Looking For Home

My mind is whirling with 10 million things today. Not unusual, but if I quiet myself with Christ, I usually realize that only a couple are of importance. I would like to bend your ear a little and discuss a couple of them here today. It is, after all, MY blog. And I can bend your ear if I wanna-just be forewarned that I am going to do it so if you wanna click to something more interesting....this is your out.

Still here? Ok-here goes.

We are looking for a home church. Granted-we are probably going to be moving in a couple of months, but I would like a regular church to attend in the mean time. I am struggling with not having complete control over the raising of Seth, and it is important to instill the values that we know to be true as much and as well as we can-and put the rest in God's hands. (This is definitely a hard lesson He is teaching me, and I am having a hard time learning. Just being real, people.) I have ran into several problems when we look for churches. They are as follows:

1. I want to go to a church where the people are the church. I want to have somewhere to go that has outreach programs for the community and people that are really involved. It has been heavy on my heart lately that people in the US are ready to help other countries, but we have people in our own country going to bed hungry. I want to feel proactive in this. While I can do it on my own as well, and have been, I would love to be in a group of like-minded believers that are actually doing something about it.
2. I want a church that has a really great youth program. Even if we are here for a little while, I want Seth to feel like it's ok to be a believer. I want him to know that even if some people find it uncool, there are other people his age that are in the same boat and still making the right choice. Now-I realize that the number of people in a youth program or the amount of activities they do are no direct reflection on how good the program is. I would rather him be in a group of 10 kids that are authentic believers and their parents are the real deal, as opposed to being in a group of 100 kids who are Sunday christians. There is absolutely no way to call this until you have been somewhere for a while. We are just praying about it and trusting God to put us and Seth in the right place.
3. I want an authentic pastor. I realize that pastors, and their families, are real people. However, when you choose to follow a calling into the ministry, you agree to be held to a higher standard. After all, God has entrusted you to present the gospel to people, and for heaven's sake-you are being paid to do it! I want to know that my pastor is a pastor to his family FIRST, and to the church second. I want to know that he is the same when he goes home as he is when he stands behind that pulpit. If he struggles with something, then it is the body of Christ, the church, that should be praying for him and with him over it. It shouldn't be something that is hidden away in a closet, while we all put our heads in the sand around him and pretend it isn't happening. The most important thing is-I want him to be someone that I will trust to lead my husband as the spiritual leader of my home. I want to feel good about the teachings that my husband will receive from him and put into place in our house. I know these pastors exist, I am just having a hard time finding one!
4. Before I get emails telling me how I am sinful, etc. let me just say that I am fully aware that I sin every day. EVERY SINGLE DAY. I am honest about them. I lay them out. I struggle. I admit it. I am a work in progress-and will be until I get to Heaven. But the key word there was work-I am working on it. I refuse to go into the mode of pretending to be something I am not or putting up a facade-I will tell you my struggles, and if you can't deal with them then you can walk away. If more pastors were this way, I think our churches in general would benefit from them being authentic.

Whew-The other thing on my mind is finding a place to call home. We are struggling with things needing to fall into place all at one time. It is hard-and I am having to learn to give up control-again. But I am learning. The place we are looking at now is Greenville, SC. I would love to live there-but we are still waiting to see if it is in God's plan for us to be there. We shall see.

I will end this on a happy note. We are on our way home from Washington and soon to be out of the snow! Hallelujiah and amen! We have to make a stop in PA first, but at least we are headed east! I hope you all had a wonderful, and blessed Easter!