Moms

Last Sunday, the children got off easy. We actually did (shock horror) a craft. They were excited, because we practically never do crafts. They made bracelets for their moms. We talked about moms from the Bible, and about how God is like a mom (nurturing, loving, creative, hard-working). The bracelets came out a little short for moms (our friend at the bead store gave us some bad math). I was upset about that, but the kids were totally fine. "She can use it to pull the string on the fan," one kid said. Another pointed out that, while it might not fit Mom, it was just the right size for her.

My own mom came, which was really nice. She was a big help with Amanda, who was struggling with the beading. We also talked about how we're taking Josh to the Bookfair, because he reached his goal of 25 points. The girls are pretty close to the goal too, having stepped up their efforts since Josh beat them to it, and they talked about what we might do with them for their prize ("You could take us shopping. Or you could just give us a Peebles gift card."). Uhm. No, sorry. Amanda kept saying that she and Lachlan could do their prize together, but I need to make sure Lachlan is ok with that. She's kind enough not to tell Amanda that they aren't really best friends, as Amanda believes they are, but it's pretty clear that the two girls have very different ideas about their relationship.

The sermon, given by Mike, was really great, too. It was also about how God is like a mother, and how, without the female aspect of God, we have an incomplete picture. My mom really liked the sermon, though afterward she said, "Then why don't you let women speak in church?"

Good question. Some Churches of Christ do, we told her. I didn't have a great answer for that one--there's sort of conflicting New Testament information regarding women's roles in the religious community.

After church, we picked up Gary and Alex and met Mike and JoEtta for a picnic at the park. That was a lot of fun. I like for my mom to spend time with fun Christians, ones who don't balk every time my kid brother drops an F-bomb. Unfortunately, Mom sees these people as the exception, not the rule. Still, this was the best visit to my church that my mom has ever had, and that's a step.

Alex is probably living with us for about six weeks this summer, and doing an internship with the photo department at work. We're thinking about hosting a Sunday evening study group at our house (new house is about an hour from church...driving back there on Sunday evenings for small group....does not seem like something my limited willpower can accomplish regularly). I wonder if he'll participate....

Today is Girls' Day at church, and I need to go down there in a few hours to help with a skit I wrote for them. I've had a real struggle with this, because I don't really agree with how it's being run (Adult women are doing all the planning, and are speaking. The girls are just coming. Also, the girls didn't originate the idea or have much buy-in; one of the adult women just told them, "We're having a Girls' Day."). I think the girls would learn a lot more about how to be a woman in the church if they actually had to plan it. It's also been a struggle because there's been basically no flow of information. I didn't know until Wednesday what time I needed to be there. Last night, as JC and I were leaving work and driving to Bethany and Peter's for dinner, I got a phone call from one of the girls (I still can't figure out who it was) saying that they were all there decorating for Girls' Day, and could I please come down to help? I was, at this point, about an hour from the church. I had seen the woman who is running the thing on Wednesday and the previous Sunday. No one had said anything to me about when we were decorating. I told the girl that I was sorry, but no one had asked me to come, and I had other plans.

I guess what bothers me is that I really dislike being angry at church people. In this particular case, I like this person a great deal. And yes, I've tried to talk with her about this, and so has Amy. She just gets defensive and angry.

JC said he was proud of me for saying "no" last night (which I almost never do), but I felt pretty crappy about it. And, of course, what else was I going to do? We were far away. By the time I got there, they would have been mostly done.

Sigh
Ok, need to get breakfast and pack some boxes before going to Girls' Day. Wooo.