I guess I had never really thought of birth control in this way.  I had only thought about myself, my wants, needs…and the list goes on!  I think that the world’s view concerning birth control sweep into the church many moons ago and has now become an invisible  doctrine in many denominations.  So, where do you go to sort these issues out?  To the Word.  Like many other invisible doctrines, such as the need for teenagers to become vile sinners before becoming an adult,  the subject concerning being fruitful is very plain in the scripture…yet it seems so hard for us to trust God with this part of our lives.

We are quick to trust God for health, safety, and even eternity…but we fail in trusting him for our children, our fruit, our reward, our blessing.  Why is this?  Why have we chosen to follow the world’s pattern for abhorring life? 

 We haven’t been on a nice vacation(much needed), but we have been traveling for quite some time.  Our heads have been spinning for the last year or so, trying to figure out why we didn’t want to attend our church, subscribe to their worship styles, or allow our little ones to participate in the many programs available.  Nine hundred others thought this was a wonderful church, why were we so discontent?

After visiting a CREC church, several times, we finally feel like we are home.  The vacation, that  seemed to never end, has come to a restful stop.  There is much laundry left to sort, for we are starting to pick through all of our doctrine and theology, but we are home.  All the kids need bathing, in order to get a layer of the world off, but we are home.  Everyone is hungry, which is where the table comes into practice, but we are home.  Everything is somewhat disorganized and there are puzzle pieces everywhere, but we are home.

Soon enough the laundry will be in ship shape, the children will be all clean, the table will be set for Sabbath, and the puzzle pieces will have all come together to create a beautiful image of Christ in our home.

Vacations are filled with fun and excitement, but there’s no place like home.  We are so happy to be at home.

Well, Sky Cow Books has these cool little moleskin notebooks that are perfect for such a thing. I gave them each a notebook and pencil and told them to draw a picture of the pastor! LOl!  Only one was recognizable, but it kept the little hands busy for at least 15 mins and mouths quite too!  These notebooks are great to keep in diaper bags and purses.  Men can easily keep it in a pocket.  We also plan to use them for our nature hikes to journal our findings.

Here is the link to the notebooks:

http://www.skycowbooks.com/c-79-notebooks.aspx

Love these little notebooks…thanks Sky Cow.

Picture four kiddos(all under 7), great grandma’s hand embroidered table cloth(big mistake), cups full of sparkling red grape juice(mistake #2), and two adults who are flying by the seat of their pants.

You get the picture?

Of course great grandma’s table cloth is soaking in bleach water, spankings flowed like milk and honey, we ate, laughed, and some of us cried.  It was terrible and wonderful at the same time.

The highlight is when my dh said it was time to toast…the 7 yr old said, while raising his glass, “Oh, I’ve got it… To God’s Kingdom!”  We all heartily agreed and cheered,”To God’s Kingdom.”  My little knight had a better perspective on Sabbath than any of us!  Either that or he has listened to Narnia one to many times. He he! :}

I look forward to raising my little knights and princesses around our table and seeing the Lord bless our humble attempts to honor him.

Question….elementary I am sure….

So if I sin, then I wasn’t truely born again?  But we all sin and fall short, so it can’t be conditional in that sense.  I need some explanation here…is it conditional at all? 

So all of this covenant thinking has made me think of Abby and her pups.  Because of her “husband,” she and the pups have a covering per say.  They are special now, part of a lineage that is unique and brings much honor.  With this honor comes requirements.

I know this is a very poor illustration, but we are trying to make connections here.  You know, how does this covenant thinking work at home, in our marriage, in our family.  Little by little we are connecting the dots…we don’t have the entire picture, but we are headed in the right direction.

Oh, and we will have about 10 pups btw July1-4.   Let me know if you are interested.

Here’s the story.

I have a pentecostal heritage.  My father was saved at a revival after watching his disabled leg grow and become whole.  My mother followed in conversion shortly there after.  They exemplified Christ to us day and out.  I grew up in an Assemblies of God church.(AOG)

My husband has a holiness heritage.  His mother was raised in a holiness church and turned away from that when he was a child.  He came to know Christ after visiting a AOG church and decided to become a minister.

We met at a AOG college, married, and became youth pastors.  After many discouraging experiences in ministry, we were left wondering if this is what God had in mind for pastors and churches.  We left our position and moved to be closer to family and sort out some of our questions.  We bought our first home started raising our two boys and I began to long for more children.  This was physically impossible, so I put it aside until one day I heard of the great need for Christian foster parents.

My husband and I signed up for classes and began fostering orphans.  After the first girl came to our door, broken and hurting…we knew, this is ministry.  I held her tiny frame, and rocked her sobbing body to sleep, as we both sat silently with tears rolling down our faces.  That was four years ago and now we have two beautiful daughters that we have adopted through fostering.

I began homeschooling with Veritas Press and found books by the Wilsons.  We started listening to them on-line.  We have learned more in the last few months concerning biblical living and doctrine than all of our years of church, Sunday school, and college combined.  Sad but true.  We only blame ourselves, but see a deficiency with in our previous fellowship in the areas of education and family. 

We attended a conference on the family last weekend and were blown away by the teaching and fellowship.  We felt challenged and encouraged,  rather than guilt and loneliness.  We felt at home for the first time in a long time.

So that’s where we are…still seeking.

There aren’t any CRE churches close by, there is a Reformed Presb. church in our city, but we are unsure about the differences btw the two.

Any advice?