42 thoughts on “Our Daily Thread 8-5-19”

  3. Evening all. morning, Chas.
    I am tired this evening. It took me until 8:30 to make a delicious dinner that will last the week. Bee Bim Bop it is.
    Tomorrow is the funeral so Wendy will be gone all day and many others.

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  5. The garbage trucks are chugging through the neighborhood. Yes, it is confirmation that Monday morning has arrived.

    Does your church have a stated goal such as being a disciple making church? In Sunday Life Group we discussed about the background of missions in the Baptist church and how being mission minded is foundational to being a Southern Baptist and is based on the key passage in the Bible where Jesus gives the Great Comission. I am curious about other churches/denominations.

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  6. Janice – On my church’s website, under “Our Mission”, it says:

    “Our focus is on reaching people with the hope of the Gospel. 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 teaches us that we have been made new, reconciled to God and now given the ministry of reconciliation. So we feel compelled to reach people with that same hope.

    We are also focused on developing people with the hope of the Gospel. Jesus said in Matthew 28:19 to go and “make disciples” and to “teach them.” So we feel compelled to use the gospel to develop others in that same hope.

    Finally, our goal is to release people with the hope of the Gospel to go and reach and develop more people. We believe true, lasting hope comes from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and we are all called to be part of that mission.”

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  7. Ugh, our church is in the middle of all these discussions about vision as we prepare to call a pastor.

    This not my area of strength or interest. I keep thinking, “why can’t we sit and pray? Why all these high-level marketing discussions?”

    I’m not good with meetings in general.

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  9. City church had a mission statement. In my mind, it was the least relevant part of who they were, but it did not impede the preaching of Scripture and the growth of believers, so, as unnecessary as I thought it, it wasn’t something I thought worth being bothered about.

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  11. Have you ever read any Billie Eilish lyrics??? How in the world could they have thought that was appropriate for this child?? I am sitting in my driveway waiting for the police to come take me away, my friends are near, their bodies in the back of my car. I wear my noose like a necklace…

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  12. Morning! A cloudy start to the day but oh so lovely. I like Michelle’s view of the one eyed smiling fish…. 😂
    Janice this is part of the CM&A mission statement :
    Evangelizing and discipling persons throughout the United States and around the world, incorporating them into Christ-centered, community- focused congregations, and mobilizing them in a missionary effort designed to plant Great Commission churches among both unreached and responsive peoples worldwide….

    I find myself not so much into statements and marketing. I want to go to church, study His word, pray and worship with fellow believers and join in meeting the needs of the body. Of course as followers of Christ we should be at the ready to share with those who we come in contact with in our day to day activities. As the Spirit leads so should we follow.

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  13. Oh wow Mumsee I looked up that person….dark and concerning. Could you speak to someone in charge and point out the lyrics this person promotes. Chilling…17 and so lost and broken is she….being used as a tool of the enemy…..

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  16. Monday. I woke up around 2 a.m., I think, did some reading and even sat up for a while — it felt hot in the house even though it was 74. It was just a restless night.

    And now it’s Monday.

    Someone throw a pan of cold water on my head, please.

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  17. Mission Statement:
    We,…), declare
    that God the Father is all powerful and eternal, that His Son
    Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, is the
    Living Word and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we aspire to live our lives according to the Word of God
    and to proclaim His truth to a lost and hurting world around
    us.

    That is our church’s mission statement.

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  18. I don’t think we have a thematic or ‘vision’ statement for our church (but I remember being in a church many years ago that spend months coming up with one, along with identifying a “target” population to bring into the church — young professionals w/families; it all felt very calculating and corporate).

    At my current church, we print “What We Believe” in our bulletin each week, that takes up a full page.

    And this is on our website:

    ~ We want you to know the love of Christ at Branch of Hope. We are a Bible believing church with members ranging from 0-99. Our goal is to teach the gospel as accurately as possible, encourage our mature members in their faith, and help grow the faith of visitors. Our Sunday worship service consists of praise, preaching, communion, and prayer. Our hope is that you join us this Sunday and the Sundays to follow. ~
    _______________________

    I now see a smiling, one-eyed fish also 🙂

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  20. I know my church is unique in having closed down the former church and opening a new one. The criteria for getting rid of the programs of the former church was that people had to go before a committee and defend the program for its being disciple making (the new church goal). The Life Group focus on missions yesterday got me to remembering the church goal that was used to justify the old programs getting to remain or being tossed out. Now I am wondering how what we are doing now fits in the parameters of disciple making. I am just pondering the old cliche of what’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Thank you for letting me know what your churches do or your experiences with such things. I am trying to be open-minded and teachable while taking an overview of what got torn down and what is being built in its place.

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  22. Oh! I was looking for something in my junk email and came across the photos of the new family member in 2nd Arrows clan. Such sweet photos, and 2nd does not look like she just had a baby!!♡ They are a lovely family.
    So thankful to find those and move them to my inbox. I wonder how many things I miss by not checking the junk mail frequently enough?

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  23. BTW, my request for someone to throw a cold pan of water on my head was only for the water, not the pan on my head also — although that may have actually helped on this Monday.

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  24. Oh, I’m glad you saw them there, Janice! (2;30 pm) I was wondering if the email might go to some spam folders because of the number of pictures attached (seven) or the number of addresses sent to (fifteen, including my own). (I’d put my address in the “To:” line and the other fourteen — to those of you for whom I have an email — in the BCC line.)

    If you’re on this list and didn’t see the forwarded email with the subject line “Baby pics,” check your junk folder. 🙂

    Cheryl, DJ, Mumsee, Janice, Kim, Roscuro, Jo, Kizzie, Kare, Michelle, NancyJill, RKessler, AJ, Linda.

    Yesterday we went to visit the Seconds. (May I borrow that terminology from Roscuro?) 😉 Oh, their baby — I am smitten. 🙂

    They were still at the hospital when we rolled into town, and Hubby charged into the room first and gave 2nd a big hug. But he graciously asked me, “Would Grandma like to have the honor of holding the baby first?” I happily obliged. 🙂

    3rd Arrow took pictures of me holding the baby, and sent them from her phone to my email so I could forward those pictures to a long-distance friend of mine who also wanted to see a picture of me holding the baby, too. 🙂

    If you want to see grandma/granddaughter pics, I can forward them to whomever might want to see them, but the new-mom/new-baby pics are much prettier. 🙂 (Well, the baby is cute in all of them!)

    While there yesterday, I took a picture of each of my family members holding baby (except for 1st Arrow, who lives about 4 hours away from 2nd and won’t be visiting until next weekend). Precious times. Everybody simply adores the little girl.

    While 2nd and SIL were getting their belongings packed up, preparing to take their baby home for the first time, I held the baby. She was getting fussy, so I stood up with her, bouncing her lightly, singing/speaking her name. Within minutes, she started settling, crying less frequently and more quietly, and I continued voicing her name, getting down to almost a whisper.

    She was asleep within 5 minutes. Then I sat down in the rocking chair, rocking her gently, and my tears started flowing for the first time that day. Holding that little miracle.

    Life at its most beautiful.

    Excuse me while I go find a tissue now. 😉

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  25. Janice, our church’s mission statement is printed as follows in our worship folder every week:

    Our mission by God’s love and command is to share the Gospel in its truth and purity. We will use God’s Word and Sacraments to bring the lost to Christ and strengthen one another’s faith.

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  27. Visited daughter this morning. She was happy to see us. She got quite mad with herself when the doc came and we were discussing her last few days. She drew lots of dark and bloody pictures yesterday, happier today. They agreed to keep her under watch a few days and then let her come home.

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  30. Oh I would love to see you holding your precious grandbaby! I remember holding my first…I thought my heart would explode!! ( I didn’t want to give her back!)
    Kizzie we have the Mission Statement, vision Statement, what we believe statement…..
    I don’t see those as marketing per se but….there are many church web pages that I find self promoting…thus marketing themselves. When we were looking for a church we would peruse websites of churches. I found myself discouraged when I would read what great worship they have (this ain’t your grandma’s church), a “really fun” children’s program, a happening teen program, and the “everyone has a story” approach. It may encourage some to attend but it has the opposite effect on me.

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  31. Kizzie, Janice, and NancyJill, I’ll send those grandma/grandbaby pics later tonight. Time to get ready for piano lessons and other evening activities. Tonight’s lessons are with my three girl students — first, the one who started in April; second, the transfer student who has her first lesson with me tonight; and third, my 6th Arrow.

    Then the boys are tomorrow night. 🙂 Funny how that worked out.

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  32. My neighbors are in the desert for the week, I have their fish to feed. They all father at the side of their pool when I appear, mouths working furiously, opening and shutting, opening and shutting.

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  38. OK, Grandma & Grandbaby pics are sent to you three ladies above who requested them. 🙂

    The mom of my first piano student tonight called to say her daughter was sick. She’ll be coming on Wednesday this week instead, if she’s feeling alright by then.

    The new girl started tonight. Sweet girl, and she has a nice tone to her playing. There are some fairly big gaps in her knowledge, though, and occasional poor application of the things she does know. None of that is her fault. Her previous teacher did not lay a good foundation of fundamental skill development. A student who has been playing for two years and knows the note values of every note I asked her about should not be stopping at almost. every. bar. line. (There shouldn’t be stops at any bar lines.)

    Why are there so many piano teachers out there who just pass kids from one song to the next, letting them play whichever way the music comes out? :-/ People like that shouldn’t be teaching, but unfortunately, some do.

    Rant over. I really enjoyed my time with this student tonight, nonetheless, and hope I can help her establish some good foundations without demoralizing her. We’re going to have to go back quite a ways to establish a solid framework on which to build.

    Thanks for the prayers for thinking on my feet with the new student. I needed to do a lot of that tonight to figure out what would be best to assign her for this week.

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  39. The hospital where 2nd Arrow gave birth had very much an ungardened look. Beautiful grounds, and a quite new building — only built five years ago.

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  41. And thank you, NancyJill and many others, for rejoicing with those who rejoice. 🙂 We’re overjoyed at God’s gift of this grandchild. Precious are all His blessings.

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  42. I sat down tonight with more of my piano resources and am well on my way to figuring out what will serve my newest student best. There are a lot of method series out there, and I’ve tried a lot of them over the years. It’s an enjoyable challenge picking out the best materials for each individual student.

    And now I’m really getting excited about the piano teacher workshop I’m attending on the 15th. It’s generally an annual thing, but last year they didn’t have one, due to not enough good supplementary material out in the 12 months leading up to the usual workshop month — August — last year to justify holding a workshop.

    This year there is enough good stuff, I hear, and I always love getting introduced to new music that sometimes is a great fit for current students. And now that I’ve gotten three new students this year (four since the last workshop), I’m looking forward to hopefully finding great supplements for their musical needs.

    Plus, finding things for my daughter is fun and enriching, too, maybe just as much for me as for her. 🙂

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