Going Forward

My last post was nearly a year ago. I could've titled this post the same as the last one. We've just come home from our vacation. It was wonderful, new, interesting and warm, well warmer than home!

This year I have some goals for me. I have some goals for our homeschool. I have some goals for my home and the keeping of it. I don't know if I'll remember this exists and continue writing here or if I'll forget again. When you have a lot going on something always has to give.

It's nearing one in the morning and I'm still awake. Tomorrow is church. I don't want to go. Isn't that sad? I would be just as happy staying here; watching the message online.

What has changed? I've had more than one discussion with various people over what has happened to church. Where did it go? There are some things I truly miss. Potlucks. Don't laugh, it's true! Community. I've said repeatedly that you can not force community. You either are one or you aren't. Living 45 minutes away from the area we attend church in means we aren't. We aren't going to be. My children are simply not going to have the same memory of church that I do. I grieve for that.

So it has me thinking, what is really important about church. Is it a message that challenges you? Is it worship songs that lead your heart to a place where your soul cries out to God praising Him? Is it Sunday School teaching Bible Stories and truths? Is it living near enough to truly be able to help if someone from the church needs help?

If I made a dinner for someone in the church we attend now it would be cold before I could deliver it. But the body of Christ, the Church, is not contained or defined by postal codes or townships.

So it occured to me this weekend to start looking around me. I live next door to a pastor. I could easily ask him if to let me know if I could make a meal for a family in need. My girls and I could deliver a hot meal nearby.

I read yesterday at the bottom of my aunt's Christmas letter that worship and service are used interchangeably in some scriptures. That thought has been moving around in my head since I read it. How can I act this out? How can I live it?

There are many things I want to grow in this year. They are the same things that I've had in mind for the last ten years. As my girls grow older I feel as though my time to do these is running short. While God has not put a time limit on my growth there is no denying that certain things must be lived now.

Some years I have a verse, a theme that God places repeatedly in my head and heart. Last year for homeschooling and life it was "Get wisdom, get understanding. Above all else, guard your heart." As I write this I can't say that there is a specific verse or theme but I have a sense of urgency. A sense that now is the time to act, to seek, to find, to change, to grow. It's time.