Transition to new blog

Hello all!

Just wanted to let you know that I am transitioning from blogger to wordpress. I've had technical difficulties for a week or two now on blogger, and I've decided that it is making blogging difficult.

If you have me on your blogroll, please change the address to: http://deneenwhite.wordpress.com

I'll ask you to have some patience with me. My new blog is a work in progress. I cannot move the content of this blog to my new blog because blogger beta does not allow the transfer of data...or perhaps wordpress cannot work with blogger beta. Irregardless, I'm transitioning, and will begin to update consistently on that blog rather than this blog.

FYI--wordpress has a lot of features built into their system that currently require outside programs to be embedded into your blog.

Any questions, ask!

Housekeeping/Administrative stuff

Gidday, mates! (Been watching the Australian open...I love tennis!!!!) Anyway...

I have this unexplainable need to be organized as of late. Last night I spent about a lot of time organizing my email folders. Today I tackled the blogroll. I have become a blogrolling packrat...whenever I find a resource (blog, website, etc) that I find interesting, helpful, informative, I have been blogrolling it. So, today I took the time to organize my findings.

There are now three categories into which I will file my blogs. The categories are for my own sanity more than anything. My priority reading (when I am finally working full time and going to school full time and actively involved in ministry) will be the Friends & Family blogs.

Friends and Family

These are the blogs of people that I actually know and have met/talked with face to face. These blogs I check pathologically. (If you don't believe me, you can ask those who have sitemeter! I've been coined a "blog stalker" by one person...all in good fun, of course. Or at least I think it was...haha) These people are the people with whom I am walking out my life. I laugh with these people and cry with these people and am actively a part of their lives. If you want to get to know me, read these blogs. These are the people who are helping to shape me into me.

Church Planters & Church Plants

These are the blogs of people who are in the process of planting churches or who have planted churches. I read these blogs fequesntly, if not daily. I've become quite passionate about church planting and learning everything I can about the topic. I value learning by experience as much as learning by the book. I've learned a lot of what to do (and not to do) by reading these blogs over the past few months.

Leadership & Resources

This one is pretty self-explanatory. I don't necessarily check these blogs everyday, but when I do I glean leadership "tools" that I have found helpful.

Penny for your thoughts

You know that you are an avid blogger when people call to make sure that you are ok after a day of silence :-)

I've been trying to process things that are being thrown at me right now. I'm scared to prayer right now. I'd been taught that prophesy should be confirmation, not information. Over the years, I've had several people speak things prophetically into my life that I dismissed because they were things that I had not yet discovered about myself. Lately, however, those words have brought back to the forefront of my memory. And God has been expanding on them.

I've always had a dream of traveling the world, preaching the gospel on every continent. What I never thought of, until recently, was what would fill the time between trips. Obviously, it won't be a typical 9-5 job. I am invested in what is going on in NJ. I love where I am and what I'm doing. I'm learning the practical, day to day stuff that they don't teach you in seminary, or in any classroom.

The amazing thing for me is that with every church I've attended, I've learned different facets of ministry. At one church, I learned the ministering part--how to pray for people, how to teach. At another church, I was taught the administrative stuff...how to run the office, how to be the front person, the armor bearer, how to play the political game of church life, how to prepare for and execute mission trips. Now I'm learning the establishment part of church--how to get out in the community and make a difference.

It has been my desire for a long time to go to different places and plant churches. There have been people who I allowed to speak into my life who tried to kill that desire, for whatever reason. But now, that desire is coming forth again.

I looked at the list of people whose blogs I read regularly. With few exceptions, I am drawn to the church planters, to innovators. Even in my professional life, the jobs in which I have excelled have been those in which I was constantly mobile, creating something out of nothing. So, I suppose that I must move from the place of denial to a place of freedom to be me.

There aren't exactly a multitude of examples for me to follow, being a woman. One of my friends is a Methodist pastor. She's told me that many of the male pastors in town don't speak to her. I understand the thoughts behind a woman as a lead pastor. Being a woman, I don't know that I would attend a church that has a woman as the lead pastor. As a matter of fact, I won't work for a woman because of my experiences with many different female bosses.

So, I find myself in a precarious position right now. And the reason I was silent yesterday is because this is a subject through which I have been wrestling and will continue to wrestle.

A penny for your thoughts...

A reminder of why I want to do what I want to do

God never ceases to astound me. Everytime I think I may understand what He is doing, He reminds me of how high His ways are above mine, and how high His thoughts are above mine. Seriously. He reminds me that my field of vision, compared to His, is like seeing a pin head and thinking I can see the entire planet and everything that is occuring on Earth.

I'm addicted to a few things in life. Two of them are blogging (duh) and myspace. I've been posting some really serious, honest blogs on myspace. I have to admit...many of them were baited and intended for people I know (read former churchmates) are hurting and distressed. My blogs were intended to show them that there is hope in God, and to chronicle a bit of the healing process.

This morning I woke up and check my email. I received the following message:

"i've just stumbled upon you...from andrea's page...& it was an amazing thing to do...the words of wisdom in your blogs were just what the doctor ordered! hope you're well...thank you...i needed a little reminder of what life is really all about! was feeling a little sad about the loss of a good friend, not something i could have controlled, nor is it something i should question, i know...that doesn't take the hurt away- but you made me think...& offer up a little prayer to thank God for all that really matters & to remember that i should be grateful that my husband & children and good friends are still here. so, thank you- my good friend...sending you big hugs & kisses...i really needed this tonite!"

This message is from a girl with whom I went to high school. We were not friends. I can't say that we were enemies, but we certainly didn't share a locker or a limo for prom. She was a cheerleader, and I was in the band. She was popular, and I was a tutor. You're getting the picture.

God has reminded me that as long as we do what we are doing for Him, that we will bear fruit. He has reminded me that His word will not return void.

Lord, thank you for reminding me of how great Thou art.

Blog name

OK, I am aware that I've changed the title to my blog several times over the past few days. I am sticking with this name. It seems to fit. And now that I'm on blogroll (I think I may possibly understand what I'm doing...) I have to stick to a name in case anyone thinks that what I am saying is interesting enough to link to their blogroll.

Why am I justifying my actions? To put off writing that statement. I admitted it. Openly, with no apologies.

Going to write now, though. Seriously. No more playing. Writing.