Some people

We allow our 4 year old, Lilla, to take communion. This practice has gotten us some questioning glances and we've had to ask the servers to lower the bread and cup so her petite frame could reach them. I'm pretty sure there are some people that judge me for it and think there is no way she could be able to know what is going on and I shouldn't force it on her.

I don't, force it on her, by the way. I always go to her classroom on communion days and ask her if she'd like to join us. If she doesn't, and she has refused in the past, that is ok. Although, of course we would prefer her to as remembering the sacrifice is so crucial to our lives as Christians.

We also take communion very seriously in our family. We truly believe you need to go with a contrite heart and a humble spirit.

So today, while we were standing in line waiting for a turn to kneel at the altar, and Lilla was starting to get ants in her pants, I questioned wether she should be there today. Then she did something that left my mouth open.

We knelt at the altar and she said she wanted to pray. I told her ok, and it went something like this: God, thank you for dying for our sins. If we did anything wrong Lord, please forgive us. Amen.

Every question be stilled.

The journey begins

There were crafts.

There were friends.

There was praise.

There were snacks.

There was teaching.

There were games.

There was water.

There were big fuzzy guys.

There was drama.

There was dancing.

And there was another year of VBS.

Onward, Upward

Proverbs 16:9 "The mind of man plans his way,
But the LORD directs his steps."

Do you ever find it hard to make a big decision? I do. I want to make sure that in the big, and small decisions, in life, I have chosen what God wants me to do. I don't want to choose out of selfishness or ease, but really what God would have for my life. You see, I know He has a greater plan for me that I could not possibly know, because I, am not sovereign, as He is.

Now, the reason for this preface? My husband and I are having a bit of a struggle on a large decision. Some may not think it that large, but to us, it is. We really want to be in the will of God where we go and what we do, and it can be difficult as there are usually not flashing lights to show the way. However, God does lead us and guide us, I believe, by using things big and small to get our attention.

So, on to the decision. We are seriously considering going to a different church than we have been at for the past four years. We have really grown to care about the people there and we know they care about us. The preaching is very good at our church, which is actually the main reason we stay. My husband runs the sound booth and works with the kids ministry as well.

So, why would we leave? We've just never felt a true connection with the other members. Yes, after church we chat with people, it is a small church so we pretty much know everybody, but we've just never developed those really important friendships that we are looking for. On the flipside, I have attended a different church for my MOPS group for the past year and a half. Our church is small so we don't have one, so I started at another church. This church has been amazing for us, even though we don't attend there they have absolutely embraced us as their own. My best friends attend there, when Anna was in the hospital they were calling, emailing and visiting us. (This includes the pastors!) And they were the ones who brought us meals when we returned home and came over that night. They had us on their prayer board. We spent New year's eve with a bunch of them. My husband attends their men's meetings once a week. The church is very into outreach, whereas our church is more of a teaching church. Outreach is very important to me, as many of you know, because of my love for missions.

The downside? The preaching. It is just not what we are used to as it is seeker friendly. What we have talked about is that we could easily download podcasts and listen to them for teaching every week from all the amazing speakers out there. We also feel an obligation to our current church with involvement in ministries and because we really do love our pastor and his family. But we don't want to stay out of guilt.

Anyway, that is what we are facing in 2009...it's difficult. I'm trying to remember that we are all part of one body, it is just finding God's will for our lives. So, we are going to keep praying and ask God to put on our hearts what He would have us do.

Saturday Photo Hunt - High

This is a Catholic church we visited in Eger, Hungary last August 4th while on a mission trip. That's our family in the middle of the picture. It was beautiful and certainly had a lot of HIGH places!!