Michelle Wegner

Blissfully Domestic

Ok, it's official.  I am writing for an online magazine called "Blissfully Domestic."  For those of you who are laughing out loud right now because you know me and you know that I am anything but a "blissfully domestic" kind of person, STOP IT!  You are a meany. 

I will be writing for two different channels.  One is the Parenting/Family channel, and the other is the Inspiration/Faith channel.  You will find me periodically hyperventilating because I am so excited.  It's not a paid gig, but it's wonderful practice at being a "real" writer, and the audience is huge.

I am really hoping that I can use my writing gift to influence Mom's to be better Mom's and at the same time bettering their own spiritual lives.  This is an amazing opportunity, and  I would really appreciate your prayers!

Innovate '08

Are you coming to Innovate08?  I am!  If you are, I hope to meet you if we haven't met yet.  Sheila Beeson and I will be hosting one of the Casual Q&A sessions on Friday afternoon of the conference.  Here is a brief description of what that means:

Casual Q&A’s are very specific topics where attendees have the freedom to ask questions and dialogue with Granger staff. They are not as structured as teaching breakouts but designed to be informal Q&A sessions with the questions being determined by the attendees themselves. 

Got questions on: boundaries between your private life vs. the church life and how to support your spouse through the challenges of day-to-day ministry? Pastor's Wives: Sheila Beeson, wife of Granger’s Senior Pastor and Michelle Wegner, wife of Granger's Pastor of Life Mission will be hosting this Casual Q&A session.

With that said, if you are a Pastor's wife coming to Innovate, you need to come to this session and meet Sheila Beeson!  She's amazing!  I have known her and served beside her and Mark for 16 years.  I watched her be an amazing Mom to Amber, Aaron, and Angela.  I can credit my parents and the Beeson's for the way I parent my own kids today.  Not only that, Sheila has been an amazing role model to me as to how to be a "normal" person and a Pastor's wife.

I am thinking of doing some cross-stitching or needlework together while we chat.  Or, we can sing old hymns around a piano.  WAIT!  I AM KIDDING!

We won't be doing those things.  Really.  I was kidding.

If you are  a Pastor's wife (or even if you're not) what would you want to talk about during this Q&A?  What are some things you would NOT want to talk about?  I'm curious.  Let the research begin!

Gifted to Lead part 3

I realize this is the third post I have written about the Gifted to Lead conference I went to last week.  Nancy Beach and Nancy Ortberg blew me out of the water, and I've been mulling over what they had to say, as well as trying to take in everything all the speakers from the Leadership Summit had to say the past two days. 

One thing that struck me particularly was the pain that both Nancy's endured as leaders early on.  Nancy Beach talked about having a recognizable leadership gift in high school.  Her youth leaders paired her up with a guy who was a fairly new believer and kind of "rough around the edges".  They did this so Nancy could "lead through him."  She was called the "secretary"...and pretty much everything the guy said to the group, Nancy had written out ahead for him.  Women were not to be leaders in the church back then. 

I was thinking about the pain they both talked about.  I was thinking that I am so glad that strong women like them paved the way for this generation and the next and the next generation of women leaders.  They were not trying to be "one of the guys".  They were (and still are) uniquely feminine women, just doing the things God has gifted them to do.  They are not trying to take the place of men in the church. They just do what they are called to do.

Because of women like them who serve God and the Church with a humble, yet strong spirit, many other women will be able to follow after them.

I know I probably will never meet either Nancy.  I would hope I could express my profound gratitude to them for paving the way for me, my three daughters, and countless other young women who are watching them and modeling their own leadership after their humble, yet courageous leadership.

Between the Skunk and the Opossum

My mind has been mulling something over for a few days now.   I've felt bad about it, mulled it over some more, talked with Rob about it, then finally prayed about it on my walk this morning.  Somewhere between the dead skunk and dead opossum that have been laying on Adams rd. for about 3 months, it hit me.

I seem to have this ability to not fit anywhere.  In the Pastor's Wife world, in the Blog world, the Twitter world, the Park Mom world, the Room Mom world...the McDonalds Mom world, none of these groups seem to fit me.

But, where I do fit is this:  I fit with those who have their gaze fixed on Jesus.  Those who have seen His face and won't turn back.  Those who are determined to see God's Kingdom established on Earth as it is in Heaven.  I am perfectly at home with the friends who look least like me.  These are the ones who share my heart.      

That doesn't mean I don't want to be friends with anyone who doesn't love Jesus...quite the opposite.  I think I love those the most.  The ones that are hard for me to get are those who blog for themselves, Twitter for themselves, Have self-absorbed lives and self-absorbed children.  I still love them, but I probably won't be hangin with them.

Guess that's the inspiration you'll get from a dead skunk and opossum.

 

 

 

Not A Normal Life

We put on a lot of miles today and got a lot done.  We pulled more weeds at the ball field in Englewood for Pastor Bone and his little league team.  Read the amazing story of how we got the same dirt as the Chicago White Sox on Rob's blog.  It is on days like this that I shake my head in wonder at God.  Two phone calls, and these boys from one of the worst neighborhoods in America will be playing on the best dirt in America.  God is awesome.

As I was pulling weeds and getting blisters from raking mud, I could not help but pray for those boys.  Pastor Glenn and Carla don't look at themselves as coaches to 30 9-11 year old boys.  They see themselves as the only hope these boys have to stay out of the gang/drug scene which leads 99% of the time to jail or death.  That was my motivation to push through the heat and the blisters.

As we were cleaning up the field, the neighborhood drug dealers stood on their corner watching us.  I was within hearing distance to them, and I heard one say to the other with a smile "They are cleaning up this field!  Can you believe that?"  He couldn't believe it.  One of them let us use his hose to rinse the kids off after they waded in the mud all day.  An old man walked up and down the road shaking his head and talking to a few of the adult leaders.  I  asked one of them what he said, and she said the man told her that when he was a young man, he had a vision for saving the lives of the boys in the neighborhood just like Pastor Bone.  He had a team and they played on the very field we were working on.  He said his heart has been broken to see the field destroyed by lack of care.  He was so excited to see us fixing it up for the neighborhood.

As we were driving in the car today, I said to my girls, "you realize you do not have a normal life."  They nodded their heads and smiled.  Instead of the usual "What I did this Summer" essays, Maddie and Whitney's will read something like this:

   

"This summer I went to middle school camp and helped kids pick up trash.  All of the kids loved Jesus, and loved me.  Then I went to the worst neighborhood in Chicago where the drug dealers like to hang out.  Right across from their watchful eyes I pulled weeds and swept a puddle the size of a lake away so inner-city boys will not join gangs and end up in jail or dead."

Not a normal life. 

Tomorrow we hit the American Girl Cafe for a celebration dinner.  My girls deserve it.  They have been amazing troopers this summer.

How Rob spent his Afternoon

How the Girls Spent Their Afternoon

How I Spent My Afternoon

For The Glory of It All

We just had our final morning worship session with the entire camp.  The presence of God came in a unique and powerful way.  What middle-schoolers do you know that want more and more worship time?   They get it.  They know what the presence of God feels like, and they want more.  My hope and prayer for them is that their entire lives, they remember what it was like to sit in the presence of God for a week.  My prayer is that they will never settle for anything less than living every day alive in His presence. 

I have seen campers and counselors for 16 years "re-enter" their regular lives.  Many have made commitments to God here that have "stuck."  They are the ones who are changing their worlds for Jesus. They are missionaries, pastors, doctors, moms and dads.... I have also seen campers and counselors make tragic mistakes.  Not all at once, but little by little, take steps away from Jesus until they end up in places they never imagined they would be.  I can think of two who are in jail.  I am remembering two girls who had babies just at the end of their 8th grade years.  So many stories.

As we sang together this morning, I could not help but weeping.  So much is riding on the decisions these kids make.  I just prayed and prayed for them that they would continue to make their next right decision.

I think Isabelle caught on to the moment and felt the presence of God as well.  She looked at me and said, "Mommy, do you think we can go back to Disney World?"  I said, "I don't know.  We have to ask Jesus."  She closed her eyes and folded her hands.  Then she said, MOM!  He said YES!"  Funny girl. 

African Soil

I may be the only person you know that can honestly say I have been chased by both a hippo and a crocodile on the banks of the Nile river in Uganda, or slept on the floor in a house with a black mamba creeping around (we didn't know he was there until he popped out one day and surprised us all). I spent an entire summer in Uganda, absorbing the culture, getting to know my surroundings and some amazing men and women of God very well.  All the other mission trips I have ever been on I felt like a visitor.  Spending an entire summer in Uganda helped me gain a sense of what living there was really like.

God did amazing things in my life that summer.  I saw miracles happen with my own eyes--Stuff that I won't write about here because if you don't know me very well, you probably think I was looney. 

I believe my experiences that summer were the seed God planted in me that would take root and bloom the rest of my life.  I saw poverty and injustice there that I know could not be left alone.  I saw starving children.  I saw women abused and neglected.  I saw a country war-torn and ravaged by an insane dictator.

In all of this, I also saw men and women alive with the power of God.  I saw a church alive with the fire of God.  I saw the difference people living in poverty not knowing Christ vs. those who did not know Christ.  The contrast was stunning.

God was at work in me that summer.  Little did I know that the impact of that trip on my life would be so far-reaching.  When I was out walking today, I had this image in my mind of God planting the seed of "Africa" in me, and it sprouting and growing into "India" and "the ends of the earth."  I am entirely thankful for this experience-snakes included.

Why It's Hard To Be My Friend

Being married to a Pastor and balancing my friendships is a tricky thing.  One thing I have been thinking about a lot lately is my friendships with other women.  I love my friends.  I adore them.  I wish I could spend hour after hour with them just hanging out.  If you are my friend, or if you are close to someone whose spouse is in full-time ministry, you'll sorta see what I'm trying to say. 

There has to be a lot of grace given and taken in these relationships.  My life is never the same day to day or week to week.  The times Rob is home with me and the girls is "retreat" time.  It's time to back away from people, regroup, reorganize, and rethink.  Before all that happens, we just need quiet.  At the end of most days, Rob and I are just quiet.  We're tired.  People can be draining.  Trying to save the world is hard!

I can't tell you how many appointments I have had to cancel or reschedule because of Rob's schedule.  I've had to reschedule breakfast with the same friend 10 times or more.  Does she get mad? Nope.  Grace has grown in our friendship over time.

Have I lost friends because of this?  Yep, more than have stayed around.  They did not like it very much that family, marriage, and ministry were so time consuming.  Not only time-consuming, but energy consuming.  When I looked at them and said, "I am so sorry, we just can not put our kids with another babysitter tonight., " they packed up, left, and never came back. Ouch.

But, the friendships that have lasted these 16 years of ministry are the strongest and best I could ever ask for.

If you know a family like ours who is in full-time ministry, extend them extra grace.  They really do like you.  As a matter of fact, they probably love you more than you could know.  That's why they do what they do.

A Light Has Dawned

 The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.  Isaiah 9:2

Did you know that Granger Community Church has a full time staff member on site full time in India?  His name is Rajendran, and his wife's name is Prema.  We have developed a very special friendship with them in all of our trips to India.  Rajendran is a brilliant leader.  He is passionate about Jesus and making Him known to the people of Southern India.  Prema loves Raj, loves her family, and has just as much of a burden to reach the lost as Raj does.

You should read Raj's blog sometime.  First of all, it will keep your own problems in perspective.  Second of all, it will keep you in tune with what God is doing in a very specific part of the world.  God is using the people of Granger Community Church to do amazing things to reach the lost.

Read this post Raj wrote about the temple prostitutes in their area.  My heart longs for them to be free.  Their children are doomed to repeat the cycle, since there is literally no hope for them.  Pray that God's light would dawn in this dark place.

A Pukey Second Saturday

The morning started calm and tranquil today.  I woke up earlier than the rest of the family.  I went for a walk, the sun was rising, it was amazing and beautiful.  I kid you not, a deer went running across the field across from me, stopped, stared at me, then kept on his way.  A glorious morning.

The deer in the meadow was the peace I did not know I would need in the next few hours.

We went as a family to serve at Second Saturday.  We chose to help out in Downtown South Bend at Son City Kids.   I was filling out a name tag for this precious 3 year old girl.  She didn't really want to talk or tell me her name.  Another volunteer named Tom was holding her.  Then all of a sudden, she puked all over him.  He looked quite startled.  I put down my marker, went to the little girl, who continued to spew.  I decided it was time to move her to the potty.   I picked her up.  She puked on my hand, on her hand, shirt, entire body, all the way to the bathroom, all over the toilet and all over the bathroom floor.

Tom and I spent the next 30 minutes cleaning her up, cleaning ourselves up and the fallout area as well.  Several others pitched in without complaint.   I had never met Tom until today.  He handled it so well.  He never got angry.  He scooped the little girl up without a thought of his clothes getting more pukey, and took her home to her Mom.

In a weird kind of way, it was a joy to take part in all of that.  It really didn't bother me.   I love serving Jesus, even if it means spending the morning cleaning up puke with a stranger.

Come and Listen

Dr. Bob talked about the Spiritual Discipline of Solitude last night.  You can well imagine that there is not much quiet at our house at any given moment in the day.  When the moments come like any good parent,  I wonder what's wrong, where the girls are hiding, and what happened.  My girls are never, ever quiet.  When I am alone, I can think.  My head clears and I can talk to God. 

Before I had kids, I would walk for hours and pray.  Nothing got in my way.  I would pray until I was finished, then I would go on with the rest of my day.  Walking was my number one way of keeping my heart in line with God's.  Now our house is crawling with kids, dogs and whatever other creatures the girls bring in from outside morning and night.  Along with those obstacles to solitude, there is this crazy rheumatoid arthritis thing.  It has kept me from walking for a long time. 

Last night I felt like Dr. Bob drew a line in the sand.  Am I going to commit to this or not?  I went walking this morning.  I grabbed Maddie's ipod and listened to David Crowder's "Come and Listen" over and over again.  My heart and head were clear.  I was able to connect with God in a way I hadn't in a long time.  Solitude is a very good thing.  I'm hoping for a lot more of these moments this summer.

Dawning Light

I've been working on my banner today.  I'm no Photoshop genius, but I'm working on some different ideas.  This is my first one.  My name is Michelle Dawn, and it means "Godly woman of light."  My sort of life-verse is Isaiah 9:2, which says, "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the shadow of death, a new light has dawned...." So, I thought all these things tied together would make a cool blog theme.  We'll see.  My mind might change again.

The Road Home

 

I wrote this on the plane yesterday....

 

So, here I am flying home.  I miss the girls a lot, although I know they had a great time with their way-fun babysitters.  They are so funny, they actually talked Miss Brooke into letting them all sleep in the same bed together.  Maddie said to me "Mom!  Isabelle slept on my head the whole night!"  

 

As much as I miss the girls when we are away, these times with Rob are so important.  It's when we can talk uninterrupted about the things that matter most to us. 

When we used to date and before we had kids, we talked for hours on end about changing the world.  It's still something that burns in our hearts, but it's hard to talk when there are three little girls clamoring for our undivided attention every waking hour.  

 

I remember back to when Rob and I were dating.  We were an unusual couple, because we knew that somehow God wanted to use us in some way.  We were open to anything.  Since we lived close to downtown Chicago, we would go there on a lot of our dates.  One time we went to the top of the John Hancock building.  I'll never forget it.  As we looked out over the city, both of us had this profound sense of the presence of God.  The hairs on the back of our necks stood up as we felt God was telling us that His glory would cover everything we saw.  We knew right then that we were to be a part of some great move of God, and we were going to be in it together.

 

It's been a while since that happened, but every now and then God reminds us of our calling.  This week at the Purpose Driven Network conference  we were reminded of it again.  The call is still the same, although it's so much clearer to us now than it was then.  It's great to have a partner that is in it just as much as I am.  I'm glad Rob and I share the same passion to reach the lost all the way from here to the ends of the earth.

Off To California

Rob and I are headed to California today.  You can read all about what we will be doing on his blog. 

Here are all the things we won't be doing:

 However, I guess talking about how to change the world for a week is a lot more important, and FUN anyway!

Epiphany

I had an epiphany this morning.  It struck me as I was heading down the stairs and I could tell Rob was talking to Rajendran , GCC's Staff member in India, on the phone.  I could tell because he was talking very LOUDLY into the phone.  Plus, after 15 years of marriage, I can pretty much tell who Rob is talking to on the phone by the tone of his voice...weird, huh?

My epiphany happened when I heard him say, "so, what are we doing for the temple prostitutes?  How are we helping them?"

Seriously, how many wives walked down the stairs this morning and heard their husbands say that?

I am so proud of Rob.  He is changing the world.  He has put into action what has burned on his heart for years.  He's a man of his word.  My heart couldn't be more "there" with him.  This really is a team deal, and for now, my job is to hold down the home-front while he's off saving the world.

For today, we're off to the zoo with 100 2nd graders.  I don't know what is more intimidating.  Rescuing temple prostitutes, or funneling the energy of 100 2nd graders?

We'll have to see.

Dancing with the Stars Auction

What a night we had last night!  At the South Bend Center for the Homeless Dancing with the Stars night, GCC was represented well! Eight tables full of GCC people were there to raise money for the Center.  Our very own DC Curry was one of the dancers.  You can watch a clip of him practicing with Amy O Day here. 

Rob and I felt like we were at our high school prom all over again because we had to get all fancy.  It was pretty fun.  You gotta love friends who can hook you up with some serious clothes when you don't get too dressed up very often. 

The live auction was fascinating.  They were auctioning off Notre Dame football tickets, A trip to the Vatican with an archeological tour, vacation packages, and of all things, a trip to the Oprah show.  Guess what went for the most money?  You got it. The Oprah show tickets.  They went for $6,800.  Yes, that is six-thousand-eight-hundred-dollars.  The Vatican trip went for $4,200.  Aren't Oprah show tickets free?  I still can't get my mind around this.  Rob and I are ashamed to admit it, but yes, we did go to a taping of an Oprah show back in the day.  This was way before she proclaimed herself as a spiritual guru, or whatever it is that she is now.

What an amazing way to raise money for the Center for the Homeless.  DC was by far the best dancer there.  He's the only one that got a standing ovation!  Rob and I are so proud of him!   Brooke, DC's amazing, beautiful wife was there too.  I can only imagie how proud she was!

The Loved

Imagine you are very, very old like this woman.  Imagine your whole life, ever since you were a little girl, being treated as an outcast.  Imagine never knowing your Dad is proud of you.  You cause him endless grief because there is no way he can pay the dowry some man will require to marry you some day.  Imagine being ashamed because you were a girl.  You have always felt worthless, helpless, and desperate.  Your own family is starting to nudge you out of their lives because you can't work as hard or long as you used to.  You gave all you and family ever earned working morning to night in a rice field to the gods.  The family gods never gave anything back to you except this life of despair.

Then, imagine a woman coming to your village.  She doesn't wear the markings on her forehead of one who has visited the temple.  She doesn't wear the bindi, the sacred third eye in the middle of her forehead either.  This woman is different.  She smiles when she looks your way as you wash your clothes in the river.  You see her while you are in the market, and she is talking to a group of women.  You step in closer to hear her, and you realize she is talking about Jesus.  A new god.  He loves us?  You have never heard of a god of love. 

The woman visits you in your thatched roof hut.  You have never had any visitors.  You are embarrassed because you have no tea to offer her.  The woman smiles.  She offers you Jesus instead.  You accept him as your God.  No other god has loved you.  You have lost all already.  Suddenly, you feel peace.  You know love, and joy is your surrounding.  Nothing around you has changed except for the invitation of this new God to be your one and only God. 

You choose to be baptized.  You sacrifice your standing in your family and village.  They have begun to cast you out anyway.  No one has loved you like Jesus.  Jesus is worth losing everything for. 

I don't know if that is this particular woman's story or not.  Ryan Devries took this photo the other day at the baptism Rob took part in.  This story is the story of a hundred women I have met and read about in Southern India.  The God of Love is reaching them and surrounding their lives with his joy, power and peace.  To be a part of this story in some small way is one of the greatest honors God could ever give me.