My response to the St Louis today comments on MSC

I am long time member of Morning Star. I can tell you from my own personal experience the staff here is the real deal!! Texting was not meant to be a gimmick. Do you or someone you know have a cell phone, text with it, email or use other current technology. Most of us do. Most certainly those who have responded to this article on line do. I see nothing wrong with keeping up with the times. Like the paper said, those who do not have cell phones can still submit written questions. Morning Star is not the same kind of church I grew up in but the values are the same. Our Pastors do not claim to know the answer to every question but they do their best to find the answer and the first place they typically go to is the Bible. They do not claim to be better than anyone else. In fact it is pretty much the opposite. They let us know that we (including themselves) are not perfect people. We share the same struggles, losses, troubles and sins as those who may have different beliefs or no beliefs at all. The beautiful thing is we find comfort in our faith and in Jesus Christ. We find comfort in our church family. That does not mean we have no friends outside of our church or the Christian religion. I can tell you first hand Morning Star is more than just about church, gimmicks and being preached to. The sermons are relevant to what we go through everyday. You could be Christian, Jewish, Muslim or an atheist and walk away from almost every sermon with something that touched your life. We lost my sister last week and the congregation rallied around our family. Phone calls, flowers, cards, meals and yes even emails and texts were sent. They are still coming. I wish I could explain to you the support we have been given. The chairs were filled at her memorial. Filled with all kinds of beliefs, races and ages. No one was judged. We strive to accept everyone for who they are and where they are. I was able to be a big part of coordinating the service so I can tell you what was said was sincere and from the heart. That does not happen just anywhere but it does happen at our church and I am certain many other churches too. The Bible, whether you believe what it says or not, still talks about treating one another as we would like to be treated. It is still the best guide for morals and how to lead a good life. Maybe the world would not be in such a chaotic state if more people would just live like there were consequences to their actions whether they believe in God or not.

irony

My mom, daughter and sister in law went to see Lonestar at Fair St. Louis last night. It was fantastic. My brother got 4 tickets including backstage meet and greet passes. The concert was fantastic and these guys were so nice. Dean, the keyboard player (among other instruments) treated my 14 yr old like a princess. She left on cloud 9. On the way home we had a 10 minute discussion about getting pulled over. This was prompted by my sister in law who says even as an adult in her 30's, still gets nervous when she sees the lights flashing behind her. (even though her husband, who is my youngest brother, is a police officer) The 3 adults in the car all seemed to agree it is still a not so yummy feeling to be pulled over. Driving home we passed a doughnut shop and a few miles later decided to turn around and get breakfast for the next morning. Driving down the road laughing and chatting I looked up to see the red lights flashing and got that pit in my tummy. My daughter just kept saying, mom... this is not cool. Suddenly the nervousness went away and was replaced with with laughter. We just had a conversation about being pulled over..... you have got to be kidding me! Fortunately, he was way nice and probably would have sent us on our way (unknown to me, I had a headlight out) if I just would have remembered to put my current insurance card in my van. 5 minutes later he was back at my window reminding me of Misssouri's proof of insurance law. He made me raise my right hand and vow to go straight home and put my card in my van and then he presented me with a written warning. I raised my hand and promised to do just as he said as long as we could still detour through the doughnut shop on the way home. He smiled, approved and sent me on my way. My mom said I should have offered him a doughnut too but I didn't want to press my luck.

the rant

gas prices
house prices
sassy kids
and being fake

300 channels
nothing on
arguing kids
on summer break

allergies
hot flashes
too hot
and too cold

lack of downtime
telemarketers
and being on hold

puppies that won't housebreak
kids that won't clean
the words "I hate you" ,"whatever"
as well as "you're mean"

heavy sighs from our kids
when they don't get their way
rolling eyes, stomping feet
"you never let me play"

"documentaries" and "reality shows"
with few morals or a plot
like "I love new york", or "groomer has it"
I think NOT!

I could go on longer
I needed to vent
but I am tired, it is late
and I'm spent

Wii Wii

OK, I have to say we have spent more family time since we got our Wii. The problem is we spend more time arguing too. Who gets remote #1, what game are we going to play, which two of the 6 of us sits out? Not to mention the countless times the kids have gotten mad because they are losing. Even Mike reverts back to a competitive 10 year old when he plays. Don't get me wrong, the game is way fun but sometimes I just want to take it to my room and play by myself!!!

Home based business

I am excited about starting my own home based business. Check out my new web page at http://www.myvacationmaker.com/ If you are planning a vacation, get a quote!! I may not bring in the big bucks but if nothing else, it gives me another excuse to play on my computer.

Conviction

Another Good Friday and Easter season has come and gone. Good Friday service blew me away. In addition to a great message, our pastor had us write down the number one sin on our heart and nail it to a huge wooden cross. After taking communion and completing my turn at the cross, I sat back in my seat and listened to our Praise Band, leaned forward with my arms crossed on the chair in front of me and wept. In my heart I knew I could have taken up most if not all of the room on the cross by myself. I wish it were that simple. I wish I could nail my sins to the cross, walk away and Jesus would take them from me forever. After all, that is what He gave His life for. Why then do I continue to make the same mistakes and commit the same sins? I pray, I repent yet my human nature still gets the best of me. With my eyes closed, I stopped crying long enough to hear sniffles all around me and when I finally looked up, I am not sure I saw a dry eye. I felt very convicted yet ultimately encouraged. Thank God we are blessed by Him with an abundance of Grace. Based on the wet eyes I saw and the amount of nails which were pounded into the cross, I do not think I was alone. An email has been circulating recently giving tips on how to reduce stress. One of the many suggestions which goes along with the message I heard was to pray for your sins as they occur, not to wait till you go to bed. That goes hand in hand with thinking about what you are doing and pray before you take action. Unfortunately "simple solutions" are not always as simple to execute as we would like them to be. If nothing else, the sermon is still impressed in my mind and on my heart which is what I think our pastor was shooting for. Our family will be having a deep discussion about the message, it's implications and changes we need to make.

Thought of the Day

This was sent to me via an email and I figured others might share my warped sense of humor!! It was the "Thought for the day"....

"Some people are like slinkies -- not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs."

Argh!!

I have had this blog for months now and I still cannot figure out all the ins and outs! Is there a "Blogging for Dummies" book out there?

Patience

We had our youth group meeting Wednesday. One of the exercises we did was list the top 5 things that make us lose our patience. Then pick the top one and ask yourself how your life would be different if you could conquer just that one. Stupidity was at the top of a lot of the lists. Even teenage girls can't take stupidity at its best! A couple of stories were shared and I have to tell you, we were laughing so hard we were almost crying. One of the leaders was telling her story of a drive through. When she got to the window the girl taking her money in her soooo "Valley girl" dialect says... Like your foods not like ready yet. Like could you pull like around the building? Not can you pull up, but can you pull around the entire building. In somewhat of a shocked state, she pulled around the building to be greeted again at the window with... Like your food is still not like ready so could you like... before she could finish, my friend says, DO NOT ask me to pull around the building again! Why would you ask someone to pull all the way around the building. At the same chain but in Ohio, I had incident. We pulled up to the speaker and when I asked what was on a chicken xxx (I won't say the name of the meal to protect the idiotic chain) the attendant in a "Bill and Ted" sort of voice says (actually it was more like a question back).... Welllll uhhhhhhhhh........ chicken? Are you kidding me??!!! Really... Are you kidding me??? I see stupid people... they are everywhere.... They don't know they are stupid!! Thanks to God. He gives me laughter. Sometimes laughing is the only way and I can overcome being impatient. Believe me, I laugh at myself too. Not that I think I am stupid, I just have to keep myself in my place! Patience is one of the Fruits of the Spirit I have not been able to peel. Thankfully there are others to nibble on. So how about you... what are your pet peeves and how can you overcome them?