Very Well Said!

I am currently reading Lifestories by Mark Hall (the lead singer and songwriter for the Christian musical group Casting Crowns. This book discusses how God spoke to him as he wrote many of his songs. Last night I was reading the chapter about the song If We are the Body. His insight is one many of us already know, but he says so nicely I wanted to write it here.

First Corinthians 12 peeled away a big layer. I learned that everybody has a ministry in the Church. Ministry isn't reserved for only the people onstage. I once thought that if you didn't sing or act or speak - or if you weren't off in Africa wearing one of those little missionary shirts - you weren't in ministry. I mistakenly believe that I was just part of the audience. Eventually, I discovered that there is no audience in the Body of Christ. There are only believers. We're the body. We're the hands, the feet, the ears, and the toes, and when everyone in the body isn't performing ministry, the body suffers. It limps and crawls. It doesn't work. I was trying to show my kids that we're the first and primary way that Jesus is going to love on others. He's got to love them through us. That's His design for the Church. We are their clearest picture of Jesus, and how we act is how they're going to see God.

Way too many Christians forget that this is God's plan for the Church. They either sit back and become part of the "audience" instead of part of the Body or they take on the whole job and try to become the entire body themselves. I have known both types. No matter which way a person falls they cripple the Body of Christ. God made the Body to work together to win victories for His kingdom. God has given each of us different skills which we need to use in ministry to serve Him.

To use the words from If We are the Body...

But if we are the body
Why aren't His arms reaching?
Why aren't His hands healing?
Why aren't His words teaching?
And if we are the body,
Why aren't His feet going?
Why is His love not showing them there is a way?
There is a way.

Michigan/Ohio State Game

Okay, I know it has been a few weeks since the big game but this picture was really cute. Jeromy and Elena were supporting Ohio State and Alex is a Michigan fan (Go Blue!). We were enjoying the game at Uncle Jim and Aunt Judy's house. Some fun memories from that day included Uncle Jim's tirades during the game ("What about that number 9!") and frustration about the Beyonce commercial ("She's gyrating, GYRATING!" - a huge amount of disgust in his voice with hips swiveling). Anyways, here's the picture...

Oh...How Times Have Changed!

I am reading Under God by Toby Mac and Michael Tait (two members of DC Talk) as part of my devotion time. I read something the other night that really struck me.

Thanks to the constitutional mandate of Article I, Section 5, Paragraph 3, every debate and every vote that has taken place in Congress from 1774 to the present is recorded in the public records. As a result of this mandate, the american people are able to read exactly what happened when Congress first moved into the Capitol.

On December 4, 1800, just a few weeks after moving into the building, Congress decided that the Capitol would also serve as a church building. This fact is not only recorded in the Annals of Congress but also confirmed in the journals of various representatives and senators serving at that time.

For example, Senator John Quincy Adams recorded on Octoboer 30, 1803:

Attended public service at the Capitol where Mr. Ratoon, an Episcopalian clergyman from Baltimore preached a sermon.

Just a week earlier he'd written:

Religious service is usually performed on Sundays at the Treasury Office and at the Capitol. I went both forenoon and afternoon to the Treasury.

Thus began the longstanding - and congressionally sanctioned - practice of using government buildings as houses of worship.

I think everyone would agree that this would not happen today. What has happened to turn our government and country away from the dreams of our forefathers.

There is no list!

That is the response we received at work just days after the failed levy. Everyone is worried about their jobs (with good reason) and rumors are flying! So, they informed us that there is not a list of cuts (at least not at this time). We don't necessarily believe that, but I'm not worried. Nothing is going to change if I worry, so I just need to relax and do my job. That is exactly what I am doing.

On a lighter note, the response of "there is no list" came at a funny time for me. My junior class is beginning a unit on Arthur Miller's The Crucible. To prepare for this unit we have been spending a lot of time talking about McCarthyism during the early 1950s. On the day that we received the e-mail about the "list" we had been talking about Hollywood during McCarthyism and the blacklist that circulated there. We had actually watched a clip from The Majestic where Jim Carrey's character is blacklisted but the studio denies that the list actually existed. Now, I am not comparing the school district to McCarthyism. I just find it funny that we were talking about that the same day the administration made that comment.

What's Going On?

I know it has been a little while since I have updated everyone. I have been incredibly busy. I'm not really sure why (isn't that the way it always is?). Anyways, we had our final meetings with our social worker, Robin. The meetings were very relaxed and we had a lot of fun.

I also was able to turn in our scrapbook pages for "the book" that the birthmothers look through. It looks very nice, thanks to Rhonda. Rhonda was the scrapbook warrior Friday night. She is very talented. She could have a business doing scrapbook pages for people who are too busy or do not have talent. Anyways, she worked and I sat back and watched (and helped a little). My mom and Michelle were also there and helped with their input as well.

After all these weeks and months, all we have to do now is sit back and wait. We have no responsibilities at this point. I am not going to say that there is no stress, there just isn't any right now. Just keep us in your prayers.

Good and Bad News

Well...let's start with the good news. Tonight we had our first meeting with our social worker, Robin. She is incredibly nice and I felt instantly comfortable with her. She asked us some questions and explained the next steps in the process to us (nothing really new) and then we scheduled our next meeting. She will come next Friday and meet with Jeromy and 2:00 and when I get home she will meet with just me for an hour. Then, our final meeting will be Monday (Nov. 19) at 3:30. This is going so fast. She says if I get our scrapbook finished we could be "in the book" by December. That means birthmothers will be seeing our information already! How exciting!

Now, the bad news. Our school district had a huge levy up on Tuesday. We are losing a lot of money due to state laws. In the spring, I almost lost my job (if you want a refresher or just don't know what happened click one of the following links: May 9, May 29, and June 5). Miraclously, I still have a job. However, our levy failed on Tuesday. This is not good. I had been told that if the levy failed there would be no saving my job a second time. My friend Michelle may also lose her job as well. I just don't understand why people wouldn't vote for a school district. It just doesn't make sense. One saving grace will be that they are planning on putting the levy back up in March (however, it will be larger due to the money we are losing at the beginning of the school year). We just all need to keep our fingers crossed and hope the voters in Oregon decide that education is important.

Busy Lives...

This past weekend has been incredibly busy, but great! Here is a brief recap:

1) We left Friday after school to visit Jeromy's family in Dayton. It was a great visit. We were able to visit his grandparents and play games with his mom and sister. It was a very nice time! We also celebrated my birthday this past weekend.

2) On Sunday afternoon, Jeromy and I headed off to Lafayette, Indiana for Jeromy to interview for a job there. Lafayette is about an hour north of Indianapolis and is the home of Purdue. Jeromy really liked the job and he hasn't made a decision about what he is going to do. However, it is looking like we will be staying in Toledo. It's a good job, but he doesn't see anything that makes it stand out. That would be fine with me if we stay in Toledo (it took us 4 1/2 hours to drive home this afternoon).

3) One last thing...we have been assigned our social worker and she is beginning her part of the home study this week. This is so exciting!

Trick or Treat!

Kelly just sent me some pictures of Alex and Kelly on Halloween. The first is Elena (dressed as a smore) and Alex (dressed as Indiana Jones) with Kelly. In the second picture they are with Kelly's friend Jenny and her daughter Makenzie. I know I have said this before, but...aren't they cute?