Wednesday, May 17, 2017

THE STORY OF: WHERE YOU ARE

Those of you who were at Oakwood Bible Chapel Sunday morning 11:00 service have heard the song, but so few know the story. So if you could spare 10 -15 minutes of your busy day I promise I’ll make it worth your while.


There are three main things I hope you get out of my song and this post.


  1. You are never too young to be used by God
  2. Don't be afraid to be vulnerable
  3. Are you listening for him? And will you go when and where he calls you?


Now for the story


During the summer of 2016 I was at Bair Lake Bible Camp with my family just like every other summer of my life. One night my mother informed me that my “sister” Emily (I didn't know this at the time, but she was expecting another baby) and her husband and two kids were coming to come for a visit while they were in town. Which is a HUGE deal because they live way out of town. And by that I mean they live way out in California. Later on that night my mother told me that not only were they coming, but I was going. I was going home with them to California. I was BEYOND excited to spend a couple weeks with them, getting know to know my niece and nephew better, ( who were still only 2 at the time, so they really don't remember me now) and to be able to serve them and show them God’s love.



I almost viewed my vacation with them as a missions trip. Serving even in the simple ways like putting the kids to bed, giving them baths, babysitting, cleaning the dishes, mopping the floor, even putting toys away. Even if I made the smallest impact. But little did i know that it wasn’t when I got on the plane in Chicago headed to LA that started my “missions trip”,  But the plane from LA to Chicago.
My plane ride home. But i talk about that later.


I attended Imago Dei the church my sister’s family attends every sunday, And was allowed to join my sister’s small group and work in the sunday school. The people at Imago Dei were beyond loving and and welcomed me with open arms. The church had many people from different backgrounds, including an ex-gang member and a Cop. At small group a married couple that I had had the pleasure of getting to know shared their story, struggles in life and how God has worked in them together and individually. Through them God touched a part of my heart that I had  tried to ignore and have tried to ignore for a very long time.
Their willingness to speak out on what God had called them to share really changed me.
They heard what God called them to do. And did it. They didn't hear what he told them to do and pretend they didn't hear him and do nothing about it. Even though it meant being vulnerable and real, and sometimes that is one of the hardest things to do.


On the second sunday I that I went to Imago Dei I worked in the sunday school. I thought it was the most perfect opportunity to share God’s love. I've always loved working with kids.         
In sunday school that morning the sunday school teacher asked the group of kids
“ what do you think it means to have childlike faith?”
And the way the kids answer shocked me. The kids talked about how when they are scared they run to their parents to protect them, when they are happy they run to their parents for hugs, when they do something good they want their parents to be proud of them, the same way they need to run to God when they are scared or when they are happy, and when they do something that God would like, they want Him to be proud of them.
I had never seen that kind of depth in six to ten year olds.
I wanted that for my sunday school at my church. I want that for my future children and future grandchildren.
Needless to say those kids taught me a lot that day.


Talking with my sister about what happened that morning in sunday school on the car ride home turned into more than just a talk, but also a challenge. I told her that i wanted this kind of spiritual depth for the children in my church back home. she asked me what my plan was, what was I going to do about it, if this is God calling me I need to do something I need to listen.


God also used this conversation to touch another part of my heart. Yet again another part I didn't want to deal with.


For a long time God had been calling me to join the fellowship of my church.  And every time I knew he told me, but I pretended not to hear him and do nothing about it. Hence why it was a touchy part of my heart that I didn't want to deal with. I knew I was disobeying God, but I was comfortable where I was in life, almost like I was wrapped up in a nice warm fuzzy blanket lounging on some super fluffy pillows and God was telling me to give that up for what he wanted me to do.


I’ve never felt like I belonged in my church, I had lots of friends but I never felt like they really knew me. But that's a different self issue that doesn't really have to do with this story at all.
Anyways there are a lot of difference between me and my church, very minor things really. but to be completely honest none of those things matter, but I used them as an excuse to not do what I knew God was calling me to do for so long that those minor things started to matter to me.


By the end of that very car ride I knew what I needed to do. And yes, it meant giving up the warm fuzzy blankets and fluffy pillows of my comfort zone.


Being a procrastinator by profession I knew that if I didn't talk to the elders of my church within the first few weeks of being home nothing would happen and I would go back to my fuzzy blankets and pillows and forget what God called me to do. So as a result of knowing myself I talked to the elders within the first two weeks. Six days after I talked to one of the elders I had a meeting with a couple of them so that I knew what exactly joining fellowship meant and that I was ready. During that meeting God did another amazing thing that has changed my life.
The elders told me that there was a need in our church that I could fill.  Sunday school teacher.
As soon as they told me I knew my answer. But they told me to pray about it and let them know when I had an answer. That night I went home prayed about it.  How much clearer does God lay out his plans for us? The next day I started as a sunday school teacher. I wanted to be in a position where I could have an impact on the children of my church and help them to have deeper relationships with God. because I obeyed God and did what he told me to do He handed me a group of ten kids,  ages of six and seven.




Remember when I said my “missions trip” started on the plane ride home? That's because God had a different missions trip planned for me in California. God didn’t bring me to California just to serve, but to be served as well. The difference that Imago Dei and the people there have made in my life is huge! The difference my sister had made in my life from day one is huge!
God brought me to California to learn about his plans for my life.


Those of you who know me know that I am a musical person and a note taker. I usually always have a notebook on hand. Filled with sermon notes, and random quotes, my feelings, or just random things I've written down during the day. So the fact that I started writing music shouldn't surprise you. That night on the plane ride home I started writing this song ( ahhhh there it is! if you say haven't been waiting three google docs pages worth of story for this part, I won't believe you) it started out as just writing out some things that had happened and then quotes that I thought up, soon enough I had the framework of a song.
                                                                   

Now do you remember the three main things I wanted you to remember?


If you just answered all three of them correctly in your head props to you for paying attention.


  1. You are never too young to be used by God.
   
At the age sixteen I am not too young to be used by God. 
Those six to ten year olds were not too young to be used by God. 
My sunday school class is not too young to be used by God, my nieces and nephew, Take a guess... Good  job! You guessed right! They are not too young to be used by God... Why? 
Because it doesn't matter how old you are. God doesn't start having a plan for you when you are twenty-five. He started having a plan for you WAY before you were born. And his plan starts for you before you are born. 1 Timothy 4:12 says “Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”


      2. Don't be afraid to be vulnerable.


Writing a song about what I was doing wrong and sharing it with the world wasn't easy. It was like I was admitting my sin to the world. But that's not what it's all about. It's about how I was ignoring God and then he softened me, He purified me, and made my heart long for himself and to do his will.
If I wasn't vulnerable with you today, would that make a difference?
I know that if the couple who shared their story hadn’t been vulnerable that night at small group I would be a different person today.
There is a closeness between friends that is only shared when you are vulnerable with each other.  My favorite quote right now is by a dear friend of mine who has been a great mentor to me. “How can we let our light shine from behind our four walls” - CJ Lindsey
How can we show God’s love and tell the world what he has done for us if we are afraid to be vulnerable?


     3. Are you listening for him? And will you go when and where he
          calls you?


I was straight up asking God to guide me where he wanted me to go. And when he told me I pretended that he didn't saying thing cuz it wasnt what i wanted. I flat out ignored what he told me to do. 
Those warm fuzzy blankets and fluffy pillows soon become the chains that hold you because you aren't willing to make a change and follow where He calls you. 
That is something I had to come face to face with. Doing what God calls you to do brings you closer to him. A lot of the time we are never satisfied with where we are, but we don't want to move out of our comfort zone to go find a place where we are satisfied, and that's in his arms. That is the only place we can ever be truly satisfied.



I hope you enjoy my song, and I hope you enjoyed my story.
And now I have a challenge for you. Just like my sister challenged me.

What's your plan? What are you going to do about it? And if God is calling you to do something….. Are you going to listen?

You can hear my song here.




~McKenna Pouget~

Friday, April 28, 2017

#FEARLESS365


"David also said to Solomon his son, “Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the Lord is finished.
1 Chronicles 28:20, NIV
What a great reminder that God, the Creator of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is the same God I serve, and He never changes. David knew that God would be with his son and reminded Solomon that He will “not fail you or forsake you”.
Moses gave those same words to Joshua in Deuteronomy 31:6 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Paul reminds us of the same in Hebrews 13: 5 “because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’”
Over the course of history, God’s promise has been that He will never leave or forsake His own. He promised Joshua. He promised Solomon and He promises me.
To continue reading please join me over here.

Tuesday, January 10, 2017

YOU'RE MORE....


Thank you Ann for saying what my heart speaks that I cannot put into words!



Saturday, January 7, 2017

WORDS FOR THE WEEKEND



He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
17 
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

    from my foes, who were too strong for me.
18 
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
    but the Lord was my support.
19 
He brought me out into a spacious place;
    he rescued me because he delighted in me.
Psalm 18:16-19

Thursday, January 5, 2017

Sunday, January 1, 2017

IN WITH THE NEW

A new day....
A new week...
A new year....
all with the turning of the hand of the clock past the 12.

A new beginning....

and for me that means a new word!

I will pause at this moment as these Thousand Foot Krutch lyrics run through my mind:

'cuz the end is where we begin
where broken hearts mend
and start to beat again
the end is where we begin.

I am looking forward to the mending of 2017!

My past two years flowed into each other, as did their words.

REST

And what follows REST? 


The fear of the Lord leads to life;
    then one rests content, untouched by trouble.
Proverbs 19:23

CONTENT

How do you follow up a year learning contentment?

Well, this song spoke to me throughout this year. So much so, that my daughter and I sang it at our church this fall. Not a perfect performance but heartfelt and true of my experience and where I am.


The Lord makes firm the steps
    of the one who delights in him;
24 
though he may stumble, he will not fall,
    for the Lord upholds him with his hand.
Psalm 37:23-24

On my bed I remember you;
    I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of your wings.
I cling to you;
    your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63:6-8


So, welcome 2017 - The year to be 







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About Me

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I am the very blessed wife of my best friend. The humble mother of five precious children. Walking a life-road that is more amazing than I could ever imagine.