I've been officially Churched

I did finish the book, but not without some laughter, a few tears and a nightmare....seriously!!!

If you know what the actual name of "Fyles Sanderson College in Indiana" is, you should probably read the book!

Matthew Paul Turner writes with such humor and wit that it makes me believe he and Wendy Bagwell would be friends! The common thread between them: they both take God and their relationship with Him seriously, but not religion! I think if Wendy were still alive, he would give Churched his stamp of approval!

I had to laugh as Matthew wrote about his first visit to the barber, after becoming Baptist! Oh, yes, the Fundamental Baptist haircut! I've seen a lot of them because the guys in my Christian school, much larger than MPT's, had to have their hair cut the same way! And my Daddy being a barber, he was really good at the Baptist hair cut!

Reading MPT's memory of A Thief in the Night apparently brought too much information to the front of my mind because I really had a nightmare about it!
I watched the movie as a 12 yr old. That movie scared the bejeebies out of me!!! I remember lying in bed on several occasions watching out the window as airplanes crossed the sky, praying it was not the Russians on their way to take part in Armageddon!

My absolute favorite part of the book is in the chapter titled Seven, not chapter 7, but the chapter titled Seven. The one phrase, "...put his love for people before his love for rules.", is to me the crux of Christianity! God desires us to follow His rules, not ones made up by man. Luke 10:27 NIV
He answered: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself. It seems to me the first 'rule' is LOVE! Yes, I am still struggling with this one, but I pray I am growing closer to God through the process!


I will end with the Christian Character Award! Reading Matthew's account sounds somewhat like my story except mine wasn't given by the leadership but rather by peers - in the choir...still bigger than MPT's Christian school!!! The funny thing is, when we first moved overseas that plaque hung on the wall but I have not seen it in years....and I haven't missed it either! If those choir kids had really known me, they would have NEVER chosen me as the recipient! While I was a goodie-goodie on the outside, the inside was not so good! I was more like the parable in Matthew (the book of the Bible!) about the white-washed tombs.

So, yes, I have laughed and cried my way through this book! It has been a healing balm for me in many areas. I thought I had worked it all out over the past several years but some memories would come out of nowhere while reading and I knew the Lord really wanted me to deal with them, NOW!!! His healing touch is so sweet!

Note to my Momma: I know y'all did the best you knew how to do and I do not hold you responsible in any way for the memories this book brought to mind. We are imperfect people, living in an imperfect world, led by imperfect people. What y'all did was give me a good foundation so that when I was ready to seek out God, I knew where to find Him!

I hope you have a chance to read the book! I am looking forward to reading more of MPT's works in the near future!

Y'all have a fantastic day!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow...

God's girl, Pamela

PS...On Saturday night, Bunny's band came in 10th place overall. They were pretty bummed about that but they redeemed themselves last night by once again, 18th year in a row for the school and director!, getting a 1 at regioinal UIL!!! I think a week from Saturday they head to area UIL and when competition is over, Bunny will get to march in the Halloween half-time!
Tomorrow night, the girls schools play one another in football! Oh, yah, I'm a Rander Mom for sure!!!

I'm not sure what to title this. I'm not yet sure what all I am willing to share with you! Is that a horrible confession?

Yesterday was my 40th birthday. OOOOOHHHH! I really don't like saying that! I enjoyed being in my 30's! Oh, but I digress!

I'm not sure that it can be explained, but my sister and I have birthdays just 3 days apart and somehow as adults it seems very important for this one day to be extra special for us! We try to do it for each other, but there just seems to be something missing when my immediate family 'forgets'! But, I am tired of looking so childish about the whole day, so I determined in my heart to make yesterday good, myself! And of course, with God's help, it was an absolutely beautiful day!!!

As I was taking the girls to school, there was the most awesome sunrise! I told the girls it was my kiss from God, my gift for my birthday! It was truly gorgeous, lots of gold, pink and purple in the sky against the backdrop of blue...what could be more beautiful than one of God's creations?

I decided that for dinner, I wanted to have a nice, candlelight dinner! It was really neat! This was only the second time in our marriage that I have used my china...which you can see here. I thought it was beautiful! It really filled up the feminine side of my love bank and dear hubs didn't snivel at all!

This is just not his thing and he would really never think to do this for me, so if I want to have a candlelight dinner, I need to do it for me! And that is okay! God did not give my family to me to make me happy, He gave me the ability to lean on Him and find joy in the smallest of tasks! Or the prettiest of tables! Or the most beautiful sunrise! Or the embrace of my dear hubs and girls!

It turned out to be a wonderful birthday! Bunny really enjoyed the dinner; romance is something she craves even at her young age!

Now on to other things; I have been reading Churched and I got to a point that brought up some really painful memories. Most of it has made me chuckle, even laugh out loud and have to read a portion to my family! But then, I hit about midway and the Lord just really let me know in no uncertain terms that I need to deal with some memories! I hope to get back to the book soon!!! I have a feeling this will not be the only place I have to stop for awhile!

Bunny has a long day ahead of her today, it is a pre-UIL band competition. If they make it into the finals, they don't plan to be home until 11pm! We have not yet heard where they are in the standings but I will let you know in the next week. They have our town's Band Fest on Monday night, then actual UIL competition on Wed. Busy week ahead for her!

DD1 is enjoying her presidency of the Christian club at school! For the next few weeks, a couple of her officers will be giving the lesson so she has had time to work on European History this weekend! Next weekend, they are planning a party for the Christian club to get everyone together off of school grounds and hopefully get to know one another better.

Thank you for continuing to pray for my girls. It is really neat to see how God works in their lives. They are so different and His love towards them is tailored just to fit their needs, just like the rest of us!

I guess I really have no scripture to share today. And as far as what all I did tell you, I also deleted the first half of the post...it was just not good, it was not from God! I really want all that I share here to have His stamp of approval! I desire to encourage you in your walk with our precious Savior.

Hope your weekend is awesome!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....

God's girl, Pamela

Have you been Churched???

The book comes out today and I am so excited, I absolutely cannot wait to get my hands on it!!! I am hoping I can find it at Mardel, if not, I will be asking them to order some copies, then heading straight to Barnes and Noble to find it!

And, I have Churched bookmarks if anyone is interested! You can comment me and let me know where to send one. I only asked for a few because I'm still not sure just how many I can give out!!!

Today is also my big Sissy's birthday! Happy Birthday to the most wonderful sister in the world!!! Yes, I should know because she is mine and that makes her the best!

Some of you may have noticed a new name on my blogroll: Without Wax. He is a pastor in Nashville, TN and is really making a difference! I am enjoying reading his blog and I pop over on occasion to his wife's, as well. They are really sweet and have such a heart for God!

I hope y'all have a terrific day...it is finally cooler here so I will be enjoying the beautiful weather; high of 79 and sunny skies! Maybe even take Christy for a walk!

Praise God from whom all blessings flow....

God's girl, Pamela

***Update***
I went to Mardel and they were already sold out of the book. She said they were putting in another order today and it would be in by Friday and she could put a hold on one....ummm, no thanks! I am too excited to have to wait a few days! Then, I went to Barnes & Noble, they had 3 books but the price was right at what I had to spend...my birthday money! And I am nothing if not cheap!!!
Then I headed to Target and Wal-Mart and neither of them had the book and by this time, I was beginning to get frustrated! I came home and found a $10 gift card in the mail from a survey I did back in the summer!!! So, after some lunch, we headed back to the mall and bought the book at B&N!!! Yeah! I'm gonna go read now so I may be awhile!!! Y'all enjoy the cool weather!!!