A couple weeks late....

I don’t think I ever got last week’s sermon posted. But I skipped church this week so anyway. We can catch up and be ready for this week. This was about marriage. God has an app for that ;) Relationships & marriage Charmin app that tells where the cleanest restrooms are Couple I had both their kids in youth group. Everyone is a good or bad example What good put together man can't tear apart - it's not God's will Outside perspective neutral Christian counselor define what it means to you Relationships require work Walk to Emmaus God in center Unified effort Ecc 4:1-2 Peter walking on water Kara's sermon Time to start a new chapter experience matters but move on 1 Cor verse Now as you may have guessed from the title of the blog – I’m not married. So sermons on marriage can annoy me. I recognize the need but I can be a little bitter. The first thing to talk about is the Charmin app. It is called Sit or Squat. I’m not sure how useful it will be, but it’s kinda fun. I updated yesterday some comments and lost them! Yuck, yuck, yuck! The couple who presented have two kids. I’ve had both of them in youth group. Someone called them old hippies, and that’s such a good description in the best way possible. I like the point that everyone is a good or bad example. Working with the youth, I feel like I have to be aware of the example I’m giving. When I talk to friends about it, they shrug their shoulders and not realize that the way they live their lives sends a message to onlooker about who they are and what they believe. They said that outside abuse/adultery and a few other situations they believed that, “What good put together man can't tear apart.” This means that people should find a way to work through their problems. I don’t know if it’s always possible but I do think many people give up to easily. That just goes straight to the next point of relationships take work, doesn’t it? They talked about the walk to Emmaus being so helpful for them. I must be the only person who was “eh” about it. There were a few nice things about it, but some of their structure meant to help distracted me. As well, I felt the message I got from my table was “You are single and in your 20s – you can’t know about stress.” Needless to say that didn’t sit really well with me. Ecclesiastes is always depressing. I did like how she pointed out that Solomon just had too many wives for any reason. I liked their information that she shared as a counselor that if you go to counseling and want a Christian counselor – you need to define what that means to you. Do they pray with you? Are they guiding based on Biblical principles? It shouldn’t mean that they tell you that the Bible says that you have to do X. I really liked the statement. I’ve heard people say the man is the head of the family so for example he should pay the bills. Okay, I’m an accountant and say I was to marry an artist/writer type. Does that really mean I should feel out of control and he should feel stressed about balancing the check book when one of us has more gifts in that area, even if it isn’t traditional? That God is in the center and as humans (couples) grow closer to him, we grow closer to each other. I tend to just mess with that one in my head because isn’t it true that if one grows closer to God, they are still closer together. So the cliché isn’t totally true. I know I’m probably just being argumentative here. I guess the “we need to work together” is there comment on it. The Corinthians verse. Couldn’t preach about marriage without it, could you? Once we’ve dealt with an issue it’s time to move on. I find this so difficult because I usually keep reliving how someone did something to me or what I’ve could have done better. The big point of this is that it hurts you more than them, so let go. I wonder how one does that truly because I may say that but then I’m driving to or from ork and all of a sudden I’m thinking about it again. They talked about Peter walking on the water and starting to drown because he took his eyes off Jesus and looked at the distractions. I’m reminded of a friend’s sermon I’ve heard her give a couple of times. Peter had the guts to get out of the boat. All the rest were cowering in fear in the boat. Peter might have had problems but at least he did something rather than just sitting and waiting to be rescued. While we need to keep our eyes on Jesus, we need to be more like Peter and less like one of the disciples in the boat. I have the next sermon noted, so hopefully I’ll get it shared before Sunday. ;)

Wednesday

Mostly we live in a broken & fallen world Bad stuff happens - not always our specific fault There is evil Why not me? Sometimes God is testing or refining us God disciplines those that he loves Always we have an option to grow (or not) What are we learning? Choose to grow up James 1:2-4 Hold onto integrity Job 1:13-22, Job 2:9 Ask God what am I learning about You? About myself? Am I more like Jesus is/through this? How do You want me to respond? Matthew 5:14-16

Labor Day

And I have a new idea that you should see later this week as an idea to blog

Vacation and PLL

Two videos I uploaded last night. Part 2 after I accidently hit stop

Vacation Coming!

My Facebook status yesterday night was, “Two more days of work plus one youth lock-in = leave on vacation on Saturday.” I got a couple likes on it. I mentioned it on here the other night as well. Besides I am so excited to get away. It’s been over two years since I’ve gotten out of town for 9 days in a row! We’re spending the first and last nights in Frankenmuth. I love it! As far as I’m concerned, it is the happiest place on earth! Then we are staying at the Petoskey KOA for the rest of the week. If you are looking for a place to camp, it is awesome! Disney World has the only equivalent or better campground that I’ve seen. It has activities, full hook-ups, food, pull-throughs. Do I sound like an advertisement? I don’t mean to sound like one. We are going to use it as a base to sightsee from: Harbor Springs, Cross Village, Mackinac Island, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Elk Rapids, Traverse City, Leland, the Sand Dunes. Have you ever visited any of these places? What’s your favorite memory? Any suggestions on favorite places to visit or eat? I’m always open to new ideas!

Countdown to the start of vacation

Short blog at the start of the week.

Last Laurapalooza blog

Another shot at trying to get this blog posted. You have no idea how many times I have tried to draft this out with out getting it posted. I wish I could figure out how to do it on my iPhone without raising suspicions at work. And it would be hard to cut and paste everything. But some things would be saved so I wouldn’t be starting over. I don't know if these are in any order. Next topic! What about Pretty Little Liars last night? Cece is connected to Ali, Jason and Noel’s older brother. Who else is connected to her? I’m thinking Melissa and Ian. Melissa went to school in Philly, and they are about the same age. Besides who moves to a new town and starts interacting with the locals the way she has? Noel and Jenna have to be working with Mona as “A”, right?