Changing Normal

So, here are the silly pictures for today :) The first is of the top of my TV cabinet-thing :) (and one of my favorite "Bear Collector" signs I got at a craft show...the 2nd is of one of my end tables, with my new salt box house with a lite in it...there's also an old-timey looking flag on top, too, but that got chopped off in my picture. Anyways, Mom got me that for Christmas this year, too :) I love my jar & my little candle that King's Mom got me for Christmas, too :) Then the last picture is of the other end table, and that's mostly bears & stuff :) Daisy got me the set of 3 bears with the wagon (the 2 bears inside the wagon & the one behind it). Blah, blah, blah, I know :) If we ever "upsize" again, I'd like to get a house with a "formal" living room, and a separate dining room...I'd move my bears into the family room, and could really go REALLY primitive in the "formal" room...Think Olde Farmstead!! LOL :) I love that store just because it's close & convenient...I know there are other stores around with the same stuff MUCH cheaper, but Farmstead just smells good, too!! LOL :) I know, I'm a dork, and you're thinking, "Alright, already, enough with the decorating stuff!!" LOL :)

I wanted to tell you all how powerful, even with just 2 ladies coming on Sunday nites, this small group study is!! It's awesome!! I really believe that it's a message the church (in the broad sense) should hear, and really try to live out. Just awesome. Anyways, there are money troubles at our church...we have a mortgage over $700,000, and we, as a church, are ALWAYS strapped for cash...and it's VERY hard to fund ministries & outreaches, as well as pay the bills & the mortgage. When the church first started, there were a lot of pledges, so they went ahead and built...well, a few years down the road, there was a split, and among them, some very big pledgers...plus, there was a lot of credit open at a lot of different hardware stores around, electric co., water, and it just made a bad situation worse...which brings us pretty current...I believe all of the credit is taken care of, but there's still this HUGE mortgage, and it's our stumbling block as a church...Anyways, we're also a tithing church, which means that we tithe to missionaries off of each offering, which I think is pretty neat...I've not heard of a lot of churches tithing...sure, giving & donating, but not a consistent tithe, and as part of the major beliefs of the church...Anyways, maybe it's more common than I think, but I hadn't ever heard of it!! :) LOL So, that brings me to this study...2 totally different groups have seen this series (well, or in the process), and have not only been spoken to about our personal lives, but the church has been brought up!! Almost in the same instances!! LOL :) It's a God thing, and only confirms that everyone is trying to get on the same page...In both groups, it's been brought up to do this study on Sunday morning for church, because there are a lot of people there on Sunday morning who aren't willing/available/responsive/whatever to anything BUT Sunday morning, ya know? I'm sure ya'll have/know people like that!! :) And, it's always the same people at the potlucks, Wed. nite, Awanas, business mtgs, so it's always like preaching to the choir...I think it's imperitive that this message gets out to the WHOLE church...and it will step on toes, I can guarantee it, but we need to pray & fast that people's hearts & minds are open to what the Spirit is trying to tell them, and not, "Well, I already tithe, this is dumb" and shut down through the rest of the message...

Okay, off soapbox...Please, just keep our church in your prayers!! There are so many possibilities, and so much potential for this to be a booming church!! Not just numbers, but spiritually, which is the most important thing, anyway :)

Boy, did I say I was off my soapbox?!?! LOL :)

Well, thanks for hanging with me, there, for all that!! LOL :) If you just skimmed, that's Ok, too :) I just needed to vent....Oh, I didn't even get around to what this is all about, anyways!! LOL :) I'm pretty sure you've figured out the tithing part, but one of the things I love that he says is, yes, tithing was in the "law," but Jesus never said to NOT follow the law...in fact, he always challenged the priests & disciples to go BEYOND the law, meaning, Jesus always takes the law the extra mile(s) whatever the case!! LOL :) "When someone says to me, 'Oh, but that 10% was under the old law, and we're living under Jesus,' I always reply, "Oh, then you give more?" (paraphrased quote from Robert Morris) I LOVE that!! :) I hope I'm not confusing everyone!! LOL :) Oh, just go get his book!! I think you can find it cheap on Amazon!! :) Because it's not just about money...it's about where our heart is...it is SO easy to overlook our finances as an area of our lives to give to the Lord, but He owns that, too :) Just an AWESOME series, and it's spoken to me on so many different levels...

Okay, seriously, I'm done!! LOL :) I can kinda be like my dad...when he's really excited about something, he can't stop talking about it...I guess I get it honest!! :)

King had the day off today, and we ended up taking Princess to see Dr. Matt :) I REALLY like him :) Anyways, she's still got a cough (it's been since before Christmas), so I called today, and they got us in. Everything looked/sounded clear, he said, but it's probably a sinus infection...she comes by that honest, too, from her daddy. King is awful about getting sinus infections..Anyways, we got an antibiotic perscription, so will give her that. Can you believe she's gonna be TWO in a couple of weeks? I'm torn on whether or not to have a big party for her, or to have a "meet at Marion's" party for her & her Daddy...I'm leaning towards a family party for Princess, and then a surprise "meeting" at Marion's for King's 30th!! :) That's the difficult thing about their birthday's being so close together!! LOL :) Oh, well :) Anyways, after Dr Matt's we went to Wendy's and had lunch, then took a long leisurely drive home (Princess fell asleep, btw)...It was SO PRETTY today!! :) And warm!! :) Hard to believe it's January :) King had to be a Blockhead tonight, too :)

I'd better go...I think King wants to go to sleep early tonight...It's been a good day :) I'm tired, even though I got to sleep in a bit today...I think it's TOM coming (time of month)...I can't seem to STOP EATING, either, so that's gotta be what it is!! LOL :)

TTFN :)