What a great weekend to make memories!
Friday night we had my parents, sister, and niece/ nephews over for a bonfire and wiener roast. The kids were mostly interested in eating and making s'mores. It was fun and the weather was near perfect. Not too cold but just cool enough.
On Saturday morning Carl and Trey got up nice and early and went deer hunting at the farm. They had made up their minds that no matter what they saw (buck, doe, or hog), they were shooting it...because Mama needs some meat in the freezer! We have an over abundance of hogs in our area and they wreak havoc on the fields not to mention disturb the deer hunting. Well, turns out that none of that mattered because they saw nothing (not even a squirrel).
Saturday afternoon I had planned to do family pictures for Christmas cards but due to lack of motivation (on my part), we just did sibling pictures. You might think that taking pictures of your kids gets easier as they get older. That is a myth. My kids are (almost) 18, 16, and 13 and were awful! They argued about everything from placement to bad breath and just about everything in between. We got a few good ones in spite of the bad attitudes. They drive me nuts sometimes.
Sunday=Church day. I have been trying to make it to the adult Sunday School for about 3 weeks now. I am at church but I am counting the offering and doing roll. The problem with that is that by the time I get there, all of the seats are full or there may be one chair left. That means that the whole room is full and hot. I can't do crowded and hot and all I can think of is germs...EVERYWHERE! I have been going to the preschool room and helping my mom. Some days she doesn't really need my help but I stay anyway. I miss going to class though. My dad teaches the adult class and he is such a good teacher. He always puts great effort into preparing his lesson.
The kids are attempting to continue Christmas program practice. I think after the funeral things got misplaced and there just seems to be too many chiefs and not enough Indians. It will all come together on time because we have never not had a Christmas program no matter what was going on.
Let's just get off topic for a minute while I reflect on some thoughts and notes I have been pondering since Sunday.
What exactly is the purpose of church. Now my reason for pondering this will remain undisclosed but honestly maybe it is a question we need to revisit from time to time. I was looking for something in our filing cabinet when I came across a notebook that I used to take sermon notes in. Low and behold I came across a sermon titled "5 Purposes of Church" and I have absolutely no idea who preached it but it is amazing that I had been thinking on this subject and BAM! there it was.
The text was from Matthew 22:37-40 and Matthew 28:19-20. I'm just going to briefly run through these points because I think this is some good stuff!
The first purpose of the church is to worship (Love the Lord with all your heart). When we worship we are celebrating God's presence through songs, tithes, etc. Every aspect of our lives should worship God. When we obey we are worshipping God.
The second purpose is to minister (Love your neighbor as yourself). To minister is to demonstrate God's love through service. We exist to minister to others. We have to focus on meeting the needs of others through the love of Jesus Christ (i.e. physical, emotional, spiritual-the most important is spiritual).
The third purpose to evangelize (Go and teach all nations). Through evangelism we communicate the message of reconciliation. We have to tell people the most important message of all time. Not because it is our responsibility, but because we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ and it is a great privilege.
The fourth purpose is fellowship (baptize them). It is through baptism that we identify with the body of Christ; incorporating God's family into church membership. We are called to BELIEVE and BELONG to the body (church body). We ARE NOT called to be Lone Ranger Christians.
The fifth and final purpose is discipleship (teaching them to observe). Through discipleship we are educating God's people for maturity. We have to help them become all God desires them to be. Ephesians 4:12-14, Paul is saying to disciple them so we can help EACH OTHER to grow spiritually. Then we can become rock solid in our faith so we will be able to spot false teaching a mile away.
Not one time in these notes did it mention our own personal wants, did it?
And that's all I have to say about that.
We had a fellowship (the food kind) after Sunday evening services for our pastor. Last Sunday was technically the end of Pastor Appreciation Month but we had to reschedule due to the funeral. We gave him gifts of thanks and appreciation for the work he has done here so far.
This week looks to be another busy one. We have tests for school, Makena has her appointment with a neurosurgeon in Little Rock, Discovery on Wednesday night, and planning is underway for Carlie's 18th birthday!
Life is fast. I am thankful that I started this blog all those years ago. Not because I say so many important words (definitely not that). I just get joy out of seeing how God has worked in our lives thus far. It's a great reminder of what He has done and is continuing to do with our family.
I pray that we will always give Him thanks and praise for all things.
Much Love,
Beth
Friday night we had my parents, sister, and niece/ nephews over for a bonfire and wiener roast. The kids were mostly interested in eating and making s'mores. It was fun and the weather was near perfect. Not too cold but just cool enough.
On Saturday morning Carl and Trey got up nice and early and went deer hunting at the farm. They had made up their minds that no matter what they saw (buck, doe, or hog), they were shooting it...because Mama needs some meat in the freezer! We have an over abundance of hogs in our area and they wreak havoc on the fields not to mention disturb the deer hunting. Well, turns out that none of that mattered because they saw nothing (not even a squirrel).
Saturday afternoon I had planned to do family pictures for Christmas cards but due to lack of motivation (on my part), we just did sibling pictures. You might think that taking pictures of your kids gets easier as they get older. That is a myth. My kids are (almost) 18, 16, and 13 and were awful! They argued about everything from placement to bad breath and just about everything in between. We got a few good ones in spite of the bad attitudes. They drive me nuts sometimes.
Sunday=Church day. I have been trying to make it to the adult Sunday School for about 3 weeks now. I am at church but I am counting the offering and doing roll. The problem with that is that by the time I get there, all of the seats are full or there may be one chair left. That means that the whole room is full and hot. I can't do crowded and hot and all I can think of is germs...EVERYWHERE! I have been going to the preschool room and helping my mom. Some days she doesn't really need my help but I stay anyway. I miss going to class though. My dad teaches the adult class and he is such a good teacher. He always puts great effort into preparing his lesson.
The kids are attempting to continue Christmas program practice. I think after the funeral things got misplaced and there just seems to be too many chiefs and not enough Indians. It will all come together on time because we have never not had a Christmas program no matter what was going on.
Let's just get off topic for a minute while I reflect on some thoughts and notes I have been pondering since Sunday.
What exactly is the purpose of church. Now my reason for pondering this will remain undisclosed but honestly maybe it is a question we need to revisit from time to time. I was looking for something in our filing cabinet when I came across a notebook that I used to take sermon notes in. Low and behold I came across a sermon titled "5 Purposes of Church" and I have absolutely no idea who preached it but it is amazing that I had been thinking on this subject and BAM! there it was.
The text was from Matthew 22:37-40 and Matthew 28:19-20. I'm just going to briefly run through these points because I think this is some good stuff!
The first purpose of the church is to worship (Love the Lord with all your heart). When we worship we are celebrating God's presence through songs, tithes, etc. Every aspect of our lives should worship God. When we obey we are worshipping God.
The second purpose is to minister (Love your neighbor as yourself). To minister is to demonstrate God's love through service. We exist to minister to others. We have to focus on meeting the needs of others through the love of Jesus Christ (i.e. physical, emotional, spiritual-the most important is spiritual).
The third purpose to evangelize (Go and teach all nations). Through evangelism we communicate the message of reconciliation. We have to tell people the most important message of all time. Not because it is our responsibility, but because we are ambassadors for Jesus Christ and it is a great privilege.
The fourth purpose is fellowship (baptize them). It is through baptism that we identify with the body of Christ; incorporating God's family into church membership. We are called to BELIEVE and BELONG to the body (church body). We ARE NOT called to be Lone Ranger Christians.
The fifth and final purpose is discipleship (teaching them to observe). Through discipleship we are educating God's people for maturity. We have to help them become all God desires them to be. Ephesians 4:12-14, Paul is saying to disciple them so we can help EACH OTHER to grow spiritually. Then we can become rock solid in our faith so we will be able to spot false teaching a mile away.
Not one time in these notes did it mention our own personal wants, did it?
And that's all I have to say about that.
We had a fellowship (the food kind) after Sunday evening services for our pastor. Last Sunday was technically the end of Pastor Appreciation Month but we had to reschedule due to the funeral. We gave him gifts of thanks and appreciation for the work he has done here so far.
This week looks to be another busy one. We have tests for school, Makena has her appointment with a neurosurgeon in Little Rock, Discovery on Wednesday night, and planning is underway for Carlie's 18th birthday!
Life is fast. I am thankful that I started this blog all those years ago. Not because I say so many important words (definitely not that). I just get joy out of seeing how God has worked in our lives thus far. It's a great reminder of what He has done and is continuing to do with our family.
I pray that we will always give Him thanks and praise for all things.
Much Love,
Beth
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