOR DISCUSSION: Here’s today’s questions for you:
--Does your church value people more than Wal-mart? --If so, what does that look like in your community? --Who is better at reaching their audience in your community? Your church or Wal-mart? --Does your church even have a specific target audience? --Does your church have a specific plan to reach that audience? --If your church shut down today, would your community notice? --And if they noticed, would they care? --What is your church offering your community that no one else can or does?

The Seven Worst Communication Habits for Church Staff

2007-05-25T09:18:00.000-05:00

This article came from MondayMorningInsight.com this week. I love it!! Hope you do too.

I recently ran across a secular leadership article by Jamie Walters titled "The Seven Worst Communication Habits." According to Jamie, "The big seven worst habits of communication are bad enough when they happen occasionally. They become "big and bad" when they’re practiced habitually. And they do, ultimately, exact a cost, whether it be in miscommunications, lost projects, lowered productivity, missed opportunities, or poor relationships." As I was reading, I began to think that these are the same bad communication habits that creep into church staff life and relationships…
Here are the top seven. How many might have caused a problem for you in the past week?
1. Contacting others only when you need something. Is there someone in your life that you hear from only when they need something? Are you like me and find that annoying? Jamie says that this type of person "routinely surfaces when they're job hunting, when they've got a problem, when they need a reference, and when they want ideas from you." When they don't need anything, they don't call you. As a matter of fact, this person might not even return your calls or emails when you try to contact them.
QUESTION: Do you as a church leader only contact people when you need them to do something for you or the church? If so, you run the risk of making people feel 'used'.
FIX: If you feel guilty of this communication habit, make a list of people that come to mind and make contact with them this week. Ask for nothing; just touch base. They'll appreciate the contact!

2. Not following up, or closing the loop. Ever given a gift and not received a thank you? Has someone promised to let you know the outcome of a certain meeting or conversation, but you never heard back from them? This type of person simply is not closing the loop or following up with you. This is a vitally important communication skill.
QUESTION: Is there anyone in your ministry that you recently promised to get back with or follow-up with that you haven't?
FIX: Contact that person this week and close the loop. They'll love the fact that you did follow-up.

3. Not returning telephone calls or email messages. How frustrated do you get when you're trying to get ahold of someone and they simply don't return your call or email? Actually, this is a pretty common occurance, but it still is a very bad communication practice. It should be your goal to quickly acknowledge and return each phone call, email and note that you receive. (This is an especially hard one for me... this morning, I have almost fifty emails that I need to respond to (some from the middle of last week! (GUILTY!) It's hard not to fall behind!)
QUESTION: What pink telephone message slip do you still have on your desk? What emails have been sitting in your 'inbox' waiting to be replied to?
FIX: Take a few moments and clear your desk and your in-box. Your quick response will help you gain credibility in your communication.

4. Foregoing basic courtesy. Have you ever been on the receiving end of a nasty email or phone call? Ever felt snubbed by someone? Do you know anyone who you feel is downright rude? This type of person may be self-absorbed; they may feel entitled to have a bad attitude; or maybe they just don't know better. But you know that when you come into contact with them, it's a real turn-off.
QUESTION: Is there anyone that instantly comes to mind that you've been 'discourteous' to? Maybe someone you avoided (obviously) at church yesterday; maybe someone you were short with; maybe someone you were just rude to?
FIX: You know the fix. Make it right with that person. Apologize for your behavior and do your best to get that relationship back on track. The lack of basic courtesy is a real communication stopper in ministry... and it happens much too often.

5. Not listening. This is something we probably all need to work on. How many times are we so concentrated on things that are important to us that we fail to listen to others? Jamie says, "One hallmark of poor listening is that a person won't ask any questions. Another hallmark is that he or she might repeatedly paraphrase incorrectly, or "put words in your mouth" that you neither say nor agree with. On an interpersonal level, poor listening skills result in miscommunications, lost opportunities, lower productivity due to mistakes or redundant efforts, employee turnover, and other costly scenarios."
QUESTION: Did you catch yourself "zoning" yesterday while someone was talking to you? Have you had a conversation lately where you really don't remember what the other person was saying? Do you find yourself thinking of what you're going to say next rather than listening?
FIX: Work hard this week on listening and 'being interested' in what people are saying to you... (yes, even if you're not!) Ask questions. Re-state back to people what they are saying. Most of all... adjust your attitude so that you make listening a priority.

6. Telling lies. Pastors and church staff people telling lies? Hopefully not blatent ones, I hope. But how many times do you tell 'little lies' to keep from hurting someone's feelings? And does any instance come to mind where you may have slanted the truth for your own gain?
QUESTION: Do you ever play with the truth? Do you shade a story or situation differently depending on who you're talking with? Do you withhold parts of the truth in order to sway people to your side?
FIX: Stop playing games with the truth. As the psalmist said "Set a guard over my mouth, O Lord; Keep watch over the door of my lips (Ps. 141:3 NIV)

7. Spewing chronic negativity. It's easy to be negative, especially if you're in a bad situation. But leadership requires that we step above the petty negativeness of our situation. Being negative, especially with the wrong people is a leading vision-killer.
QUESTION: Do you find yourself constantly being negative? Is your negativity affecting others?
FIX: Refer again to Ps. 141:3. Rather than dwell (and comment) on the negative, try to find solutions or speak positively about the situation.
There you have it... seven of the worst communication habits we go up against each day. The questions and fixes given are much easier to write down and type out than they are to live. Let's all try to pick one or two areas of weakness this week and try to improve.

FOR DISCUSSION: Which of these areas do you have the biggest problem with? Have you ever been misunderstood? Have you ever suffered greatly because of one of these seven areas? Please feel free to share in the conversation!

How do you share the message?

2007-05-24T09:15:00.000-05:00

So many churchs these days produce their church sermons in house or maybe out of house. If the church you attend or work does this - do they charge for the media they produce?? Or is there another way they get the message out of the four church walls?? Web, tv??

2007-05-23T15:49:00.002-05:00

Our church is one of the first (if not the first) to give away all of its resources for free to smaller churches or anyone for that matter that has a need for them. So I find myself in an awkward position - we invite you to download our free resources while at the same time housing a store where people can purchase Christian material and clothing branded specifically to our church. Now, there are several ways to look at this scenario. One way might be to say that the downloadable items are for Kingdom gain whereas the items purchased are for personal use and growth. Other thougths??