Sin Wedge

Yesterday, a friend wanted to talk to me about "stuff" that has been going on in his/her life. During the course of our conversation they began revealing to me sin issues that have been going on for quite some time now. They told me that they had been carrying this weight around, and had very few people to talk to. This person told me that they had not come to me sooner because they were afraid that I would be disappointed in them. The conversation prompted serveral feelings in me, but the strongest feeling I felt was anger. Not at the person, not at the sin. My anger was directed towards the "church" (when I say church I mean worldwide, not the body I fellowship with) The church has allowed people to be fake. They have almost encouraged Christians to be nice and pretty. The fact is, we all have junk in our closet. Most marriages struggle, many people have taken drugs, drank a few too many drinks, been involved in fornication....you name it, a Christian has done it. But instead of talking about our issues, repenting and finding freedom, we put our efforts into making sure no one finds out. The results we get from that are large bodies of people who meet together on Sundays all wondering what the people to the right and left of them would think if they really knew what was going on in their lives. Christ came to set us free, we are free indeed. So what if someone finds out that my friend struggles, odds are there are many more just like him/her. The sad part of this issue is, with my friend, and with many others is that sin puts a wedge in our relationships. Not only do we deal with the shame of our sin, but we deal with that shame alone. So the enemy gets two points instead of just one, by separating us from our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Evie's New Toy

Yesterday at work, while I was getting Evie's bottle ready, I discovered a bouncie seat. I put her in it for a second and she absoulutely loved it. She laughed and played. So last night after Gary got off work we went to Target to get Evie, her very own bouncie seat. Here are some pictures from her playtime this morning.

Evie Pics

I'm sorry I have not been putting up photos as often as I should. I know Aunt Jilly is getting a bit anxious to see more pictures of her beautiful niece.

Evie and Augie

I forgot I had these pictures to post...this is from a couple weeks ago at Evie and Augie's first meeting. Apparently Evie is attempting to show Augie who the boss is.

Servants

Today Jerry taught about being servants. We should always seek to serve, just as Jesus was the ultimate servant by taking on all of our sins and laying his life down. He spoke of how in God's kingdom everything is in reverse, "The King will serve the slave." Even though this is a very basic teaching of Christ,(i guess everything He taught was basic...otherwise I wouldn't get it!) it is so important to be reminded. All too often we get caught up in what we are doing, rather than looking around us to see what we can to do serve others. Another thing that was wonderful about being reminded to serve is that it made me very aware of instances when people sought to serve me. Just last night my husband took the time to serve me...he took care of our daughter all evening, made dinner, and even set up a romantic dinner and a movie in our old VW bus. I know that sounds strange, but it was so much fun. He took my laptop, a DVD, some candles and pillows and set them all up in the bus. It was like camping. As silly and simple as this act was, he went out of his to do something that he knew I would think was fun....I pray that I could learn to serve him as he serves me. Even more importantly, I pray that we could learn to serve everyone even when we know there will be no gratitude for it.

Cousins

Evie and her new cousin Augustus (augie) had their first meeting over labor day weekend. Here are some pics of these 2 beautiful babies for your viewing enjoyment.

New Augie Pics