some random updates...

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...

...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...

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...

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!

(((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.

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...

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... :)

busy busy busy

it always seems like everything happens at once! I feel like I've been going non-stop for the past 2 months! jenny and I went to our good friend Andrew's wedding in Colorado in September and then so much has happened since then. in October, Moises and I went thru the loss of a 2nd miscarriage... not very many people know that, so that may surprise you if you're reading this. I'm sorry we may not have told you, but we hadn't told anyone that we were pregnant, so why spread the bad news if the good news was never known?? and then just last week some other good friends of ours, Alex and Lori Schwindt, moved from Rockford to Kansas City :( We miss them very much! They were a very important part of our life and the ministry of our church... we love you guys! and now we're busy helping to transition the church thru the interim period while it looks for a new worship arts pastor... so much going on! so there ya go...
peace...

One Year Later

It's been a year since I've written anything on here... I don't think any body looks at it, so it may not matter. :) a lot has happened since last July. I don't really want to talk about it though... let's just say there's been a lot of ups and downs. But moving right along...
moises and I have just moved into a new apartment... yay! it's pretty awesome. Our friend Jenny is living with us, too--renting our 2nd room from us. So we've been on vacation all week moving in and getting settled. it's been nice having the week off, sleeping in, staying up late... all that great stuff. So I'm just sitting here with my hubby, watching "Stargate- SG 1"... I know... it's his favorite show. :)
Well... time to go. things to do. i'll be back in less than a year.

The Married Life

Ahhh... the married life. Blissful. Joyful. Peaceful. And then you get home from the honeymoon! Seriously, though, people try to warn you that marriage is hard, but as a happy and naive bride-to-be we all say, "yeah, but you don't know how good we are together" or something silly like that.
I've just made it through the first year of my marriage and I've learned more that I ever would have thought. i've learned to pick my battles wisely...not all arguments are worthy of tear-shed and frustration. I've learned that my way is not the only way. my husband is not my child--I cannot tell him what to do with the reasoning of "because I said so". I've learned that marriage is NOT about give and take--it's about giving... and giving 100%. There's no 50/50 in a good, solid marriage. I expect my husband to give me 100% of his love, effort, sacrifice, and devotion. So that's what I will give him. I've also learned that I think I like Moises working 3rd shift, because it's kind of nice having the bed to myself (he snores)! Another thing I've learned is how freakishly alike to my mother I am. I love my mom...but it's just weird.
So it's been a busy, hard year...but a fabulous better-than-anything-else year! I'm more in love than I was a year ago, and I thnk we've both come out better after it. There are many more years to come, and I'm super excited to see what God has in store for us... we'll keep ya posted.

I'm Back!!!

Yeah, I know. I haven't posted anything since March! I don't think anyone is checking this anyway! Who knows... we'll see. So let's see... what's new with me... my little sister's getting married in 6 weeks... my older sister is due for her 3rd little boy in october... those are the major things. I'm kinda tired right now and not in the mood to write anything, but I just wanted to say hi to anyone who's reading this!

I Love...

Do you ever wonder why you love what you love? I mean... there's usually a much deeper reason than we even let ourselves figure out... a selfish reason, usually, too.
For instance, I love to travel. I would do it for a living. I love entering a new world and discovering things I never knew and meeting new people, new cultures, new foods, new traditions... I find it fascinating! It totally captures my soul. And yet I was wondering tonight if there's another reason that I love going to new places. I think it comes down to one word: new. Such a small word that can mean SO much. That word captures it all. When I'm in a new place, I can be a new me. no one knows me previously to know any different. They don't know my past. They don't know my weaknesses. They don't know that I tend to speak before thinking, or that I tend to overthink (it's one extreme or the other, isn't it?). They don't know that I eat out of boredom or for comfort or for sheer enjoyment of just tasting something delicious. It's not that I want to create a different me... I think I just want a chance to recreate how I present myself--how I'm perceived. Is this wrong? I think we all long for second chances. Sometime I wish I could go back to being 18 and change my post-highschool life--everything except for Moises, of course. I wish I had stayed in shape. I wish I had finished school. I wish... well, a lot of things. Not that I'm not happy with my life now. I have a fabulous husband whom I love and adore, who also loves me more than I probably think. I have awesome nephews. I LOVE my family! I have the best one in the whole world. I love my circle of friends... they're an unexpected blessing in my life. I have a God that believes in me and has given me a potential that I don't think I'll ever understand. That's just what He does for His children. I'm trying to figure it out though. I have a stable job. I have so much... and usually I (and most of you do too) don't think to give thanks or appreciate the regular or stable things in life. So maybe, just maybe, I don't need a new beginning. Maybe I just need to keep reminding myself that I am learning and growing, and that I do actually have an interesting story to tell, and it doesn't have to be to new people in a new place. I LOVE traveling--but oh how I LOVE home.

I found this picture online, too (What can I say, I've been a little lazy at work) I think it's the same picture that was used at church for one of the message series. I think it's an amazing picture... I wish I had taken it!

I've decided

Isn't this a beautiful picture? I found it online. And it's inspired me to make a decision... I'm going to start taking pictures again. I took a class a long time ago and loved it, and I have a nice camera...so I need to take advantage of that. Pictures capture memories... that's why I LOVE pictures! I love looking back through old photo's and remembering what I felt at that moment and laughing at the way I looked (I had many of those moments). So maybe you'll be seeing original Heather Camacho pictures on here sometime!

Spring

Oh, how I long for Spring! Spring means so many things besides just the end of snow. It can mean the end of a dark period and the beginning of something new and fresh. I need spring. I need something fresh. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. " Isn't that so encouraging? I often think "I am a sinner, I have a sinful nature", but I am so much more than that! I am holy in God's eyes, because when he looks at me, he sees Christ. Yes, I often trip and fall on this journey... but if there wasn't any bad, would we be able to appreciate the good? Sure, we are human, but we are called to be holy. Let's live up to our potential!

A Little Better

I'm feeling a little better. Today was my first day back at work... it drained me! Another thing drained me though... Moises and I tried to buy and house today, and they accepted someone else's offer. :( Last summer we tried to buy a couple houses, too, and obviously those didn't work out either. I never understand why God does what he does... I trust that He understands and knows what He's doing though! He has a plan... he knows when we should buy a house. I know he knows what's best for me and my hubby, but it's so hard to be patient! We'll just keep waiting and praying and keeping our eyes open I guess...

still sick

It's Monday, and I'm still sick... I went and got meds yesterday, though, so hopefully I'll feel better soon. I'm excited about "24" tonight though! I'm a big fan! Anyone else?

Sick

Yeah, so my boss gave me her cold... yuk. I hate being sick! And I feel like I'm always sick. Maybe I just need to leave this cold place called Rockford and go somewhere warm, sunny, and smells like the ocean... much like this picture. Yes, I think it would do. Cheerio!

Hey!

So here we are... just blogging away! I guess it's fun. My friend Brooke (aka "creek") inspired me. She's just started an amazing adventure out in California! I'm so excited for her :) Anyway... I'm just sitting at work... getting paid for typing in my blog! lol if they only knew! Well... I guess I should get back to what I actually get paid for.