Girls Only Weekend!

Sometimes all you need are your girlfriends! :-)

This weekend can be summed up with quality girl time only...
**Saturday, Peggy and I started our day with shopping at a big scrapbook sale. Does it get any better?? Well, maybe if you threw in a chocolate dessert! ha! I even bought my first Christmas gift, and it wasn't for myself!! (Pat on the back here!)
**Saturday night was the Reba and Kelly Clarkson concert with my work BFF's. I admit that I don't really listen to Reba or Kelly, but thought it would be a fun girls night (and it was). Let's just title Saturday night as "Three blondes and who has the tickets?" Enough said! LOL!
**Today, Becca & I got to listen to a friend preach at his new church. He was awesome!! I hope to follow him to this church, but my Sunday's for awhile will be at John 3:16. Oh, and as a bonus, turns out it is a small world and his new church is my Great-Aunt and Uncle's church!

Hope you all had a good weekend!

Visitors ~ Part II

Go HERE for Part I if you must, but the gist of it is we are searching for a "home church" or a church that is a fit for us. I meant to post about this a few weeks ago, but somehow time slipped away.

Anyway...we think we may be onto to something with a church right here where we live (instead of driving into "town" where we work and all the good restaurants are). This church is actually 5 minutes up the road. Bonus. It is also the size we are looking for ~ I would guess that there were around 200 people in attendance. We could actually get to know the people in the church. Another plus was that most of the congregation was close to our age. Sounds good so far - right? Well, Kevin didn't like the contemporary music. But not to worry, they have an early morning traditional service. Herein lies the problem folks...EARLY service. Alarm clock on the weekend service. Yep, we have had plans for 2 weeks now to make the early service. One weekend we got in the night before at 12:30 am from the horse show...didn't make it. This weekend, we left the horse show early, so we could get up. The alarm went off. I hit snooze. Went off again. I turned it off. It's true. I am in big trouble starting Friday when I have to get up and go to work again! LOL!

All was not lost, we did go to church. We went to the 10:30 service at the church I've been going to with my cousin. I was so excited to get to hear the preacher because I love his messages, and guess what? He was on vacation in Florida! ha! It was still a good service though (although a bit long winded ~ remember I have A.D.D.), and we WILL try our best to get to the early service and try the traditional service this week. That is my pledge!

Visitors

That's me and Kevin - just visiting churches...searching for one that fits us. And, I feel like we scream visitor when we walk in...you know when everyone kind of looks at you trying to figure out who you are. I hate being uncomfortable - Kevin is great at the small talk, so I stand by quietly soaking it all in and let him do all the talking. Anyway...I have mentioned before this isn't easy, and with his work schedule, we just kind of gave up and kept going to the church I've been going to for the past year or so with my cousin. But, Kevin now only has to work one Sunday a month, and it is time to find a home church.

So...yesterday, we went to visit the church next door to my school. One of my students goes there, and we had gone in December to watch her in the Christmas play. Everyone was really friendly, and it was the size of church we had in mind. Now, remember, we were both raised Baptist in the same church in our hometown ~ that's how we've known each other for so long. But, then I married a preacher's son who no longer believes in the church and Kevin married an Episcopal, and loved the church and felt like he was finally "home". Now we are facing...what are we? Where do we start? I DO NOT WANT TO OFFEND ANYONE with church discussions, I just want to find what is best for me and Kevin. The church I've been attending, I love the preacher - he never looses my attention and that isn't easy. But, it is a Baptist church and if we get right down to it, it doesn't match our beliefs. Kevin and I are both liberal in our beliefs - he probably even more than me. But, we want a church that welcomes ALL people from all walks of life -gay, straight, married, divorced, black or white. We both have gay friends and want them welcome in the church. Right or wrong, we don't think it's our place to judge them.

So, yesterday, we visited a Methodist church. Keep in mind that I have only really ever been to a Baptist church, so it was very different for me. However, there were lots of things I liked. I liked the children's time - they called all the kids down to the front during the service and took about 5 to 10 minutes to talk to them. I liked the minister (is it called a minister in the Methodist church? and it was a women, so does that change it? I have no clue!), but she was good. But, I missed having my little sheet to take notes. If I am active in the message, then I can pay attention better and get more from it. I liked the congregation standing and reciting versus or prayers together. (although, I got confused on what to do next). I didn't really enjoy the music. They had an organ and I know lots of people LOVE the organ, but I thought it was overpowering and all you could hear.

I don't know...this isn't easy. I know we have to give it more than one visit. I also know that not all Baptist churches are the same, so not all Methodist will be the same. I get to pick this go around of visiting and Kevin picks next. Our goal is to visit a month and then try somewhere else until we find the place that we know is it. We know there is no such thing as a perfect church, we aren't perfect either - we just want the church that fits best for us. Surely it is out there - right?

**opinions are welcome on how to find a church or even churches we should visit. However, I am in NO way trying to debate religion or the different denominations.

Faith, Family, & Friends...

**warning - long post!!**
For whatever reason, the past two days I have been feeling very sentimental. Maybe it is the season...I got a little teary eyed during part of the Christmas pageant last night, and today Mom called with some sad news about a friend of hers. Her old boss that we grew up knowing - she worked for him for something like 25 years - was diagnosed with cancer. He hadn't been feeling good for a few weeks. Within 2 days of being diagnosed, he is in ICU and went into code blue last night, but they were able to bring him back. How scary it is to me to think that one minute we are going along with life and all is fine, and the next day, we could be gone. It really makes you stop and think - do you have any regrets? Anything you've been putting off saying to someone? Is someone you should say I love you to? Amends that need to made? A hug to give? His kids do not deserve to lose their dad so early - they already lost their mom way too early a few years ago. It just doesn't seem fair...I can't imagine my Mom not being there to call whenever I need her - even to ask a simple question. It breaks my heart for this family - what they are going through right now.

I have found that I have started to rely on my faith more and more. Last week, when I had a stressful moment, I reached for my Bible to read a few verses. I am grateful that my faith is getting stronger each day. Prayer is a powerful thing - please say a prayer for this family tonight. And, be thankful for the family that you have with you today! We just never know what tomorrow brings...

A few weeks back the pastor said in his sermon, the three most important things in life aren't things - the three most important things are faith, family, and friends. That just makes perfect sense - doesn't it? If we've got those three things, how can we go wrong? :-)

Maybe I should've titled this Philosophical - ha! Thanks for reading if you are still with me! Hugs to all my friends and family who read!! I'll leave you with this email that I recieved almost a year ago...it reminded me of Kevin and really fits all family and friends...

Two Horses
Just up the road from my home is a field, with two horses in it.
From a distance, each looks like every other horse.
But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing. Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind.
His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing.
If nearby and listening, you will hear the sound of a bell.
Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to her halter is a small bell.
It lets her blind friend know where she is, so he can follow her.
As you stand and watch these two friends, you'll see how she is always checking on him, and that he will listen for her bell and then slowly walk to where she is, trusting that she will not lead him astray.
When she returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, she stops occasionally and looks back, making sure her friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.
Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges.
He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need.
Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives.
Other times we are the guide horse, helping others see.
Good friends are like this .......... You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
Please listen for my bell and I'll listen for yours.

Weekend Stuff

Friday started off with the scrap night that honored my prego buddy Donna...FUN! I am pretty sure by the picture above that she appreciated and loved her gifts! ha! We had a great scrap night...yummy Mexican food (for Donna), double yummy desserts, cake, girl talk, giggles, presents, and we even got some pages done. I can't show mine because I was working on a Christmas present! :-)Here's Donna's profile carrying twins with a due date in February! She looks great!

Today, we went to a church Christmas program for one of the little girls in my classroom. It was really cool! (Although, I missed "my" church or the one I've been going to for a year....so doesn't that mean that I've found my home??? Kevin loved the church we were at today...it was a Methodist church and apparently there are alot of similarities to the Episcopal church that he loves. You would really think finding a church would be much easier than this since we were raised in the same one!!! LOL!)

After church, we went on an adventure to the local laundromat!! Believe it or not, I am 34 years old and have never been to a laundromat until today! Our washer is leaking...so until the Maytag repairman can visit or better yet, until we have some money to PAY him, I guess we are going to the laundromat. On the plus side, with 5 washers going, you get the laundry done alot faster! Ha!

Well...I guess I better go get ready for the KEITH URBAN CONCERT!!!!

Strike One...

Kevin and I have known each other since we were in 1st grade or before, because we grew up in the same small Baptist church together. So, one would think that would make us looking for a home church together easy - right? WRONG! It is the only thing that has caused us to really argue! First issue is that Kevin is a confirmed Episcopal ~ his ex-wife was Episcopal. He LOVED it! He says he felt like he was finally home when he walked in that church. I admit that when he talks about it, I am curious, b/c I am a pretty open-minded person. The Episcopal church from what he has said, seems to be the place for the open-minded. For instance, they welcome gay people in their church. (I do NOT want to start a debate here!!) But, I have in the past few weeks read in the Bible about being gay, and it is my understanding that yes, it is a sin ~ but a sin is a sin is a sin. It isn't the ultimate sin AND as a Christian, we should love everybody regardless of their background - kind of a hate the sin, not the sinner thing. I could be wrong, but I don't think the Baptist see it this way. I have friends that are gay ~ it doesn't bother me. Maybe I should look into other churches besides Baptist? I don't know!?! I'm very confused...and this is getting off topic of us looking for a home church. So, let me get back to topic - would it be weird to possibly convert to a religion that he was introduced to by his ex-wife????

After fussing for a few weeks over Baptist and Episcopal churches, I thought I had found the solution for us ~ non-denominational!!! AH-HA! I had heard good things about this church. It is a HUGE church...which I know there are benefits, but I like smaller churches. However, I could see big possibilities with this church when I looked it up on-line. There were several small groups that meet - even a recovery group every Tuesday for Kevin. They even had a Monday night service - which I thought was a fabulous idea for when you go out of town and stuff. You can still make the Monday night service! The church started in '95 with 25 people and has grown to 5,000 with 2 Sunday services. So, with open minds, we went this morning. We knew it was BIG when they were out directing traffic to tell you where to park. My first sign should have been when we parked, and the BIG truck pulling into the spot beside us hit my mirror - and no he didn't apologize! We went inside, and it felt like you were walking into a mall or shopping center - not church. Then, the worship center was really big and there were chairs - not pews. (I am a bit too traditional - I know - I even have a hard time with not wearing a skirt to church & yes, there were people in shorts!! SHORTS! ha! I like that you can wear anything to church these days, but I can't do it! ha!) I didn't feel the love - I felt like I was at a seminar or conference - not church. It just wasn't warm or inviting. Kevin didn't feel it either...so strike one! And, the search for our home church continues...we have two other options in mind to go visit...I know it may take more than one visit, but this one today was a NO from the get-go. So...give us a prayer that we find a home church & if you are local and reading this, shoot me an email and give me a suggestion!

*I just read back over this and ... I think I am open-minded in some areas and not in others! ha! The ideal church for me would not judge others ~ it would be welcoming to all. I would like a slightly smaller church, but with some programs and benefits of the bigger churches. Good luck - right? ha!