Our quiet week

Too quiet.

The girls have been in Florida with Natalie's parents since last Monday. So we've had the house to ourselves for a week. We've been able to eat all the things we like that the girls don't. We went out to an Indian restaurant we really like. Rachel's room was painted without too much "help." We've slept in. We've...

We miss our girls! We were good for about 2 days. Well, I was good for about 2 days. Natalie wanted them back the same day they left. But it's been good for us too.

They return tomorrow evening. We can hardly wait!

Church Transitions

My family and I attend the Burnt Hickory church in Marietta, GA. We have made many deep connections with the people there. We have been blessed to be a part of our church family.

The struggles with transition that our church is currently going through are painful to watch. Our elders are publishing "position papers" that basically represent that we, as a congregation and a movement, don't know what we believe. Heritage and scripture are vying for supremacy. Aargh!

And yet I know that God is God and I am not. I trust that His patience and wisdom are guiding this journey by His Spirit to mission and discipleship. May He be glorified as we struggle with our humanness.

Hi again - been a while!

Hello Blog World!

We returned from our excursion to Maryland in fine form. 12 hours up, 13 hours back. The girls did GREAT on the journey. I did all of the driving. The Honda also did great. A new gasoline additive I'm using, Fuel Power (www.lubecontrol.com) improved our mileage to about 27 on the trip. Our in-town mileage has jumped from 18 to 21. Give it a try!

I'm also celebrating because my car stereo is working again! Yippee! The power connections (amp to battery and ground) needed to be cleaned up. It's SO nice to have TUNES!

Our girls are off to Florida with Natalie's folks for the next week or so. Natalie always gets so sad when they're gone. But - we'll be able to paint in Rachel's room without "help" which will be nice. Plus a little time with just the two of us is always welcome in my book!

We had our church Christmas Party this weekend. We had a scaled down "band" of guitar, bass, and keyboard, plus my friend Carla McCormick singing. I thought it went well. Much more "low key" than with the full band. Attendance was WAY down compared to last year. I look forward to our church family being on the other side of this current "wilderness."

Speaking of which - our elders are publishing a few "position papers" on topics such as 1) Instrumental music, 2) Role of women, and 3) Marriage, divorce, and remarriage. The first two have been released. So far I'm underwhelmed. It seems as if they're not having a hard time stating that a lot of our practices are based on the traditions of our heritage (as opposed to scriptural dispensation). They're just having a hard time (it seems) defining what is and isn't valid based on scripture alone. For instance, the paper on music cited Eph. 5:13 at the top of the paper (just the reference, no words), but the "position" made no mention of that scripture as being relevant in any way (which, by the way, it is NOT relevant!!!). So I'm befuddled as to why it was referenced. Anyway, we'll see what shakes out over time.

Lord, please grant me patience, wisdom, and vision. I need Your Spirit to guide me to see every aspect of my life as you see it, and as it could be. Help me to trust you completely and submit my desires to you.