Church

I've been reading this book called Radical by David Platt for the last few days, and I have been incredibly challenged by it. As I was thinking and praying about all that God has laid on my heart through this book, and other things I've been studying the last couple of weeks (can we say NO SCHOOL?!?!) I was struck with a thought. Now, I have very few original thoughts, and in all honesty, someone else has probably thought of this long before I did, but God really impressed this on my heart last night, and I wanted to share it with you.

The problem with the church in America today is that we think of church as a place that we go to be with other believers on Sunday, or maybe Wednesday night. But we are mistaken. We ARE the church! Every single minute of every single day, every single person who believes and has committed their life to Jesus Christ IS THE CHURCH! And somehow we have forgotten that.

What if we all started living like we ARE the church?

Here I Go Again

I keep saying that I have this goal to journal or blog every day, but life always seems to get in the way. Isn't it funny how throughout your life you say, I'll have more time when I _________, but when that time arrives you find that you were foolishly mistaken. I digress.

My goal is to journal/blog about what God is teaching me, because boy, over the last couple of weeks, He has SLAMMED me. First, I watched Passion 2011 Live online and WOAH! I was so convicted about all the ways I've been living for myself, in my own power. Then, I started reading the book Radical: Taking Back Your Faith From The American Dream, and WHAM! Hit again! (Why does this post sound like an old Batman episode?)

How sad it is to me that so many people out there, like me, call themselves "Christians," but barely follow Christ at all. God knows I truly desire this in my heart, but all too often I coast through life as if on autopilot, just coasting on my own power from one day to the next. And I just can't help but think that he has a bigger plan for me. He has a bigger plan for all of us. He is able to do so much more than we can think or imagine, so why do we try to maintain control? Why on earth do we think we can do better? I have no idea. All I know is from this day forward, it is my prayer, that I will live radically. Not in a crazy way, but living in the belief that God is able to do more with me than I can do on my own and constantly listening for his leading and following. Life is too short to do otherwise.

It's Been a While

Well, I haven't posted in a while, and the reasons are two-fold.

1. I haven't done much of anything worth sharing. and

2. No one is reading this anyway.

But I will persevere. I never, never give up (unless I am eating Mexican food, in which case, I must give up, or else I will regret the massive amount of food I just ate a little later).

So, I went to the beach, and that was fun, except for the fact that I have become so germophobic that I could hardly sleep in that bed without thinking of who might have been in it before me, and I couldn't get in the pool without coming back to the room to take the hottest, soapiest shower ever to wash away whatever might be floating around in there. But the kids had fun and we all made it back in one piece (and surprisingly, healthy), and that's what counts.

My summer vacation is rapidly winding down, with only 2 weeks to go before school starts. About this time each year, I begin feeling very excited about the newness of a new school year, but equally sad that my carefree summer days are almost over. It has been a relaxing summer, exactly what I needed.

So that's what's going on with me. Now, I'm going to go read, because in 2 more weeks, I won't have time to read anything but children's books. :)

Minivan Mama

You know that saying "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me"? Well that's pretty much how I feel about this particular topic: the minivan. Three years ago, I lost my mind and bought a powder blue minivan. I have one child. Why on God's green earth do I need seating for 7? Well, I succumbed to the pressure of all the other moms I know driving minivans and bought my own, and after about 6 months of not being able to fit into the parking place, and trying to figure out exactly how you go about washing a car that you cannot even touch the top of, I decided I was NOT a minivan mama.

So I sold the minivan and bought an Honda Accord. I LOVE this car. It is shiny and red, it has a sunroof, leather seats, a 6 cd changer (does anyone listen to cds anymore?), and is absolutely perfect for my little family of 3.

But....

I've been thinking. If I had a minivan, then Caylee could invite friends to go with her more. And my husband's family can ride WITH us when we go to the beach this year, and various other thoughts about the merits of a minivan. So, I confess, I am thinking about the minivan again. Last time, this didn't go over so well, so I'm really afraid of committing to a minivan again.

But...

I'm almost 3o now. I can be a minivan mama, right?

Lord, help me.

Saving $$

So I went to CVS today to pick up a prescription and $14.50 in Extra Bucks printed out on my receipt. If any of you have ever started this coupon thing, you know how addictive it is, but others of you will think I am completely out of my mind here. I proceeded to spend the next hour of my life slowly scanning the aisles of CVS debating which products I could use most and which I had coupons for, and which I could possibly earn even more Extra Bucks after purchasing. I know, it's an addiction. One day I'll be standing in front of a group of people..."Hi, my name is Denee, and I haven't used a coupon in ___ days." I'm thinking maybe this is a real need for people out there right now - Couponers Anonymous or something like that.

So anyway, I managed to buy about $40 worth of stuff for a little over $3. So maybe the psychosis is worth it in the long run...at least for my checkbook anyway.

Dance, Dance

So we're sitting here at Caylee's dance studio waiting for her to finish dance "camp." I'm not entirely sure that you can call 3 hour and a half sessions a "camp," but whatever. You cannot even begin to imagine the torture of sitting in a tiny waiting room that is about eleventy billion degrees while listening to various Disney songs FOR AN HOUR AND A HALF!!!! Maybe next year we'll re-think the whole "dance camp" idea.

So as I sit here melting, I thought I'd get something done...but no, it is much more fun to read blogs, plan Disney vacations I'll never take, and the like.

And today is only the first day of dance "camp."

There are still two more to go.

Should be a fantastic week.

Hello out there!

Well, so I haven't posted in quite a while. And that's okay, because no one is really reading this anyway. But someone reminded me today that it is a bit cathartic to "get it all out", and at the same time, rather nice to have some record of all the craziness that goes on in your life, so here's another attempt at the blog.

So let's see, what's going on right now...

It is the hottest summer, like, ever. I am in a constant state of sweaty. Really, it's gross. Interestingly, at the same time, I have decided to try this "all-natural," "no chemicals" thing, so I am considering discontinuing the use of anti-perspirant. I'm not sure why I stumbled upon all this research telling me how bad anti-perspirants are for your health at precisely the time I am having the sweatiest summer of my life, but there you go. File that under TMI.

In other news, lightning took out our flat screen tv last week. Bummer. It was a rough few days there when I couldn't watch Cheers when I woke up at 4:30 in the morning (on closed captioning so I didn't wake anyone). Until Chad took me to Wal-Mart and bought me a new tv. So life is good again and I can watch as many Hallmark movies as I want.

In other words, it is the most exciting summer ever. Or not. But I'm having a great time anyway. :)