Ramblings of a Writer's Mind
I have had two things on my mind in the last couple of days.
The first has to do with something the Lord has been teaching me. As many of you who read my blog know, the church Tim and I go through recently went through some pretty major changes. Change is never easy, but this change has been particularly difficult for me as most of the people I considered good friends have decided to go to a different church. At the time when the changes first started, we were leaning that direction too, but since I worked there last year we could not do anything at that time. That gave us the chance to sit back, watch, and pray. We have seen tremendous growth in the people in our church. People have broken out of their comfort zones, changed their attitudes, and grown as a whole. As a result, we do not feel that now is the time to seek a new ministry.
What makes this decision so hard for me is that now Natalie and a 10-year-old boy are the only children in the church. It breaks my heart to put her in an empty nursery Sunday after Sunday, when she is at the age where she needs to learn how to interact with other children.
I have been praying, but I have been challenged to change my prayers. On Sunday the church's elderly former pastor (not the one who just left, but an earlier pastor) was the speaker. He said that we need to look within instead of without to find ways to improve our church. In other words, we need to fix our heart attitudes, rather than always complaining about what other people are doing, like "why did so-and-so have to leave." I was touched, because my attitude hasn't been right. Instead of praying for children to come to the church, I have been in reality praying for the Lord to change His mind and lead us differently. I have changed my prayer to asking the Lord to lead some young families to our church. Will you pray with me?
The other thing that has been on my mind is the "Hollywood Dream." As someone who teaches junior highers, I know that kids, even Christian kids, are charmed by the lure of Hollywood. Yet, this week Lindsey Lohan, a girl who has had that dream fulfilled at a very young age, has been arrested for DUI and cocain possession. Here is a girl who had it all, yet she had to turn to drugs and alcohol because she did not feel fulfilled. Yet this is what our kids are buying into. We must work hard to rescue our children from this philosophy.
Sorry this post is not about Natalie, but I wanted to get those things off of my chest. Thanks for listening!
The first has to do with something the Lord has been teaching me. As many of you who read my blog know, the church Tim and I go through recently went through some pretty major changes. Change is never easy, but this change has been particularly difficult for me as most of the people I considered good friends have decided to go to a different church. At the time when the changes first started, we were leaning that direction too, but since I worked there last year we could not do anything at that time. That gave us the chance to sit back, watch, and pray. We have seen tremendous growth in the people in our church. People have broken out of their comfort zones, changed their attitudes, and grown as a whole. As a result, we do not feel that now is the time to seek a new ministry.
What makes this decision so hard for me is that now Natalie and a 10-year-old boy are the only children in the church. It breaks my heart to put her in an empty nursery Sunday after Sunday, when she is at the age where she needs to learn how to interact with other children.
I have been praying, but I have been challenged to change my prayers. On Sunday the church's elderly former pastor (not the one who just left, but an earlier pastor) was the speaker. He said that we need to look within instead of without to find ways to improve our church. In other words, we need to fix our heart attitudes, rather than always complaining about what other people are doing, like "why did so-and-so have to leave." I was touched, because my attitude hasn't been right. Instead of praying for children to come to the church, I have been in reality praying for the Lord to change His mind and lead us differently. I have changed my prayer to asking the Lord to lead some young families to our church. Will you pray with me?
The other thing that has been on my mind is the "Hollywood Dream." As someone who teaches junior highers, I know that kids, even Christian kids, are charmed by the lure of Hollywood. Yet, this week Lindsey Lohan, a girl who has had that dream fulfilled at a very young age, has been arrested for DUI and cocain possession. Here is a girl who had it all, yet she had to turn to drugs and alcohol because she did not feel fulfilled. Yet this is what our kids are buying into. We must work hard to rescue our children from this philosophy.
Sorry this post is not about Natalie, but I wanted to get those things off of my chest. Thanks for listening!
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