Sunday at Summit - The Sermon on the Mount Week 1

This last Sunday, we started a new series at our church. We just wrapped up a 16 week series on Exodus, and have now transitioned into the Sermon on the Mount. Our lead teacher, Paul, explained that having just studied the law, he thought it made sense to go see what Jesus did with the law.

Now this can make me a little nervous because the Sermon on the Mount is the trendy thing for all those social gospel, works righteous people out there to start quoting. Instead of using the teaching as a plumb line, they use it as a means to an end, and this is really dangerous.

As a Christian, I am fully accepted by God, completely forgiven and made righteous. God's Spirit in me lives the righteous, holy life that I'm called to. So, the sermon can be something I refer to in order to test if I'm in the right place, but it's not something that gets me in the right place. Only God can get me there.

But I shouldn't have worried because our elders are so solid on truth, and Paul addressed this very thing early in the message... instantly putting me at ease. He warned that, read in the wrong context, people could easily see the sermon as a checklist of what we're supposed to do to be God's people. But, as Jesus clearly taught in John 6:28-29, the only "work" the Father requires of us is to believe in Jesus.

Okay... moving on....

Even though we aren't required to do works to reach God, God's perfect plan for us include heart change that leads to actions that show evidence of this heart change. As Paul put it, "Our conduct flows from our character in Christ."

Another point Paul made that I appreciated was that Jesus' teaching and his miraculous power aren't sold separately. It's a package deal, and to lean one way is to ignore the balance that Jesus showed while on earth. Jesus is not just a good teacher, and he's not just a genie in a bottle.

The last point that stuck out to me was Paul passionate admonition that the Church (at large) and our church (Summit, specifically) needs to stop trying to look like the world. He gave a few comparisons of the dichotomy between the two.

The world is concerned about being hot. The church is concerned about being holy.

The world is full of greed. The church is full of generosity.

The world is swooning over celebrities. The church is swooning over Christ.

If the Church isn't showing these attributes, then we are living in our old patterns and not surrendering to Christ. It is Christ that lives through us... our old self was crucified and we are made new... Christ is in us, we are in Christ. It is the Spirit that bears fruit in and through us. Are we letting the Spirit do his work?

Dear Mr. Creditor

I am debt-free. I owe you nothing. So please stop calling me. It's not my fault that Miss Carter had my number before me. I don't know her. I'm not related to her. (And by the way, if I were... do you really think I'd give you information about her?!)

It's not my business how many outstanding, bad debts she has, but once you find her, I have a feeling you'll have to wait in line for quite some time to get your precious money.

So, actually... go ahead and call... cause you know what... I'll report you to the Fair Trade Commission. Stupid Redline Recovery, with immature people that call back, yell, and hang up on innocent bystanders.

Seriously... get a real job! One you can be proud of.

How can you live with yourself knowing that you make your measly living by harassing people? Don't you know you're worth more than that? Don't you know that God has given you real gifts that He wants to use for real work? God didn't create you to ridicule people and to threaten and to act like the scum of the earth.

New Shoes

Well, I went out again last night (alone this time... oh, it was glorious!) to see what I could find in the way of sandals.

I didn't quite get what I was looking for. I wanted something to replace these (sorry for the picture. It's rotated on my computer, and I tried 5 times to re-upload, but bloggers not co-operating. You'll just have to turn your neck!):



As you can see they're pretty worn in between the toes. That'll happen after 6 or 7 years.


I didn't quite score the jackpot at RackRoom shoes, but since I had a $50 budget, I was able to settle for some nicer sandals that will work for casual, but not necessarily for everyday playing in the back yard. In addition, I got some cute discounted brown flip flops, and as a bonus, I was able to run over to Target and grab a pair of $3 pool flops as well. My current ones are cracking and I expect them to break any moment now.

Bloggable World of Target

The kids and I ventured out of the complex today. This is a rare occasion. We tend to frequent the grocery store, the bank, and the pool. Rarely do we go to actual stores, never do we go to malls. Today we did both, and I was actually overwhelmed with the amount of junk there is out there. Not just material stuff, but all the things I could blog about. No wonder, I mused silently, my blog is slowly dying. I have no inspiration.

So, I could probably make about 5 posts out of today, but since I really doubt I'd have the stamina to make it through, I'll just summarize here quickly.

1. We went to catch the free kids' flick at the Monaco, which is a super posh theatre. They were showing the Tales of Despereaux. We were excited because my good friend Kara gave us a copy of the book and Eve devoured it. We're also reading it for bedtime right now. The show started at 11. We got there at 10:30, and all the tickets were gone. Nice.

2. But never fear because Maggie Moo's was just down the mall from the Monaco. Now... for those not in Huntsville, you have to realize that this is the coolest mall EVER. It's an outdoor mall, complete with fountains to play in (note to self: bring bathing suits next time in case the movie is again full). Just being at Bridge Street Town Centre (see... it doesn't even call itself a mall, that's how cool it is) well, it makes you feel rich. Even if you can't afford anything there, which I pretty much can't. Except for when jewelers there throw in a free prong repair with my soldering, but that's a different story.

So, at Maggie Moo's, I had a waffle cone with Red Velvet Cake ice cream and Oreos mixed in. It was nothing short of divine. The only problem was that we had Ashlyn with us, and I really hate for her to have sugar, but I was able to take big bites so as to limit what she had off my cone. :)

3. We headed to Target to pick up Eve's camp gear today. We got a kick-butt sleeping bag with pink camo on it. Very cool. But I couldn't believe that cosmetic bags are so freaking expensive. $20 for a plastic package? Seriously? Fortunately, we scored the one $15 bag that was on clearance for $3. Almost walked right past it, but then that red tag caught my eye. It's plaing black now, but we'll use a little acryllic paint and have it personalized and pretty in no time.

4. Being at Target made me realize how much I've been saving by not going to stores. Seriously. I felt like every single aisle we walked down, I saw something else that I really wanted. Yesterday, I didn't want it. But just being in its presence made me think, "Oh that would be so nice for organizing." Or, "I could use that to decorate in Eve's room."

Billy and I have been focused on contentment a lot in the past couple of years. Part of it has been out of necessity. We're commited to having me stay home with the kids and to being responsible with our money, so there's just not room in the budget for excess. Because of this, we've been intentional about being thankful for what we do have and trying not to focus on everything we don't have.

But money aside, we just don't want to be slaves to stuff. Dave Bruno has an inspiring on-going 100 thing challenge that began as his quest to get out from under the control of stuff. He continues to be an inspiration to me. Sometimes, I see posts about the CVS game, and I feel like some of the women that play that are just accumulating more stuff because they can afford it with their shrewd couponing skillz. I'm tempted to play that game. I'm tempted to find my worth in how far I can stretch a dollar by obtaining things I wouldn't normally buy anyway. (Seriously, CVS rarely has bonuses for things I actually need.)

Lesson learned: stay out of stores whenever possible.

5. Another thing I was looking for today was some sandals to replace the ones I got about 7 years ago. I am sad to see them go, but lucky me... looks like I get to keep them for a while. I looked while at Target, but not surprisingly didn't find anything that caught my eye. (Well, I did find some fancy flip flops, but I was really looking for something a little more durable... something to last me another 7 years, maybe.)

I also stopped by Shoe Carnival since it's over there anyway. Row after row after row of sandals. But alas, nothing of what I wanted. All I'm asking for is a nice brown leather sandals with a chunky heel (but not a wedge!) that are dressy enough to wear with business casual attire at the pregnancy test center, but casual enough to wear everyday in my back yard. Basically, I want the exact sandal I have now... but new... and not falling apart. Is that too much to ask? I'm gonna try to find one more shoe store near me, and then I'll resort to some cheaper dressy flip flops from Target for $8. Then, I guess I'll try it all again next year. :(

Whew... all that in a few hours. Who knew there was so much in the world?

Life Without Coffee

Breaking News at the Chia Household: Billy and I have stopped drinking coffee.

I know. I never thought this would happen. I love coffee. But ultimately, it was doing me in.

Over the last months my energy level has plummeted from my natural low energy to a minuscule amount that was most often used up by being in a bad mood. How fun is that to live with. And if you're starting to feel sorry for my family, you ought to feel just as sorry for me. I mean, I can't get away from myself! It was getting pretty miserable.

So, aside from that a couple of other factors led me to make the final decision. One was a conversation at small group about our bodies being God's temple. We have been going through Exodus at church, and we learned about the splendor of the tabernacle and how the priest's garments were like a mini-temple, as a symbol pointing to Jesus - that when Jesus came, our bodies would become the temple.

But the final straw was a segment I heard on Sean Hannity's radio show featuring everyone's favorite wrestler-turned-governor Jesse Ventura. He and Hannity were arguing about legalizing hard drugs such as heroine, which is retarded that anyone even thinks that's okay. But still, he made the point that if caffeine were suddenly outlawed, we'd see a lot of violence by people to get it. I'm not sure it's really comparable to heroine, but the point is that caffeine is a drug, and I don't believe in being addicted to anything, except Jesus.

So, anyway, what's life like without coffee?

1. Awake, surprisingly. The first couple of days I slept a LOT. I'm talking 12 hours at night plus a few hour or 2 naps through out the day. Out of 24 hours in a day, I probably slept about 18 of those the first couple of days. But then the third day, something clicked, and I've been doing really well. I definitely wake up more easily in the morning. So, it's nice to not have to wait until after I drink coffee to start that process.

2. Cheaper. We are quasi coffee snobs around here, so there's no Folgers for us. We usually opted for Seattle's Best, which I could get for $6.48/bag. We would go through 2-4 of those a month, depending on if I needed a pick-me-up in the afternoon (which I did a lot!). I also have to have non dairy creamer which is around $3 for the month. So, we're talking $17-29 off our grocery budget. Hello! I have some other things I'd like to buy for $17-29.

3. Holier. Okay... this might seem like a stretch to say I'm "holier," but I just wanted a one word description. Sue me. I will say that I'm more able to control my responses to my kids when I'm annoyed at them. First of all, I've been annoyed less, actually. That's been a good attitude change to have. But even when I am annoyed, I've been able to approach my response with more patience. Instead of snapping at them to go away or be quiet, I've been more able to ask, "What's going on?" or "What do you need?" Not always succeeding, but it's a process, anyway.

I'm still not feeling awesome in the energy department, so my next step is to get some detox kit and clean myself out of toxins. This is still in the R&D phase, but suggestions on ones that work (or other thoughts on coffee dependencies) are welcome in the comments.