mathmom's blog

One of the hazards of going to a liturgical church where the pastors wear long white robes (are they albs?) is that my kids seem to get the pastors confused with Jesus. I can see what the problem is---the pictures of the kids have seen of Jesus show him wearing quite similar garments. I think I've already explained about Amanda's confusion, but she seems to have gotten over it. Now it's Luke's turn. I spent some time explaining to Luke how the outfits show the pastor's job in the church, but that the pastors aren't Jesus, and the rest of the time they wear other outfits. Luke responded, "They have other outfits to wear on other days at church!" "Really? What are they like?" I asked. "Like a unicorn outfit! Or maybe a shark outfit!" What do you think? It would certainly make Monday morning more exciting at the church =) It makes me smile every time I think of it.

We have been bringing Luke in from the nursery to the church service during communion for the past few weeks. We get to take him up to the front during communion, and the pastor who is giving out the bread usually gives him a blessing. Today he must have been hungry, since he was very interested in the bread. "The body of Christ, broken for you," said the pastor, and Luke said (very politely) "Want Christ please!" I maneuvered his hand away from the paten (the plate that holds the bread) so that the bread wasn't dumped on the floor---I know that Anglicans don't believe in transubstantiation but it wouldn't have been good to have the bread all over the gym floor. I got the wine (we dip the bread into the wine) and Luke reached back to the bread and explained himself again, "Want Christ!" I carried him back to our seat, and he was wriggling the whole time saying loudly, "Want Christ! Want Christ! Want Christ!" I thought the who...

Today after church we held a folding chair throwing contest.* There were 2 categories: under 16 and everyone else. Amanda obviously figured out that she was under 16, so she walked right up to the line. A 12 year old boy had gotten there first, so we shooed Amanda out of the way, but as soon as he finished, Amanda walked right back up and stood, ready to receive her chair. The person who was running the contest was a bit perplexed, and asked if she needed help. She didn't think so, but I stood next to her. Unfortunately, Luke took that as a sign that he should help out too. I think I was most concerned that Amanda and Luke not get hurt, since the contest involved throwing the chair backwards over your head, but it wasn't a problem since the contest organizer gave the chair a little extra "boost". Not a bad throw for a 4 year old! Eleanor followed quickly and gave her chair a good throw---she didn't quite reach the 12 year old's mark, but it was defini...

Recently we've been using the timer function on the bread machine to make delicious bread that is finished baking right when we wake up. For a long time we've used the coffee maker timer to prepare coffee that is ready as we come downstairs. A few weeks ago there was a potluck at church. We live 35 minutes away, so we weren't going to come back here to get the food out of the oven or anything like that. Solution: cook the split pea soup in the slow cooker overnight, bring it to church and plug it in to warm before lunch. Easy! I love that it smells so good in our house when we wake up after cooking overnight. It does feel a bit like Wallace's inventions (see Wallace and Grommit by Nick Park) doing all the work for us while we sleep. But I think the thing I like most is the feeling of getting something useful done while I'm asleep. Now if there were only some way to do the laundry while sleeping... For your pleasure, my recipe for Split Pea Soup: Slow Cooker ...

There is something inexact about the term shopping to describe looking for a church home. "Shopping" implies that we are looking for the perfect church to meet all of our needs, like we would shop for a grill. The point of church is not to meet our needs for some sort of ministry or music or something else---the point is that human beings were created to worship God, and to do it in community with other believers. On the other hand, there are some things that are important. Here are some of the things I've been thinking about: Non-essential things: a building, a particular type of music, a bell choir, organ, a super organized Sunday school, communion every sunday. Important things: a congregation that sings songs that I can sing too, sermons that are expository, explaining the Bible and how it relates to our lives a congregation from all walks of life, ages, and races. Essential things: They've got to preach about Jesus and his love for his people They've got ...