Tomorrow is a big day for God, and Satan knows it!

How do I know that tomorrow is a big day for God to use me?  The same old predictable pattern is happening right now. 

I am horribly distracted.  I have so many things to do, and it is like wading through molasses to get them done.  I feel disconnected, sinusy, and nervous.  All of these fears come into my thought process.  What if no one shows up?  What if I am too nervous and no one can identify with what I share?  What if the food that I am bringing turns out horrible?  My dear friend is very sick; when will they find out what is going on and treat her?

I was asked to share my testimony tomorrow, and again the spiritual battle is raging.  I have been here before.  Every time something is happening that God wants to use, these kinds of things happen.  The last time it happened, I had well meaning friends say to me, “Aw, come on now!  I mean really?  Cars break, that is just life.”  But with so many storms swirling around me at once I could feel it, this was more.

I texted a good spirit-led prayer warrior friend of mine.  “Please pray for us. I feel that we are in a spiritual battle right now.”  As the storm was swirling strong around us a new ministry calling was opening up, something big.  My friend and I prayed.  The storm lifted. 

I texted back to my prayer warrior friend, “You know what my first thought was last night before I sent my prayer request?  Don’t send that to her!  Don’t bother her with you prayer requests concerning spiritual warfare.  She’s got her own to deal with.  You are just being selfish asking her for prayer for that right now.  Guess I know where those lies came from, don’t I?  You didn’t seem bothered to me ;)”

Her response was swift and comforting, “Not bothered, honored.  That liar!  You’d think we’d get wise to his schemes . . . “

Satan just HATES it when God is moving in your life, and calling you to do something meaningful for Him (God)!  Satan will batter you from all directions when you are close to something big in God’s kingdom.  Don’t EVER let the distractions, the lies, and the onslaught of impending crises stop you from following God’s plan for your life.  Hit it head on with all of your God-given battle armor found in the word of God in Ephesians.  Pray, call others to prayer, and press on  until the battle is won.

Lord God, I call on the name of your precious son, Jesus Christ. I can not fight this battle, and neither can those around me that have battles raging.  Please fight for us.  Bind and cast out what is not of you Lord.  Confuse and diffuse the weapons of the evil one.  I pray this boldly in the name of Jesus.  Amen

P.S.  Guess what came on as I was finishing this post, and prayer?! Here's a song for you (by Crowder) if you are dealing with spiritual warfare!  Pray first, then crank it!

Yes, Who Is My Neighbor?!

I am on the email list for a weekly (?) devotion with Christian music artist Matthew West which is sent through his ministry popwe.org. 

Now, I have heard the passages about what Jesus said about who our neighbor is many time before.  But somehow today it smacked me upside the head when, in sharing the story of the Good Samaritan, Matthew (West) says, “In this parable, a man has been beaten and robbed and was lying on the side of the road, left for dead.  Three different men come by, two of which would have been expected to help, but only the third man, the one most unlikely, responded and saved his life.” (I added the bold type for emphasis.)

Suddenly a realization hit me with the proverbial “holy two by four”.  Every other time that I have heard this I have secretly prided myself that I would have helped.

And I have, in my mind, thought many times of our time in the Conservative Mennonite church with a disgust for the attitude I saw in some to pour most all of their energy and resources only into helping those in the Mennonite church (or those wanting to come into the Mennonite church) with seemingly little regard for the “substandard Christians” outside the Mennonite church.  (I am NOT proud of this attitude in me.)

But it hit me today . . . and hard!  How many more times have I been the other two rather then the Good Samaritan that I suppose myself to be?  When faced with needs outside my “Christian circles”, how often am I the “more likely one to help” that doesn’t?!  Ouch!!

Maybe, yet again, God is using what annoys me in others to point out my own faults.  Funny how most of what we are bothered by in others is something that we refuse to see (or maybe can’t see for the plank in our eye).  (Insert groan and sigh here)

Lord, I am humbled yet again.  Please continue to purify me and teach me to be more like you.  Help me to have the ability to see my own faults, and have more grace towards others, as we both work on ourselves and our own shortcomings.  But help me to do this in a healthy way, as I remember your grace and mercy for me.  Protect me from falling into despair over all of my perceived shortcomings.  But please Lord help me to learn and grow closer to you in my awareness of them.  I pray this in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

The Journey To A New Life (Part 5)- God Purifies And Redeems What Was Lost

So, now that we had been living, dressing, worshipping, eating, reading, talking, and thinking Mennonite for going on three years, and educating our daughter in their school for about 3 months, what could we do in order to leave??  How could we make a clean break of it?  How could we leave without scarring our relationship with our children?  These were all questions we faced.  (The complications of an entire family coming into, and then some or all leaving a Mennonite church, has broken up or estranged many a family.)

Much of what we had heard from those in the church that had raised red flags about us staying there had been conveniently(?) said while our children were not around.  Important things seem to be purposely said after the children are outside or off playing somewhere.  My belief is that this is purposely done, because then if the parents don’t become members in the church then they still have a chance to bring the children in later. (This is also the belief of others who have left, not just us.)  And since they believe that you have to be a part of the Mennonite church to ensure your salvation, this is important to them.  They see it as a duty, to at least “save” your children, if you aren’t willing to stay and be “saved”.  (In this effort, their young people have even been known to “happen” by your house and stop for a visit with the older children to talk if they see them alone outside, especially in the beginning.)

All this being said, we had to be very careful how we communicated with our older three children especially.  They had seen only part of the picture, and didn’t fully know what had caused us to leave.  And we were not in the healthiest place mentally and emotionally at that point to constructively communicate that to them. So we took it honestly, bluntly, but slowly.  It took time and patience.  I believe that they now see what we were trying to say then.

The biggest comfort that I had in those moment was my time with God, just crying and praying.  Not only did He strengthen me, but He brought to light something that I very much had to learn.

I had been bitter and angry at the Mennonite church toward the end, largely because I saw a people who very much judged not only those around them, but the world that they kept at arms length outside their “Mennonite bubble”.  The more that I saw the damage of their judgement within the church, the more uncomfortable I became.  But when I heard and read countless messages from their church basically condemning people outside the Mennonite church as “so called Christians” because they did not choose to seek to live like them, I became enraged.  I had come from outside the Mennonite church.  And I had been a VERY passionate follower of Christ long before I had even thought about entering their church.  What about the wonderful spirit-led Christians that I knew that would never step foot in a Mennonite church?  How can they look down on them simply because they aren’t, and never will be, Mennonite?!  (One article in a newsletter of theirs actually warned of the dangers of wearing casual clothing [non-Mennonite clothing].  It claimed that casual clothing NEGATED your witness to others.  Not that it lessened your witness, mind you, but that it negated your witness altogether.  Really?!?! [Insert sigh, and head shake here.])

Then, just as my anger over all of this was at it’s worst, God revealed something very powerful to me.  He told me that I was on dangerous ground  as I pointed all this judgement and anger toward them.  He basically said to me, “YOU started this, and I am just simply putting a mirror to what you need to change.  You need to stop judging them, or you will be in danger of my judgement.  For years, you have judged countless Christians for not living up to YOUR standards of how a Christian should live!”

OUCH!!!

That was over two years ago now.  I have fully repented, but I am still not perfect at this.  God has humbled me, time and time again.  But there is a lot less judgement, and a lot more grace in my heart then there you used to be.

He has even called me to be reach out to those in the Mennonite churches that we left.  I believe that we need to show them that there are authentic Christians outside their churches.  They won’t seek to associate too much with us unless we are seeking to come into their church.  But just as Jesus pursues us with his relentless, unwavering love, so he calls me to show them that His love burns bright in me as I seek to extend the same to them.

May I be equal to the task, and to God be the glory!

Lord, give us new eyes to see those around us.  Even when they look perfect and all put together, may we see their need.  May we not beat them over the head in judgement, but come to them in compassion.  May we remember that true love is not about condoning nor about condemning.  That is your job, and as a human I don’t have the full picture.  It is about encouraging and loving in a godly way.  It is about being the example that others want to live up to, not because they have to, but because they see your love in our actions and words.  And they realize that you are the perfect example in our lives, and that your truth and love is true happiness.  Please guide and lead me as I seek to serve you Lord, in serving those around me.  Amen

The Journey To A New Life (Part 4)- Falling Into The Mennonite World

Something strange happens when you start going to a moderate to very conservative Mennonite church.  (I can’t speak on any others then the ones that I have been to of course.)

Seeing the seemingly perfect, orderly lives of this beautiful women in the perfectly ironed homemade dresses had an effect on me.  In fact, for a time, I think that the way that these families lived had our whole family under a spell of sorts.

The people are so eager to learn about you, and share their lives with you.  This is even reflected in their church directories, which read like a very in depth diary of each family’s life.  At first you feel like they just care very deeply for you.  And they really do.  But this is also how they stay accountable to one another.  (Every member of a Mennonite church is required to live by the “standards”, or rules, of that particular church.  This includes the written and unwritten rules set forth by the church leaders.)

As you see so many people, working so hard to stay accountable to the church, you find yourself wanting to “fit in”.  And, as the standards are all “biblical” (in their eyes at least), this seems like a good thing.  However, we personally believe that it is a huge stretch to match some of the church’s standards with the bible verses that they match them to.  Most do not at all speak to the same things.  Our personal view is that there is a strong attempt to take a culture and make it scriptural.

At the conservative Mennonite church that we moved to, here are some of the rules that they live by:

- A woman’s dress is made with the utmost modesty in mind.  It will have a cape (modesty panel like you see in the Amish dresses).  The neckline will be high and rounded off to be as close to the neck as possible, as they believe that showing the neck bones is immodest.  At church especially, you will have a matching belt on the dress (modesty in their view).  There will be no red color in the fabric, and the fabric design pattern cannot be larger than a dime (so as not to be flashy).  The skirts are longer then calf length.  You always wear black nylons and black shoes with your dress.  Girls follow most of the same rules, but do not wear a cape or cap when they are younger.  There are also expectations about the head covering (cap).  Women and girls must never cut their hair, ever.  They believe 1 Corinthians 11 calls them not to ever cut their hair if they are a girl.

- Men and boys all wear jeans or dark dress pants, depending on the activity.  They wear button down shirts.  You do not wear “camo” unless you are hunting at the time.  You do not wear logos on your clothing.  You are expected to have a neat and simple hair cut.  You are to always be clean shaven, no beard or mustache.

- When you buy a car, it will be a color that is darker and not flashy.  And they have a man in the church that knows how to unhook your radio wires for you, as there is no listening to radios if you are a member in this church. 

-If you buy a computer, you must buy one through church connections.  The people in the church will remove anything that does not conform to the standards of your church.  (No video player, no internet browser, etc. at the very conservative church.)

-Your children will all go to the church school until age 13.  And even if you aren’t members of the church, you will follow a list of church rules in your home to make it possible for them to go there. (No cutting your daughter’s hair, no internet, or TV, or radio in the home at all, etc.)  This is to prevent negative outside influences in the school.

-There are two to three church services a week, and you are expected to be at all of them, unless you are seriously ill or traveling.  (This means that you are in church for up to five hours a week.)  If you are not there, you will be asked why you weren’t there.

I could go on, but I think that this gives a pretty good idea.  The point of all of this is that we didn’t learn about all of these rules, and many more besides, at once.  It happened slowly, progressively. 

As we conformed to more to their rules and ways of living, we thought that we were doing the right thing.  We thought that to be serious about our faith we needed to work harder, and be the “perfect” Christian.  And they certainly seemed to fit the bill as our role models.

But there was a problem with our thinking at this point.  First, our efforts will never “earn us” a place in heaven.  This is why we needed Jesus to come.  It is good to be the best child of God we can be.  This is the fruit of our faith in Christ.  But we must never trust in our own efforts for our salvation.  It is not by our works, so that no man can boast . . . (Ephesians 2:8-10) 

And second, it is good to live by Hebrews 13:17, and to submit to the guidance of our ministers (so long as what they say agrees with God’s word).  But we must also remember these verses, 1 Peter 5:1-3, and the call for the pastor to not “lord over” the church but to be examples to those in “his flock” of what godly living looks like.

The more that we tried to please the Mennonite church, the harder it was to see God.  The harder we worked to follow their exhaustive list of rules (that I’m sorry was not all biblical, but in large part extra-biblical) the more miserable and judgmental of others on “the outside” we became.

It became like the parable in the bible about the Pharisee and the tax collector all over again. (Luke 18:9-14)

As I became more miserable, my response was to see the faults of the church, and become very bitter.  I was angry with the way that they judged those inside, and especially outside, by their standards for what a “true Christian” should be.  I was grieved by the extreme strain that that striving was doing to our family, and to their families.  I saw my own children turning against me in judgement and confusion during this time as well.  It felt like everything was falling apart. 

Fortunately my husband and I were in constant communication during this time, and we were in agreement that we had to leave the church.  But how could we do it without alienating our children?  They hadn’t seen or heard all that we had from within the church, and didn’t feel the same way that we did about needing to leave.  We needed to back away from the church and school slowly, in order to not do more damage in our family.  (Our daughter was in the school at this time.)  And I still had a very important, but painful, lesson to learn.

_______________________________

(Side note: Unfortunately, a number of marriages have ended after a couple or family came into Mennonite churches like the two churches we visited.  It seems that it might be due to lack of communication (or agreement) about one of the two wanting to leave the church, and them feeling like they have to chose to leave their spouse in order to leave the church.  Or, it seems to be because things happening while in the church have driven a wedge between them.)

(Disclaimer:  This series includes the personal experience of our family in both moderately conservative, and ultra conservative Mennonite churches.  I am only speaking for our experience personally, and what we personally know.)

The Journey To A New Life (Part 3)- A Mennonite Experience

(Note:  This is not the same experience that you would have at every Mennonite church.  This is in regards to the conservative Mennonite churches that we visited.  As a friend of mine once said, “There are many ‘flavors’ of Mennonites.”  This is just by perspective on our personal experience.  Nothing more.)

So, now we were well on our way to living as Mennonites, or at least strongly steering in that direction.  What does their world look like?  Well, I will say that it is vastly different looking when you are on the outside completely.  You have some idea when you spend some time with them about once every three weeks, as we did in Michigan.  But, going to their church every week, and living among them, is so different from either of those that you can’t fully understand it if you don’t try living it.

As we prepared our move, as I’ve said, we were going to a (moderately) conservative Mennonite church in Michigan about every three weeks.  In other words, we were getting a taste of Mennonite life.  We thought we knew what we were getting into, but we didn’t . . . yet.

Let me give you a picture of how this limited view only serves to feed our romanticized view of Anabaptist life.  Imagine that you are new at a Mennonite church.  The building looks something like the church/school building out of  the “Little House on the Prairie” TV show.  There is only a simple wooden clock on the wall, no cross. The men and boys walk in with black dress pants, and white button down shirts.  Women and girls all wear neatly ironed homemade dresses.  The girls all have braids down their backs.  The women all have their hair in a neat, tight bun under their perfectly starched caps (head coverings), and their dresses have “capes” (a fabric panel over the upper torso for modesty). 

You walk in, and all of the women stand around talking together like a bunch of little school girls, but quiet and proper like all the same.  The girls cluster nearby.  The women talk politely and animatedly about their week.  They ask you how your week was, and tell you about what they did, where they went, what they canned or sewed that week, etc.  There might be a newly courting couple mentioned, or a new marriage, or baby.

The men stand to the other side of the building talking about what they did that week, the boys cluster to talk nearby.  The men talk about how work went (many of them farm, are in building trades, or own their own businesses).  They might be looking for good weather to harvest their fields, or maybe they are building a new out building, etc..

At first, it is kind of refreshing really.  There is no swearing, or vulgar jokes.  That is really quite nice!

Now it is about five minutes till church starts.  As if on a timer, everyone mechanically files in to sit down.  The women and children sit on one side, the men on the other.  The elderly sit up front in the respective “Amen corners”, then the youth (teens) are near the front on either side, then the adults behind them with the smaller children. They all stop talking to quietly prepare their hearts to worship God.

As the service starts a man leads the singing of the hymns, all sung in four-part harmony.  (They believe that there are no instruments mentioned in the New Testament other then those played by angels, so therefore instruments have no part in their lives and worship.  All music is a Capella, voices only.) And as they practice singing in their church schools from a young age, it sounds beautiful.

I can’t for sure remember the order now, but then there is Sunday School time, a minister might share a personal testimony, there is prayer time (knees on the wood or carpeted floor, no kneeler, facing the bench), and a sermon and more singing.  The service starts at 10 am and ends at 12 noon, almost exactly, every week for the Sunday morning service.

As soon as everyone is released from the service the talking resumes.  If you are new, you will get asked a lot of questions.  They want to know everything about you.  And everyone wants to invite you over for dinner (lunch).   (Among Mennonite households, cleaning is done on Saturdays by the entire family, just in case they have guests on Sunday.)  In fact, if you keep attending church there, expect to receive at least one invitation every week until every family has had you to their home.

As you go into the conservative Mennonite home you will probably notice the absence of many things.  They might listen to a Capella hymn recordings, but they would not listen to other music, nor would they listen to the radio.  There is no TV, or internet (generally), but there might be a computer (stripped down by the church to their standards, to avoid temptation).  The home and furnishings are simple, and there is a lot of woodwork, beautiful woodwork.  It is very homey, with a large kitchen table typically.

The wife and any daughters help put the meal on, while the men visit in the living room until the meal is ready.  They won’t make a woman that is a guest from “the outside” help, but you will definitely impress them if you do. 

Finally, the food is on the table, and everyone sits around it.  It is a huge amount of food.  There is a main dish, many sides, fresh baked bread, homemade jam, and homemade dessert.  You start to drool, and boy are you hungry!

The man of the house starts the prayer, often times praying for the family or families eating with them that day.  Then the passing around of the food begins.

After dinner, all of the women and older girls do dishes, and then put them all away.  A lively conversation happens throughout.  The men are again lounging and talking in the meantime.

Now the children play.  The adults either talk together as couples, or as a group of men and a group of women.  The visiting lasts for a few hours, until it is time to leave, or go to the next house for supper.  (Sometimes, if two families want to invite you over, the second one to ask will invite you over for supper after dinner at the first house.)

Coming home from all of this is exciting.  You see a group of people with no noticeable church politics, no fancy church building or houses, who seemingly like everyone else, and would do anything for each other, that don’t swear or talk badly about anyone else or say anything even unpleasant.  It honestly feels like a wonderful parallel imaginary world, at first.  But, as you learn more, you realize that as natural as all of this looks . . . it’s not really.  They are human too, and there is a lot more to it . . .

The Journey To A New Life (Part 2)- The Change

As we planned our move to the next state over, we also passed our beloved bible study with the homeless and needy on to others in the church we used to attend (Trinity).  This was a very difficult time.  The homeless and in need that came to Trinity were seeing all of the changes that were taking place in us.  They knew that we were leaving the ministry, and the state.  But they didn’t want us to go, nor did they understand why we were leaving, other then that God was calling us away.  (We also had another son during this transition time.)

Family and friends were also hard pressed to find answers to why we had changed, and why we were leaving.  We told them that God was calling us.  They asked questions like, “Are you moving there for a job?”, “Do you have family there?”, and “Why doesn’t God call you some place warmer?”  To all this we answered, “No”, “No”, and “Because that is not the way He works.”  When we said that we were moving because God called us there, it didn’t make sense to people.  However when they didn’t understand our answer for why we were leaving, and my husband joked that it was because “we like cheese” suddenly it made sense to them.  (OK, so that we would move to another state simply because God called makes no sense to you?  But if you move simply because you like cheese, THAT makes sense?!  Sigh.)

As the day got closer for us to move, my husband and I found ourselves purging belongings we had hung onto for years and years.  While I don’t regret anything that we got rid of, I do remember thinking thoughts like “Well, we won’t need this in the Mennonite church!” entering into some of our decisions of what to get rid of.  We threw away things such as varsity jackets, yearbooks, and old prom pictures.  We donated boxes and boxes of old belongings, so much so that I am sure the guys at the local Salvation Army were growing tired of us.  I donated almost everything clothing-wise that was “pre-Mennonite”.  I was wearing cape dresses and veil type head coverings exclusively now, so all my old jeans went bye-bye.

We were also weaning ourselves from other things that were not in fitting with Mennonite living.  We were dressing like Mennonites, talking like Mennonites, acting more like they act, living more like they live.  And we were thinking more like they think.  I remember saying things during this time to Mennonite friends that basically had an attitude of how ,”I used to think this thought, or talk, or music, or Christian attitude was ok, but now I realize that the Mennonite way is the better way.”  And this was perfectly understandable to them.

I now see how dangerous my thoughts and attitudes were becoming during that time, and how I was yearning more and more to say and do what I thought would gain approval from the Mennonites around me.

(Disclaimer:  This series includes the personal experience of our family in both moderately conservative, and ultra conservative Mennonite churches.  I am only speaking for our experience personally, and what we personally know.  Please continue reading to see how God works in this.  He wastes nothing!)

The Journey To A New Life (Part 1)- Sorting It All Out

(Disclaimer:  This series includes the personal experience of our family in both moderately conservative, and ultra conservative Mennonite churches.  I am only speaking for our experience personally, and what we personally know.)

So much has happened in the last few years.  When I think about what has just happened in the last 3 years, I just sit back and say, “WOW!”  I look back at this blog, and I think of where I was when I stopped regularly writing at the end of 2011/ beginning of 2012.  Then I think of what God has done in my life since then . . . PHEW!  So much happened and yet it was so much of a complicated time in our lives as a family.  It was also a very challenging time in my husband and I’s marriage.  It stretched us financially, physically, emotionally, and spiritually in ways I still struggle to fully explain, but I will try.

It was late March 2012.  We were living in Michigan.  I was a mom fully enjoying my time away at the local homeschool book fair.  I was just a woman in my mid-thirties, jeans, t-shirt, and a ponytail.  I was on a mission to buy next year’s books.  That, and I was enjoying roaming around without three kids in tow.  Little did I know how much my life was about to change . . .

I met a young woman named Faith that day that would become a close friend of mine.  What drew me to her?  She was a very conservative Mennonite, and I thought of how simple her life must be.  Was she as serious about her faith as I imagined?  Was her life as romantic as I imagined it to be?  What was it like to sew all of your own clothes, bake your own bread, can your own food, to live without internet, TV, radio, and social media crowding out all of the simple joys of life?  (Actually, we had given up TV years before, but we still watched some family friendly shows online.)

Honestly, she and her family appeared to embody everything that we were looking toward.  When I looked at her I saw someone who lived a simple life, a frugal life, a faith focused life.  I wanted these very things.  And she was so very nice, and kindly offered to trade addresses and write from where she lived, a state away.  (She was at the book fair with a church ministry, as a vendor, selling the curricula that the Mennonites use in their church schools.) 

I happily wrote her for three years, getting sucked into everything Mennonite.  Before we knew it, we were reading their church newsletters and other doctrinal “papers”, and attending church at a Mennonite church about an hour and a half away (once about every 3 weeks).  As time went on we also started to dress as they did, friends from the church near us sewing dresses for my daughter and me. 

Our thought patterns were changing subtly, but drastically.  How we looked at those around us changed.  How we talked and lived changed.  Everything changed.

We started to feel a call to move closer to the Mennonite friends we had grown to know through letters, and pictures, and yearly homeschool book fair centered visits.  We knew that God was calling us to live near Faith and her family, and to go to their church.  So for the last year and a half of Faith and I writing, our family was also plotting our move to another state . . .

Lord, so many are looking for you in so many places.  We don’t always know where the journey with you is going, but we trust that you know better then we do what is best, and right, and true.  Watch over us, and bless us, and guide us as we seek you above all else.  We pray this in Jesus’ holy name.  Amen.

A Look Back

I am currently, “behind the scenes” so to speak, working through the last six years of our life and all that God has done.  I am writing about the story of this time, that needs to be told.  But no one here will see this for a while.  Why?  It was a hard and complicated six years.  But it was also immensely fruitful.  It will take time to work through, write out, think through, revise, and so on.  The goal is that It would not only be truthful and transparent, but written in love.

We moved from Michigan to where we live now almost three years ago.  We fully believed when we moved that we were on our way to maybe becoming members of the Mennonite church where we live now, or at least were opening the door to that possibility.  We are no longer in the Mennonite church, but now that it has been over two years past the time when we left, I am in a healthier place where I can share the positive lessons that I can take away from our time there among the Mennonites. 

One of the ministers’ wives and I had a nice, but emotional talk, during the time when we were getting ready to leave the church.  She asked me what I would say to someone interested in coming into the Mennonite church.  Of course, not wanting to hurt her feelings, I glossed over what I was truly thinking at the moment.  I was in a bad place when we left, and out of Christian love for her, I could not truthfully answer that in the state of mind that I was in at the time.  We still love everyone in both conservative Mennonite churches that we were a part of, but I can not personally recommend it as a journey for others coming from “the outside”.  If you want to know more, then please watch for a coming series of posts where I try to better explain that (hopefully) in love.  It is a process.

But, having said that, here are some positive lessons that I learned from our time in the Mennonite church.

- A reminder of the value of reading the bible and making Christian and church fellowship a priority, and an underscore of why it is important that we do these things because we want to, not out of guilt or shame from others

- The value of truly caring about each other, and being there to share each others’ burdens in ways that go above and beyond.  (Like a group of ladies coming over to help clean both the house you are moving from and the one you are moving to, so that you don’t have to do it alone)

- A focus on teaching the next generation to not only read the bible, but to know it thoroughly. (And a reminder of our need of discernment in processing the theology that we listen to or read.)

- The value of true physical and social modesty.  (Why it is important to cover your body, and how greatly it influences the way that the opposite sex views and treats you.  And how important it is to keep your mouth shut when it is better to do so, and how that positively influences the relationships around you.)

- The value of really internalizing what God is trying to tell us in His word in regards to how we should be living. (And a reminder to live for him, and not for the approval of humans, no matter how well meaning they seem to be)

- The value of ladies that have skills that I don’t have, like sewing and canning, that are willing to teach me these currently not as common arts.

- The value of being a true COMMUNITY of believers all week long, not just on Sunday! (And why it is more joyful to give when you do it willingly)

- The value of being accountable to others in things that we are struggling with, as a safeguard.

- And the biggest lesson I have learned was the value and freedom of being the very best child of God that I can be, and letting others have the freedom to do the same.  (None of us will ever be good enough to earn our salvation, that is why Jesus came.  My being the best that I can be, is the fruit of my faith, not my attempt to earn my salvation.  I do not have all of the facts to be a just judge of another’s faith life, which is precisely why it is NOT my job to be their judge.  Not saying that I don’t still struggle with this though . . . )

While there are downsides to how I have seen these things lived out in the Mennonite church that I don’t need to go into here, I do personally believe that we would see blessings in refocusing on these things in our personal walk with God. 

Lord, I have shared my thoughts here today.  But all that really matters is your plan for us as your people.  Give us a new perspective.  Give us a hunger for your plan, and your ways.  Give us courage to not just live the way we do because everyone else does, but give us the discernment to live the way you want us to.  Help us to choose your way of living even when it’s considered strange or counter cultural to those around us.  Help us to show you love in how we live for you, and also to better see your love for us.  We cannot earn your love, but may we be more in tune with all of the ways that you show us your love, and bear fruit in your current life season for us.  We ask these things in Jesus’ name.  Amen