I've been meaning to post for over a week now, but am not actually posting what I was thinking of posting. Instead, I'm going even deeper than I had planned.
I know that we don't know the hour or the second that Jesus is coming back, but isn't it hard to not think about it more and more as we see earthquakes and wars and tsunamis and volcanoes and and and . . . And it sort of hits me that I might not have a baby before Jesus comes back. Isn't it easy to get wrapped up in our plans for the future, thinking about everything from having kids to raising them, what they'll be like, who they might marry or where they might go to school, grandkids, retirement, and then something happens like an earthquake in Japan and a war in Egypt, and all of a sudden, you're remembering that while it is good to make some plans, it's better to remember that we are not promised tomorrow?
And on that note, we've had a sort of sad and amazing week this last week. A family had been visiting the congregation we attend the last couple of weeks, having just moved to the area from California. It's a young couple with five children from age 8 to 11 weeks. Last Monday, she had a brain hemmorage. They went in and did surgery and said it went well, but it was still touch and go. All through the week, the church prayed for this family, visited the hospital, took food, called, sent cards, etc. She was doing well. They unwrapped her head, she was conversing with sign language, she even started swallowing again. Saturday, though, she had a low-grade fever all day and then it spiked that night. They think she had a heart attack and by 2 on Sunday morning they pronounced her brain dead. She passed away Sunday afternoon.
I still can't wrap my mind around it. The Bible tells us life is short, but sometimes we forget that. We get so wrapped up in living life on this world that we forget how fragile it is. So, please, pray for the Gosch family because they have a hard road to travel still.
And please, remember how short life is. And go love your family while you can. Because we don't know the hour . . .
Monday, March 28, 2011
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Bible Study
No. I am not posting a Bible study on here right now. But I am posting ABOUT a Bible study. Let me start from the beginning (a very good place to start).
I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N. Know that song? It's in my head. But it's also true. I'm a Christian, in case you couldn't tell from other posts I've put on here. And I can't imagine life any other way. Part of that is because I was brought up that way. But more than that, I know even more now than in the past that life without God would much worse than life with Him. At least with Him, there is hope. And my church family is amazing.
So, I'm sure, for those of you who don't know me (if there are any of you out there -- I really have no idea who all reads my blog), you want to know what "flavor" of Christian I am. I am a member of the Church of Christ. No. I do not believe we are the only ones going to heaven. I will leave that judgment up to the Judge who can make such a call. I do, however, believe that the Churches of Christ are the ones closest to what the Bible says the church should be, who worship like the original church did, and who have it the closest to being right. If I didn't feel that way, I'd go worship somewhere else. As my husband says, everyone believes they are right -- if they didn't, they'd changed what they believed because no one wants to believe something they know is wrong.
The point of all this follows:
We've had some mormons come to us, wanting to do a Bible study. I really didn't know much about Mormons except that they believed Joseph Smith was a new-age prophet, they followed the Book of Mormon, and they make up a large part of Salt Lake City. Yep. That was about the extent of it.
Also, I had never really done a Bible study with anyone before. Not really. This is sort of strange, because I am a preacher's daughter and went to a Christian university and am attending a congregation mostly focused on evangelism right now. But I still hadn't ever had a true blue Bible study. So, I decided if God was sending one to me, I should take it.
It was two college-age girls who are on a mission trip. We chatted for a while that day and they told me about the "great apostacy" and about Joseph Smith and that all I had to do was pray and read the Book of Mormon and the Holy Spirit would let me know that it was true. They then set up a time to come back when my husband would be there -- my husband was a Bible major, FYI.
So, last Friday afternoon, they came once again and we talked in circles around each other for an hour or so. Basically, all they want us to do is read the Book of Mormon. We don't really feel like we need to read it since the Bible tells us everything we need to know to be Christians and find salvation and get to heaven. AND, there is no proof that the Book of Mormon is actually an inspired word of God from a new-age prophet. There is no proof that the people in the book ever lived or that any of what they say happened happened. There is proof that the things in the Bible happened. Lots of it. So, the only reason we should believe anything about the Book of Mormon, according to them, is through the Holy Spirit letting us know it is the truth.
In my head I'm thinking, but wait. So, if I pray to God to show me it's true, and then read something like the Koran, and I feel better about life and have a better relationship with God while I'm reading it, does that mean it's true, too? Because that's how they knew the Holy Spirit was telling them the Book of Mormon was true. This logic doesn't stand. I have learned a lot, though, about their faith and all the loopholes to show that it doesn't make sense. I'm not sure how to lovingly point all that out to them, though. They're coming back tonight to follow up. It's been an interesting experience if nothing else. I will say they truly believe in the bottom of their hearts that this is true, and I am very impressed by their desire to get out there and spread their good news. I just wish they were spreading real good news.
I am a C. I am a C-H. I am a C-H-R-I-S-T-I-A-N. Know that song? It's in my head. But it's also true. I'm a Christian, in case you couldn't tell from other posts I've put on here. And I can't imagine life any other way. Part of that is because I was brought up that way. But more than that, I know even more now than in the past that life without God would much worse than life with Him. At least with Him, there is hope. And my church family is amazing.
So, I'm sure, for those of you who don't know me (if there are any of you out there -- I really have no idea who all reads my blog), you want to know what "flavor" of Christian I am. I am a member of the Church of Christ. No. I do not believe we are the only ones going to heaven. I will leave that judgment up to the Judge who can make such a call. I do, however, believe that the Churches of Christ are the ones closest to what the Bible says the church should be, who worship like the original church did, and who have it the closest to being right. If I didn't feel that way, I'd go worship somewhere else. As my husband says, everyone believes they are right -- if they didn't, they'd changed what they believed because no one wants to believe something they know is wrong.
The point of all this follows:
We've had some mormons come to us, wanting to do a Bible study. I really didn't know much about Mormons except that they believed Joseph Smith was a new-age prophet, they followed the Book of Mormon, and they make up a large part of Salt Lake City. Yep. That was about the extent of it.
Also, I had never really done a Bible study with anyone before. Not really. This is sort of strange, because I am a preacher's daughter and went to a Christian university and am attending a congregation mostly focused on evangelism right now. But I still hadn't ever had a true blue Bible study. So, I decided if God was sending one to me, I should take it.
It was two college-age girls who are on a mission trip. We chatted for a while that day and they told me about the "great apostacy" and about Joseph Smith and that all I had to do was pray and read the Book of Mormon and the Holy Spirit would let me know that it was true. They then set up a time to come back when my husband would be there -- my husband was a Bible major, FYI.
So, last Friday afternoon, they came once again and we talked in circles around each other for an hour or so. Basically, all they want us to do is read the Book of Mormon. We don't really feel like we need to read it since the Bible tells us everything we need to know to be Christians and find salvation and get to heaven. AND, there is no proof that the Book of Mormon is actually an inspired word of God from a new-age prophet. There is no proof that the people in the book ever lived or that any of what they say happened happened. There is proof that the things in the Bible happened. Lots of it. So, the only reason we should believe anything about the Book of Mormon, according to them, is through the Holy Spirit letting us know it is the truth.
In my head I'm thinking, but wait. So, if I pray to God to show me it's true, and then read something like the Koran, and I feel better about life and have a better relationship with God while I'm reading it, does that mean it's true, too? Because that's how they knew the Holy Spirit was telling them the Book of Mormon was true. This logic doesn't stand. I have learned a lot, though, about their faith and all the loopholes to show that it doesn't make sense. I'm not sure how to lovingly point all that out to them, though. They're coming back tonight to follow up. It's been an interesting experience if nothing else. I will say they truly believe in the bottom of their hearts that this is true, and I am very impressed by their desire to get out there and spread their good news. I just wish they were spreading real good news.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Luke 1:37
I teach second grade on Sunday mornings and this was our memory verse for last week. Don't want to look it up? Let me quote it to you: "For nothing will be impossible with God."
We had used it as our memory verse for the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. If you don't know what I'm talking about, DO go look that one up because it's one of my favorite Elijah stories -- I Kings 18.
BUT, as I'm doing my Bible reading this morning, I'm using the English Standard version of The One Year Bible. I like the way it's arranged because it has for every day, a snippet of the old testament, a snippet of the new testament, and a psalm and a proverb. Today's new testament snippet was from Luke 1 where we're getting into what some people refer to as the Christmas story. The angel is telling Mary that she's going to have a baby and she asks how since she is a virgin. The proof he offers is that her cousin, Elizabeth, who is older, is now six months pregnant, and he says, "For nothing is impossible with God." I've heard that verse my whole life, but I think that's the first time it dawned on me that it refers to two different women getting pregnant miraculously. And I know that every pregnancy is miraculous in its own way because it's creating a new life, a new soul. But sometimes, it is more miraculous than others. Like, in having Elizabeth, who could not get pregnant, get pregnant. And the day I discover that I'm pregnant, this verse will echo in my mind, because of the miracle of it all.
We had used it as our memory verse for the story of Elijah and the prophets of Baal. If you don't know what I'm talking about, DO go look that one up because it's one of my favorite Elijah stories -- I Kings 18.
BUT, as I'm doing my Bible reading this morning, I'm using the English Standard version of The One Year Bible. I like the way it's arranged because it has for every day, a snippet of the old testament, a snippet of the new testament, and a psalm and a proverb. Today's new testament snippet was from Luke 1 where we're getting into what some people refer to as the Christmas story. The angel is telling Mary that she's going to have a baby and she asks how since she is a virgin. The proof he offers is that her cousin, Elizabeth, who is older, is now six months pregnant, and he says, "For nothing is impossible with God." I've heard that verse my whole life, but I think that's the first time it dawned on me that it refers to two different women getting pregnant miraculously. And I know that every pregnancy is miraculous in its own way because it's creating a new life, a new soul. But sometimes, it is more miraculous than others. Like, in having Elizabeth, who could not get pregnant, get pregnant. And the day I discover that I'm pregnant, this verse will echo in my mind, because of the miracle of it all.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
To Move a Mountain . . .
From my Bible reading this morning:
Mark 11:22-24
"And Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'"
I really need to remember this more often.
Mark 11:22-24
"And Jesus answered them, 'Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.'"
I really need to remember this more often.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Granola
I have quite a few friends who refer to themselves as "crunchy." When I use that term while talking to my husband I have to explain it, so for those of you who may not know, they call themselves that because they're a bit like granola -- a bit hippy. I have no problem with them being this way. Everyone is allowed to have their own style of beliefs and living, even if I don't agree with all of the things they think. And I don't.
They are gung-ho for cloth diapering. I'm okay with that. If we decide that it will save us money, I'm willing to look into that. I just get tired of hearing about it ALL the TIME.
They like to talk about breast-feeding. Okay. Nothing wrong with breast-feeding. I plan to participate in that if God blesses me with kids. I don't want to make a spectacle of myself doing it, though. I don't want it to make me think that I am more important than another woman who doesn't breast-feed or that it means I should be given priviledges that other people don't have. Sorry, but women have been breast-feeding for years and not required any extra help or attention before now. What makes us so entitled?
They are against Disney princesses. Quite honestly, I feel sorry for the Disney princesses. I understand that they don't want their daughters to grow up being helpless or feel like they can only marry a prince, but haven't they ever heard of moderation? Yes, let your daughters be who they are without making them wear ONLY pink or tiaras or whatever, but what if they want to wear pink? Isn't that okay, too? I love fairy tales. I love pink. I love being girly. Does that make me not as good as girls who don't like that stuff? No. So, why not give your daughter the option of it?
This post is not to complain about my crunchy friends. It's not even to say they're wrong. I have just discovered that lately I have seen so many posts on blogs and facebook that I just skim over the post to see if it's one of "those" posts and then roll my eyes and go on with my life, saying I want to be nothing like them. I've actually started praying that God keep me from wanting so much to be unlike them that I go too far in the opposite direction. I guess I just want to be able to make up my own mind and make my own decisions. So, I appreciate that they are making their own decisions. I just hope that when I have kids, my decisions won't wear on my friends' nerves because I feel like I need to speak of nothing else. And I hope they can see where I'm coming from and respect me and my decisions, too.
They are gung-ho for cloth diapering. I'm okay with that. If we decide that it will save us money, I'm willing to look into that. I just get tired of hearing about it ALL the TIME.
They like to talk about breast-feeding. Okay. Nothing wrong with breast-feeding. I plan to participate in that if God blesses me with kids. I don't want to make a spectacle of myself doing it, though. I don't want it to make me think that I am more important than another woman who doesn't breast-feed or that it means I should be given priviledges that other people don't have. Sorry, but women have been breast-feeding for years and not required any extra help or attention before now. What makes us so entitled?
They are against Disney princesses. Quite honestly, I feel sorry for the Disney princesses. I understand that they don't want their daughters to grow up being helpless or feel like they can only marry a prince, but haven't they ever heard of moderation? Yes, let your daughters be who they are without making them wear ONLY pink or tiaras or whatever, but what if they want to wear pink? Isn't that okay, too? I love fairy tales. I love pink. I love being girly. Does that make me not as good as girls who don't like that stuff? No. So, why not give your daughter the option of it?
This post is not to complain about my crunchy friends. It's not even to say they're wrong. I have just discovered that lately I have seen so many posts on blogs and facebook that I just skim over the post to see if it's one of "those" posts and then roll my eyes and go on with my life, saying I want to be nothing like them. I've actually started praying that God keep me from wanting so much to be unlike them that I go too far in the opposite direction. I guess I just want to be able to make up my own mind and make my own decisions. So, I appreciate that they are making their own decisions. I just hope that when I have kids, my decisions won't wear on my friends' nerves because I feel like I need to speak of nothing else. And I hope they can see where I'm coming from and respect me and my decisions, too.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Things I Don't Understand
These are just a few things that perplex me lately.
- Why it's so hard to believe that not only have I never had a drink, I don't want one.
- Why some people have such a hard time getting along with their family, and even seem to like to fight with them.
- Why everything seems to quit working and/or need to be replaced at the same time.
- Why it's 80 degrees in February.
- Why I can change four diapers in the time it takes for my preschool "aide" to change one.
- Why I don't keep my kitchen clean all the time instead of letting it build up so that it takes even more effort to clean it when I do finally get around to it.
- Why I want so desperately for my husband to get a job, even if it means moving, but am still afraid to move again.
- Why I want so desperately to be pregnant but am also afraid of all that comes with it.
- Why I can't forgive someone for something that wasn't even really their fault.
- Why I'm tired until it's time to go to bed and then can't sleep.
- Why I say yes to things and then really don't want to do them even if they do mean extra money.
- Why we owe taxes when we don't make enough money to be able to afford to pay them (this actually may have changed since the last time I looked at it since the laws passed at the end of last year kicked in after the 14th of this month and I haven't had time to look at it since).
- Why I'm facebook friends with some people.
- Why I don't do something about some of my great ideas.
- Why I'm taking the time to make a list of things I don't understand.
- Why I can't remember the rest of them.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Back in the Mean Reds
I knew it had been a while since I had posted anything, but I really didn't think it had been a month. I've got to tell the truth . . . I've been stuck in the Mean Reds as Holly Golightly would say in Breakfast at Tiffany's. It's sort of like saying I'm depressed. A lot of it is due to money issues of late. I just can't seem to make our ends meet neatly lately and it's driving me crazy. Really, things haven't slowed down that much, work-wise. But I think Jeremy's not getting paid quite as much right now as he was for a while because their numbers weren't quite what the company thought they should be (he works in returns and they're supposed to "save" most of the sales). Anyway, money is a major stresser in my life and neither one of our cars is as good as it should as it should be. It just feels like we're caught in the quagmire of debt right now.
On a good note, Jeremy has applied for a job or two that is looking more like a possibility of something better for the next school year. On the downside, I guess I need to start thinking about how to bring in extra money this summer when my after-school care and preschool jobs will not be paying me. And we still have to get him hired. Please, God, please give my husband a better job, one in education.
The other reason I've been down is because of the usual . . . really wanting to be a mommy. I had had so many days of having tender breasts that I had started to think maybe . . . maybe this time. And then a new cycle started again. Back to wondering, wishing, hoping, praying, crying, wanting it more than anything else in the world.
I'm fighting the mean reds. I don't want to be depressed. But I'm still there at least a little bit. The hardest part is making sure I don't take them out on those around me. And I'm not sure I've been doing a wonderful job of that, either. Say a prayer for me. Maybe I need to go eat breakfast at Tiffany's.
On a good note, Jeremy has applied for a job or two that is looking more like a possibility of something better for the next school year. On the downside, I guess I need to start thinking about how to bring in extra money this summer when my after-school care and preschool jobs will not be paying me. And we still have to get him hired. Please, God, please give my husband a better job, one in education.
The other reason I've been down is because of the usual . . . really wanting to be a mommy. I had had so many days of having tender breasts that I had started to think maybe . . . maybe this time. And then a new cycle started again. Back to wondering, wishing, hoping, praying, crying, wanting it more than anything else in the world.
I'm fighting the mean reds. I don't want to be depressed. But I'm still there at least a little bit. The hardest part is making sure I don't take them out on those around me. And I'm not sure I've been doing a wonderful job of that, either. Say a prayer for me. Maybe I need to go eat breakfast at Tiffany's.
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