Meet Your Leadership Team - Part 2

Ruth Scharf
 

Husband: Greg Scharf. We have been married 38 years.
 

Children; Graham, Rebecca, Elisabeth, Katherine; live in Charlottesville, VA

               Roger, Haley, Anna, Peter, Henry; live in St. Paul, MN 

               Gordon, Virginia; live in Beijing, China

Home before Trinity: Fargo, ND; Toronto, Canada; London England; Nairobi, Kenya.
 

How long have you been married: We have been at TEDS for 15 years, since Greg was asked to join the Pastoral Theology dept.

Information about you - your current/past job(s), education, topics important to you, interests and hobbies, fun facts, etc!
Greg and I met and married in London, England where he was an associate pastor at All Souls Church, Langham Place. Prior to this associate's position he was one of the first interns for John Stott. I was working in London as a physical therapist and a part time intern at All Souls working with international students. We served in London, Toronto and for 19 years in Fargo North Dakota with the EFCA in a church plant, Salem Evangelical free Church.

Currently I work as a teacher assistant in the Special Education District of Lake County school for the deaf and hard of hearing.

 

I love learning from other women concerning their walk with the Lord, their countries of origin and service.

I love to try new recipes and trying new foods! I enjoy cooking and baking.

I enjoy crafts and gardening... for the flowers!

Hospitality gives me  the opportunity to get to know people. I enjoy having people in our home for meals or to stay.

We host a small group for our church.

I enjoy travel and having a mother of 95 and a mother-in-law of 97, children and grandchildren all living in different states and the world causes destination specific travel.

What is your roll on the leadership team?: I am a faculty wife adviser.

 

What do you look forward to this year while filling this roll?: I look forward to learning and growing in Christ and seeing those on the Ministry Team learn and grow this year. Seeing this always gives me great encouragement and also stretches me as we face different challenges during the year. Serving with Suzanne is a great encouragement to me. This summer we have studied and prepared for the upcoming study of 1 Corinthians 13. This has challenged me and caused me to grow. I look forward to continued learning and growing in my understanding how to Love as Christ loves and also how to encourage others to put  into practice all that we learn.

What do you like about TWF?: TWF is a place to get to know other student wives and some faculty wives. This is a unique period in the life of every student family and there is the opportunity to learn and grow together. Every year is different and each year a blessing in my own life. It is  so encouraging to see gifts in others strengthened and emerge to bless the wider community. TWF is a safe place to try out different ministry positions ,use ones gifts, and a wonderful place of friendship and support.

Advice or encouragement to new wives: Don't think we are perfect or have it all together. We are all  learning and growing. "one beggar to another pointing each other to Christ". Come and find a place where you can continue to grow in your faith, have opportunities to serve and try new things, meet new people from all over the world, and taste the joy of supporting others and being supported in prayer and friendship.


Michelle Lipscomb

Husband's name: Anthony

How long have you been married: 11 years

Do you have any children?: Abby 5, Toby 10 months
Where is home (before Trinity - as far back as you want to go): Fredericksburg, VA

How long have you been at TEDS & what brought you here (degree, calling, etc.): been here 2 years. My husband wants to be a professor, so he is finishing up a ThM and applying to doctoral programs in OT languages and linguistics.

Information about you - your current/past job(s), education, topics important to you, interests and hobbies, fun facts, etc!  I have a B.A. in English/education from Nyack College. I spent 9 years as a technical writer for the navy before becoming a stay at home mom. I currently work as a part-time line editor for the TIU USSC. When I get free time from my kids, I like to read and knit/crochet/cross stitch.

What is your roll on the leadership team?: Treasurer/on-campus small group co-leader

What do you look forward to this year while filling this roll?: I particularly look forward to being challenged as a small group leader. It'll be a stretch for me since I tend toward being an introvert.

What do you like about TWF?: community and like-minded friendships

Advice or encouragement to new wives: go to the botanic gardens! They are awesome!

Stacey Casey

Husband's name: Josh

How long have you been married: 3

Do you have any children?: Emmaline, almost 2 yrs

Where is home (before Trinity): Nebraska

How long have you been at TEDS & what brought you here (degree, calling, etc.): My husband had been a distance student at Trinity for about 5 years while serving as a youth pastor. We moved last August to complete the rest of the MDiv.

Information about you - your current/past job(s), education, topics important to you, interests and hobbies, fun facts, etc! I am currently working for Chicago Public Schools as a high school special education teacher. I love my job but hate my commute. :) Family, social justice, volleyball, parenting, freezer meals, community and reading fill most of my thoughts and time...and I am grateful that I enjoy them all!

 

What is your roll on the leadership team?: Mom's Ministry Co-coordinator

What do you look forward to this year while filling this roll?: I'm eager to get to know people better and help connect moms to great resources, including each other.

What do you like about TWF?: I appreciate TWF's mission and am so thankful for how TWF helped get me connected when we moved here. My friends, support system and my personal growth is, in large part, due to TWF.

Advice or encouragement to new wives: Be patient and keep on keeping on!

A Spirit of Thanksgiving

by Bethany Cayton

The upcoming Thanksgiving holiday elicits much stirring in me.  My mind wanders to memories sitting around the Thanksgiving table, each person saying why they’re thankful. My stomach growls thinking of my mother’s sweet potato casserole that arguably could be served as a dessert rather than a side dish. And my back begins to ache a bit, thinking of our annual family football game that involves full-on tackling - no flag belts in this family!

But mostly, the stirring that takes place inside me is one of warmth and richness, recalling the many reasons I have to be thankful.

Recently I participated in a bible study and the topic of conversation was joy. One person mentioned how easily we fail to experience joy in our own lives, and the importance of identifying the barriers that impede us in living a joy-filled life.

As I sat there and listened to many of the women share their struggles with living a joy and peace-filled life, Paul’s words in Colossians 3 came to mind:

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.  

16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.  

17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

As I read these words, I am drawn to the role gratitude and thanksgiving play in the life of the believer.  It seems that gratitude and giving thanks to God is a discipline that leads to a joy- and peace-filled life. 

Ultimately, the hope and reason for being thankful lies in the gospel message, the truth that God gave the best and greatest gift of his Son so that we might be spared the penalty we deserve and instead have hope for eternal life. 

When we take the time to thank God, we force ourselves to dwell and think upon the goodness of God, the character of God and the actions of God.  

As we let the gospel message dwell in us, it pours out from us as we live on mission with God. As we live on mission with God, we do all things for the glory of God, giving thanks to him!

I pray this Thanksgiving season that the peace of Christ would dwell richly among you, the church, and that your gratitude would stem from a place of deep conviction knowing the depth of love God has for you. 

-- -- --

This blog post was first published on the National Christian Foundation - Greater Chicago website.  Thank you, Bethany, for submitting it!

The Purpose of Suffering - Part 2

by Renee Gowler

This is Part 2 of a 3-part series.  To see Part 1, click here.



It never fails. 

It’s 9:00 p.m., and I just got done doing 3 day’s worth of dishes. My shirt is wet, and my fingers are wrinkly from the dishwater. Every plate, cup, fork, mixing bowl, and baby bottle has been washed, rinsed, and stacked to dry. I even scrubbed down the sides of the sink and wiped the counters. I step back, and behold the fruit of my hard work– an empty sink! It does exist!

And even as I stand there, basking in my glorious accomplishment…my dear husband walks in the kitchen…and drops off his dirty cereal bowl - in my empty sink.

<sigh>

I don’t know about you, but as a homemaker, I am tempted to feel like a lot of what I do every single day is pretty much…pointless. Dishes get dirty again. Laundry hampers refill. Toys that were once neatly organized are thrown all over the house. Honestly, it’s a fight to remember the bigger picture sometimes, isn’t it?

(My almost-empty sink taunts me.)

But on my good days, by God’s grace, I’m reminded that there’s a point to the drudgery. I remember that there’s a reason behind the endless washing and tidying. God reminds me that I’m working to create an orderly, safe, and beautiful space for my family…a space where we can grow and love one another and welcome people through our front door. There’s a goal behind the tedious work that makes it all worthwhile.

We can have hope in the midst of the mess when we remember there’s a point.

Paul expressed this truth in 2 Corinthians 4:17, where he writes: “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” Paul says that our troubles are DOING something. There’s a point to the trouble, and the point is glory…eternal and more “worth it” than we could ever imagine.

Now, in Part 1 of this series, I talked about the paradox of suffering found in 2 Corinthians 4:16…that we can be outwardly wasting away, but inwardly renewed at the same time. And that post may have left you wondering, “How?” How can we be inwardly renewed, yet outwardly wasting away? How can we have hope even in the midst of suffering?

Here’s the “how,” my friend: we can be inwardly renewed by remembering there is a purpose in our suffering.

There’s a point to the trouble.

And it’s glorious.

My seemingly trivial “trouble” is my never-empty sink, and maybe you resonate with that today. Maybe your troubles aren’t devastating or news-worthy. But maybe they are just as difficult because they are constant, draining, unyielding, and unnoticed by others. My sister, remember there’s a reason behind the small, daily, often-repeated, and unglamorous tasks you’re doing.

But perhaps your trouble IS devastating. Maybe the grief is all-consuming. The physical pain may be agonizing, and the despair feels overwhelming. My sister, may I remind you of this truth, too?

The trouble you’re enduring is achieving something amazing, something eternal. There’s a purpose in your grief.

You may never fully understand God’s purposes on this side of heaven, but that doesn’t change the promise that there IS a reason, there IS a point, and because of Jesus, there’s hope, too.

You may not want to hear that right now, but please read it again:

There is a point.

There is a reason.

There’s hope because of Jesus.

Freeze Meals? Yes, please!

by Stacey Casey


I tried my first batch of freezer meals with my friend, Wendy. I was pregnant with my daughter and as we later found out, she was pregnant with their son! It was an exhausting but such a fun day.

Wendy and I, with our husbands hanging out watching football, spent an entire day chopping veggies, cooking meat, simmering soups, writing labels and putting meals in the freezer. All the meals involved cooking ahead of time and then freezing. In the end, after a full 8+ hours in the
kitchen, we each went home with 10 meals - pretty good deal!

I would have done it again in a heartbeat prior to motherhood. But realistically, I didn’t have 8+ hours to spend in the kitchen anymore, especially for only 10 meals. And what exactly my daughter
would do during this process, I wasn’t quite sure.

Fast forward 2 years and my family and I arrive at Trinity. Ten months in, we decide I need
to take a different job and go back to teaching full-time. Freezing meals ahead of time became a must for our family’s survival, at least one that involved a somewhat balanced home-cooked meal before 10 p.m. each night.

Source

 So, I began my next freezer meal journey. And in that, I’ve  learned a few things. My husband, Josh, said, “wherever we end up next, I’ll give you a couple days a year to freeze meals, if you want.” He’s a big fan.

I’ll share what my process looks like. It will totally depend on personality, what you eat, how big your family is, how many meals you’d like to freeze but hopefully, it’ll help somebody get started.


My Freezer Meal Process:

1. Make a goal and a plan

Maybe your goal is to put 3 meals in the freezer for finals week or one  meal a week for the winter. Maybe it’s 20. For me, I’ve had to be ambitious. I do meals for a semester at a time now. Last go around, my goal was 50, but I only made 46 before school started. I’m hopeful it will last us until Christmas break, though.

Choose your recipes and make a shopping list. I like to double or triple (or half, depending on the recipe) almost everything. So I really only chose about 25 different dishes.
2. Schedule a time to shop, a time to prep, and a time to cook

I like to shop in the morning, with my daughter if I’m real organized (or alone, if possible), do some prep the night before and make meals like crazy the next day. I write or type all my labels for meals, write on freezer bags, etc the night before. My preference is then to organize by proteins. So I’ll cook all the chicken and get those in freezer, then move onto beef, etc.

3. Organize your freezer

I know a concern might be not having enough room to freeze meals but really you can fit more than you think. Organize your freezer and think about what you really use and need in there. Freeze gallon-sized bags flat and then stand up once they are frozen to make more room.

4. Enjoy!

During an unexpected crazy week or for a break once in a while, pull that meal out of your freezer and be grateful for your previous efforts. :) I like to meal plan once a week and pull everything out that I plan to use that week. Then I don’t think about what we’re having for dinner every day. It’s so nice to know the plan so whoever gets home first can turn the oven on and our meal is on its way!


Here are our family’s top 3 favorite freezer meals:


Ham, Broccoli, & Rice Casserole
(from the kitchen of my mother)
2 cups cooked rice
20 oz chopped broccoli (about 3 cups)
2 cups cheddar cheese (more or less, depending on taste)
½ lb sliced mushroom (optional)
1 can cream of celery or mushroom
1 cup mayo (more or less, depending on taste)
¼ tsp mustard
¼ tsp curry powder
¼-½ cup parmesan cheese
2 cups cubed ham

Mix and put into a 9x13 glass or aluminium foil container (divide into 2 or 3 meals, if desire). Sprinkle parmesan on top. Cover & freeze. To bake, thaw in fridge overnight. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.


Sweet & Tangy Meatballs
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/02/10-slow-cooker-freezer-meals-in-less.html
1 (12 oz) jar chili sauce (homemade or store bought)
1 (16-18 oz) jar grape jelly
1 (2lb) package frozen meatballs.

Combine chili sauce and grape jelly until smooth. Place meatballs in a gallon-sized freezer bag with sauce mixture. Mix to coat meatballs. Zip closed.

When ready to eat, thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on HIGH 1-2 hours or LOW 3-4 hours in crock pot. Serve over rice.


Black Bean & Corn Salsa Chicken
http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2013/02/10-slow-cooker-freezer-meals-in-less.html

2 (14 oz) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
2 (14 oz) cans corn, drained (or frozen)
1 (1 oz) package taco seasoning
1 lb chicken breasts
1 cup salsa
1 cup water

Place all ingredients into re-sealable gallon-sized freezer bag. Mix together in bag and zip closed. When ready to eat, thaw in fridge for 24 hours. Cook on HIGH 3-4 hours or LOW 7-8 hours. When finished cooking, shred chicken. Serve over rice, with tortilla chips, over a salad, or wrapped
in tortillas. So many possibilities. Garnish with cheese, sour cream, avocado, tomatoes, etc.


My biggest piece of advice is don’t do the first batch alone. Find a friend, give me a call, have a small group cooking party - you get the idea. It’ll be a lot more fun, you can learn together and then with the first one under your belt, the next go around is much less intimidating.



Happy freezing and much love,

Stacey

Love Is Not Self-Seeking.

by Bethany Cayton

The account of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is a passage familiar to many. It’s
the passage that displays Jesus praying to his father for God’s will to be done, while
the disciples sleep a few stone throws away.

In this week’s study of Loving the Way Jesus Loves, the author, Phil Ryken has us look at this familiar passage and focuses the lens on Jesus and his selfless nature. I went into this chapter knowing that I would feel the heaviness of application. After all, we can all be less self-seeking and more selfless when loving those around us.

But what I didn’t expect was the radical perspective change that happened while rereading the account of Jesus in Gethsemane.

It was the night before He died. The Last Supper had just wrapped up and Jesus calls a prayer meeting with his disciples. He takes his three close friends, has them walk further into the garden, and leaves them to “keep watch and pray” while he gets alone with His father.

Matthew describes Jesus during this time as “sorrowful and troubled” (v37) and that he tells the three disciples close to him “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here watch with me.” I don’t know about you, but it’s hard for me to read Matthew 26 and reconcile Jesus being fully God and fully man.

It’s hard for me to read that Jesus was sorrowful, troubled and overwhelmed - so much so, that he was sweating drops of blood! (Luke 22.44). Jesus had the power to end it; He is sovereign and could have mastered up a plan that would have avoided such physical and emotional pain, right?

Instead, Jesus chose obedience - obedience to the father, and that makes his decision to sacrifice himself all the more a reflection of his divinity.

If you look at the life and ministry of Jesus, you see that all throughout scripture, his life is marked by obedience. As he is performing miracles, teaching and investing in his disciples, he repeatedly gives all authority to God, articulating that everything he does has been instructed by the Father.

The perfect lamb, obedient til death.

Jesus had all divine power to avoid what was awaiting him in the garden, and yet he still chose to be obedient shows me the divine nature of Christ, being both fully God and fully man.

So, what does this mean for us as sinful, inherently disobedient people? It means we should be like Christ in his life and in his death (Phil 3.10). Paul writes it this way in Philippians 2:5-11

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God,
 did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;7 rather, he made himself nothing
 by taking the very nature of a servant,
 being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man,
 he humbled himself
 by becoming obedient to death—
 even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
 and gave him the name that is above every name 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
 in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
 to the glory of God the Father.

Obedient to death, even death on the cross! May I ask, friend, are you being obedient in your own life? What about in the areas of loving selflessly? How are you doing loving your spouse intentionally? Your children? We can take hope by looking at the life and death of Christ, and follow his example of praying in the garden and following through with obedience.

I pray today, you would have encouragement from being united with Christ and comfort from his love, taking hold of the common bond in the spirit, so that your joy may be complete (Phil. 2.1-2).

--- --- ---

Bethany Cayton is the one of the leaders for the Highwood small group.  She originally hails from the countryside of Virginia and attended college in Ohio.  She and her husband, Kyle, an MDiv student, are small group leaders in their church in the Chicago suburbs, and they both love hosting friends and family in their home.  When Bethany isn't working at a nearby Christian non-profit, she enjoys being active outside, fitness activities, and exploring the Greater Chicago area with Kyle. As said by Bethany, "we like to eat our way through the city."

The Paradox of Suffering - Part 1

a 3-part series on the hope of Christ

by Renee Gowler


Last month, I had the privilege of having dinner with Joni Eareckson Tada. Have you heard this amazing woman’s story?

When Joni was an energetic, athletic 17 year old girl, she had a tragic diving accident, and she was instantly paralyzed from the neck down. She has spent the last 47 years in a wheel chair as a quadriplegic. She’s gone through years of therapy to regain just minimal movement of her arms. She can’t dress herself, eat by herself, go to the bathroom by herself, or reapply her own lipstick (which I observed before taking this photo with her, and she wanted to freshen up). 

Joni Eareckson Tada, center, with Renee, far right, and two friends

As if all this wasn’t difficult enough, Joni was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago! She went through the cancer treatments and thankfully is now cancer free, but she basically lives in constant pain because of all that her body has endured.

And yet…Joni glows with the glory of God. I have never met anyone like her.

Through the connection of a mutual friend, I was honored to sit around a beautiful table with her at a really fancy steakhouse in downtown Indianapolis (I was totally nervous and felt so out of my league!). As we ate together, I could not get over how gracious and joyful and selfless she was. We were singing songs, she asked to see pictures of my kids, she remembered my name and used it in conversation…she was just so others-focused.

Joni has every reason to be bitter and entitled, but by God’s grace, she is not.

She is a living example of the paradox Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 4:16…”Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.”

Outwardly, Joni is wasting away, decaying, in constant affliction, and yet…inwardly, she is renewed by Christ. There is a vast difference between the state of her body and the state of her soul. Her outward circumstances are utterly distinct from her inward reality.

Truly, it is a paradox.

Are you living in this paradox, too, my friend? Do you experience a similar tension between your outward circumstances and your inward reality? Or are hardships so severe right now that you are just wasting away with no inward renewal?

Have you forgotten that Christ’s resurrection power lives within you?

Let me remind you, sister, that there can be inward renewal because of the power of the Holy Spirit. Even in grueling pain, we can have joy because of Christ. And even in the midst of suffering, we can have hope in Christ.

It doesn’t make sense.

But…it’s possible.

May God be glorified as you display this paradox of suffering to the world around you!



P.S. Do you find yourself asking, “But, HOW!?” How can we experience this inward renewal? HOW does Joni get out of bed every morning? HOW can I have hope in the middle of my suffering? Check back in for Part 2 of this series…the Purpose of Suffering.

Love Always Hopes

 by Laura Bazal

Hope - to look forward with desire or reasonable confidence.

Hope - a person or thing in which trust is centered

Hope - to feel that something desired may happen.

Ryken states that Love always hopes and never loses confidence in the hope “about the goodness of God and his power to work in someone else’s life” (107).  If you, like me, know anyone who is not a Christian, and if you, like me, has prayed for that person to become a Christian for what seems like an endless amount of time, it is quite easy to lose this kind of hope when it’s sustained by evidences of change in another rather than the constancy of God’s love.  

The chapter was challenging indeed – if I really want to hope in the right way, I need to hope the way Jesus hoped in John 17.  Jesus hoped that we would be saved, that we would be protected from the Evil One, and that we would be sanctified to Him and unified with each other.  Why could Jesus hope this?  

It’s because he know that God’s Love was the determining factor in whether or not these things could come to fruition.  This same source of hope in the Father was what supplied him his strength and commitment to his father’s will – that the Father would still love him and raise him from the depths of sin (our sin) that Jesus fully and completely took on himself so we may be saved.  

Jesus loved God enough to hope that we, sinners, would be saved and desire God’s glory.  It was challenging for me to understand this idea more deeply.  To love is to hope – not hope sometimes, not hope when it’s easy, and not hope when I feel that I or someone deserves it.  Hope always.  Have hope in all things.  Hope now and until you are in Heaven with the Triune God.  

I will fully admit – there have been times where I just won’t hope.  

For a period of time during my experience with infertility, I settled into the numbness of continued disappointment and barely engaged in a glimmer of God’s hope.  Why should I hope if nothing is going to happen?  

I also struggle to hope when I see loved ones continually reject God.  Why should I hope if they have no desire to know him? 

Then there’s insecurity, loneliness, and persistent seasons of depression that are like a constant unwanted companion sitting at my side.  Why should I hope against these things if I know they will be back time and again?  

Why?  From God:

Romans 5: Therefore, having been justified by faith, ^[a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and ^[b]we exult in hope of the glory of God. ³ And not only this, but ^[c]we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; ⁴ and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; ⁵ and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

I can trust that when God says for us to have hope, I can because of the constancy of his love.  He shows me how to hope and what to hope in, not just for my comfort or for my satisfaction it its own end, but for the ultimate glorification of Him in everything.