Happy Easter 2013!

HAPPY EASTER!

What a wonderful reminder of the love our Father has for us.

Being a parent, I cannot imagine making the decision to sacrifice my son for others.

Especially for those who are so unworthy!

He may have known Jesus would live again in 3 days, but He still had to watch him suffer.

May we always remember how blessed we are to be loved so immensely!

(sorry for the poor quality of the pictures...used the phone!)

Before opening Easter basket!

It was an Angry Birds themed basket this year!

Each egg had an Easter message inside!  Some even had jokes. :)

House Church

It's funny, I never would have thought of us as the house church "type".

(Go with me here, I'm not trying to judge or label!)

What's a house church, you ask?

From Vine House Churches:

These are real churches that meet in homes, where believers gather at least once each week for prayer, fellowship, teaching, and to pray for the lost. House Churches can meet in homes, places of business, coffee shops-anywhere people meet. These are real churches, not just Bible studies or House groups. They have (pastor/shepherds), they collect tithes and offerings, and the leadership is responsible before the Lord for the souls of the people in the house church (Hebrews 13:17).

House Churches are local churches in which the church life and ministry to one another takes place mainly in House groups instead of in a "central service". Some house-churches do have a Sunday service, but the emphasis is on the Houses, where teaching, counseling, ministry, prayer and evangelism take place.

The important thing about a House Church is not the quality of the worship leader or how gifted the group leader is, but the tangible love of Christ between the members. People are drawn to Christ when they experience His love practically. Christianity is primarily relational. Jesus when he called his followers asking them to follow Him in relationship. Doctrine is essential but it must be realized in the context of people living out their lives in a way that looks Christ-like.

Yes, we look evil.  No, we are not! :)

 When we moved out of my Mom's house into our current home (remember, we are renting?), we found that not only did our back-door neighbors homeschool, their oldest child was in JMonster's class in our Classical Conversations group!  

And...they held a house church in their home!

Now we had been attending a great church here in town, with a pastor we loved and whose preaching was spot on, but we hungered for more.  We weren't connected in ways we wanted to be, and they started a capital campaign soon after we moved.  

I am NOT saying capital campaigns are bad, however our last 2 churches did HUGE capital campaigns toward the end of us being there and we were over them.  In our minds and hearts, that money could be used to directly help people who are in need!  Building more bricks and sticks, when there are SOOO many churches already here, just didn't make sense to us.

We visited the house church in November of 2011.  

WOW!  

We couldn't believe people actually churched like this!  

Where had this been all of our marriage?

Now that we have been attending for over a year, our thoughts are just the same.  

Church is good.  

Our church is good.  

House church isn't for everyone.  

It isn't better or worse than other churches, just different.

And we wouldn't change where we attend, right now, for anything.

At some point in the near future I will share about our community and just how it "works"!

Have you ever attended a house church?

Do you love the church you are in?

Are you being fed and getting to feed others?

 PLEASE SHARE!!!   

   

Mentally swimming through infertility

On a side note, I am utterly surprised this blog is still here!  

I would not have been shocked if it had been removed for inactivity.

Sorry!

Don't we need another one like this running around?

Sooo...

Lately my heart has been revisiting where we are with growing our family.  Which at this point is nowhere.

I did finally sit down with The Rev and let him know how hard this is for me.  How I feel like it is US holding the process back, not God.

And JMonster talks about having a baby sister or brother ALL. THE. TIME.

I checked into the whole foster to adopt process, which seems like the best thing for us, and am excited!

The Rev isn't quite there, yet.

I even found a sibling group of 3 adorable kids needing homes.

A 6 year old boy, a 5 year old girl, and a 4 year old girl.

In my heart they could be ours!

We need a home study.

We obviously had one when we lived in Atlanta, but it is way past expired.

(Anyone know how to get a FREE home study?  Message me!)

We have to go to some meetings and get training.

And all of this while I would still LOVE to have another of our own biological kiddos, and not doubting God, but also wondering if it will ever happen.

I am 40, remember?

PLEASE, PLEASE pray for us!

Federal Budget...WHY did I sit and read it?

I made the mistake of sitting down to read the federal budget.

I know!  I know!  Stupid.

My thought process probably went something like this:

"I wonder what the government spends our money on?"

"They seem to overspend...not thinking about a true budget at all."

"WE stay within a budget in our house."

"In the movie Dave they were able to balance the budget."

"I love the movie Dave!"

"Maybe they need ME to look at the budget and find the excesses."

So...I did.

Whoa!  Did you know that the federal government will spend almost $23 BILLION on Reforming and extending unemployment
insurance, but only $1 MILLION on Helping entrepreneurs and small businesses
access capital and grow?

Seems backward to me.

People who are NOT working vs people who are making a go at starting a new life.

These are the types of things which irk me.

I am ALL for helping people.  I am!

(Didn't you see me help that person the other day?  Maybe it was last week?  Or last month?)

However, it must be in the right context.

And it must set people up for success.

Our system is broken, and it keeps those in need...well, in need!

I suggest you do NOT read the budget.

Unless you are one of those who enjoys horror movies and nightmares.

(Anyone else out there make this same mistake?)

JMonster's Christmas Piano Recital

JMonster and his 3 cousins had their Christmas recital recently.

My sister was sitting next to me and her youngest played right before JMonster.  

In the middle of her performance my sister's phone memory was filled.

OH NO!!!!

So here you will see Flower and JMonster.

Can you tell he was VERY nervous?  

Made a few mistakes, but recovered admirably!

WAY TO GO JMONSTER!!!

Dinner Group

Quick update:

It's funny, we were SO healthy there for awhile.  Only one illness worth mentioning, and then...it hit us!

In the past few weeks (feels like months!) we have endured several colds, pink eye, a UTI, a horrible stomach bug (JMonster) and now The Rev sounds like his lung might come out when he coughs.  

I am getting better now, it seems, and will be taking Emergen-C like my life depends on it. 

I don't think I've told you about our dinner group.  

Have I?

Some of our neighbors banded together a few months ago to have dinner together 5 nights a week.

(I know!  Some people say they would hate it, but we love it!)

One person cooks and we all go there for dinner.

Imagine, cooking and cleaning only ONE NIGHT A WEEK!
(We eat out on Fridays, or get pizza, and our church meets Saturday evenings and we do a potluck.  Thus the cooking only once a week.)

We didn't join initially because of JMonster's food allergies.

And my corn intolerance.

But after we were asked again to join and reassured everyone was willing to put up with our unique needs, we joined!

6 families were rotating for the 5 nights.

The 6th week you didn't have to cook at all!

We have wonderful community, extra time for our families, and it is even saving money.

Are there downsides?

Sure.

For us the downsides are that most nights dinner is ready around 5:30 or 5:45...The Rev gets home around 5:30 and that is typically when we would go run.  On our own we usually eat dinner around 6:30 or so.

The other downside is that, as a family we have chosen to go organic, but we are the only ones in the group pretty much who do.

When we cook for everyone, we try and choose organic, free trade, free range, grass fed, etc...

When we are NOT cooking we aren't eating that way.

It's definitely something I think about, especially for JMonster and his longterm health!

But for now the positives far outweigh the negatives and we are LOVING our dinner group!

Do any of you do this?  Do you think you would like to?

Halloween 2012...in Pics!

The twins were the only parents with costumes!

The others...not so much.

JMonster Power Ranger, Red Galaxy to be exact!

Trick or Treating by "Hayride"!

The Bride of Death...when asked why she chose this costume, 

her serious reply was, "It's what I had."

JMonster and his cousins...and Anna Sophia (AKA Trouble!)

Tried a second time...still not good!

Cousin "A" and Megan, the beautiful butterfly

He couldn't be any cuter missing those 2 front teeth!

I'm waiting....I'm waiting...I'm waiting...

JMonster's Power Ranger buddy Colt!

Don't take a picture...okay, cheese!

When Dads get lazy passing out candy, they congregate on the cul de sac.

What a great night!  Happy Halloween from the Power Rangers!