I Can Only Imagine

When I lay my sweet babies down for bedtime, I play a worship CD for them. It is the same every night. The first song on the CD is "I Can Only Imagine." Today in the car, the song came on and I hear my middle child, who is 2 - almost 3, just belting out the words - at least trying to. It melted my heart. I could play any song, and my 2 year old would learn the words through repetition, but to know that he his learning about our Heavenly Father and that someday those words will make it into his heart is such a gift.

Garbage in/Garbage Out is so true and the opposite is true. The good things that we put in, means that good things will come out as well.

As I am writing about this sweet child, he is now sneakily trying to get out of taking his nap. I must now deal with this. Soon these moments will be over, I will try to treasure them.

My daughter

Our daughter got a rabbit on Easter. She was so excited when she won it in a raffle. I on the otherhand was not so excited. Who ends up taking care of pets? The mother. I have never had a rabbit before. Joy is the name our daughter picked for our new pet. He is living very happy in a cage that my husband built. I have been quite proud at the way our daughter has been feeding and watering Joy. This little bunny is growing on me, he is really cute.

Our daughter has also been taking a ballet class at the junior college. I wanted to get her into ballet in a studio, but when I looked into it, I couldn't believe how expensive it was. I decided to try this course at the college to see if she enjoyed it. I must say that again, I have been so proud of her. She listens and tries her best. Many of the other girls run to their parents, but she doesn't, although she looks at me and waves from time to time. I am just proud of that fact, but the teacher and then another parent have told me that she is a good dancer. In my head I said, "of course," but I know that I am biased. Now I have some choices to make - how far do I take this? Do I get her into classes that I don't think we can afford? Do I put her in dance now or wait until she is older - she is almost 5. There are so many different activities that children can get involved in,(soccer, softball, swimming) I don't know if I am ready for it all to begin for me. It feels like I may have to choose a few activities out of many and I don't like that she can't try them all. I was older, maybe 3rd grade before I did softball. I was in 7th grade before I started volleyball and basketball. Maybe I shouldn't get too excited. I just can't believe that my firstborn is going to start kindegarten in the fall and how big she is getting. I just hope that I will be ready for it when it happens.

Our Church's Capital Campaign

My church is trying to pay off our debt by having a capital campaign. It is called "Share the Vision." We had a luncheon and we are going to participate in a 40 days of prayer. They also handed out a book for us to read. It is called "The Treasure Principle" by Randy Alcorn. I haven't got through the whole book, but it is a very good and easy read and I recommend it to you to read.I just wanted to quote a part that I read yesterday from chapter 4.

A PBS television program called "Affluenza" addresses what it calls the "modern -day plague of materialism." The program claims:

+The average American shops six hours a week while spending forty minutes playing with his children.
+By age twenty, we've seen one million commercials.
+Recently, more Americans declared bankruptcy than graduated from college.
+In 90 percent of divorce cases, arguments about money play a prominent role.

What strikes me about this program is that it doesn't argue against materialism on a moral basis but a pragmatic one: Material wealth doesn't make us happy.

Earlier in the chapter it talks about how everything ends up in the land fill. It says, "Sooner or later, everything we own ends up here. Christmas and birthday presents. Cars, boats, and hot tubs. Clothes, stereos, and barbeques. The treasures that children quarreled about, friendships were lost over, honesty was sacrificed for, and marriages broke up over - all end up here. (I recommend taking a family field trip to a junkyard. It's a powerful object lesson.)"

Reading this book has made me real thoughtful about my material possessions.I know that I don't have as much as many, but I also know that I have more than so many in other countries. I want to be a good steward of what God has given me. One last quote from the book that I want to end with is, "Show me your checkbook, your VISA statement, and your receipts, and I will show you where your heart is." The book wants you to realize that you can't save treasures here on earth, but you can save them in heaven.

Please pray for my church family, that their hearts will be touched to change the way they handle money, not so much for the church's sake, but for their sake. Also - I haven't kept caught up on my One Year Bible. I am starting again, skipping to the month of April's selected reading.