thoughts on last week's sermon

Hello all, it has been 2 weeks since I posted, oops. We did visit another family-integrated church last week, one right here in Longview. The message was based on Romans 1, what is it with Romans? we have now heard threee messages in a row at three different churches on Romans! Romans 13, Romans 11 and the end of Romans 1. What struck me about the sermon we heard Sunday was the pastor spoke about the mentioned sins(covetousness for one) and how these things are not to be present in the lives of believers. The closest I've heard to a hellfire and brimstone message in a very long time! Some times I think the church needs more of those! Now I'm not saying we need them every Sunday but i am saying even Christians need to hear that there is a Biblical standard that we are supposed to live by. We have God-given mandates and expectations that we are supposed to uphold and strive to live by (perfecting holiness!) I thought about all this when the pastor said at the end of his message that he wanted to make it known that he didn't see any of these things he preached on as problems in their church and I had the thought that maybe those things aren't issues in the church because he has the courage to take a stand from the pulpit against them! If more Christians knew where their pastors stood on the hard/difficult subjects and knew that they would be held accountable for them, then maybe more Christians would feel the need for change and for living more Godly lifestyles. This leads my mind to thinking about other areas as well, our men, our husbanda, what if they were encouraged to be the spritual leaders of their homes by their pastor and friends and wives. What if they saw respect in the eyes of their wives and children? What if wives were taught the Biblical mandates for submission and in turn taught their children to respect daddy? What if men really loved and cherished their wives as Christ does the church? What if we really grabbed ahold of these concepts and ran with them to truly have GOD as the center and foundation of our families?! What if our children understood that obedince was expected and disrespect would NOT be tolerated? These are just some things to get your brain moving, some of the things I am thinking about. We are heaed this morning to visit another family-integrated church and will try to post an update before next Sunday! Today's church is a presbyterian church. :) I have never been to one before. We are driving all the way to Nacogdoches (an hour and a half) today. Almost there so I will tell you more later! :)

the next FI church

This weekend we found ourselves in FW and decided to visit another FI church in Desoto this morning, Covenant Community Church. We wanted to visit a smaller church than last weekend. This one meets in an office building that houses a bank too. When we pulled up, Kirsten said, "I didn't know a church could be in a bank!" The kids were so excited to have their Aunt Roseanne join us too, as was I! :) We walked in with our zoo and immediately felt welcome. The first thing I noticed was that they had an area baby gated for the mamas and young ones. Then we turned the corner to find a seat and we were greeted with a roomful of couches! Very homey, I loved the atmosphere right away! One of the couples moved off a couch so we had one to sit on. I must aside here: I learned something about one need that a church should always meet, The scriptures says not to forsake the assembling of the saints and I always thought that we went to church for learning first and then for fellowship but today I wonder if I had that backwards. I must confess that I was feeling pretty broken this morning when we arrived and I didn't hear much of the sermon but enjoyed so immensely the fellowship that I left there glad I went and full of the feeling that God was with us and did indeed still care about us, I left there with renewed hope. That is how we should leave church, changed! I love that service included old and new testament readings. I loved how the pastor gathered the children around him to discuss catechism with them and pray with them before the sermon. After the sermon we all ate frito pies and just visited with one another, I think we were spoke to by every person there, I have never visited a church and been able to say that. Our children felt so at home and Kirsten even exchanged email addys with the pastor's daughter! :) Kirsten was begging to go back next Sunday! That would be an awfully long drive though. :) I love love love the idea of having lunch every sunday, I love walking into a place where we do not feel out of place because the size of our family. Cayden got in front of one of the moms when we first arrived and of course our first reaction was "I'm so sorry" and she responds "you don't need to ever apologize for children here", it was so refreshing to hear. I even gained a Facebook friend today! :) I also love that homeschooling in FI churches seems to be the norm. I loved how at this church everyone truly seemed like family, they were all laid back and accepting, really just made us feel so welcome. I do not know what next Sunday will bring but I know that we were blessed to be in His presence today with His children and truly enjoyed this Lord's day.

Our first visit to a family integrated church

Upon arriving at Grace Family Baptist Church (held in a seventh day adventist gym) the first thing we noticed were several vans, many of which were large 15 passengers! YES, we are in a cool place! A place that will accept our large family and even be genuinely excited to see it/us! How, refreshing! We walk into the building and you can already smell lunch. We sign in as visitors, send children to the restroom, receive bulletins, gather hymnbooks and find seats. As we sit waiting for the service to begin, we read through our bulletins and find a few interesting things that I will share here. There is an order to their worship involving hymns, prayers, scripture (which you stand for) and catechism (baptist version! who knew their was such a thing?) readings. Also they have a hymn of the month, a prayer gram and catechisms that they encourage families to use in their homes during the week. a few quotes: "At GFBC, families stay together." "Children are Welcome" "Don't bother looking for the nursery; we don't have one." "Cooing babies don't bother us one bit." my fav = "If your children are practicing their sin nature, you are welcome to remove them from the room and practice discipline in the back." Then starts the service, a few things I noticed while standing in the back with my Kayson during the very timely, well-spoken message were: several strollers in the aisles next to the parents, I saw three *rods* of correction (I am sure there were more but those are the ones I saw), several women with babies in carriers and one young girl (about 8 or 9) with a baby in one, women (covered) breastfeeding right there *gasp* (that was sarcastic by the way, I think this is an excellent thing!) in front of God and everybody not hidden away like it was something to be ashamed of and how willingly the young girls helped with the siblings and the serving of the lunch. It was all so very refreshing. After the service there was a dinner and then a q&a time where the men could ask questions they had about the sermon.

children's church musings

Wow, it sure has been a long time since I have written! A lot has happened (most of which can't be disclosed here in a public setting), maybe someday I will be be able to more openly share about and be able to show someone else in a similar situation encouragement and hope but for now the wounds are still too fresh, however I know the Lord will see my family through this and the things He is teaching us now may change our lives forever! We value your prayers as we seek our Heavenly Father's guidance as He shows us His truths! We are learning about what it means to be a family-integrated church and how God sees children. The modern idea of Children's church has bothered me for sometime bc how are children supposed to know what a church service is if they are never in one? you know when I was a child, I attended sunday school and usually children's church on sunday mornings but on sunday nights, wednesday nights and any revivals in between, I was in service, sitting right next to my parents on the bench or when I was little at their feet! :) When I aged out of children's church there was no youth group with seperate services, I was in "big" church. How funny that we have this idea that there is a "big" church and a "little" church. So we have been introduced to this idea of a family-integrated church where there are no age seperations in their services and families worship together. We have been listening to some sermons by pastors of these types of churches and found one in the Houston area, which brings us to this weekend's adventure! As I type I am sitting here in a Houston hotel room, watching Free Willy 2, waiting for little ones to fall asleep. We are excited to be visiting a family integrated church in the morning! I expect to tell you all about it tomorrow on our way home. There is so much more we have been learning and I am still digesting a lot of it so I hope in the weeks to come to share more with all of you.

to my precious Kayson

Oh my precious beautiful baby boy, you are so amazing and so special to me! you bring so much sunshine into my days. I hope your teethies come in soon and don't hurt you anymore. When are you going to start walking? I think soon because you are standing more everyday. Oh, my, you look so much like your daddy! that red hair of yours and my you can have a temper! I don't think I have ever seen a baby get so mad so young! :) I love you so much, the other day I thought you might have said "eat" and you do say mama and dada and I'm not sure that you haven't called Kirsten mama on occassion. lol you are so smart and I love to see you trying to think things through. and you love your daddy so much! you want him whenever you see him. I fin it so hard to believe in less than two months you will be a year old, wow, this year has flown! I really need to start thinking about your first birthday party, I wonder what you would enjoy? We are very blessed to have you in our family and I thank God for you. I am so excited to watch you grow and to see all that God has planned in your life. We all love you so much! I pray you grow up knowing that our love for you is so strong and that you grow up knowing that God wants you and that you love Jesus ans accept Him as your saviour and your Lord. I pray that you follow God's word wholly and completely.

My Keegan!

My precious Keeegan, how I miss thee! I hope you are getting better under Marmie's care, there is a piece of me missing without you here with us. I didn't get to go to church tonight bc Cayden is sleeping so I thought I would write to you. You have so much passion and I just love your smile. I hope I don't start crying while I type. I love your hair! I know some people want me to cut it, but I love it! especially how it curls when it gets wet. so cute! Sometimes I wish I could see in your brain, what you're thinking! like why do you call Kirsten "Dorothy"? You can say Kirsten and you used to call her Mimi! the only place I can think of that you have heard that name is wiggles but I can't figure out why you would associate your sister with a green dinosaur! ha! I was so scared when we couldn't get your temp to stay down and had to take you to the ER. I am so glad we didn't wait! when I think about what could've happened, it just scares me to pieces! We chose you're name for you bc it means fiery, passionate and you are! I know you love Kayson but he ix very sensitive and just doesn't ike to be yelled at right in his face, I know you are just playing but it scares him! I was just thinking if you were here at camp with us, we would have probably already had you at the nurses station for rolling down the hill on the way to our cabin! You would've needed your monkey on just to walk from the cabin and back! I pray protection over you and that you would learn some caution (without any serious side effects!). It really scared me to hear how you jumped in the pool without a floaty on! I am so glad Chris was there to save you and that he moved quickly! I pray next time you wait for a floaty and for mama or daddy! We first heard your name in the movie No More Baths and loved it. Your middle name is after your Uncle Kelly. Sean, just spelled different than his but y'all both have the same initials. I think that is neat! I love you baby boy! love your mama!

to my precious precious Cayden

aw my little Cayden, what shall mama say about you? wow, I just love to see your brain working and talk to to you. I never know what you are going to say next, I love those little windows into your brain! I am so proud to be your mama I just love you so much! I hope you start to really listen and obey me because you are testing my patience right now! I love though to see you interact with your little brothers, I love how you care for them and love them. so sweet. I wonder what you will be when you grow up? I know you love music and I was really amazed yesterday when you were bouncing the soccer ball off your head. I am so sad that you haven't been feeling well this week, I hope you are well soon. I wonder if you are excited about going to camp, do you even understand what that means? I am sorry you have to wear glasses and a patch but I am so proud of you and how easily you have adapted to them. I know you get tired of them sometimes but my prayer is that they prevent you from needing surgery on your eyes. I remember rocking you to sleep every night and you wanted that warm bottle of milk till you were about 2 and 1/2 but you never took a pacifier, you are the only one that never wanted one. Oh, but you loved your "rainbow" laying under it with all your toys hanging, you would just play and play. You are my little Linus, always carrying your daddy's baby blanket everywhere. :) I wish I could fix it for you or find you another one similar. That and your piggy that is exactly like Kirsten's. :) I am still amazed that we found it at goodwill and that Meme and Papa just happened to be with us that day so they could buy it for you since they bought Kirsten hers. I have no idea how y'all tell them apart!I love to cuddle with you and hold you and kiss you. You are so smart. I loved how concerned you were when Sis. Tichia took Kayson outside the church and you made sure we knew! :) always take care of your little brothers. Never forget how special you are. I believe that God has wonderful plans for life! Everyone says how sweet ad kind and smart you are and that just makes me so very proud and I really feel extremely blessed to play a part in making you the best Cayden you can be. I know sometimes you want to do things your way and sometimes that is ok but sometimes I really need you to listen and obey and you need to do it my way. sometimes I just need you dot do what I say when I say it and save your questions for later! but I know you are only almost 5 and one day you will get their. wow, I can't believe you are starting kindergarten in a month! you can already right and spell your name and you will be learning to read and do simple math and you are just getting so big! I love you my baby boy! love. Mama