Why I Go to Church

It is Saturday night.  My Sunday school lesson for the 4 and 5 year old class is planned.  The girls' dresses are laid out.  My purse and Bible are near the door.  My alarm clock is set.

But,WHY!?!?

About a year ago I wrote a post about why I enjoy going to our evening church services.  I'm going to backtrack just a little bit today and tell you now why I go to church at all.  (This is probably more for me than for you.)  Marc and I have sadly begun to realize lately how many people who were "raised in the church" now don't want to go.  It has come up in many different circles: among Marc's co-workers, through Facebook comments, among family, during youth staff meetings, and in conversations with several friends.   WHY?!  As we've talked to these people, we have had to really evaluate why we choose to go.  Every church has problems.  Every believer is guilty of being a hypocrite.  American "Churchianity" is certainly not what Jesus had in mind when he commissioned the apostles to go and make disciples.  Our traditions...lingo...programs...can often detract from the real message of the gospel.  So, why do we go?!  Here is the list that we came up with:

1.  It is a command of God.  In Hebrews that we are told not to give up meeting together...and all the more as we see the day of Jesus' return approaching!

2.  We are vital parts of a body, living stones in a temple, branches on a Vine, sheep in a flock, and members of the household/family of God.  All these metaphors are straight from the Bible and they describe how interdependent each believer is among the whole community of Christians.

3.  Regular Bible teaching is foundational to our spiritual growth.  Books, blogs and sermon pod casts are great - but they don't allow you to ask questions and have follow up discussion with the author/speaker.

4.  God wants us to declare His praise to other people and with other people through singing, prayer and verbal testimonies. 

5.  It provides an opportunity for us to learn from more mature Christians.  Marc and I particularly love our interaction with  the older/wiser people that go to MFBC.  They pray for us, invite us over for meals, love on our girls.

6.  It is a place where our spiritual gifts can be put to the best use.  These gifts were given to us, not for our own benefit, but for the benefit of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  We sin when we're not using them to build up the body of Christ.
 
7.  Going to church keeps us accountable.  Many of our closest personal friends go to church with us.  We enjoy spending time with them outside of "church hours."  They see how we get along in our marriage, how we treat our kids, what movies/TV shows we like to watch, how we spend our money and free time.

8.  We go to church to be encouraged, and to encourage other believers.  There is nothing like hearing that someone was praying for you during the week or hearing about how God is at work in someone else's life to build us up and motivate us to keep going.

9.  It is good for our children.  We do our best to read Bible stories, memorize verses and songs, and teach our children good moral values at home, but we are so grateful for the many teachers that our girls have in Sunday school, AWANA, VBS, etc.  Yes, they may wander away from the Lord as they grow older...but what is planted in their hearts right now CANNOT BE ERASED!

10.  We go to church to participate in the biblical practices of baptism, giving, the Lord's Supper, discipline, and Christian fellowship.  These are public, corporate events that cannot happen outside of a church community.

We will probably think of many more reasons to go to church, but those are enough to keep us faithful to our local congregation of believers.  Church is not a club!  (Remember this convicting video?!)  Unfortunately, many people in America today go to church with a consumer mentality.  Will I like the worships style?  Does the pastor's way of preaching speak to me?  Are there good programs for my kids?  Are the people there nice?  Etc.  It's not about that.  It's not about us.  It's about HIM and the glory He receives when His children are obedient to Him and loving toward one anther.  This is our greatest JOY!

If you have some time to listen to sermons this week, I recommend this one by John MacArthur on the importance of our personal involvement in a local church, and this one by Francis Chan about being a real Christian.  (His horse manure/feather duster illustration is particularly convicting!)

And - if you can add a reason to our list, please leave a comment.

A fun trip to the dentist (WHAT?!)

I find it rather ironic that I follow up a post about our trip to a candy store with a post about our visit to the dentist.  But this one was actually - can I really say it? - fun.  Missy has been working for a dental office in Boise for several months now, so we decided it was time to schedule the girls for some appointments.  Valerie would have preffered to help Missy at the front desk, but she eventally let the dentist look at her crooked little teeth as well.

 I have never had a good experience with a dentist, so just seeing these tools makes me break out in hives.  Thankfully, the girls do not share my fear and dread of dental work.  They enjoyed their cleanings and don't need to go back for another six months.  WOOHOO!  As soon as we got home, this is the scene that I saw in the playroom:

Today in home school we covered:

Modern History

Counting

Colors

Predicting/Critical Thinking

Patterning

Weights and Measures

Foreign Language: Italian

Money

The 5 Senses

... at Powell's Sweet Shoppe!

(Gotta love home school field trips.)

We learned the history of the game of CandyLand.  We counted 31 flavors of Jelly Bellies.  After making a variety of predictions, we learned that red (Very Cherry) is the most popular color of Jelly Belly.  We made patterns with the colorful sugar in our pucker packs.  We used the scales and registers behind the chocolate counter.  We leaned the word "Gelato!"   And we thoroughly enjoyed the sights, smells and tastes of this wonderful little shop.

Family Night...a kid's eye view!

Yes, we're still alive.  Blog posts have been few and far between this year, but that's only because we've been too busy with other things.  I realize that I have some serious catching up to do, but I just had to start here tonight.  You see, I pulled out our old point and shoot camera this week and found some hilarious pictures that were taken by one of my girls during a recent Thursday evening Cook family get together.  This is what "Family Night" looks like from her vantage point:

 

This last shot will clue you in as to who was behind the camera on this particular night.  Who can resist a self portrait, right?!

And, in case you're wondering where Annie Jane is in all of these photos, she is hidden away in the play room surrounded by piles of Polly Pocket dolls and accessories.  For sure!

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Does your grandpa eat ice cream like my grandpa eats ice cream?

I think that there was some frozen yogurt underneath there somewhere.

My Grandpa Obenchain had a birthday this weekend and we took him out to celebrate at U-Swirl last night. It was fun to watch him select his flavors and toppings.  He's very eclectic...and still a kid at heart.

Happy Birthday, Grandpa!

We love you.

Redeeming the Mundane Minutes

I will be the first to admit that I was not completely thrilled to have Marc spend his Christmas bonus on an iPad.  Sure, it sounded fun...but completely unnecessary.  I didn't want another electronic gadget causing quarrels among the girls, tempting me to waste time on the internet, sucking away hours of precious life, etc.  Now I will be the first to tell you what a blessing that little machine has been around here.  It has redeemed HOURS of mundane activity for me...while getting ready in the morning, while folding laundry, while cooking meals, while mopping the floors and so on.  These days, I can't wait to have a mundane mommy task to do!  That's because I know that I will get 10 minutes of good teaching from the likes of John Piper, Steven Cole, Timothy Keller, Francis Chan, etc.  Over the course of a day I can easily listen to at least one whole sermon.  That's time and money well spent spent, don't you think?!

(Words with Friends is pretty fun too!)

PS. Thanks to any of you who prayed for little Kirstin.  She was released from the hospital this week and is isolated at home, still taking oral antibiotics.  I wanted to give you an update from her mom and grandma:

Andrea wrote ... Today we went for our final Dr. visit for now....in a few months we will be meeting with the neurosurgeon and an ear specialist. We are encouraged as Kirstin's blood work looked good. A few days ago she started rolling over again, yesterday she sat up, today she wanted to crawl a bit on a bed etc. It is so exciting to see her regain her strength. She is a very sweet baby. The 3D pictures of her fracture are unbelievable...it is hard to believe all our baby has gone through but God is good.
Kirstin's Grandma wrote ... Little one year old Kirstin (at home) sat on her own yesterday, has already crawled a little, smiles often, is content and peaceful. Her personality is still not the same but we are so happy for her progress. Thank you Lord and thank you to all who have prayed and been part of her medical care. So many things for which to be grateful!!!!

Please Pray for Kirstin

After dropping my Facebook account over two years ago, I felt compelled to reactivate it this week.  I had heard (via another blog) that one of my dear friends from high school was in a difficult situation and needed prayer.  I couldn't get any other information and I knew that all the details and updates would be on her Facebook page.  I was right.

My Mom has given me good advice when bad things happen:  "Go to the Throne, not the phone."  I have done that.  God has not let this friend out of my mind and I have been praying constantly for her.  But now I'm also going to the phone - or in this case, to the blog reading world.  Please pray for my friend Andrea Higdon, her husband Kristjan and her children...especially baby Kirstin.  Kirstin turned one last week, but she was in the ICU for her birthday.  I still don't know what happened, but about 10 days ago she suffered a major fracture on her skull.  That sounds bad enough, but really the fracture is not the issue at this time.  Since the injury, Kirstin has had a persistent high fever, low appetite and partial facial paralysis due to an infection of meningitis.  She has already had a blood transfusion, a couple of CT scans and is receiving antibiotics and nutrition intravenously.  She is really fighting for her life!

Andrea and I were missionary kids together in Brazil.  Her husband went to Master's while I was there.  Andrea and Kristjan have been living on the beautiful island of Madeira - off the coast of Portugal - for several years.  Kirstin is in a local hospital that is terribly understaffed.  The nurses are kind, but the doctors have not provided the best of care.  You can imagine how difficult this must be for Andrea and KJ as parents.  Please pray for:
     1.  Healing for Kirstin - that the antibiotics would work, no new infection would develop and that the fever would go away.  Pray for her tiny body to sustain all the pokes and prodding.
     2.  Strength for Andrea and KJ - They split their time between the hospital and their three other children  at home.  Thankfully, Andrea's mom was able to fly over there to help out.
     3.  Good Doctors - That they would be kind, thorough and competent in their care.
     4.  God's glory - The Higdon family is being watched by many people on the island and at that particular hospital.  Pray that even in this horrible trial, they would maintain an excellent testimony for the God they love and serve.  Pray that their faith and hope would remain strong.

You can read more general information about them at their website, here.  Thanks for praying for them!