Vineyard Keepers



My new Bible cover!



I just have to tell you a little bit about the ladies' fellowship group that I went to last Tuesday.  I am longing to be back there again.  I have never felt so close to God in my life.  My "crawl to faith" has been taking place over the last two years, I'd say.  I now, find myself in the same place I was when we left our beloved church, Blue Run Baptist.  I'm feeling like part of a family, a church family.  And again, it feels good. 

I grew up going to church, a Lutheran church and no, I'm not here to dog the Lutherans.  This is just my recount.  When I was young, I remember learning the traditions of Lutherans and don't remember so much about God and Jesus.  It was just traditions and how they do things.  When I got married and my daughter was born, shortly thereafter, we became regular church-goers of a Baptist church.  I enjoyed it sooo much more and I began to know the people and to feel a closeness to them that I'd never felt before within a church.  I was sad when we left there, but the preacher had left and the church was quickly going south.  For a long while, we didn't go to church and it felt like something was missing.  When we started going back, I dreaded it.  I'm now feeling like I belong there, like it's a part of me.

So, on to the subject here...our ladies' fellowship is titled "Vineyard Keepers".  Our objective is to find our IDENTITY, PURPOSE and VALUE in Christ.  (Wow, how funny.  I've been searching for my identity for what seems like forever!)  So, we went over some verses - Titus 2:3-5 reads "In the same way, teach older women to be holy in their behavior, not speaking against others or enslaved to too much wine, but teaching what is good.  Then they can teach the young women to love their husbands, to love their children, to be wise and pure, to be good workers at home, to be kind and to yield to their husbands.  Then no one will be able to criticize the teaching God gave us."  Here we learned that when the Bible refers to "older" women and "younger" women, everyone is older than someone and everyone is younger than someone. So, you should seek a spiritual "mother" or leader and seek to teach others.  In other words, SET A GOOD EXAMPLE!



Our homework was this, "Have I, in the past, sought to find my identity, value or purpose in something other than Christ?"  and "Am I, currently attempting to find my identity, value or purpose in something other than Christ?"  My answer, YES!  I seek approval from others.  I've looked for recognition and praise through words of affirmation to lift me up and make me feel good.  Possessions, at some point in my life, I thought that my possessions would make me a better person and make others look up to me.  (Don't be fooled, I still want a house with a big kitchen and dining area because I love to entertain and I also want wrap-around porches with big rocking chairs.)  Occupation also comes to mind - being a stay-at-home-mom doesn't exactly scream, I'm somebody!  For me, it's the opposite, I feel like a nobody, no matter how much my husband tells me that I'm more involved and better than all the other moms.  I have always prayed for guidance and direction because I don't really know where I'm going or what my purpose is in this life.



While the pictures don't do it justice, it is SWEET!



It's funny, I started this blog to share photos with friends and family, but mostly, it's been an outlet to my frustrations of being a stay-at-home-mom and my identity crisis.  Even, if no one reads this, which I don't think they do, it gets it off my chest.  I just thought how meant-to-be it was that I went to this new Ladies' fellowship and the objective is finding your identity.  Wow, life's crazy, huh?!  And GOD IS GOOD!

To purchase a cool Bible cover, visit http://stores.ebay.com/Cute-Covers.  There are lots of patterns to choose from and Theresa will personalize it with your name, initials or symbol (i.e. Christian fish, cross, etc.)