A Mother's Heart--opening post!
Geez...if this isn't the epitome of a blank slate! As I sit here faced with a blank screen and unlimited words to express my mind and heart, I literally have no idea what to write! And then the voice of doubt reaches in and asks the inevitable: "Who's gonna read it anyway?" Ah well....such is the life of one who writes, who has so many words in her head and decides to take the plunge by starting a blog. ;)
So what is this blog about? My musings, mostly. I'm a stay-at-home mom to a 3-year old son (cute as a bug and quite precocious, I might add), wife to my husband for nearly 10 years now, and in the middle of an international paperchase for our daughter, who will join our family from China. [That last part (the paperchase) is taking far too long for my tastes, but this is afterall, one of God's doings, not mine. So I'll have to be content to wait upon His provision and His timing. Doesn't mean I'm particularly good at it, just that this is my lot at this stage in my life. ;) ] I'm frugal by choice and necessity these days (have you looked at the cost of adoption recently??), so I know all the good deals at the local stores and how to not spend too much on groceries and other sundries. I run a Yahoo group for other adoptive moms where we share our lives and celebrate (and cry!) with each other, and I'm actively involved in our church.
Speaking of our church, we recently planted a new congregation in our little town. Nicholasville has a population of slightly less than 20,000, and there are 87 (count 'em!) churches in our county. Now the county is slightly larger (population-wise) than our city. Out of those 87 churches, 75 of them have a membership of 50 or less. That leaves a very large segment of our community disenfranchised and either seeking spiritual community elsewhere or not seeking it at all. Many of our fellow Jessamine-countians have decided that church is largely irrelevant and that God is Someone Who just doesn't care about their circumstances. The sad thing is that The Church (as a whole) has created the idea of irrelevancy as we've confused form and tradition with theology and decided to maintain a 'separate and UNequal' position in daily life. So this church (Generations) has decided to take that bull by the horns and try to impact our community with a dedication to both the Gospel and cultural relevance. So far, so good. We have a family worship experience called KidStuf on a weekly basis that includes drama, music, dancing, and multi-media experiences, and then we've got a small-group setting for kids (G'Town & The Park) as the adults have their own worship and teaching experience. It's a very different paradigm, and one that's not for everyone, but we're very upfront about all of that. If we're not your flavour, we can direct you to any number of congregations in the community that might be a perfect fit for you. It's much more important to us that you have a personal understanding of the love God has for you and how He desires to be a part of your life than swelling our membership ranks.
The ultimate goal of our church is to raise kids and families who love God and spend time with each other. That will probably be a major theme of my blog as I consider the goings-on in our home and am amazed at the growth of our son. My goal as a mom is to raise respectful, confident children who love God and care for other people. Sometimes I fail miserably as I consider our end-goal. Other times, I know we must be doing something right....so I'll be sharing both failures and successes along the way. I sincerely hope to have more successes than failures, but as there are no guarantees in life, there are even fewer in parenting. ;0
So here ends the first post of A Mother's Heart....this is what's on my heart today, and as there are more things on my agenda that can't be accomplished from the keyboard, I've gotta run. God bless you as you travel through your day! :)
So what is this blog about? My musings, mostly. I'm a stay-at-home mom to a 3-year old son (cute as a bug and quite precocious, I might add), wife to my husband for nearly 10 years now, and in the middle of an international paperchase for our daughter, who will join our family from China. [That last part (the paperchase) is taking far too long for my tastes, but this is afterall, one of God's doings, not mine. So I'll have to be content to wait upon His provision and His timing. Doesn't mean I'm particularly good at it, just that this is my lot at this stage in my life. ;) ] I'm frugal by choice and necessity these days (have you looked at the cost of adoption recently??), so I know all the good deals at the local stores and how to not spend too much on groceries and other sundries. I run a Yahoo group for other adoptive moms where we share our lives and celebrate (and cry!) with each other, and I'm actively involved in our church.
Speaking of our church, we recently planted a new congregation in our little town. Nicholasville has a population of slightly less than 20,000, and there are 87 (count 'em!) churches in our county. Now the county is slightly larger (population-wise) than our city. Out of those 87 churches, 75 of them have a membership of 50 or less. That leaves a very large segment of our community disenfranchised and either seeking spiritual community elsewhere or not seeking it at all. Many of our fellow Jessamine-countians have decided that church is largely irrelevant and that God is Someone Who just doesn't care about their circumstances. The sad thing is that The Church (as a whole) has created the idea of irrelevancy as we've confused form and tradition with theology and decided to maintain a 'separate and UNequal' position in daily life. So this church (Generations) has decided to take that bull by the horns and try to impact our community with a dedication to both the Gospel and cultural relevance. So far, so good. We have a family worship experience called KidStuf on a weekly basis that includes drama, music, dancing, and multi-media experiences, and then we've got a small-group setting for kids (G'Town & The Park) as the adults have their own worship and teaching experience. It's a very different paradigm, and one that's not for everyone, but we're very upfront about all of that. If we're not your flavour, we can direct you to any number of congregations in the community that might be a perfect fit for you. It's much more important to us that you have a personal understanding of the love God has for you and how He desires to be a part of your life than swelling our membership ranks.
The ultimate goal of our church is to raise kids and families who love God and spend time with each other. That will probably be a major theme of my blog as I consider the goings-on in our home and am amazed at the growth of our son. My goal as a mom is to raise respectful, confident children who love God and care for other people. Sometimes I fail miserably as I consider our end-goal. Other times, I know we must be doing something right....so I'll be sharing both failures and successes along the way. I sincerely hope to have more successes than failures, but as there are no guarantees in life, there are even fewer in parenting. ;0
So here ends the first post of A Mother's Heart....this is what's on my heart today, and as there are more things on my agenda that can't be accomplished from the keyboard, I've gotta run. God bless you as you travel through your day! :)
posted by Sue | 6:07 PM
2 Comments:
What!? Nothing in your opening post about Red Wings hockey!??? You're scaring me. : )
You are so right, "Jay"! ;) Next column will be ranting about the Wings, my lack of a hockey season, and that knucklehead, Gary Bettman, who ruined it all for us. Grrrr....!!!
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