Our Angel
Angel David Brady went to be with God this afternoon. He will always be our angel. He was always God’s and I feel at peace having him in heaven because I know God will take care of his son. Mommy and Daddy love you. Forever.
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)Is the gap too wide?
There’s something that has been on my mind lately about church. I’ve been a part of many churches and it seems that they fall into two categories. One is filled with young people and is exciting and thriving. They’re trying to do church in a way that doesn’t feel like church. The other is mature and traditional. It’s filled with an older congregation that doesn’t want media screens in the sanctuary. On one side there’s rock music and at least 2 guitars. On the other there’s a huge organ that exclusively plays hymns. Now the common question is asked from the mature church, what can we do to get more young people? They don’t however want a base guitar and drums and to have to radically change their services. I haven’t expereinced a young church asking for more older saints, though I think they probably should. At my last church I thought long and hard about how to combine the two sides. Mentoring seemed a good place to start. The older women in the church could teach the younger ones how to make a pie or how to sew. They could fellowship together, look for some common ground. At my new church, they want more young people. I’m pushing for us to throw out our old curriculum, start a service for young couples with a great band that plays alternative christian music, bring in all kinds of media to reach the kids and so forth. Am I just trying to recreate what I’ve seen at the younger churches? Each church is different and ours is currently hymn driven, quilting club, commitee focused. None of these things will attract young people or young families. I wonder if there’s a middle ground or if the gap is maybe too wide. Will the children’s and youth ministries turn into a seperate piece of the church? Is anyone really interested in compromising and thinking about what it would look like to combine the best of these two very different very valid churches? I wonder….
Filed under Ministry | Comments (2)And your point is?
It would be helpful to start off this post just letting you know that I don’t really see it having a defined beginning middle and end. I have been writing articles for the church newsletter and I think this is a place to just type at will. Now that I have gotten that out of the way, last friday was surprisingly productive. I made muffins from a box mix (operation use what is in the pantry) and then realized they had no yummy crumb topping so I found a recipe to make my own crumb topping. Success. Then I decided to clean our bedroom because somehow EVERYTHING had ended up in our room due to company or painting or whatever. Now if you come over you may notice that a lot of that stuff now resides in other rooms but right now I am laying on a body pillow in my sparkling clean bedroom and I see all 3 sides of the floor. Success again. Mike showed me he super secret genius way of downloading movies and tv shows becasue I yet again asked him if he would find so you think you can dance and since then I have watched confessions of a shopaholic, the duchess, the great debaters, In Bruges, and the simpsons movie. This could very easily turn into an addicitve behavior. Also I watched Shrek the Halls because this Christmas our baby will be 4 days old so I’m pretty sure that cancels out any Charlie Brown Christmas shows in favor of sleep or feeding. Better to get them in now. On the pregnancy front I have 2 things to report. 1. We go for our ultrasound July 23rd and find out if it’s a boy or girl. I can tell you (Beth) - (my most loyal reader) that it is baby M. Both our names start with M. And if it’s a boy it’s going to be Michael. You probably knew that though. 2. I am officially one of those pregnant women that buys milk and then can’t even make it to the car before I start chugging it in the parking lot. That should be a milestone in the pregnancy keepsake books. I also am entering my 17th week and kinda wished I looked more pregnant because it doesn’t work as well when people stare at you in the parking lot and you don’t have the tummy to back up your story. The offer for the house got put on hold indefinetely because they’re waiting until they’re in foreclosure so we go looking again next week. We asked God answered, and now we keep trusting. I heard the most incredible sermon from a african american bishop that was on TBN one time. It still haunts me and I would go to his church in a millisecond. He was talking about the state of the economy and asked “what do you do when faith is not enough? What happens when they told you to pray and you prayed and they told you to fast and you fasted and they told you to sacrifice and you sacrificed and still nothing happens? Your situation is the same as it was before.
So what do you do when faith is not enough?
You obey.
(chills)
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (1)What are you waiting for?
It almost sounds like a challenge. That you are either doing something or you’re waiting and not accomplishing anything while you do it. I think waiting is part of the accomplishment. When I don’t wait I invite stress and anxiety and anxiousness into my life and none of them have positive outcomes. I don’t know if stability and being a twenty something are really meant to go together. There’s a certain quality to this stage of life, I’m flexing and stretching out every part of my life. We’re waiting to hear if our offer got accepted for a house. We’re waiting on our tenant to decide if they’re going to renew. I’m waiting on the kids that still have to sign up for VBS and the volunteers who will probably come at the last minute in order to plan the logisitcs of everything. And lately at night I’ve done a lot of waiting to fall asleep. I think waiting is an important part of life, the entire be still aspect that God nudges us towards when life seems to spin faster every day. When I do have an answer on any of these questions then I know God has shown me my next right step and I am grateful because it’s not always the step I would have taken on my own. Waiting is not an act of defeat, it is an act of surrender.
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