Going Grape

In January the pastor of the church we were attending submitted his resignation at a church business meeting. It was a shock, but maybe not so surprising. He gave only 2-3 weeks notice, so the church had to scramble to line up speakers until an interim pastor could be found. A pastoral search committee must be formed, with the first item being to find an interim pastor. Over the course of the next few months various people took turns giving the message.

A search team was chosen, but I felt they had overlooked a very important segment of the church - the youth and college-age. I was not encouraged about the future of the church. My husband had not been happy there for some time. I was co-teaching a children's Sunday school class. The other teacher was great, but it wasn't going well for me.

In April we received a postcard in the mail from the Vineyard Church in Kansas City North. My husband and I decided we would like to visit there. I was committed to my Sunday school class, though. My husband went by himself one week to the Vineyard that meets at the Northglen theater on North Brighton. The next week was Easter and my husband had to work a late shift. We decided to attend a Saturday afternoon service at Vineyard so we could attend church as a family, then my son and I would go to Sunday school at the other church on Easter morning.

The service at Vineyard was excellent. We went back the next Saturday and the next and are still going. I gave my notice to quit teaching Sunday school at the end of May. But until then we would go to Vineyard on Saturday afternoon and my son and I would go to the other church for Sunday school on Sunday morning.

One Sunday (probably in June) I decided I wanted to attend the adult Sunday school class at the other church. I hadn't been there in quite a while because I had been teaching Sunday school. I pretty much made my husband go with me. He hadn't been there in a long time. One person waved to me and another commented that both my husband and I were there, but no one else made any indication they were happy to see us.

Our son does not want to leave the other church. He enjoys the youth group there. I like the youth pastor there. So we have compromised for now. We attend Vineyard as a family on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday morning, my husband or I take our son to the other church for Sunday school, but we don't go in. I usually just wait in the car and have some time with God. We also take our son to the youth group activities there.

This morning my husband and I attended Vineyard 101, a class to become acquainted with the Vineyard church and what they are all about. They are all about what I want to be all about, to use whatever gifts I have to minister Christ's love to a world that needs Him so much. As part of the class, both my husband and I took the step toward becoming members of Vineyard KC North. We're going grape.

My Hands Came Away Red

One of the blogs I look at is Relz Reviewz. Sometimes I leave a comment, but mostly not. I did ask Rel once about Australian authors and she kindly responded about Lisa McKay, who wrote My Hands Came Away Red.

I requested the book from the library and it sat on the kitchen table for quite awhile, so long that I had to renew the book before I had read it. Why the delay? I knew the book would be a heavier read because of the subject. An older teen girl goes on a summer mission trip to an Indonesian island and while there tensions escalate between Christians and Muslims, putting the lives of the mission team members in jeopardy. Sometimes I just want to read fluff and I knew this book would not deliver that.

Finally I decided to just do it.

I found something the main character and I had in common. We both have experienced "boot camp" before going on a summer mission trip. As Lisa McKay described the obstacle course, I could remember back all those years to when I had to swing by rope across a ditch, climb a rope ladder, crawl through a dark maze, etc. I hated it!

I was "into" the book quickly and it flowed well. The characters were exactly as they should be, with real emotions and personalities. I could just imagine the environments the characters were experiencing. This was a very well written book.

This book did what my other favorite books have done - it caused to me think about the world beyond me.

Finally!

About three years ago one of my brothers loaned us a set of CDs by Dave Ramsey. My husband and I decided that we would begin following the baby steps to achieve financial freedom. The first step, put $1000 into savings for an emergency fund took awhile, but it was finally done. The second step, to pay off all outstanding debts except for the house and utilities and the like, took a long time. Today I went to the bank and paid off the balance of our home equity loan, the last debt we had to conquer.

Dave Ramsey has lots of stories about people who were thousands and thousands of dollars in debt and they paid off everything in 1-2 years. It took us longer because we did not start in a place where we had cars and other things we could sell and make some quick money, thus reducing the debt quickly at first. It has been a long, hard road. Sometimes it is hard to watch other people accumulate stuff, but it has been well worth it to say no to things we did not need.

My husband's company held a meeting last week to discuss the immediate future. It will involve fewer hours, but at least no one is being laid off yet. It is a tremendous feeling of relief to know that if he does lose his job we only need to come up with the money for our basic needs.

One last thing. There is no way we could have done this on our own. It is only because of God's wonderful grace that it happened. All praise should go to Him.

Before the Season Ends

Regency-era romance is one of my favorite genres to read. I have wanted to read Before the Season Ends by Linore Burkard for quite awhile and finally the copy I had on hold at the library came in. It came in on a Friday, but I decided not to pick it up because we were going to be busy the next day and I didn't want to be tempted to read. When Monday arrived, I was sick and I remained so for most of the week. Alas, I didn't get to pick up the book until Friday when I went back to work (at the library).

Why didn't I just buy the book when it came out instead of waiting so long for the library to FINALLY acquire it? First, I had not read any books by Linore Burkard before, and I didn't know if I would like her writing style. Being on a limited budget, I can't be buying books on a whim only to discover that the writing is not to my taste.

Now that I have read the book, I can say that I did enjoy it. Even though it is set in 1813, there are still topics brought up that we need to address also. What is a Christian? This book states that one is not born a Christian, which is true. A decision needs to be made for that to occur. Also brought up in the book is immoral behavior in one's past. Do we reject a relationship with someone because of something in his/her past or do we extend grace?

I'm looking forward to the next book in this series, The House in Grosvenor Square. Now that I have read a Linore Burkard book, I might just buy it for myself.

Tender Grace

My good friend at the library where I work loaned me a book recently, Tender Grace by Jackina Stark. I have been involved in a reading challenge, so I put the book aside until that was completed. A couple of days ago I was finally ready to read it.

Audrey Eaton, the main character, is in her mid-fifties. Her husband died about 15 months ago, and she is still finding it hard to live life without him. The book details in diary form her journey to return to an abundant life.

I have not lost many loved ones through death, but I have experienced times of "hibernation" in my life. One of the great things about reading is that it can pull us out of our life and allow us to experience life in someone else's shoes for a season. Tender Grace is a good book and I would recommend it highly. It is entertaining, but it also has some important truths to impart.

Issues

What issues are people focusing on when they cast their vote for a certain candidate? I know that many people focus on economic conditions. My main focus is how a candidate views those who are growing and developing (and have a soul), but have not been born yet. It brings a verse of Scripture to mind.

"What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Matthew 16:26

It saddens me that the president of our country has chosen to reverse an order prohibiting the federal government from funding abortion overseas.

Wii Want to Play

We now have a Wii gaming system. For us, this is a big deal. We are not ones to run out and get the newest thing being offered in the stores. We still have an analog TV, our cars are old, and the only video game system we had up until now was a Nintendo 64 (and we got that when Nate won it during summer school years ago).

So why did we buy a Wii when we could have spent that money on other more important things? My hope is that it will encourage interaction among us as a family, or at least between father and son. Tonight I watched my son "box" and it was funny. I hope it is only the beginning of great times ahead.