WHERE IS THE CHURCH?

Sitting at lunch today, Micah asked me, ‘‘where is the church?’’ ‘‘Funny you should ask’’ I told her – ‘‘that’s what I’ve been thinking about all day. But mommy doesn’t know where the church is.’’ She points out to the street and says ‘‘there it is mommy.’’ So I tell her, ‘‘no baby, the church is not a building. The church is made of people who love Jesus. They come together, pray together, share all things, eat together, encourage one another, and love each other. That’s what the church is. It’s not a building – the church can meet anywhere.’’

So I was wondering have any of you found the church yet?

In my 18 years of being a Christian, I have yet to find “THE CHURCH." Sure, I have found buildings where there are programs and various ministries and even where people meet and eat together. But I have failed to find those who really function as the church in Acts 2. In my observation everyone is too busy playing church to be THE CHURCH. In fact, when I have walked into the churches that I have been in during that time – I have pretty much found a representation of the world. They dress like the world and are extremely cliquishly like the world. No one wants to truly share their lives. They don’t want to really share their burdens or struggles. They definitely do not want to confess their sins to others. They don’t want to be held accountable. Their dreams for themselves and kids are dreams of money, success, a good name, a good average life.

Where are the people who’s prayer for themselves and their kids looks something like this: ‘Oh, Lord, take all of me. Take all of my kids. Convict us. Changes us. Don’t let us look like the world. We beg You for Your presence. We pray for lives that are wholly abandoned unto You. God anything you want – it’s Yours. Our house, our clothes, our cars, our kids – anything just take it God. I pray that my kids will lay all of themselves at Your feet. I pray that they will follow you to the ends of the earth. Oh, God, take our lives and use them for Your glory.’

Oh, I cry out – where are the disciples of Jesus Christ? Where is Jesus’ church?

The Answer

The answer to our game that no one cared to play is that it is the ages of our family now and will be the ages of our family in March.

YEAH! We are going to be blessed with another baby. We are very excited. I am now 11 weeks along. I was 10 weeks when we posted the game.

Micah keeps telling us that she wants to bring 2 babies home from the hospital. Unfortunately, the doctor said there was just one.

This information is for blog readers only. Please do not pass this information along to others who choose not to read our blog. We have another way planned to announce to them. Thanks in advance for your cooperation!

Let's Play A Game

We want to play a game with you. Post your guesses as comments.

What do these numbers mean?

26 26 2 1 10

27 26 3 2 0

A Plea to the Ladies

I am going to share with you something that the Lord has really been convicting me about. I in no way intend to offend anyone, but pray that the Holy Spirit will convict you, as He has me, if you need to be convicted in this area.
Modesty . . . what all does that entail? God has really shown me tremendous amounts regarding this area in my life. There have been several resources that He has used to bring conviction upon me. I highly encourage you to check these resources out. In Created To Be His Help Meet, Debi Pearl has a chapter about being chaste. She is extremely blunt about this subject in talking about what a man really sees when he looks at women & how a godly man really wants his wife to be. I think this is a must read - I wish I had this book when I was a preteen/teenager. Then I listened to Nancy Leigh DeMoss and her study on modesty. It was a great series that talked about modesty in clothing (something I have heard a lot more about growing up) & modesty in behavior. There was even one section that was a plea to the fathers on how to train their daughters on what to where and not to wear. There was also a plea to the wives to go to the husbands & say, "Dear, you know what draws a man's eyes. Help me to go through my wardrobe & glean out anything that I may wear that will cause a man's eye to linger on my body in any area that may cause him to sin."

So, here is a little of where I am coming from with great honesty. I have always tried to be modest in that I have tried not to wear clothing that is too short or too low. But as I started listening and reading about this topic that I have become more aware that I have allowed some of the fads & some of my desires of wanting to look attractive to pull me over to the side where at times I am not dressed modestly. And that is sin.

So, in Debi Pearls book she has a few letters that she & her husband have actually received from men - that if you were to read would break your heart. In one letter a guy talks about how he had to quit hanging around one of his close friends because the way his friends' wife dresses keeps him aroused the whole time he is around the couple. The husband is embarrassed
by his wife & feels dishonored by her. He says he is looking for a women who he can call to be his own little hidden treasure. So the question to you(if you are married) & me is, "Are we being our husbands own little hidden treasure - that no one else can get glimpses of?" And if you are not married, ask yourself "Am I hidding myself away so that I will be a hidden treasure for my husband one day?"

She quotes Matt 5:28 " Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." Then she writes: "It is impossible for a woman to understand a man's visual drive. . . A woman's body, moving within visual range of a man, unless it is modestly covered in a way that says to the man that you have no interest in him taking pleasure in your appearance, can be stimulating to him as disrobing completely. He may be a better man than the woman....and may have the fortitude to deny his eyes . . .but it makes you a source of temptation to sin, rather than someone to whom he can relate. . . .Jesus said that a lusting man commits adultery WITH a woman, not against her, meaning that the woman is included in the lusting adultery. Women have told me that they are "not convicted" about the way they dress, as if God has to chase them down and torment them about it before they will obey his Word."

Ouch . . . God really used her words to bring conviction on me. I had always heard it was the man's sin for lusting. He was committing adultery - but not really the case. If I wear something that is too tight, short, low, etc... that causes a man to lust - I am just as guilty as he.

That made me go to Clay and say, "I know you like me to wear certain shirts that I have - but they really need to stay at home. I need you to look at what I am wearing & tell me from a man's perspective if there is anything about the clothes I am wearing to cause a man's eye to be drawn towards me."

I encourage you ladies to do the same with your husbands. Let's start really trying to protect the men.

Also, if you see me wearing something that is questionable be sister in the Lord and tell me what your concern is with what I am wearing.

I really felt prompted to share this with you because of an article I just read. I encourage you and your husbands to read it. Modest Daughters

Homemade Laundry Soap & The Wonders of Super Washing Soda

I stumbled upon this recipe a few months back when I was looking for different ways to save money. I found it on the CMOMB website. It has worked fabulous and was little work. I am still using the batch I made in early June & will probably need to make some more in mid-September. I think that it probably cost me about $3 total for this batch. I will be looking at more recipes that do not have chemicals such as the laureth sulfate in it. I still need to do more research there. I am all about having less chemicals in the house and in the products that we use. But the catch is that it has to be cheaper or the same price than what I am already doing - for obvious reasons for those who know how important it is to stay within a budget.

Liquid Homemade Laundry Soap (by Ruth)
1 bar Felz Napta
1 bar Ivory
1 bar Castille
1/3 bar Lirio (Mexican bar)
1 C borax
1 C washing soda
lots of drops of essential oil of your choice
6 gallon vinegar jugs or milk jugs (emptied)

Grate all bars. Melt over medium heat in about 1-2 Quarts of water. Dissolve Borax and soda in 5 gallons of water, add liquefied bars, pour hot into 1 gallon vinegar jugs (milk jugs work too) leaving about 5" at the top for shaking as they gel hard.

According to Ruth, she does about 15 loads per week and it lasts her about 4 weeks. Mine has lasted longer because I actually forgot where I was in my measuring and ended up adding double the water. But nonetheless, my clothes have still come out just as clean & bright as when I was using TIDE.

Now the question is where can you find these soaps?

I had to order the Felz Napta (though I later found it at Kroger) and the Castille from Soaps Gone Buy for $1.25 each.

You can find the bar of Ivory with your bath soaps. I found the Lirio at HEB & I am pretty sure that I saw it at Kroger.

Borax and Washing Soda Can both be found in the laundry section of most grocery stores (I was amazed to find out that Wal-Mart did not have it atleast we nor any of the workers could find it). The Washing Soda is normally next to the borax in a yellow box.

For the initial time it cost me more than the $3 dollars but once you have several bars of Ivory and the borax, lirio, and washing soda you will not have to spend as much the next time.

Now on to the washing soda. When I discovered how wonderful this stuff was - I had to wonder why no one had told me about how wonderful this stuff was. I mix a little bit in my mop bucket with water, and vinegar to mop the kitchen. It removes dirt far greater than any of the other mopping or general purpose cleaners than I have found. It is great for cleaning your bathtub. For example - I had not gotten around to my bathtub in a couple of weeks (yeah - letting
you in on that I haven't been the best housekeeper the last few weeks) and there was a lot of dirt grime stuff. I sprayed the tub down with water & then sprinkled the tub with the washing soda, and then I sprayed vinegar over the soda. I let it sit for 30 minutes or so while I cleaned up after breakfast. When I came back, I pretty much just had to wipe it away, there were a few places I had to put a little muscle behind it, but not nearly as much as I have to do with most other cleaners - even when I let them sit! Oh, and the great thing is that I spent no more than 3 dollars on a box this stuff back in June & have been able to use it for laundry and cleaning various things.

Borax also has many uses - one being that sometimes Micah will leak through on her mattress. I spritz the mattress with water, sprinkle borax, let it dry, and then vacuum it up & the odor is gone!

I have been meaning to share some of these great & cheap finds with all my friends for a while. Please feel free to share any of your money saving, less chemical ideas with me. Hope you enjoyed hearing about some of the things I wish someone would have shared with me years ago.

Newest Addition

Meet Lambchop! He's a male Bichon Frise about 12 weeks. He will get between 7 & 10 pounds. He does not shed! The girls love to play with him. It is very important to Gabriella when we are praying that we pray for "puppy" and Micah chimes in with "our puppy Lambchop." It is very cute! They love him very much. We've enjoyed hearing Micah talk about him. When we first got him, Micah would sit next to him and say, "He's cute! Momma my Lambchop is so cute." She also says of him, "My puppy is beautiful." and "He's so handsome." We are so thankful that we are able to let them have a puppy to take care of and to love.

Sorry So Long

We've been without a computer for a few weeks. I hope to get some pictures of some of our more recent adventures up soon. If you've emailed me - and I have not gotten back to you yet - sorry. I am working on getting to respond to everyone.
God bless!