Bits and Pieces

A camping we will go
A camping we will go
High ho the derry-o
A camping we will go!

So if there is a sudden and abnormal snowfall over Thanksgiving you'll know it's because I have somehow...(with much help from his very best friends)...convinced my dearly beloved husband that camping as a family for four days will be fun!

We'll see :-)

Sam had his very first dental visit this morning...we love Dr. Noland! And the best news is that Sam has no cavities! He wasn't scared a bit and was actually pretty excited and seemed to have fun. Shelly, the hygienist worked great with Sam and made sure his visit was a good one.

What else is going on? Did I mention we're going camping? Man, is it a lot of work to get ready!

Rob is working on papers for two of his seminary classes. I'm looking forward to reading them...he has such a way of explaining things so that it is easy for me to understand. It's one of the reasons he is such wonderful pastor.

His sermon Sunday gave me one of those 'Aha!' moments. For a while now I have forgotten something very important. Churches are made up of humans. And that means that sin is ever present. We don't like to admit it but it's true. We all have our own ideas of how we think church should happen. We all have our own perspective on what a pastor should be or do. And we all have ways of expressing our disappointment and frustration when we feel like those expectations aren't being met. But that isn't what I've forgotten.
What I forgot was that I love my church.
I've watched Rob pour his life into the ministry and care of our church. For five years I've seen him respond to various personal crisis' of church members without hesitation. I've been woken up by his phone at one o'clock in the morning because someone called and needed him. I've watched him do everything in his power to protect the dignity of someone dealing with sin. I've gone to sleep long before him as he continued to read and study into the night. And I've watched him humble himself when all of that has been used by God to reveal his own sin. And I've had to deal with it sometimes not being enough.
So my battle has been to be his wife...a pastor's wife...and still love my church. To take personal things and not let them be personal. But Sunday, God reached down and reminded me that I love my church not just because of the people in it...but because it is His church. It is His vehicle to declare Himself to our community...to our city...to our world.
A weight was lifted.
Then, Pastor Jonny opened the floor to anyone who wanted to share something they were thankful for. And people gave thanks over the ways God has used this church...His church...to touch their lives...to change them.
God does meet with us. He does draw us to worship Him.
And I am grateful.
I love my church.

Foto Friday

A Typical Brother

He took a pen and drew glasses and mustaches on all the pictures in the Strawberry Shortcake coloring book.

Needless to say his sisters were not amused.

But Mom and Dad thought it was rather funny.

:-)

Lately it seems like I'm slugging through mud and muck...so much in fact, that I cannot tell if it's from the outside or inside. I have a sneaking suspicion that it's both.

Yesterday, Pastor Jonny preached about living a life of impact. That makes it sound like such a simple message but...well, honestly it wasn't...it isn't. Being a pastor's wife...and a pastor's kid...I didn't want to tell him it was a good sermon. Instead, I told him he had given me much to think about.

The main point was that the only life that makes an impact is the one that is lived constantly pointing to the Gospel...constantly living out the Gospel. Something I haven't been doing...not really. Too mired down in that mud and muck mentioned earlier.

I cannot really explain much right now...I don't have the words. But I have His grace. So for now...slowly but surely...I am moving...out of the dirt of my thoughts and emotions...turning my face toward the light of His mercy.

This is life. And I am blessed.

Foto Friday...

a day late :-)