Virginia Tech

I'm sitting helplessly at my keyboard right now trying to figure out what to say, how to say it. Every time a school shooting happens I think of Mango. I was standing in Savers yesterday when somebody next to me walked up and said, "My sister just called me, and there's been another school shooting." She didn't know anything else, as her sister's cell phone had cut out. And we stood there for a moment in our collective bewilderment.

I am still standing here in my bewilderment.

Come, Lord Jesus, Come.

Sumner Library

First, Mane read her first book last night!! It was a Henry & Mudge pre-level 1 book. She's been able to sound out words for a long time, but she hasn't been interested in actually reading and didn't seem to make the connection that sounding out words meant she could actually read something meaningful. Well, last night she took a big leap after we visited the library. She was showing lots of interest in the early reader books. So, we brought some home. And she decided to just do it. ....of course, as is typical with her whenever she makes a huge learning leap, she was crabbier than ever today, and I expect a rough weekend. She was like that with learning to crawl, walk, talk, etc... Every major developmental leap warrants an emotional week.

Ok, second, here's the new book list after our library visit yesterday afternoon:

Madeline Says Merci by John Bemelmans Marciano

Friends by Elaine Scott

The Berenstain Bear's Seashore Treasure by Stan & Jan Berenstain

Puppy Mudge Has a Snack by Cynthia Rylant

Puppy Mudge Takes a Bath by Cynthia Rylant

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman

Hip to Crochet by Judith Swartz

Kids Crochet by Kelli Ronci

Books We Currently Have from the Library

A Child of God: Stories of Jesus and Stewardship Activities for Children by Michael J. Caduto

Moses: The Long Road to Freedom by Ann Keay Beneduce

Miriam's Cup: A Passover Story by Fran Manushkin

Easter by Jan Pienkowski

Ready, Set, Count by Marlene Barron

Dolls Kids Can Make by Sheila McGraw

Across the Alley by Richard Michelson

How Nanita learned to make flan by Campbell Geeslin

Chickens Aren't The Only Ones by Ruth Heller

Kids Learn to Knit by Lucinda Guy & Francois Hall

Knitting Pretty by Kris Percival

Knit Fix by Lisa Kartus

We love books. I've been meaning to keep a list of books we check out from the library so I can remember the ones I'm looking for later. So, that's the list of what's in the library bag right now. Two other favorites from this year are:

Pablo's Tree by Pat Mora

Tiny Tortilla by Arlene Williams

The Church, The Building

Bible study this morning brought up a number of thoughts for me. I'm going to write more than one entry about it because they don't all exactly go together.

I've been thinking already and for some time now about what the church is really supposed to be. As near as I can tell the church is supposed to be a community of people who believe in Jesus and who love and care for each other out of the overflow of Jesus love for them and their love for Jesus. This outpouring of love should be so powerful that it calls others to Christ. We need to be walking, talking, living vessels of God's love in our interactions with each other and everyone else. I think sometimes the Church Building gets in the way. We spend lots and lots and lots of time and energy on the building, not to mention our finances.

I'm conflicted about The Building. God's temple was certainly a building of great expense, extravagance, and beauty. It was the house of God, after all, a holy place, the place where people brought their sacrifice and encountered the God of Creation.

I don't see the New Testament Christians commanded to build a temple, though. The New Testament speaks of our bodies as the temple and the collection of believers as the body of Christ. What we know of the early Christians is that they met in homes. It isn't clear if they met in other building, which became Church Buildings. We know that they were commanded to hold their possessions in common and take care of each other, so that none would be poor and needy.

So, what does it mean when a small group of believers gets together and prays and grows into a large church. And then they build a building, and they pray for the finances to make the place big enough and beautiful, and the finances appear, and we have these huge beautiful churches. Is that God's plan? I heard one of those stories this morning. People give testimonies of God providing for these things. Is it really God's provision? Is it really God's plan? Who am I to question their testimony, their faith that God provided this for them?

And, of course, I am grateful for the things that a large church can provide...space for Bible studies and children's church, clothing and food shelves, after school programs. When we pool our resources we can help more people, do more things.

So, where is the balance?

Where is the close community of believers who love each other, who know and pray for each other? So often community gets lost in the big church building.

Are we spending so much money on the building that we cannot help those who are poor, sick, in need?

And how can we invite people who don't know Jesus to church on Sunday morning? What do they receive from a Sunday morning service? There is so little actual personal interaction. Everyone is so perfectly dressed, so perfectly behaved. The service is so ordered and pretty. I know there are churches that aren't like this. I'm not talking about them. I just believe they're few and far between. I believe that the collective Church has lost the vision and sacrificed it for buildings and programs.

What can I do? Jesus, help me. I want to know you. I want others to know you. I want your love and your peace to burn like candles in every window in every house on every street in every city in every state and country around the world. I can complain about the church forever, but I'm spinning my wheels. What can I DO?

Here I am. Send me.

Swirling Around...

Ok...I have about five billion things I'd like to write about right now, but Mane has been sick & is only giving me these little fragments of time to write. So, here's my list, which I'd like to get to later. Please feel free to vote on which item I should write about first!

- one year since I met Vespera
- thoughts on sleep
- the church (or is that The Church?) & community, trying to find a place
- Mane's about to turn 5!!
- The homeschooling dilemma
- Well, I'd love to list the books on my bookshelf, just like Kathy. That was a fun read!
- Bible study group's new study on prayer
- raising Christian kids

Well, there's probably more. That's the list I've been mentally going over in my head so I won't forget. Now I've got it down so I can remember what I was going to write about when I sit down to write later. :)

Happy Feet

I'm coming here today to publicly agree with Char's opinion of Happy Feet. Not a cute, sweet, happy little penguin movie. Way too much agenda. Way over the heads of the little people. Not even a very engaging plot line.

There. I've said it.

A bit of history...

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
—Emma Lazarus, 1883 av JC