I struggled last night and this morning about letting her sleep in and catch up. As a mom, I tend to feel guilty when our family skips church. It is one thing to be out of town, but another just to skip out. As I was tossing this around in my head, my heart was filled with the fact that God is not just present at church. He is in my heart and my soul. He goes everywhere with our family, regardless if it is church or the local burger diner. I certainly think church is important. We hear God's Word, have fellowship with other people, and worship together. However, I don't think someone is less of a Christian if they are not seated in a pew on Sunday morning. Life is about relationships, and the most important relationship we will ever experience is the one we have with our Father.
As I have said before, I am a thinker. So, naturally, I began to think about church attendance and a true relationship with Jesus. I thought about the many conversations I have had with friends who do not attend church. It isn't that they don't believe in God or desire to live like He calls us to. Rather, they choose not to attend because the hypocrisy they have encountered is disheartening. It saddens me that we have been called to be the church, yet there is so much judgement among us. When Jesus refers to His followers as the church, He doesn't mean Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc. The church should come together and love and support each other regardless of what service we attend. The way I see it, we are doing Satan's job for him when we nit pick each other. He doesn't need to pull us away from God and turn our focus on ourselves. We do it for him when we judge and criticize, when we put down other faiths, and when we are more focused on the rules set forth by humans rather than love demanded by God.
Let's come together as a church and love like we are called, regardless of what box we check when we are asked our religion preference.
Jorden worked Friday night, Saturday evening into the night, and all afternoon today. I asked him if he wanted/needed to cut back his hours so that he could have more time for homework and free time. He said that he really likes working and enjoys his coworkers. He has become close to a few of them and I don't think he is turning his nose up at his paychecks either. He is a saver and not a spender so I think his bank account looks good to him as it keeps going up! He certainly takes after his dad with that!! His mama likes to shop...within reason, of course. :-)
Luke is such a trooper!! My sweet boy sat through all of the volleyball games without complaining. He cheered his sister and her team on and when he got bored, my iphone kept him company...a little concession stand action certainly helped too!
Some of you often ask me, "What's for dinner!?" As we juggle busy schedules and activities, we know it is important that our family is fed. I am a stinker about family dinner time. I think it is super important to eat as a family. This is the time we talk, laugh, and often times, act silly. I have decided to post our dinner menu for the week on Sunday nights. The recipes I use will be listed in the recipe section at the top of the blog.
Monday....meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and green beans
Tuesday...Beef tips over rice, salad (this is a crock pot meal)
Wednesday...Chicken parmesan, caesar salad
Thursday...slow cooker red beans and rice, cornbread
Friday....breakfast - biscuits, eggs, bacon, and sausage
A few pictures I took this week......
