So last Sunday, we went for the first time. The pastor was starting a 4 part series entitled Storytellers. The focus was on Joshua 24:15, "...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." About how our life is a story, and how we live will determine how our story is told, how we tell it and how others tell it. He talked about making a conscious choice to live your story, not just wander through life then waking up one day wondering how you got where you are. This sermon really spoke to me. At the end he listed several examples of what your story could be and shouldn't be. I loved this. I copied/pasted it from his blog to share here:
· Could be: Living a life of significance that makes an impact.
· Shouldn’t be: Getting promoted so people think you’re important.
· Could be: Raising a family that knows their identity & their significance.
· Shouldn’t be: Trying to keep up with the neighbor’s & other kids in class
· Could be: Facing difficulties in a way that it leaves a legacy and an example to all who know you.
· Shouldn’t be: Waiting for next person you can complain to & get them to feel sorry for you.
· Could be: Waiting for that person who you can spend the rest of your life with.
· Shouldn’t be: Allowing anyone into the deepest level of intimacy because you’re impatient.
· Could be: Figuring out ways to constantly develop & invest in the generations behind you.
· Shouldn’t be: Complaining as you tell stories about the way things should be & how they were when we were younger.
· Could be: Honoring & Learning from those in authority over you.
· Shouldn’t be: Bad-mouthing leadership because you’re sure you can do it better.
· Could be: Modeling generosity to the point that it causes a level of sacrifice.
· Shouldn’t be: Going into debt to upgrade your standard of living.
· Could be: Handling difficulties & suffering in a way that gives inspiration to those who are closest to you.
· Shouldn’t be: Allowing difficulties & suffering to make you frustrated, bitter & negative.
· Could be: Raising children based upon their unique talents, gifts & abilities.
· Shouldn’t be: Pushing them into whatever will make them popular.
CrossPoint has a wonderful children's program. A good friend of mine teaches the preschoolers. A few days ago, at bedtime, Allie told me: "When we're lost, God saves us. Just like the sheep! God saves us and loves us." Later I texted my friend to ask if they had gone over something like that at church, and she said yes! They had a lesson on it, watched a video, and played a game. Asher also enjoyed his class, I think he felt a little uneasy simply being new, but he did know a couple of the kids from school. The talked about Determination.
The pastor was a youth pastor at the old church. He has a lot of energy and passion, and is a great teacher. The church feels very vibrant and energetic. There are some older couples, but mostly it seems couples around our ages, and definitely high school/college kids. It's too early to say this is it, but the more I see the more I like. We are committed to finishing the Storyteller series and see how it goes from there.
This Sunday, the kids were both excited to go to church, and kept asking to make sure we were going back to CrossPoint. Of course, they couldn't remember the name, so Allie asked, "Can we go back to church school?" I chuckled. Church is actually held at the Intermediate school that Asher will attend next year. The church is able to rent out the building each Sunday. It sounds different, but it seems to work pretty well!
So today was Part 2 of the Storytellers series. Praise and Worship was even better than last week, and I love how they acted out a Bible story, like last week, to begin the sermon. This week's focus was on the story of Samson. Judges 16:23-31. The main idea being the fact that Samson was willing to die, to make the sacrifice, for something he believed in. And how important it is that we, find that element in our own stories that we are WILLING to DIE FOR, and then LIVE FOR IT. Take that in. This really hit home with me. An example he gave was being a parent. As a parent, you would willingly lay down your life for your children, but are you willing to put in the risk and sacrifice, over and over, to truly LIVE for them? He talked about how we tend to spend our lives avoiding or shying away from risk or sacrifice for many different reasons: being tired, not wanting to get that emotionally involved, bailing out when things get hard, etc. The trick is finding what we want our story to be about, this epic, wonderful story that is YOUR LIFE, that you're living right now, you're writing it every day - decide what it is, take on the risk and sacrifice, and LIVE FOR IT!
Whew! Didn't know you were clicking open a sermon, huh? :)
This past week was a jumbly blur - 3 more snow days, Tue/Wed/Thur. On Friday Asher went back to school, and since Allie doesn't have Preschool on Fridays, she and I went with a few other of our friends to Lexington, to Monkey Joe's - the indoor bounce place. My friend Melanie that used to live here, but moved to Lexington a couple of years ago, met us there as well - she has a new baby, a beautiful one month old little boy named Lincoln, that I got to hold the entire time as he slept. It helped fill up that baby fix tank!
This past week I officially got the last of the Christmas decorations put away. Well, the indoor ones anyway. The outside lights are still up, and probably will be until a nice "warm" (aka at least above freezing) day to take them down. Taking Christmas down was a week long process. I do feel good about getting it all organized into totes that are labeled and sorted by room. Much better than in years past - and with us adding a little more each year, organization is key! The last thing I took down was the Dickens' Village. This year they were on the piano. Asher helped me get each building snugly nestled in its box, and all the people safely put away.
Tomorrow is MLK Day, and guess what? The kids are out of school! Poor Allie hasn't been since last Monday. John has been on call this weekend, and gets to stay home tomorrow too - not sure what we'll do, but I know Asher is happy to have another day home! Allie keeps asking when she gets to go back. :) Tuesday is my day to volunteer at the school, and this week I will be in Asher's classroom. I am really looking forward to it, and to getting back to the Y since I only got to go one day last week!
