Thanksgiving dinner for who knows how many people.............$150
Gas for a drive to and from Los Angeles twice.......................$150
Pain from dropping sodas on your toe....................................lots
Hours sitting in a car................................................................8
Hours spent packing and repacking and repacking......................6
Creating a Thanksgiving they won't soon forget................priceless
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"Offering" by Third Day
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"All Because of Jesus" by Casting Crowns
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Above and beyond everything else, this is my prayer for myself.
"To God Alone" by Aaron ShustComments [0]
Today's sermon at church was really interesting. Wes, the associate pastor at my church, did the sermon because Mike, our senior pastor is in Pakistan (pray for his safety!). I wish I had taken notes, and I even debated writing this post until tomorrow, but I decided against it. I don't know if I can commit to anything tomorrow after the fact.
Anyway, the sermon was on Sundays and what they look like for a Christian. Wes has apparently been researching this for a few years, and although he doesn't think he's got it totally right yet, those four words were kind of his conclusions thus far about what Sundays are for Christians. I have been thinking about what this means for me and these are what have come up with.Rest:Comments [0]
So, I spent all last week working to make sure the Focus on Parenting simulcast that happened today happened smoothly, although I had no intentions of actually going. Well, by Wednesday, Leanne had convinced me that I just HAD to go and that I could go as a helper (even though they already had more than enough volunteers to do everything...but hey, I got a free ticket, t-shirt, and name badge out of it, so I'm not complaining). The reason I originally hadn't planned on going was because of my school, but I really wanted to go because Matthew West, one of my favorite singers, was doing worship. So I decided I was going to go to school, turn in my essay, quickly take my test, and scram so I didn't miss too much of the actual conference.
So, anyway, I get there at 7:15am along with the other helpers and stand around for an hour and 15 minutes because there was nothing for me to do (way more helpers than needed were present). So I figured I better not worry about helping out and just focus on the conference. Which I did. It was actually very nice to be at a church event I worked to prepare, but didn't need to work on the actual day for. I was more able to relax and focus on what was being said.Matthew West was first and he is actually kind of disappointing in concert...at least when he's in a setting like that. After him, Mark Holman talked about bringing faith to the home and his book, which has been the basis of our church's total reshapement (is that even a word?) of our whole ministry to focus on equipping authentic disciples through faith at home. He was my second favorite. After he spoke, we had a 20 minute break and I had to dash to school. While at school, I missed Larry Fowler who I was told, continued the topic of faith at home started by Mark Holman.I got back in time for Elisa Morgan, the founder of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers). She was a HIGHLY energetic woman and very real and inspiring. She had some great stories and some great encouragement. I think she was kind of over the top, though, although I am guessing that's just her normal personality. She talked about her book, "She Did What She Could", and I really liked that what she said could be applied to everyone, whether they were parents or not (which I am not, nor will I be any time soon). I enjoyed her talk overall, although some of it was a little confusing, when she was talking about the "What" portion of the phrase.After her was lunch, and I got to hang out with the "big kids". I don't really ever get to do that because I am often still considered a youth, despite being graduated and over 18. But I'm one of the only people in the church at this age (literally, here's only like 4 or 5 that I know of, and mos aren't very active at all in the church), so I'm normally lumped into the younger kids. But the youth were all in the childcare areas and I was hanging with the adults. That was pretty neat.After lunch was Dr. Kevin Leman, the FUNNIEST guy I have ever heard speak. I even think he is near Holly Shorts in brilliance and hilarity(don't think that's a word, either). Kristy actually dated his nephew once and she said that Dr. Leman is even more animated in real life. He had some great practical ways to care for children, and if I had bought any book at the conference, it would have been his (called "Have a New Kid by Friday"). I am betting it's hilarious!After him was another break, then the media discernment panel, which was probably the most immediately useful thing for me that I heard all day. It wasn't the most interesting, but it was definitely chalk (chalk...haha) full of good information about the media and the effects it has on people and households. I actually disagreed with one of the answers one of the people gave about whether adults should be held to the same standards as kids over what they watch. He said no, I thought they should. Why in the world would I want to watch something I don't want my kids to see? There is no reason I can think of for that to be okay (you must understand I'm not talking about a toddler, I'm talking about a pre-teen or teenager). Other than that, I thought their info and advice was great.Overall, I walked away with a lot of facts. (I so wish I had taken notes! I didn't think it would be that interesting!) I also walked away with a hope that, when it does come time for me to have kids, I can indeed do it in a godly way. Not saying I won't mess up every once in a while, because I will, but it IS possible to raise a kid in this day and age to follow Christ above all else.Comments [0]
This is the twelfth and final track off Steven Curtis Chapman's new album, Beauty Will Rise. It is about new and beautiful things growing up through despair and death.
Spring is ComingComments [0]
...or not.
Today we did parking a lot, although we did do a little bit of just driving around to begin with. We started out in the slanted parking spaces, which are easier to park in. But I still only had it correct once or twice. We did that over and over, but I guess parking is something you don't improve at very quickly.After that Leanne wanted me to try parking in a parking spot next to a cub, but I failed miserably at that, so she decided to save that for later. We then went to parking in straight spaces, which are harder than slanted ones. I did okay. I need to start really paying attention to other people's driving and see how and why they do certain things.I will throw random facts into my driving lesson reviews every once in a while if I have them.Comments [2]
This is the eleventh song off Steven Curtis Chapman's new album, Beauty Will Rise.
Jesus Will Meet You ThereComments [0]
Hi! I basically use blogs to say to a piece of paper what I can't say as easily to the people I know. I encourage them to read my blog but my guess is most don't. If you read about me here, you will probably know more about me than most people.
