Burnett Family

We had the wonderful opportunity to go to the annual ATI conference in Big Sandy again this year! Our 8th time. This is one of the biggest highlights of our year. It’s kind of a booster for us, and it’s a very encouraging, refreshing week…getting to hear amazing speakers, singing in choir, playing in orchestra, catching up with friends, the Chinese restaurant (tradition), ALERT cadets, and we were all so excited that Caleb got to come down for the last two days! =)

Abbie and Hannah played O, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus. It was beautiful! 

Maggie taught Children’s Institute this year for the first time and really enjoyed it!

Hannah was on the COMMIT staff team again. All the COMMIT girls did a presentation at the end for the first time ever (I think) – they sang Be Thou My Vision. 

Benjamin was in ALERT cadets and thoroughly enjoyed it…as usual. How could you not enjoy huge water balloon slingshots and rappelling? ;)

  
I sang in the student choir. :)

Abbie played in the orchestra.

Somehow, we ended up without any pictures of Carinna, but she was there too! Due to being sick on Monday, she wasn’t able to teach CI with Maggie, but attended student sessions and choir instead. Caleb came down on Thursday evening to join us. John-Clay was in CO at the World Changers’ Summit. Mom and Dad worked the Character First! booth and attended sessions.

Probably the message that stood out to us the most was given by David Gibbs who preached on doing the impossible. God doesn’t just call us to do “great things” – He has given us the power by His Spirit to do impossible things! It’s so easy to put God in our human box and forget that He is so ABLE to do beyond what we ask or think. It starts with us asking Him to do the impossible.

Praise the Lord for such a blessed time together as a family!

After 19 (almost 20) years, I’m FINALLY beginning to realize that life is not about me! God didn’t give me life so I could just breath up the air, take up the space, and waste up the time. We are created to bring HIM glory, and it’s a little hard for Him to get the glory if we’re in the way! I have been so used to wanting MY needs met, putting MY priorities at the top of the list, and using others for MY benefit. God has been teaching me to look outward and work on blessing others, learning to serve them, and invest in the people God has placed in my life RIGHT NOW.

None of us know how long we will live, and I would hate to get to the end of my life whether it’s short or long, and regret that I didn’t cherish and enjoy the precious moments God gave me. I don’t want to just push-through and do the next thing, but I want to intentionally put my whole heart into whatever opportunity I’m given. Whether that is preparing another meal, babysitting children, writing a blog post ;), learning go-cart mechanics from my 12 yr. old brother, spending time in prayer and the Word, folding laundry…the list goes on and on.

“…-every experience can be purposeful, meaningful, and significant…It doesn’t happen by adopting a self-focused, short-term, pleasure-seeking attitude, but by learning how to cherish and value the opportunities God gives us in each day.” -The Lost Art of True Beauty -by Leslie Ludy

“Wherever you are, be all there” Jim Elliott

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31

John-Clay recently showed me this short video on Eternity, by Frances Chan, that really tied in to what God has been stirring in my heart the past couple of months.

“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 1 Tim. 6:12

‘Redeem the time, because the days are evil,’  don’t waste your life!

Family…the most precious relationships on earth!

Our family has undergone significant changes in the last 10 years.

We don’t have “little kids” anymore. Half of us are teenagers. In about 5 months, half of us will be in our twenties. Benj is the only one left shorter than Mom. :) Deep talks into the wee hours of the morning are not unusual. When a subject is broached, opinions start flying! We can’t seem to find the balance in communication – either someone gets the memo 5 times in a row, or they miss it altogether and have no idea what’s going on. Dozens of inside family jokes keep us laughing. =D With 6 licensed drivers and 5 vehicles, somebody is always going somewhere. The idea of everyone riding in the same vehicle is nearly extinct. Common topics of conversation include job opportunities, the family schedule, places we would like to go, our country, and family changes that will most likely happen in the next 5-10 years. ;)

The change in family dynamics from the days of toddlers, high chairs, early bedtimes, and various levels of height for the family picture still surprises us sometimes. We’ll all sit down at the supper table, and Mom will exclaim, “Honey, look at all these BIG people sitting at our table!!”

Having eight young adults in the house makes for an exciting life! Life is more complicated, adventurous, dramatic, emotional, and meaningful as we grow to realize how precious these relationships are. What an amazing journey as we grow up together, witness the Lord drawing each one to Himself, and see them grab a hold of the reality of Christ, the Gospel, and Eternity for themselves!

This is a special season in our lives. The incredible opportunity lies before us TODAY to listen to each other, speak an encouraging word, ask in sincerity “how are you really doing?”, spend quality time together, and work on strengthening the weak places in our relationships. We have a long way to go in some areas. May we seize this small, priceless window of time to let God deepen our love and unity!

Every family – including yours – is jam-packed with opportunities for eternal impact as God works IN us and THROUGH us!

All that to say…we have updated our Meet the Family page! Thanks to Chad Paine for taking pictures for us while we were up at Northwoods! We’re saving our favorite to go with our annual Christmas update. :)

Now, go love the family God has given YOU!!

Surrender = {to give up into the power, control, or possession of another}

A probing question has been searching my heart of late. Why do I surrender to God?

Is it because He is sure to give me something better in return for what I’m giving up to Him? Because I have high hopes that He will eventually fulfill my desire? Because I want Him to make it all turn out perfectly good for ME?

Or, do I surrender unreservedly to Him, expecting nothing (not even one thing) in return, but give all to Him simply for the fact that He is WORTHY?

It’s a probing question.

What kind of a God is it who asks everything of us?

The same God who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all.

He gives all. He asks all.

-Elisabeth Elliot

May the LORD deepen your level of surrender and give you a fresh revelation of His worthiness!

P.S. Do you remember my thoughts on the drought this summer? Guess what! The LORD sent us 3 inches of rain last weekend. It’s true – the “hard places” don’t last forever. :) One more thought on surrender & rain: I think sometimes we picture the drought as our surrender, and the refreshing rain as when God brings fulfillment of the thing surrendered. It’s more like the drought is our process of struggling to surrender, but the refreshing rain is when we reach the point of real, complete surrender…because that’s when we truly find in sweet fullness of joy that Christ is all we need! Just a thought. :)

Kids are great, and this summer the Lord opened the door for me to travel to 3 of the ATI regional home-school conferences and help out with the Children’s Institute (CI) -  a program for kids ages 4-7.

The first conference was in Nashville, TN. I was thrilled with the opportunity to go and help lead a team, but I had no idea that the Lord had a huge lesson for me on this trip!

10 days before the conference began, I was asked if I could or would want to play the piano for the CI. Now you need to understand something. I am not “the pianist” in our family – Hannah is, and she does a great job! =) I can play, but reading music isn’t my “forte”. ;) Well even in spite of that, I decided to give it a try…and back out if I couldn’t get the songs down good enough in time. =) …so I practiced and practiced the next week, and got really stressed about playing. So stressed, I even started losing my appetite, which by the way is VERY UNUSUAL! =) I was so consumed with trying to get these songs down.

One morning, 4 days before we were planning to leave for the conference, something really cool happened. I was still in bed, and felt prompted to go back and read Joshua 1 which I kind of set as ‘my chapter for the year’. So I did. Listen to this: “…I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee. Be strong and of a good courage: …Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever(even Nashville :) thou goest.” The verses spoke directly to me about my fear of playing! Isn’t God awesome!

So we went, and I played the piano. It wasn’t always ‘perfect’, but over-all it went well. And guess what? It was a blast! I loved it! Praise the Lord!

Now for some pictures. :D

This is Olivia, she was a very special girl in my group. :)

I helped lead a team of 16 kids (when they were all there) along with 2 other teachers. The Lord really blessed me with patience that week – it is fascinating how far your brain can stretch! =)  The theme we taught through the week was about The Armor of God, which is what I learned about 13 years ago when I first attended CI! :)

Getting ready to load the kids on a bus/van, to do a parent presentation.

Guess we worked her too hard. :)

Praise the Lord for an awesome week!

The next conference was in Sacramento, CA. Hannah and I both went, but were on different flights, as she had already booked hers when I found out I was going. Needless to say, I had some great opportunities to share with the people I sat by on the plane, going there and on the way home…but that is a whole other story. ;)

Helping with CI registration.

At this conference I helped do prep work for the CI, get together crafts for the teachers leading teams, helped with Scripture during large group, and helped with some kids who needed some “extra attention.”

Even though I didn’t actually lead a team here, I still made some great little friends. =)

  The little guy in the red shirt was so sweet! He would give me a great energy-giving smile! =)

And last but not least, was the conference in Indianapolis, Indiana. Mom and 3 of us girls drove out there and had a great time together! =)

This was my little buddy Matthew, and he has Down’s Syndrome. It was a new experience to work with him, but I am glad I got to. =) Doesn’t he have a great smile!?

I got to be the pianist again! It is so cool how the Lord blessed me with the opportunity to play the piano. It’s not like something I dreamed about doing, but God knew how much I would enjoy it. I count it as a special blessing from Him. =)

“And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9