Recently, there was a circumstance with one of our good friends where he was doing something that Richard and I didn't agree with. So we told him about it. I'm not saying we shouldn't have done that (I still think our opinion is discerning and Biblical), but we definately should and could have handled it better. Perhaps - thinking out our thoughts beforehand, having specific scripture outlined, and certainly presenting ourselves in a more loving way. However, the point of this blog is not to analyze what we could have done differently. Needless to say, the conversation didn't go well, and we ended up alienating and offending our friend.
Well, it all worked out and we all apologized, and one might think that was the end of the story. But God had bigger plans for me.
Two thoughts kept running through my mind:
The first was part of a verse: Build each other up in brotherly love. (I couldn't remember any more than that, but I looked it up for you; it's Romans 12:10, and actually the whole idea is scattered throughout the NT).
The second thought was some parenting advice that I read or heard at one point and it was: for every time the criticize your child, you should encourage them 40.
So I merged these two thoughts to get: What if we send our friend 40 text messages telling him all the things we admire, respect, and love about him? What if we tell him that he's special to God and us? I know, it's a little radical and crazy. But, I determined that these thoughts were coming from God for two reasons. One, I often get crazy ideas, but usually I can't remember them five minutes later (momnesia), and two, they were convicting me.
I really expected Richard to laugh at me, but he didn't. He actually, although slightly self-conscious for a moment, agreed! So we spent all day yesterday text messaging our friend. It was a blast. At first he didn't know what was going on, but after about 20 of them, I think he got the idea. The result: instead of our friendship being awkward, it was made even stronger. It was great for Richard and I too, to do that act of ministry together.
So the lesson I learned: holding our friends accountable is good - Biblical, ethical, important, etc. But, we must not forget that our FIRST commandment is to Love God, and the SECOND . . . well, you know it!
(Note: I asked my friend if it was cool to post this before I did).
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Conversations with Evelyn, Part IV
Richard: This computer is gay.
Evelyn: Every time the computer is gay to me I just push bottons and then it's done gaying.
Evelyn: Every time the computer is gay to me I just push bottons and then it's done gaying.
Rollercoasters
Disclaimer: You probably won't care to read this. I'm writing it more for me:)
I've been on such an emotional roller coaster this last week, it's ridiculous. I'm all over the map, and right now I just feel plain anxious and even a little depressed. And it doesn't help any that I haven't been getting enough sleep, feel run-down, and my asthma has been acting up and the lack of oxygen just makes me feel so sluggish. Today is supposed to be laundry day/ clean the bathroom and bedrooms, and I just can't get up the energy to do it. And there's still milk on the kitchen table and floor from Riley spilling her cereal this morning. I just want Richard to come home, so he can give me a hug!!!
So after I wrote that first paragraph, I went and folded two loads of laundry (but have yet to clean up the milk) and believe it or not, I feel better.
Easter was good. David preached a great sermon yesterday, and the girls were so good I actually got to hear it. Sunrise at Calvary went well, despite the wrath of judgment I received from the organist for not having a bulletin. Why do we always have to have those things? Why does so much of our worship experience depend on reading from a piece of paper? Grrr. The kids did really well though; I'm so proud of the young men and women they're becoming.
After church we went to my parent's house for Easter dinner, I wish everyone could understand how good our family dinners are. I'm not exaggerating, I anticipate them weeks in advance. My Aunt Brenda fed Gigi sweet potatoes with all the sugar and butter and she loved them (of course). The Easter egg hunt was too much fun! Riley was having a blast, and she would get so excited she would pass up two or three eggs because she'd see another one off in the distance! Ah, I'm pretty sure 18-30 months is my favorite age! And I went to bed at 9 p.m.! I was so tired and Evelyn and Gigi were already sleeping, so I took Riley to bed with me, and out we went. I got really good sleep until about 6 a.m., and slept on and off until 9 a.m. I so needed it after the maybe 3 hours of sleep I got on Saturday night.
So I guess I'm working backwards in this post, which takes me to Saturday. It started off sleeping in (kind of) followed by a trip to the mall because I hadn't bought the girls anything for Easter yet. All was going fine, until we got home at 2:15 and Chad (the new guy in Affix) was supposed to be here at 3:30 p.m., which led to us cleaning. And all that went fine, and everything was clean but the kitchen and I asked Richard to finish it while I laid down for a minute because I wasn't feeling too well. That's when he made a comment about cleaning up my mess, which of course led to a fight because, you know, I never clean up any of his messes. Then I cooked an awesome dinner and took new pictures for Affix because of the band change (I'll talk about that later). The guys sat around and worked on music while I cleaned up some of the kitchen and put together the lasagna for Easter and Tuesday and one for the freezer. By the time we were finished it was after 10 p.m. This was then followed by a conversation that didn't go as well as I hoped which is still really bugging me, even though Richard assures me it's fine. So by the time we crawled into bed around midnight, Gigi decided to wake up and cry for two to three hours (I'm pretty sure she's teething). Then I definately couldn't go to sleep between worrying about the conversation and the fact that I was going to be exhausted on Easter.
Affix change: I'm not sure how many of you who read this actually know anything about Affix, but after the last drummer quit, the band was down to Richard (guitar/singer), Scott (bass/back-up singer who really didn't sing in the shows), and Eric a.k.a. Hank (guitar). Not much of a band, I know. So they devised this plan which I was not too happy about. Richard was going to move to drums/back-up vocals, Eric to bass, Scott to rhythm guitar because they picked up Jason to play lead. And they auditioned Chad to sing lead. This to me is absolutely insane! I mean, they've been at this two years, have all this music written and have spent over $1000 recording their CD. HOWEVER, I stood corrected because after one kind-of practice the other night, I can't believe how well it's going to come together. Chad is an amazing singer and I think probably just want they needed to take it to the next level. So we'll see . . . I'm really anxious about all this because I know, given the opportunity, Richard will want to quit his job to pursue this.
Add the earthquake in Italy last week, and that's pretty much why I feel the way I do!
I've been on such an emotional roller coaster this last week, it's ridiculous. I'm all over the map, and right now I just feel plain anxious and even a little depressed. And it doesn't help any that I haven't been getting enough sleep, feel run-down, and my asthma has been acting up and the lack of oxygen just makes me feel so sluggish. Today is supposed to be laundry day/ clean the bathroom and bedrooms, and I just can't get up the energy to do it. And there's still milk on the kitchen table and floor from Riley spilling her cereal this morning. I just want Richard to come home, so he can give me a hug!!!
So after I wrote that first paragraph, I went and folded two loads of laundry (but have yet to clean up the milk) and believe it or not, I feel better.
Easter was good. David preached a great sermon yesterday, and the girls were so good I actually got to hear it. Sunrise at Calvary went well, despite the wrath of judgment I received from the organist for not having a bulletin. Why do we always have to have those things? Why does so much of our worship experience depend on reading from a piece of paper? Grrr. The kids did really well though; I'm so proud of the young men and women they're becoming.
After church we went to my parent's house for Easter dinner, I wish everyone could understand how good our family dinners are. I'm not exaggerating, I anticipate them weeks in advance. My Aunt Brenda fed Gigi sweet potatoes with all the sugar and butter and she loved them (of course). The Easter egg hunt was too much fun! Riley was having a blast, and she would get so excited she would pass up two or three eggs because she'd see another one off in the distance! Ah, I'm pretty sure 18-30 months is my favorite age! And I went to bed at 9 p.m.! I was so tired and Evelyn and Gigi were already sleeping, so I took Riley to bed with me, and out we went. I got really good sleep until about 6 a.m., and slept on and off until 9 a.m. I so needed it after the maybe 3 hours of sleep I got on Saturday night.
So I guess I'm working backwards in this post, which takes me to Saturday. It started off sleeping in (kind of) followed by a trip to the mall because I hadn't bought the girls anything for Easter yet. All was going fine, until we got home at 2:15 and Chad (the new guy in Affix) was supposed to be here at 3:30 p.m., which led to us cleaning. And all that went fine, and everything was clean but the kitchen and I asked Richard to finish it while I laid down for a minute because I wasn't feeling too well. That's when he made a comment about cleaning up my mess, which of course led to a fight because, you know, I never clean up any of his messes. Then I cooked an awesome dinner and took new pictures for Affix because of the band change (I'll talk about that later). The guys sat around and worked on music while I cleaned up some of the kitchen and put together the lasagna for Easter and Tuesday and one for the freezer. By the time we were finished it was after 10 p.m. This was then followed by a conversation that didn't go as well as I hoped which is still really bugging me, even though Richard assures me it's fine. So by the time we crawled into bed around midnight, Gigi decided to wake up and cry for two to three hours (I'm pretty sure she's teething). Then I definately couldn't go to sleep between worrying about the conversation and the fact that I was going to be exhausted on Easter.
Affix change: I'm not sure how many of you who read this actually know anything about Affix, but after the last drummer quit, the band was down to Richard (guitar/singer), Scott (bass/back-up singer who really didn't sing in the shows), and Eric a.k.a. Hank (guitar). Not much of a band, I know. So they devised this plan which I was not too happy about. Richard was going to move to drums/back-up vocals, Eric to bass, Scott to rhythm guitar because they picked up Jason to play lead. And they auditioned Chad to sing lead. This to me is absolutely insane! I mean, they've been at this two years, have all this music written and have spent over $1000 recording their CD. HOWEVER, I stood corrected because after one kind-of practice the other night, I can't believe how well it's going to come together. Chad is an amazing singer and I think probably just want they needed to take it to the next level. So we'll see . . . I'm really anxious about all this because I know, given the opportunity, Richard will want to quit his job to pursue this.
Add the earthquake in Italy last week, and that's pretty much why I feel the way I do!
Sunday, April 12, 2009
News from Italy
http://www.abruzzo2000.com/laquila/
This journal is written by Pierangela Badia, a very distant relative of mine whom Richard and I met in L'Aquila in 2004.
This journal is written by Pierangela Badia, a very distant relative of mine whom Richard and I met in L'Aquila in 2004.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Communion
Last night we went to Maundy Thursday services at Coalbrook. It was progressing as usual . . . Riley was running around, playing hind-and-seek in the pews, going up front to get a better view. Evelyn was trying to be good, but really wanted to play with Riley. And Gigi, God bless her, was being her usual sweet-natured self.
Then came time for communion. (We let our children take communion, which is a different story and I'll let you know why if you care, but anyway). Evelyn got her bread and ate it, and said, "Umm, this is good." The result: Richard and I laughed through the rest of it. And for some time, I'm probably going to laugh during communion. This is why:
A conversation taking place at our last youth outreach event at Calvary:
Richard: So did you guys like this? What do you want to do next time?
A (an 8th grade boy who is stinking hilarious): Oooo, Can we have breakfast food next time? (All boys this age think in food).
All the kids: (Agreeing, liking that idea).
A: No! Communion bread!
S (a college age helper): Yeah! Communion bread is so good. We can make it and just not bless it!
Tears are seriously coming to my eyes right now. So funny.
Then came time for communion. (We let our children take communion, which is a different story and I'll let you know why if you care, but anyway). Evelyn got her bread and ate it, and said, "Umm, this is good." The result: Richard and I laughed through the rest of it. And for some time, I'm probably going to laugh during communion. This is why:
A conversation taking place at our last youth outreach event at Calvary:
Richard: So did you guys like this? What do you want to do next time?
A (an 8th grade boy who is stinking hilarious): Oooo, Can we have breakfast food next time? (All boys this age think in food).
All the kids: (Agreeing, liking that idea).
A: No! Communion bread!
S (a college age helper): Yeah! Communion bread is so good. We can make it and just not bless it!
Tears are seriously coming to my eyes right now. So funny.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
In Sadness
Five years ago, Richard and I had the opportunity to visit the place that my grandfather's family was from . . . the small town of Barisciano, Italy. It was an awesome thing to walk along the same streets that my great-grandfather had ran along as a child. To be in the churches they had worshipped in, and meet our Italian cousins. It will be a trip that we will always remember, but probably will never get to relive. As of April 6, 2009, most of the historic building and many of the homes were destroyed in the earthquake.
We have many distant cousins who still live there, some of whom we were able to meet. I wrote them a letter and am hoping that somehow it will reach them. Please pray for them.
In this week that we remember the death of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ. I am reminded that this life is full of pain, suffering, and sin. No matter how many vaccines we invent, no matter how many beauty and health techniques to master, no matter how great we make this life with all of our technilogical gadgets . . . it is but temporary. Our only lasting and eternal hope, comes from the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Amen!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Conversations with Evelyn, Part V and a Bonus Quote
Me: "Evelyn, you're adorable, too."
E: "No, I'm not."
Me: "Why?"
E: "Because in this life, you don't always win."
(I'm not sure if I should post this one, but I'm going to anyway).
Richard on CNN: "Can we change the channel now? They're getting a *** talking about Obama."
E: "No, I'm not."
Me: "Why?"
E: "Because in this life, you don't always win."
(I'm not sure if I should post this one, but I'm going to anyway).
Richard on CNN: "Can we change the channel now? They're getting a *** talking about Obama."
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