we are 2 weeks away from our remembrance and celebration of Jesus.
would love for you to join in.
Good Friday Service @ 4 + 6.30, Neighbor Party w. Tacos + Egg Hunt @ 5.45.
Outreach Saturday @ Photos Hotdogs, free food + flowers 12 - 3p
Easter Sunday 8.30 + 10 + 11.30,
all service have full kids program, bible message, + full kids program. Hope to see you there
if you would like to serve this easter, check in here.
do you ever feel like being a parent is too easy?
right, me neither. i don’t talk a lot about parenting in this space because like when you preach at church about spiritual warfare, it seems to only bring about issues in the topic you are talking about. so i would like to occasionally discuss some of the things i’m learning, but with the caveat that i’m a fellow traveler, not an expert.
kristen + i are blessed w. 4 kids, 15, 13, 11 yr old boys + a 6 yr old daughter. managing the vibes between them is constant. take them to a big game, they cheer for each other louder than anyone. but day-to-day, there is constant jockeying in the pecking order, consistent attempting to curry favor with mom + dad, persistent fussing at each other.
the other day, this verse stuck out to me
Genesis 25:27-28 - “Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.”
the story of Jacob + Esau is the story of siblings whose lives became defined by their poor relationship with each other. i found my review of this story through a parenting lens grief inducing.
Youthful resentment became adolescent brutality became adulthood estrangement because the parents divided the kids.
kristen + i want to help our organize grow in adults who love God and contribute to their community, not adults trying to overcome their wacky childhood. but we have our own challenges as parents managing siblings. sometimes when we see a child exemplifying a trait that annoys us in each other, we react in not the best way
HYPOTHETICALLY …
one of the kids wakes up going full speed verbally …
that’s like me and can be annoying to Kristen.
one of the kids grabs food and starts eating it without checking to see whose it is ..
that’s like me and drives Kristen NUTS !
i have couple in reverse about Kristen, but not for public consumption :)
when we are at our best, we partner to develop the strengths + weaknesses in EACH child.
when we are at our worst, we prefer some parts of the work + ignore others.
3 ways to Partner not Prefer
1. Keep the Marriage at the Center.
i have heard said, it’s impossible to be a good husband and bad father. we have had to learn to cultivate space for the twice of us, we parent better that way. when we are annoyed with each other, it inevitably bleeds into our parenting.
2. Share All of It.
kristen watches sports with the boys. i help clean with them. we both help with school work. we both drive them to sports. we both make sure everyones hair is cut. it’s not that we don’t tend toward different roles, it’s that we participate fully in everything our kids need.
3. Develop Uniquenesses.
we don’t desire for our kids to be the same, but the best versions of themselves.
this should be reflected in how we operate with them. we don’t compare math grades or 3 pt shooting to each other, but to the best we can do.
hope some of this helps .. blessings to all parents.
The last few weeks I’ve had a yearning for heaven. I am happy, life is going well quite honestly aside from the normal challenges of day to day life but it started when someone recently passed away that was in the youth group Luke and I led. When I first heard, I was saddened for her family and their deep loss and then in the same token I was thinking about how lucky she is to get to experience the fullness of God’s presence and know that her faith has become sight as she stepped into eternity after a few years of deep suffering.
Then, in my Thursday morning class we were talking about how we live in the not yet of our eternal hope But knowing about Heaven and what the Bible does say about it does encourage our daily walk with God as it gives hope in the midst of the struggle. There is more than what we can touch and see right now.
One of my favorite verses about heaven is Revelation 21:4. It says, “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” The struggle here on earth to keep going in the midst of hurt, heartache and pain is real and yet this verse gives us hope that our eternal state if we choose life with Jesus won’t always be that way. I also see His nearness to us in this verse, someone standing far off can’t wipe away your tears only a Father who is attentive and near can do that. I don’t know about you but this excites me for what is ahead, there will be complete freedom from the curse of sin when we get there and all that entails.
I also love what Revelation 21:22 says about God’s presence in heaven. It reads, “And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.” No temple could hold his presence; we are going to love being eternally in His presence. The fact that Heaven needs no additional light other than God the Father further implies that we won’t experience that struggle of darkness there.
I was literally thinking about all of this as I was driving my son to school this week and on the radio came the song Hymn of Heaven that reiterates a lot of this truth (I promise you that this really happened)! Take a listen if you need some encouragement. I don’t know where you find yourself this week but every day we are a step closer to eternity and we have to make that decision for ourselves because there is going to be a moment where we have to stand at the judgment seat of Christ. Beyond that, there’s so much beauty if we choose Him and we choose life. And in the ‘not yet’ that is our time on earth we can live with assured hope of the future to come which indeed is bright!
What God’s Teaching Me
i’m is up this week, with a little snippet of what god has been teaching me
prayer for spring
our 2024 member book has prayers for the year. with the temperature changes + rain this week, this seemed like a perfect time for prayer for spring
Saturday Morning Book Review
Enduring Friendships - Bryan Loritts
i read this book, but i didn’t need to. i know the author and have already watched him live it. he’s been a good friend to me for a long time. not only that, he was a better friend when life was tough than when it was good.
bryan wanders into the complex world of lasting and adult friendship through the new testament book of Philemon. it’s a short read and a good one. i think it will help you build deeper relationships in an era when most people are losing significant ones.
this is good news,
luke + kristen