JeremyandChristine.com

Daily Musings
Thoughts from: Christine
Saturday, December 13, 2008

Advent Conspiracy

Did you know?

Americans spend 450 Billion dollars on Christmas each year? 450,000,000,000.

Did you know?

Lack of clean water kills more people every year than anything?

Did you know?

It would only take 10 Billion dollars to provide the ENTIRE WORLD with clean water?
($10B vs. $450B spent every year on Christmas)

If every American were to spend 2% less on useless gifts and instead donate that money to a worthy cause (like Advent Conspiracy), a lot less people would die of malaria and other diseases from tainted water and worthless gifts would stay on the shelf. How many Christmas sweaters do you really need?

We are a selfish country. Yes, things are getting tight here. And I'm not suggesting that you don't buy a gift for someone you care about. I am still getting gifts for my kids and my family. But there are people who are in much greater need than you and I.

And you know that old adage that says you can't buy happiness? It's really true. It becomes more and more true the older I get. I would rather have time with my family than another toaster any day. This year, the gift of my time is going to be purposeful. I spent 2 hours the other night making cotton ball wreaths and snowmen with my kids. It was probably the most meaningful time I've spent with them in a while.

How can you give your time this year? Coffee with a friend? Dinner with your spouse? A tea party with your daughter? A long phone call with your parents? Playing catch with your son? Helping someone you love with some yard work? Taking your kids on a date? Find a way to be with your family this Christmas. This year, instead of presents, give presence.

Check it out for yourself.

http://adventconspiracy.org/

Thoughts from: Jeremy
Thursday, February 14, 2008

Unity... but to what extent?

I remember the summer before i started 8th grade i went to "Broadway at Baker" theater camp where i was known for being a Christian. My roommate asked what denomination i was, and i told him i didn't have one. He wasn't a Christian but was thoroughly convinced that there was no such thing as a non-denominational Christian. I remember him saying "I don't care what you say. EVERY Christian church is part of some denomination!" It raised some doubts in me about whether i really wasn't part of a denomination.

Now, i can clearly see that there are many non-denominational churches out there, but isn't it interesting that so many have to put a denominational name in front?

Digging a little deeper, i would say that most Christians would give lip-service to the idea that we all should be united, but when pressed, maybe they/we don't really feel that way. Would I want to have a church where half of the congregation believed you need to be baptized in order to be saved? Would i want some of the pastors believing that salvation can be lost while the others believe that once you're saved, you're always saved?

There are some issues which are not crucial enough to divide Christians from non-Christians, but maybe are enough to divide one church from another. After all, everyone can go to whatever church he/she wants to (no reason to think all the Christians in Olathe need to show up at the same building). Why not allow people also to attend church where they get a unified message from all of the pastors and most of the congregation, without having to tiptoe around hundreds of individuals' interpretations on non-essential doctrine?

Jeremy

Thoughts from: Christine
Thursday, February 7, 2008

Short and Sweet

My life over the last few weeks:

1. Working on "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown" at Indian Woods. Love this show!!
2. It snowed a lot...then it warmed up to 68 one day and we went to the park...then it snowed again.
3. I currently have the flu. YUCK!!
4. I'm trying to take care of things for "Wizard of OZ" despite being sick.

That's it for now. Time for tea and bed.

Thoughts from: Christine
Friday, January 11, 2008

God uses us at the most unexpected times

I was driving home last night with my little girl from dance class. We were just chatting; nothing big. Then she asks me, "Mommy, you believe in Jesus, right?"

"Well yes I do, Angel. I believe Jesus died for my sins and gave me a clean heart so I can go to heaven to be with Him."

"Mommy, I want to believe in Jesus, too!"

"Well Angel, if you want to, you have to pray and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and make your heart clean."

"Ok. Mommy will you pull over to a gas station and come back here with me?"

My heart was racing at this point. Here was my baby girl, through no prodding of mine, asking to make the most important decision of her life. I have never had the privilege of being present when someone made this decision, and here my Angel was about to!!

I crawled into the back and explained what it meant to ask Jesus into her heart and that it was a prayer that she had to make. I couldn't make it for her. I wish I could remember her prayer verbatim, but I'll give you as much as I can remember:

"Dear God, Thank you for my sin and thank you for taking my sin away. Please come into my heart and make my heart clean so I can be a new person and can share better and have joy in my heart. In Jesus name, Amen."

I had to fight back tears. Needless to say I am one joyful Momma! We called Grandparents and Daddy, then celebrated by getting a Frosty.

Angel also informed me that since she is a new person she also needs a new name. She thought Navi sounded nice (it's the name of the fairy in a Zelda game!). I told her we'd stick with Angel. :)

Always be ready for God to use you. God likes to be creative! If I had been too preoccupied with my day, I would have missed this precious opportunity.

Thoughts from: Jeremy
Monday, January 7, 2008

Have a Nice Day

Yesterday, I had a very productive day. It was the kind of day I could really be proud of from every respect. I worked for about 3 hours on getting the house cleaned up with Christine, I spent lots of time playing with and lavishing affection on my kids, I designed a cool new blogging feature for our family website, I worked for hours on the show I’m directing Seussical (while Christine took the kiddos to the park), I spent some meaningful time alone with Christine, and I enjoyed a positive, up-lifting time of playing a board game (Settlers of Catan) with Christine and my parents. It was one of very few weekend days when I really felt like every hour counted and no time was wasted.

It’s quite invigorating to have a day like that. I hope I can make such days occur more frequently in 2008.

I think one of the keys to pulling it off was getting a lot of sleep the night before (my wonderful wife let me sleep in). I never got much sleep over my Christmas break. While it was very fun, I admit I often felt a little melancholy, and I had a hard time being productive during the day. I think for my next long break like that (which may not even come until next Christmas), I will do my best to make sleep a priority. It’s hard with all of the night activities, but I think that getting enough sleep just brings life and energy into the entire day.

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