A church that preaches from the Word

I am thankful for a church that preaches from the Bible.

There are a lot of churches, a lot of pastors, a lot of ways to listen to preaching. You can go to church, you can listen to podcasts, you can watch sermons on TV, you can listen to the radio. With technology, it's unending the ways that you can experience the Word of God in our country.

Yet, I think it is rare to actually hear the Word of God being taught. A message may start with a verse or two, but it often that turns into what we can learn from the verse, how the pastor interprets it, how it can be put into practice, what we're doing wrong.

That's not all bad, but I have seen many messages turn into opinion instead of staying true to what Scripture says.

When we moved here, we had to find a church that we would both like. Coming from a non-denominational background and a Catholic background, we knew it may be hard to find a place that meshed our expectations.

Our church though has drawn us because of its dedication to preaching the Word of God.

The pastor doesn't just pick a random Scripture, we study books of the Bible. We don't study just themes, but we go verse by verse. We don't just look at a verse and interpret in today's language, our pastors go back to the original text to figure out what the verse originally meant. Why did the author write it? What was the original intent?

I have learned so much since we started attending our church, and it has also changed the way that I read the Bible.

There is so much to the Word of God that we miss when we just race through it or glaze over while reading.

I'm thankful for a church that inspires me to learn more and delve deeper.

Weirdly thankful

I am thankful for yeast.

This is a weird one, but I absolutely love to bake, and I love to bake bread. It amazes me every time the way the dough comes together, and the yeast makes it rise. I love the feel of bread as the gluten activates during needing, and the smell of the yeast working.

Last night, I wanted to make cheeseburgers with a copycat In 'n Out burger sauce that I found on Pinterest and I realized that I was out of buns.

I didn't want to go to the store, and I had seen a couple of recipes for homemade hamburger buns, so I looked up "homemade hamburger buns" and found a 40-minute recipe.

In no time flat, I had whipped up the dough, kneaded it and made little balls, letting them rise for 10 minutes before going into the oven.

They turned out glorious.

Seriously, so good. So good in fact that I was going to take a picture of the burger but shoved it in my mouth before I remembered. And then I did that with the leftover burger I ate for lunch.

There is just something about leavened bread that makes you feel warm, cozy and satisfied.

I'm thankful we don't have to go through life with boring bread. I really am thankful for yeast.

Thankful for our great God

I am thankful for a God that is greater.

This week alone, a friend of ours was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer and my best friend's aunt died suddenly.

Fear. Grief. Heartache.

This world is full of so much sorrow, and yet, in those moments we have hope. The response is typically, "You're in our thoughts and prayers."

But I don't think that means much to many people. Thoughts are nice, but they aren't going to help anyway. Prayers can though.

I keep coming back to this verse that I read in Acts about how Paul was shipwrecked, and when he built a fire, a cobra came out and bit him on the arm. The natives watched him, waiting for him to get sick and die.

But nothing happened.

Nothing happened!

I think that God is so big that he can work in situations, but natural things happen. If someone is bitten by a poisonous snake and doesn't receive help, that person is going to die. It's only natural.

Yet, God can intervene in those situations. He is bigger than poison. He is bigger than cancer. He is even bigger than death.

It blows my mind when I really stop to think about how great God is and how much he is in control.

He can heal. And when he chooses not to heal, it is still not a loss. When someone has accepted Jesus as his or her savior and is forgiven of his or her sins, he or she gets to go to heaven! Even death can't win.

I am thankful that in moments when everything seems lost, we can throw up our hands and reach for our Savior.

God is bigger. He is greater than we can even imagine.

Lifelong learner

I heard on a podcast that I like the hosts call themselves "lifelong learners."

I hadn't heard that before, but I realized that is exactly what I am.

I am so thankful that I have a job where I get to learn something new everyday. Sometimes it is something about the environment --- did you know that the fleshy flap of skin that hangs off the top of a turkey's beak is called a snood?

Sometimes I get to learn new skills. On Friday, I got to learn how to drive a Bobcat and also drove a wheel loader.

Sometimes I learn about history. While working on new exhibits for a historical site we run, I had to look up some of the Native American artifacts. I found out that eagle feathers were awarded to braves in battle, and our eagle feather, which is serrated on both sides, was awarded to braves who counted coup --- showed bravery in the face of the enemy --- four times in battle. I also learned about Native American headdresses and what the feathers mean.

I love our small group when I learn the history behind a book of the Bible, and I love church when I learn what the original Greek text said versus how I had always interpreted the English.

I also love working with volunteers and picking up life lessons along the way, like the day my volunteer quoted an Amish proverb --- "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without."

I get so much joy from learning, and I had never realized before just how much it excites me. I'm thankful today for a job that lets me do different things every day and that lets me continue to learn.

Thankful month

It's November, and that means that Thanksgiving is approaching.

As I sit here, realizing again that I haven't blogged in a while, the things that keep popping into my head are things that I am thankful for.

So maybe what I should do is focus on thankfulness this month.

This afternoon, I was thankful that my husband is so good at anticipating my needs.

Last week, he picked up the leather boots that I have worn every day for the past two winters to buff them, and they were looking a little rough.

"You need new boots," he said.

So, I got to looking and found a pair, but there were awfully expensive. I left them on the computer screen to show to him later, and I came home the next day to him having found a coupon to make them much more within our price range --- still expensive, but the quality was worth it.

I was super thankful that he went ahead and found a way to make them work without me having to ask him, and they arrived today. I'm excited, which he finds silly that I would get excited over boots, but I guess that is one way I'm girly.

The second way he anticipated my needs today was when I was dozing watching TV after work. I heard him in the kitchen filling up the teapot, and I was going to ask him if he would make me some tea or coffee.

"What are you doing?" I called out.

"Making us coffee," he said.

He brought me a cup before he had any, and it made me happy.

It may be little things, but the way that he watches me and anticipates what I may need always makes me thankful.

I love that man.

The ultimate example

There are times at work that I think, "That's not my job."

But then I notice that my boss is outside mowing or is sifting compost or is grading the driveway, and I think "That's not his job either." It makes me realize that we all have to pitch in where we can to make everything successful.

It's important that a boss set an example for his or her employees, because if they see him or her only doing a small share of the work, then the employees will only do a small share of the work. If they see him or her coming in late, then they will think it's OK to come in late. If they see him or her talking rudely to people, they will think it's OK to talk rudely to people.

Conversely, if a boss sets an example of a positive atmosphere, most employees will probably follow that. If the boss sets an example of honesty and zealousness, the employees will most likely follow. If the boss sets an example of going over and beyond, then the employees will most likely follow.

That goes beyond just the workplace too.

Think of volunteers in your community. Think of people at church. When you are surrounded by lazy people, you can rationalize that you don't need to help out. But if you are surrounded by people who are constantly being selfless, you feel the need to do that too.

Do you see that in your kids? Do they follow your example? Do you see it in your spouse? If you are selfish, does that make them want to be selfless? No. If you are selfless though, it may inspire them to be that way as well.

Jesus set the ultimate example with his life, and with his baptism. When he went to John the Baptist to be baptized, Jesus didn't have any sin to confess. He didn't have to repent and be baptized like John the Baptist was encouraging others to do.

However, Jesus wanted to set an example. If he wasn't baptized, his followers could say, "But Jesus didn't get baptized. Why should I?" In his perfection, he wanted to lead by example. He wanted to submit to baptism to show he was living a life that was right before God and not just right before himself.

We have the ultimate perfect example to follow. Hopefully, if we follow him truly and with our whole hearts, we will inspire others as well.

Choose love

Confession: I watch "Real Housewives of Orange County."

I pretend like I don't. I hate admitting to Nate what I have been watching when he comes home and it's on. But it's my guilty pleasure. I've watched it enough seasons now that it's interesting to see how these ladies' lives turn out.

And it's like a train wreck. You can't look away.

But this week, one of the women said she is getting a divorce. She and her husband live apart and only see each other on weekends, and she said they realized they aren't "in love." They are best friends and attracted to each other, but they aren't in love.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again --- Love is a choice. It is not a feeling.

I just wanted to take her and say that. If you love him like a friend and are attracted to him, you can bring back your marriage. It may take some commitment. It may mean actually moving to the same town. It may mean work. It may mean change, but that is a choice.

I think people are so used to divorce being the ending of marriage, that they don't even realize that they can put in some work and make a marriage successful. It's like it's not even an option.

People put work into raising their kids right. People put work into making their job a success. People put work into making their hobbies successful. Yet, somehow marriage escapes the need for work.

Wake up each day and choose to love your spouse. No matter what it takes.

And if you don't believe me --- all the other women on the show were also confused. They have been through divorces and told her to not give up, to work at her marriage. If these crazy broads believe in trying to make a marriage work, you better listen....