Test2

Testing the new phone

Fwd:

Test1

Parenting

Yesterday Alexis posted on her facebook status a parenting question, one that was really more rhetorical in nature than advice seeking, nonetheless people chimed in. The question centered around, how much do we keep telling Emma that pulling on either of our cat's tails is a "no no"?

Now, the deal is both of our cats are really very patient with Emma and as of yet she has not been scratched, but yesterday the cat who we have never heard hiss (aka, Janek the nice one) actually hissed at Emma after she once again yanked his tail. The other cat hisses all the time, and scratches adults commonly, yet hasn't scratched Emma yet.

So, wer'e at this point of knowing the inevitable, Emma's going to get scratched at some point, even though we're watching her constantly, it's really a fact of nature that if you harrass an animal for too long, even the most kindest of animals, will get annoyed at some point. Where is the point where you let a child learn the "natural" consequences? I think it's at the point where Emma is, where she knows what NO means. But she doesn't quite see the "why" behind it. Of course we'll prevent it as much as possible, we're not to put her and the cats together and wait for her to get scratched. We do know at some point though, it will happen.

So, we'll continue to say no, and we'll continue to tell the cats no as well when they hiss or bat at people. Since we know that the life God has called us to involves all kinds of environments out side of our control (mainly life) we'll do our absolute best to explain life to our children, and that includes natural consequences which we'll do best to explain ahead of the events and consule, love, and bring light to their world after bad things happen.

It's hard for me to not be in agreement with other parents, especially my friends, but I also realize that God has shown us a lot in life through things. One piece of it is the fact that we don't have full control over Emma or even our own lives. what other parents do is what they have the option to do, even if we are not on the same page.

A jack of all trades, master of none.

If there is one thing that seems to have nagged me most of my life it is this idea that I am a jack of many things. Most of the time I see this as a gift, the ability to look at situations and address them somehow, even when I have very little expierence or knowledge of the issue at hand. Overall this gift has been an amazing thing to get me through life.

On the other hand I struggle with the fact that I'm really not a master of anything, that I'm pretty mediocre in many of the things I do. The only area where I feel like I'm an expert is in the IT field, which I'm glad that's where I work :). I know that this sounds critical, and that most of these feelings are distractions from the enemy to knock me off course. In the end though there areas that I would like to grow in, places in my life where I need a master, someone whose been there and focused their goals.

I'm willing to guess that their are others like me, not satisfied with the mediocre, desiring more of God, more of Him so they may grow in confidence and excellence. All at the same time, I must remember to hold onto His grace, realize that in a full schedule such as mine, it's the heart which God looks at, He addresses and He takes pride in. It's all about balance.

Christians give me heartburn

The inspiration for this, this morning is John 17 (the whole chapter) - Jesus' heart was and is for unity between believer, and if you read the rest of the Gospels you'll find that thread of truth for interacting with all people.

So if there is one thing that comes to my mind over and over, when concerning the Church, it's what Christians say and do. Often I read or hear Christians saying simply mean things about others, weather it's some snarky remark about a politician, or complaining about a pastor, and everything in between. While I know Jesus certainly criticized the religious leaders in his day, he was also God, we are not, and I don't believe the apostles went around (in a mean and critical spirit) poking at the Christian leaders in the early Church (nor really the government).

The thing is, we will fail at this, we'll slip up and koin our co-workers in this stuff, we'll get into our little Christian ghetto huddles and mock people. We lean on his grace in these situations, and the funny thing is that most of the people outside the Church have far more grace for these slip ups than us in the Church.

So we need to have an attitude of change, to apoligize, and to seek God's heart for all. Of course we have the right to question, critique, and correct - within the bounds of a loving heart.

Christians give me heartburn

The inspiration for this, this morning is John 17 (the whole chapter) - Jesus' heart was and is for unity between believer, and if you read the rest of the Gospels you'll find that thread of truth for interacting with all people.

So if there is one thing that comes to my mind over and over, when concerning the Church, it's what Christians say and do. Often I read or hear Christians saying simply mean things about others, weather it's some snarky remark about a politician, or complaining about a pastor, and everything in between. While I know Jesus certainly criticized the religious leaders in his day, he was also God, we are not, and I don't believe the apostles went around (in a mean and critical spirit) poking at the Christian leaders in the early Church (nor really the government).

The thing is, we will fail at this, we'll slip up and koin our co-workers in this stuff, we'll get into our little Christian ghetto huddles and mock people. We lean on his grace in these situations, and the funny thing is that most of the people outside the Church have far more grace for these slip ups than us in the Church.

So we need to have an attitude of change, to apoligize, and to seek God's heart for all. Of course we have the right to question, critique, and correct - within the bounds of a loving heart.

Serving in Poland

So what may serving in Poland look like?

The first thing it will look like is mentorship, coming alongside the christians we know and partnering with them to fufill God's dreams, promises, and build them up in their identity with Christ.

The second thing serving may look like is befriending our neighbors, our language school peers, and any other people of constant touch and letting them know the God we serve.

The third way we might serve is in with the currently established churches, small groups, and even with catholic groups (God willing) and pitching in wherever our visions and missions are similar.

That's pretty much it in a nutshell, it's about 10 plus years of ideas, the next ten is "going out"... we'll talk about that when we're ready to cross that bridge.