Casual Sunday

Woke up today to the incessant rumble of a chain saw followed by trees collapsing outside the bedroom window. Its about time they came to exterminate the excess foliage, but why on Earth on a Sunday morning at 8am?

We wore shorts to church today, which isn't a big deal. We just try to look a little spiffier on Sunday. The service was a great one today. The pastor was talking about "God's calling" when lo and behold, someone's cell phone went off. Without missing a beat, the preacher says, "Is that Him now?" That's just one thing I love about our church--a good laugh from time to time. As a child, I remember being terrified of preachers because the ones I always saw seemed to jump around, screamin and sweatin all over the place.

Christianity is very important to me, and though I'm obviously not a model Christian, I do claim the Lord as my Savior. I was not raised in a particular church, though I've always had a relationship with God. Last year my husband and I became members of our church, which was an entirely new experience for me. I've never been able to quote the Bible, so I've always felt weak when it came to religion. But I'm learning, and I am making an effort to "change my ways," though it hasn't happened overnight. It is weird, especially after you've lived a certain way all your life. Maybe that sounds weird, I don't know. I mean, I'm not a heathen, nor was I raised by heathens, but I was never all that familiar with what it truly meant to be a Christian. I've lacked a certain discipline to fully live that lifestyle, which, unfortunately, is part of the reason Christianity is so misunderstood. Not solely because of MY lifestyle, but because of the fact that people are quick to cry "hypocrite" when they see a self-proclaimed Christian wrongdoing in some way. Nobody is perfect, though.

That's something I liked about a recent sermon. The preacher uses church as an example: Members sometimes see things they don't like or hear things they don't want to hear, so they move on to another church. Then the process repeats, yet the moving member doesn't stop to consider that its actually he/she that has the issue or realize that there will be fault everywhere.

Sadly, the same goes for relationships. We're all out to find perfection, or at least someone who is perfect for us. Then the flaws come out and its on to the next, rather than working things out or overlooking the faults. Check out the divorce statistics sometime. Scary!

So in a nutshell, I'm a work in progress. Don't hold it against me if I don't act the part. I'm not trying to be self-righteous, either--just expressing where I stand.

Some things I wouldn't advise:

1. Yelling "Git 'er done" to the guys working on power lines.
2. Slurping down communion and saying, "Mmmm...That was YUMMY!" aloud.
3. Writing a bad check for offering.