Our Church

Please read this article by ex-Register columnist Ken Fuson, which is in DSM Magazine. Everyone is talking about it, and I hope you read it to see why.

I grew up in a church that taught me churches must have pews and closed communion. We must wear robes, have candles and boring, sad music. We have to turn away people that look weird or don't belong to the town. And, when they come in we all stare at them. We only let certain people in our club and you must never wear jeans or put the wrong flowers on the altar. (The best one was when a volunteer was turned away because they weren't a member).

Can you see why I turned away from Christianity - and religion? How could I be involved in such an elitist club that isn't open to those that are different. A club that doesn't love.

How ironic.

None of that is in the Bible. Nothing about how big or small a church should be. Nothing about how the music should be, what you should wear or who is allowed to worship. Funny, none of those things I taught had anything to do with God. Or love.

I'm proud to be a part of a church that has taught be what being a christian is truly about - God.

So, on most Sundays now (not just Christmas and Easter) I walk into a huge building holding the hand of the man I love, smiling ear to ear. I shake everyone's hand who will let me and almost belt out, "Good morning!" I smile at the passion each musician puts into their work. I clap loudly, I sing loudly and I listen intently. I cry at Pastor Mike's words. God moves me.

Praise God for a church that has touched thousands of lives of people who had either given up or never given Him a chance.

That's what a church should be about. Praise God.

We're going green!

Ryan insisted on that title. =]

We aren't talking about the laundry list of ways we're going green in our new home (which we move into May 13). Nor the things we did this earth day to show our home how much we love it. We're talking about dinner.

I may have mentioned earlier that sometimes we just want a dinner of fruits and vegetables. We had one of those nights recently as Ryan gave up red meat and pork for lent. I gave up snacking, so we made a meal of healthy snacks. After filling our plates, we realized everything was green.

Avacados, pears, asparagus, star fruit and broccoli.

We're nerds. We know.

Speaking of lent, we're bummed that we had our last fish fry of the year last week. This year, we tried a new church near Drake because we heard a woman cooked authentic cajun. We didn't exactly find that, but what we did find was amazing. We'll return. =] It's nice that we're also supporting the Drake community!

Use, Reuse, Reuse, Reuse, Reuse... Recycle

I grabbed some Starbucks coffee for Breakfast Day at work and noticed this writing on my paper bag.

If you can't read it, basically it encourages its recipient to reuse it over and over again. Kudos, Starbucks! I will do just that! I carefully folded up my bag and took it home in hopes of using it again sometime soon.

That time has yet to come since last Friday. So I could use your help. Really, I just don't have that much to transport at this time. My hope is that each time I use the bag I take a picture and post it. I emphasize the word hope.

How would you use your Starbucks bag? What do you think I should use mine for?

Here is a picture from its first use.