So important: Next Tuesday the 24th from Noon – 1:00, come to Central Library to talk about finding solutions for Wichita Public Transportation. “…funding a transit system that is available early and late hours and reaches all parts of the City is a challenge. Learn more about options being considered to keep Wichita’s transit viable and sustainable far into the future.” So many rely on this system. Let’s help make it work.

Tonight from 6-8, Watermark will be hosting The Crowsons for “bluegrassical music.” Come and join in.

 

Watermark is also hosting an In-Store Book Fair on behalf of Price-Harris Elementary School on Saturday the 21st from 8:00-5:00. 20% of sales will go towards the school and the afternoon will be full of music by the students. Performances begin at 2:00. See full schedule here.

 

I cannot believe it’s that time already, but the Bradley Fair Tree Lighting will be this Saturday the 21st at 5:30. In addition, free horse-drawn carriage rides will begin Saturday from 6-10 p.m. These will continue Friday and Saturday nights through December 19th.

 

Tonight from 4:00 – 8:00, Tree Top Nursery is hosting a Ladies’ Christmas Night. Receive 25% off merchandise, enjoy live music, refreshments and a gift with purchase.

 

Starlite Drive-In’s Facebook page is offering a chance to win cash for sharing a post. As always, $13 for a carload for 3 movies on Friday and Saturday nights – with a free space heater! It’s a treat our city has a drive-in…let’s support it.

 

Game Night at Reverie Saturday the 21st from 6-8.

 

Come to New Market Square this Saturday beginning at 9 a.m. and donate blood to the American Red Cross. Help save a life.

Gifts in the Gallery opens this weekend at City Arts. Come to the Grand Opening from 10 -4 to find one-of-a-kind Christmas gifts and support local artists. The Spice Merchant will even be there with coffee.

 

Looks like the Indoor Kansas Grown Farmers Market will be open this Saturday beginning at 8:00 a.m. Located at 21st and Ridge at the Sedgwick County Extension Office.

This looks great: This Saturday the Wichita All Business group is sponsoring a local shopping event at Northwest High School. Come from 9:00-2:00 to shop local vendors and help raise money for Northwest’s Future Educators Association to attend the National NEA Conference in Washington, D.C.

 

Library:

Tonight from 6-7 at Rockwell, come to the Mustache Bash. It is No-Shave November: tackle mustache trivia, make your own ‘stache, and take a selfie in the photo booth. Ages 8-11

Come to Central Saturday the 21st to create decorations to remind you to be thankful. Ages 5 and up from 2:30-3:30

At Alford on Sunday from 2:30-4:00, kids ages 8-14 can drop in to play board games and other activities.

At Evergreen on Saturday, come from 2:30-3:30 to make your own Minecraft face and go on a scavenger hunt.

And at Linwood on Monday night from 6-6:45, come get messy with interactive art.

 

 

Have a fabulous weekend!

Raspberry Fingers

School Concert

Ice cream after

Get Dad

Quick check before work

 

And our new little friend was born last night. Love.

 

Your 7 Days?

I don’t understand.

 

I don’t understand how going to the theater turns into a funeral

 

I don’t understand how blaming those fleeing for their lives makes any sense.

 

I don’t understand how hatred toward a whole people group solves anything.

 

I don’t understand why there were two terrorist attacks this week and mainstream media only reported on one.

 

I don’t understand.

 

————————————————-

 

I understand.

 

I understand this isn’t Heaven.

 

I understand that God is sovereign and intimate, just and kind.

 

I understand our need to stand with the wounded and champion those who have no one to tell their story.

 

I understand the poor in spirit, the meek, the mourning are called blessed in Jesus’ Kingdom.

 

I understand not a sparrow falls without Him knowing.

 

I understand we don’t have to understand right now. Because He does.

 

I understand one day we will all understand.

 

 

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…

https://www.intentionalkingdomliving.com/3923-2/

“Then Zerubabbel…Joshua…and the whole remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the LORD their God and the message of the prophet Haggai, because the LORD their God had sent him. And the people feared the LORD.” (Haggai 1:12)

 

I love that the people obeyed.

 

They repented and began to finish the main reason they were sent back to Jerusalem: rebuilding Temple. I’m sure drought in place of rain and holes in their purses helped them along the right course. It often takes painful consequences in my life, too.

I appreciate that God wasn’t pretending the people didn’t have legitimate needs; He knew they did. He was asking them to prioritize His Work first. The rest would follow.

 

Sounds a lot like the command to “seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.”

 

What deception is easy for you to buy into when struggling to put Kingdom Work and Kingdom Righteousness first? Something I’m doing just this week in an area: find three verses of Truth that speak into that pretense that is robbing you of life and joy and purpose. Say those verses over and over until Truth is more powerful and more life-giving and more experientially real than the ugly lie.

 

For:

 

Repentance. Obedience. But one more reason for seeking hard after His Work – my favorite:

 

“Then Haggai, the LORD’s messenger, gave this message of the LORD to the people:

 

‘I am with you,’ declares the LORD.

 

So the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel…and the spirit of Joshua…and the spirit of the whole remnant of the people. They came and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God…” (Hag. 1:13-14a)

What we won’t do to know He’s with us. What balm that is to us, to our hearts. What courage it gives and willingness to face opposition.

 

He is everything.

 

And if He is with us?

 

It makes it all worth it.

 

 

And the people feared the LORD…and began to work on the house of the LORD Almighty, their God.

 

Today from 3:30-4:30 is a free business forum at the WSU Center for Entrepreneurship. These regular, quality forums are free and open to the public. Today’s topic will be the MakerSpace Revolution in Wichita.

Do you know about Winter Wednesdays at the Zoo? Admission is only $2.50 per person for all the Wednesdays from November to February. Bundle up and see some wildlife with friends.

 

This is 2nd Saturday. Shop local, try new vendors, save money!

This looks fun: Eric Fisher Academy is hosting a free Holiday Make-up Workshop this Saturday. Come learn from instructors and hands-on application to find a new, festive look for your Christmas parties.

 

Register for Saturday’s Lowe’s Build & Grow event to make your own pull-back car.

Come sing karaoke November 15th at Mead’s Corner to help raise funds for the Wichita Women’s Winter Shelter.

 

Purchase your tickets now for the Youth Horizon’s benefit Christmas concert. You will not want to miss this night of beautiful music helping to continue beautiful mentoring work with at-risk youth.

 

Library:

This Saturday the 14th, come to Central Branch from 2:30-3:30 to learn some new indoor games for colder weather. Lint rollers will be involved. Ages 5 and up.

Also Saturday, any time from 1-5, come to Angelou Branch to make a craft based on Is Your Mama a Llama?.

Evergreen Branch is hosting a Family Fun Night on Tuesday the 17th from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Stories and crafts about the moon and stars for ages 3 and up with their families.

Westlink’s Family Fun Time will be tonight at 6:30 and Saturday at 2:30. Have fun with Mo Willems’ book Elephant and Piggie with music, dancing and surprises. Call 337-9456 to register.

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Starting to see these more

Our neighbor makes his own bullets for Cowboy Action Shooting competitions.

Sometimes I forget this is practically in our back yard

Flowers beckon

Smoothies on the porch before school

My man’s sunrise camping shot

Getting used to the idea

Sweet friend leading

She wasn’t scared

Present opening time. “Everyone take one big step back.”

Hours of entertainment

 

Your 7 Days?

This weekend filled my soul.

My husband went camping with friends and the boys, giving me 17 hours of complete alone time. I was refreshed and accomplished some things at the same time.

The beauty of this autumn has me enchanted. We celebrated our friend’s fifth birthday with pony rides in the November afternoon sun. The kids bandied about hedge apples, played King of the Hill on a sand pile, and devoured apples and caramel.

I got to sample essential oils at one friend’s house and play with jewelry at another’s – all without pressure to buy. Just conversation and connecting.

The boys and I rummaged through barely-used baby clothes to pass onto our newest little friend arriving soon. Nostalgia and gratitude overwhelm me when we bring out baby paraphernalia. He has always been so faithful to our family.

Watching my boy practice for a Christmas concert – and being an eye witness to the work that goes into accomplishing such a performance – made me grateful to our community.

And falling asleep on the couch watching football with my man rounded out a weekend of purpose and joy.

 

I have enjoyed learning to ride the waves of life’s ebbs and flows. In between intense battle and struggle He is faithful to grant times of refreshment.

 

I’m learning to embrace both.

 

——————–

 

How do you fill your soul?

“Thus the work on the house of God in Jerusalem came to a standstill until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.” (Ezra 4:42)

 

Remember, the majority of last week’s text was a letter about something that took place 80 years in the future from the time of our group of exiles. If we back up to two weeks ago, we remember that the exiles were being discouraged and their plans to rebuild the temple were frustrated. But no one had reversed King Cyrus’ edict.

 

Enter the prophets.

“Now Haggai the prophet and Zechariah the prophet, a descendant of Iddo, prophesied to the Jews in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. Then Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Jeshua son of Jozadak set to work to rebuild the house of God in Jerusalem. And the prophets of God were with them, helping them.” (Ezra 5:1-2)

 

Oh, I cannot wait to dive into these two prophets. Stirring up work, restoring passion – right alongside our exiles, helping them.

 

Let’s start with Haggai. His name means “festive.”

 

Don’t you love our God?

 

We have a lot of work to do, but the man who will help stir you up? His name means pure joy.

 

Let’s keep that in mind as we read what God said through him:

 

“…the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:

 

This is what the LORD Almighty says:

 

‘These people say, ‘The time has not yet come for the LORD’S house to be built.’

 

Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai:

 

‘Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?’

 

Now this is what the LORD Almighty says:

‘Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.’

This is what the LORD Almighty says:

‘Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,’ says the LORD. ‘You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty.

“Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.” (Haggai 1:1-11)

The amount of time that lapsed between the peoples around setting out to discourage our exiles and “the second year of the reign of Darius King of Persia” is about twenty years. Our group of exiles had been discouraged and their work frustrated, but they had the opportunity to continue trying.

 

Instead, they chose to pack up, go home, settle in, and focus only on themselves.

 

But remember the amazing way God had worked through King Cyrus’ edict? The thrill that those who desired to worship at Temple and offer sacrifices once again for sin felt when Jeremiah’s prophecy came true and their seventy-year captivity ended?

 

And they were quitting because of discouragement.

 

I am first in the Empathy Line saying, “I get it.” Being discouraged and your work frustrated is awful. The resulting feelings of failure sting.

 

But at no point did the king reverse his edict.

 

And in no way has our King reversed ours.

 

We who trust in Jesus alone are declared His children. We have received the Spirit that calls Elohim, the All-powerful Creator, Daddy. We are sealed with the Holy Spirit. And we are blessed with every spiritual blessing.

 

But lean in as I tell you the next part: We have work to do.

God’s message through Haggai began with the exiles insisting the time had not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built. But God had allowed an empire to be overthrown, a new king to fulfill a 200-year-old prophecy releasing the exiles, and protected the group through the return to Jerusalem and rebuilding the altar and foundation.

 

The time was now.

 

It is our time now, too, Believers. And I am not just talking about work “out there.” Sometimes that work is easier. I am also referring to the internal work in our hearts God is doing among the Church as He prepares His Bride to meet Her Groom.

 

I’m talking about pursuing holiness.

Far from self-righteousness or legalism, the pursuit of becoming more like Jesus should flow from our deep desire to love Him. To let the things in our lives that break His heart break ours. To call sin, sin. And to repent.

 

We are truly terrible at being our own bosses. We need a God so far above us, Whose ways are so much higher than ours, to show us the best way to live. What pleases His heart, blesses those around us, and gives our lives purpose.

 

Let’s share our struggles, confess our sins, but then – with pure joy – lean into obedience.

 

He’s worth every last drop of effort.

Library first today:

Did you know November is Kansas Reads to Preschoolers month? This year’s selection is Is Your Mama a Llama? by Deborah Guarino. There will be a Kick-off Party this Saturday, November 7th, from 2-3 p.m. at the Rockwell Branch Library. The first 50 families will receive a copy of the book, and all attendees can interact with a live llama and alpaca, participate in storytime, and enjoy a llama craft. Too fun!

Also this Saturday, from 7-9 pm, come to the WSU Hughes Metroplex for an evening with Luis Alberto Urrea, author of this year’s Big Read Wichita book Into the Beautiful North. Come listen about themes of Mexican immigration, cultural identity, the complexities surrounding our American-Mexican border, and Urrea’s own story. A book signing will follow.

 

Tonight at Alford Branch, come interact with The Great Plains Dulcimer Alliance and Scenic Roots. Play a variety of American folk instruments including a dulcimer, banjo, and mandolin. Ages 5 and up.

 

Come honor Hispanic culture through stories and a craft this Saturday the 7th from 2:30-3:30 at Central Branch. Layer yarn onto a drawing of traditional Mexican heroes, emblems, or a Mixtec calendar pattern. Ages 5 and up.

 

For adults, come learn about your Kindle Fire on Tuesday the 10th at Angelou Branch.

My friend passed on this fun article about the new Union Station project downtown. The area will feature drive-thru coffee, Indian cuisine, and outdoor seating.

 

Do you know about The Legacy Project? Good, good stuff.

 

This Saturday at 11:00, Spirit is hosting their annual Veterans’ Day Parade at Wichita WaterWalk. Come celebrate our vets and enjoy food trucks, a car show, toy collection and face painting.

 

Green Acres at 21st and Maize is hosting a Holiday Tasting Event this Saturday November 7th from 11-3. This event will include gluten-free and vegan meal options, demos & tastings, and storewide savings.

 

The Fresh Market is also hosting their Taste of the Holidays this Saturday and Sunday from Noon to 6:00. Come sample the flavors of the season.

 

Julie Checkoway and Jenny Lawson will be at Watermark tonight and tomorrow, respectively.

Christian Youth Theater will present Beauty and the Beast beginning tonight through the 7th. Purchase tickets here.

 

I got to meet the founder of Guiding Paws, Inc, a local organization supporting a nonprofit, Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Andrew is dedicated to “bringing awareness to people about guide dogs and the role they play in helping visually impaired individuals gain independence.” He is currently selling great t-shirts at Mead’s Corner to raise funds for his guide dog’s vet bills.

 

We got the International Justice Mission Holiday Gift Catalog in the mail the other day. What better gift to give someone in your life who may not need anything than purchasing in their honor a gift of freedom from slavery? A wonderful stocking stuffer for this year. You can shop online here.

 

Enjoy your weekend intentionally loving your people and our city!

He looked guilty when I got back. I go, “What did you do?” He replied, “Cheated.”

Women loving women

Stunning Creator, stunning creation

Creativity

Trick-or-Treat swooning

Color

Fresh air

Flames of auburn

Glisten

 

Your 7 Days?