So, I was looking at my blog, and I realized that I originally started this to keep family and friends updated on what was going on in me and my hubby's life. So that's what this is going to be! So... Moises is still laid-off from his job. his company does work for Chrysler, so when they are closed, so is his plant.:( except, they don't get all the benefits that the chrysler employees do... I think they still get paid something like 95% of their normal pay check... Moises has to collect unemployment, which is still better than nothing, but it's just frustrating. What else... Jenny Gorman is still living w/ us, renting our 2nd bedroom from us, and it's great! I'm a huge fan of what's called "communal living" and I think it's going to take our country by storm pretty soon, especially in this economy! We've become such an individualistic country, that we aren't experiencing the benefits of living in community! That's how it was when Jesus was around, so it can't be that bad! let's see... My lil sis Shannon is a manager at the Arby's on south alpine, which is very exciting! you should stop in and see her sometime! Another thing, I'm on the search committee at church for a new Worship Arts Pastor... it's been interesting seeing the applications that come thru! I'm still working at the bank, too. It'll be 7 years in August (I know... wow). Starting this week I'm taking on a new roll, where I'm a part-time teller and part-time customer service! I've been in the customer service department for almost 4 years, now, so this will be a fun little change for awhile.
I think that's all I can think of right now... I know this isn't as exciting as my last posts... but that okay! Gotta go make dinner now--ah the life of a wife! :) Peace out...
Monday, February 9, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
...do this in remembrance of me...
The Lord's Supper... Communion... wafers. juice. bread. wine... priests.... pastors... waiting in line... passing the dish...
This sacred event of bread of wine has taken on many faces, hasn't it? It's an event that has lived on thru the years, but does it still hold meaning?
At the church I grew up in, we took communion once a month, the 1st sunday of every month, I believe. At the church I go to now, we take communion maybe every few months, at special services. A lot of churches take it every week. Wherever you may fall on the spectrum, most of us have come to know when it may happen and it usually becomes a routine. But, are we really remembering? Do we really think about the blood and the body, the love and sacrifice, when we take the bread and the wine?
That's the thing with rituals... usually you just do them! I don't know very much about the Catholic Church. I've actually only been to one Mass, and the entire thing was in Spanish! However, you still catch on to various routines/rituals that take place. There's the kneeling, the echoing, the "peace" thing, communion. And you can also go and confess to your priest and be made "ok" again. I must admit that I felt very lost and out of place. For a lot people, these things hold very little meaning.... but if you really think about what those rituals are, I can see the beauty in why they were maybe started in the first place. think about it... Confession. How often do we really confess to someone? To actually speak your sins to someone, can be so humbling! And kneeling before God in prayer is a beautiful sight. All of these rituals probably had the greatest of intentions... but what are they now? Routines.
Back in the day of Jesus, bread and wine at dinner was not uncommon. It was part of their everyday life. When he had that moment with his disciples and told them that it was his body and blood, a new covenant, something to be remembered... I'm not so sure that his intention was for us to mimick that exactly, once a week/month/etc as an act of "obedience". I'm starting to think that Jesus was taking something common to his friends, and making it significant... like he was really saying, "even in the everyday events, in the common of your life... remember me."
Something to think about...
This sacred event of bread of wine has taken on many faces, hasn't it? It's an event that has lived on thru the years, but does it still hold meaning?
At the church I grew up in, we took communion once a month, the 1st sunday of every month, I believe. At the church I go to now, we take communion maybe every few months, at special services. A lot of churches take it every week. Wherever you may fall on the spectrum, most of us have come to know when it may happen and it usually becomes a routine. But, are we really remembering? Do we really think about the blood and the body, the love and sacrifice, when we take the bread and the wine?
That's the thing with rituals... usually you just do them! I don't know very much about the Catholic Church. I've actually only been to one Mass, and the entire thing was in Spanish! However, you still catch on to various routines/rituals that take place. There's the kneeling, the echoing, the "peace" thing, communion. And you can also go and confess to your priest and be made "ok" again. I must admit that I felt very lost and out of place. For a lot people, these things hold very little meaning.... but if you really think about what those rituals are, I can see the beauty in why they were maybe started in the first place. think about it... Confession. How often do we really confess to someone? To actually speak your sins to someone, can be so humbling! And kneeling before God in prayer is a beautiful sight. All of these rituals probably had the greatest of intentions... but what are they now? Routines.
Back in the day of Jesus, bread and wine at dinner was not uncommon. It was part of their everyday life. When he had that moment with his disciples and told them that it was his body and blood, a new covenant, something to be remembered... I'm not so sure that his intention was for us to mimick that exactly, once a week/month/etc as an act of "obedience". I'm starting to think that Jesus was taking something common to his friends, and making it significant... like he was really saying, "even in the everyday events, in the common of your life... remember me."
Something to think about...
Monday, January 26, 2009
All we need is love...
The last couple of months, it's really hit me how poorly we really love each other sometimes. And this is among Christians! More often than not, other things that seem important at the time, take precedence over people...over relationships. I too am at fault of this. We are, in fact, only human. It seems to me, though, not much is being done to correct this. Even in churches, it seems as though most sermons are about how to live the "incredible life" and becoming who God has planned for us to be... which is great! But I feel like we may be missing the mark, just a little bit. of course we are... like I said, we are only human. We do the best we can at the time, and do what we think God may be calling us to do. And of course, nothing in this life will ever fully satisfy. But I still think we are not loving as well as we ought to, as we are called to. By the way, that IS the greatest commandment...
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment great than these.(Mark 12:30-31)"
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.(John 13: 34-35)"
From the lips of Jesus himself! The commandment was not to judge others; it was not to turn people away because of their sin; it was not to stick in our "holy huddles"; it was not to make "church" a sunday event. Love. With everything we do, we should ask, "does this show love?". Now, I'm not talking about the hippie/Beatles/1960's kind of love... I'm talking about the love God gives us! That means we shouldn't just go around doing whatever want, knowing that God and our fellow christians will still love us. This kind of love, if we truly accept it and believe it, WILL change us. it will effect everything that we do--and that includes everything we do at church. this MUST be the focus of the church. If we are called to love, that means that we must worship in love. serve in love. teach in love. rebuke and correct in love. disciple in love. have community in love.
This doesn't mean that life/church/relationships won't get messy... as stated earlier, we are human. but if we are loving each other well, then we can get thru the messes together.
That's it for now...
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment great than these.(Mark 12:30-31)"
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.(John 13: 34-35)"
From the lips of Jesus himself! The commandment was not to judge others; it was not to turn people away because of their sin; it was not to stick in our "holy huddles"; it was not to make "church" a sunday event. Love. With everything we do, we should ask, "does this show love?". Now, I'm not talking about the hippie/Beatles/1960's kind of love... I'm talking about the love God gives us! That means we shouldn't just go around doing whatever want, knowing that God and our fellow christians will still love us. This kind of love, if we truly accept it and believe it, WILL change us. it will effect everything that we do--and that includes everything we do at church. this MUST be the focus of the church. If we are called to love, that means that we must worship in love. serve in love. teach in love. rebuke and correct in love. disciple in love. have community in love.
This doesn't mean that life/church/relationships won't get messy... as stated earlier, we are human. but if we are loving each other well, then we can get thru the messes together.
That's it for now...
Sunday, December 21, 2008
O Come Let Us Adore Him...
O Come, all ye faithful! Joyful and Triumphant... Come and behold Him, born the King of Angels! O come let us adore Him... Christ the Lord!
Hark the herald, Angels sing, "Glory to the newborn King!" Peace on Earth, and mercies mild, God and sinners RECONCILED!
O come, o come Emmanuel! And ransome captive Israel... who mourns in lonely exile here. Until the son of God appear! REJOICE! REJOICE! Emmanuel shall come to thee, o Israel!
What Child is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping? Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping. This, this is Christ the King! Whom shepherds guard and angels sing, "Haste! Haste to bring Him praise! The babe, the son, of Mary!"
So bring him incense, gold and myrrh, come peasant, king, to own him! the King of Kings Salvation brings! Let loving hearts enthrown him! Raise, Raise the song on high, the virgin sings her lullaby, "Joy! Joy for Christ is born!" the Babe the Son of Mary.
All of these songs are so beautifully written! Do we actually pause and think about the words that proclaim the true reason of celebration for Christmas? it's not about presents... instead Presence--of the promised King! It's not about gifts, but THE gift--the Savior of the world!
Merry Christmas to all who may read this... enjoy your family and your celebrations! And may we all have a blessed and joyful New Year! Love you all!
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
(((shhhh)))
silence
be still
listen
how often to we engage ourselves in these?
"be still and know that I am God".
"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there."
this is something that is clearly important in the Bible and in the life of Jesus himself. in our american culture, this seems to be a highly valued, yet rarely experienced concept. what I mean by that, is that you see commercials for spas, and cruises, etc. but everyone that I know seems to be running around all the time, stressed out... simply getting from point A to point B, and doing it well. we've perfected the arts of being busy and multi-tasking. technology is supposed to simplify our lives, isn't it? i think it's achieved quite the opposite. think back even 15 years... what did we do all day and all night? well, if we weren't in school, we were running around outside or playing by ourselves, or w/ our neighbor friend. in the evenings, we would eat dinner and maybe watch tv, hang w/ the fam, do homework. it seems like in today's world, people jam pack their lives with everything they possibly can. and they keep track of it all in their phone. :)
is this wrong?
is this just the natural progression of our culture?
I want to challenge those who read this (and myself), especially as we are entering into the busiest time of the year, to dedicate yourself to alone time on a regular basis. even more importantly, dedicate yourself to alone time with God. i believe we greatly underestimate the power of prayer and solitude and sitting with God. it just might save your sanity this holiday season.
be still
listen
how often to we engage ourselves in these?
"be still and know that I am God".
"In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there."
this is something that is clearly important in the Bible and in the life of Jesus himself. in our american culture, this seems to be a highly valued, yet rarely experienced concept. what I mean by that, is that you see commercials for spas, and cruises, etc. but everyone that I know seems to be running around all the time, stressed out... simply getting from point A to point B, and doing it well. we've perfected the arts of being busy and multi-tasking. technology is supposed to simplify our lives, isn't it? i think it's achieved quite the opposite. think back even 15 years... what did we do all day and all night? well, if we weren't in school, we were running around outside or playing by ourselves, or w/ our neighbor friend. in the evenings, we would eat dinner and maybe watch tv, hang w/ the fam, do homework. it seems like in today's world, people jam pack their lives with everything they possibly can. and they keep track of it all in their phone. :)
is this wrong?
is this just the natural progression of our culture?
I want to challenge those who read this (and myself), especially as we are entering into the busiest time of the year, to dedicate yourself to alone time on a regular basis. even more importantly, dedicate yourself to alone time with God. i believe we greatly underestimate the power of prayer and solitude and sitting with God. it just might save your sanity this holiday season.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
give thanks
as i near the fabulous holiday of thanksgiving, it makes me think about everything that has happened. it makes me remember... as a good friend of mine said today, "your ability to be thankful is directly linked to your ability to remember." I love that. how can we give thanks for anything without first remembering what has happened? What has gotten me to where I am? What has made me who i am today? there are the obvious things (i think most of us can say things like family, food, and homes) to be thankful for, but God has given us so much more. so what are we truly thankful for? for me... i'm thankful for my husbands' never-ending patience with me; i'm thankful that God knows what he's doing and that I don't--I learn more everyday to depend on Him; i'm thankful for freedom--freedom to believe in and live out the Truth.
I could on and on. I must say, though, that I AM thankful for my family... as cliche as it is. if you know my family, then you should agree! I have the best one. we love to laugh together, and sing together (we really should take it on the road!), and do life together. And I have 4 of the best nephews ever!
So what are you thankful for? In what ways has God blessed you? It could be something that was hard to go thru... it could be an exciting moment... it could be a particular person...
I could on and on. I must say, though, that I AM thankful for my family... as cliche as it is. if you know my family, then you should agree! I have the best one. we love to laugh together, and sing together (we really should take it on the road!), and do life together. And I have 4 of the best nephews ever!
So what are you thankful for? In what ways has God blessed you? It could be something that was hard to go thru... it could be an exciting moment... it could be a particular person...
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
The Married Life... year 2
So, last year I wrote about what I learned my 1st year of marriage. well, another year has come and gone, and I truly believe that you just KEEP learning more every year. I've learned more about my hubby, about myself, and about life in general. We've had more ups and downs this year, as you can see below in my previous post. we've moved a couple times since this time last year. Moises has gone from 3rd shift, to 2nd, which is aweful. I honestly don't see him at all Monday-Friday... Saturday is the 1st day of the week I see him. Yeah, it sucks. but we'll survive! I've learned that he just might never learn how to get his clothes into the hamper :) I have 4 nephews instead of 3... my sis Sarah had another boy last september. he's so cute! all my nephews are getting so big... so I've concluded that I love the married life. I love Moises more and more, and I love being his wife. he's just so darn cute... :)
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