god is good.

Well, some good news. Our car is fixed! After quite a bit of deliberation and discussion with LOTS of people we decided to keep the car and hope for the best on our trip to Kansas. It's very very possible that this car will continue to be high maintenance - which is why we were wanting to just get rid of it. However, we decided that it was one thing that we really couldn't deal with right now. So... yeah! We have a car and for now it works and that is a good thing. Very good. 

God is good, I'd say. Whatever happens, I know He will provide. I think I'm just going to count on that for now. Continue to keep us in your prayers as we start getting ready to move! 

part the waters.

There is this song by a group that I love that says:

When I think I'm going under

Part the waters Lord. 

When I feel the waves around me

Calm the sea.

When I cry for help, oh hear me Lord

and hold out Your hand

Touch my life, still the raging storm

in me. 

Right now, I need that. I don't really love to just dive into my personal life much in the blogging world, but I know that a few of you who read this could be a bit of support. Life is getting hard for us right now. As many of you know, we are about to make a pretty big move. Well, a couple of things have arose in the last couple of weeks that are making the move seem fairly overwhelming. Our car is broken and the move is very, very expensive especially with the ever rising price of gas. Not to mention the already existent stress of moving away from my home, family, and best friends. I just don't know how to manage it all right now.

So, if you're into it, we'd really appreciate your prayers for us in the next couple of weeks. We're just really trying to trust that God is bigger and will take care of us. 

thanks dudes. 

belong.

I had a conversations with my parents in the car the other night that made me think about a conversation I had a long time ago with Ryan. I think the thought is valuable so I'm going to share it with you now. 

We often use the tactic of "finding a place of belonging" to reach out to people in order to get them to come to church. A lot of times the idea of belonging to a community is what gets most people in the door and eventually it is why they stay. The thing is - every member of a congregation needs that sense of belonging. The pastor, the board members, those people that you think were probably birthed at church, every person joins the community of a church body, in part, for a sense of belonging. And yet, so many people feel like nobody knows them or recognizes them when they come to church. So many feel like they don't truly belong. In fact, it was Ryan that told me he felt this way many times on Sunday mornings and my heart hurts a little to think that some people walk in the doors of church in the morning who go there every week and feel the same way...every week. 

Ryan said something to me in that conversation that made me realize the potential danger, I guess, of the situation. He said, "No one at church makes me feel like I belong there." Then I thought, if we're all standing around church thinking that we don't belong then who is supposed to be making us feel like we belong? The point is, it is easy to spend a lot of time within a church body finding ways that other people aren't doing a good job of being a part of a church body. We all seem to think that it isn't our responsibility to be the one giving that sense of belonging; that church is for only me. And then I think, what have I done to make someone feel like they belonged at church lately? I just wonder if I spend so much time stewing about everyone around me doing a lousy job at loving me that I don't do much in the way of encouraging anyone else. 

It can't be only one person's job, you know? It's not just the worship team or the group leader's or the pastor's job to be the people that say you belong within this community. Wouldn't it be amazing if we all stopped stewing on Sunday mornings and just looked someone in the face and said, I'm so glad to see you today? Maybe this is stupid and something that is really "duh" to other people, but it was a really great reminder to me that I'm capable of making someone feel like they belong and I would have to imagine that by doing so the feeling would be reciprocated. So, I'm really going to try making a habit of doing so. 

*I apologize for the "we's." It isn't my preferred way of addressing church. Just couldn't think of another way to approach it. Peace yo. 

the scoop on the vacay. and other news.

Well, we are back from Portland. We had a lot of fun, I'm really glad we went. It felt like a real, live, grown-up vacation too. We went to the Seattle Aquarium, we shopped like crazy, went to IKEA, ate with friends from the area, AND stopped at Multnomah Falls on the way home. That's real life if I've ever seen it. 

We decided that, while we really enjoyed our stay, we don't really ever have the desire to live in Portland. I realize by saying so I have probably just offended half the people I know. My apologies. It just didn't quite fit our personalities I guess. Too hard core or something. I like me some open air and blue sky. :) Nonetheless, it is quite a green and beautiful drive and worth the trip altogether. 

I said goodbye to my best friend yesterday as she is headed off to Africa for the summer. We will have moved by the time she gets back. We had originally planned to stay till she got back, but she assured me that it was unnecessary to do so. This goodbye business is much harder and complex than I thought it would be. It hasn't really sunk in yet I guess. I just am trying to make it seem less of a reality. But I am really going to miss her... a lot. Keep in mind we have been best friends for 16 years. Which is kind of a long time to know someone and love them. Whew, I think it's going to be a long road for me. 

In other news, I had an interesting conversation with my parents tonight about the war, America and Obama. Always a touchy subject to get into with those two. Ryan and I bought a dresser at IKEA! Our car is having some technical difficulties. ANNNNNND I really miss Aimee Cork. She's a good friend. 

That'll be all. 

honeymoonin'.

Ryan and I are headed to Portland and Seattle this looooooong weekend to take that honeymoon we never got the chance to take! We're pretty excited and are looking forward to doing some shopping and perhaps some looking around of furniture for the new home. 

Just wanted to tell everyone. Like all 2 of you. So peace out my friends! But then also see you soon portland friends! 

good reminders.

I'm not a super "deep" thinker. I don't love to over-analyze things or try and come up with the most profound thing possible. So with that said...

Today at church the Pastor announced the birth of a little girl who was born 6 weeks pre-mature and weighed in at 3 pounds. The whole story is pretty remarkable and it really boils down to a mom who had too much faith to lose hope in having this baby. This really incredible story seemed to make me more aware of all the little "amens" and "praise Gods" throughout the rest of the service. And then it occurred to me how these are the things that make me so thankful to be a Christ follower. I know that's kind of a weird way to say that, but I just appreciate these moments where the kind of church I go to and all the technicalities that work or don't work just really don't matter even a little. I grow weary of the constant church discussion, to be honest. I realize that it is a necessary conversation from time to time, but I hate how far it can take me from how incredible a God I serve. 

The reality is, God still works the same way He always has. I feel like some people immerse themselves so deeply into making "the church" be this effective tool and making sure things are exactly how they should be that they fail to remember how awesome God is. He is still doing great things - a lot of times in really simple ways. He just doesn't need our silly little solutions that we think are going to change the course of the church's history. Church is important, don't get me wrong and effective churches can accomplish great things, but God's just bigger than all that. Does that make sense? 

I guess what I really wanted to say is that 3 pound babies are still born and that's a really awesome thing. And God is just really incredible. And I love the reminders. That's all. 

free roses.

I love to observe. There are so many things to see. On my way home from shopping tonight I passed a church reader board that read, "Free rose for all moms sunday." My instant thoughts were as follows: Hahahahaha. What??? Why?? Who cares? I think that about sums it up. Then to top it off the very next church reader board said, "Unity not uniformity." How do those things even go together? They're bonded but don't wear the same clothes? I dunno. 

To me, this is a classic example of church working so hard to get people to come in their doors that they end up looking absolutely ridiculous. The free rose board is just beyond me on so many levels. First, why free? Do some churches gives roses to mom's by payment or suggested donation only? Was that their way of enticing all residing Nampan mom's to come to their church this Sunday? Second, Is a mother really going to come to their church just to get a rose? I can just see that mom, "You know, I want to do something just for me... I'll go to that church and get me a flower!" Oh please. These things just blow my mind. Churches just seem like they feel they have so much to prove or they need to offer some sort of incentive to get people inside. I'll be honest. That's not church to me. I'm sure my church is completely guilty of it - I'm sure most churches are - I just don't really wanna be a part of the enticement crew. There's just something about creating a trail of bread crumbs/programs/big screens/awesome music/free roses to make people come to your church that doesn't seem genuine or even right. 

The thing is, we shouldn't be using the reader board in front of our church as a means of attracting people. The reality of that tactic is: it doesn't work. Silly proverbs, Condemnations and the like aren't really the things that make or break the church-deal for most people, but those are the general things you see around Nampa on church reader boards. Maybe we should be looking for ways beyond our reader boards to get the message of Christ's love and how it exists in the church to our communities. You think? I think. 

I don't have any free roses, but Happy Mother's Day to all mom's this weekend.