Acts: tradition or freedom in Christ

Our house church has been studying Acts. It has been exciting to see our group reflected on what went on those days. BUT we all come from different backgrounds (cultural and religious) and it is very hard not to lean on what we already know by experience. On Acts 15 we are faced with the dilemma: tradition or Christ. Even though we know the right answer is, how often we fall on the same things from the past. They are not intrinsically wrong, they are just not vital or as important as we thought they were.

That is why I love our meetings, we are ourselves, we are a family. We do not burden each other with expectations that are not Biblical. If someone cannot come, we realize there must be a reason. If I have to meet with someone instead, it is understood I have a divine appointment and instead of receiving criticism, I know I can count on their prayers.

Now, it is hard not to put an unnecessary burden on each other, we have so much baggage we bring from past experiences!

My prayer is that we learn to live our freedom in Christ and act on it in relation to our brothers and sisters. Help me, God!

I am glad I am not in charge!

It was Saturday night and my family went to the elevator in turns as there was no way all of us would fit, considering all the extra load of “stuff” we take for our house church. The meeting would be at one of our regular’s home on the next door building.

We had some songs to sing, some food, the advent wreath, candles, the guitar, kid’s activities with supplies, our Bibles, etc

Getting there we had plans to spend time around the wreath, sing and read the Bible, have some thought provoking questions and nice answers that would make all of us feel warm inside. This time of the year is so special and that was our plan for the event.

We get there and people are going crazy with food preparation. They had so much! It was sweet of them, but it took the focus from our time. We then started singing some songs that they brought from their Catholic church. Nice songs and we even knew some. Nothing like it was planned …

My husband started talking about last week’s focus. As the topic starts to penetrate our minds and hearts the last visitor family arrives. They then started kissing everyone, and the food started being served. Nothing like it was planned …

Almost like an instinct I admire in him so much, my husband starts the conversation again. This time the kids are in the back doing their Christmas crafts and reading portions of the Bible with my daughters. He starts talking about faith on the promised of God through Jesus, topic of the second week of Advent. It only started there, questions such as “Is God real?”, “Why does God allow suffering in the world?”, and statement such as “I am happy as an Atheist” brought a different dynamic to our meeting. Nothing like it was planned …

We had dessert and the kids wanted to present us a performance they had prepared in the back. It was about forgiving our friends when they wrong us. It had a good message but at times it was hard to get it with all the noise, disturbance and discussion among actors! We sat there for a while until we demand a last act! Nothing like it was planned …

We finished the meeting with an open end. We did not answer all the questions and not all questions were mentioned. It was midnight and we were tired. Strangely we walked home with joy our hearts. It was crazy at times but all that happened had a purpose. We were growing in knowledge of each other, as a family. People felt free to express their view and opinions. Kids felt part of it. The Word was preached. God was glorified!

When we meet as a family, do we ever plan every step of the way? No, we visit family with open hearts wanting to spend time together and sharing life’s experiences with each other. That was what happened. Did we plan exactly that way? No, but that is OK. I am glad I am not in charge! Our Father is in control!

Scrapbooking

If you know me you know I am a scrapbooker. I just wish I had more time to devote to it, but you will hear it from any scrapbooker.

I started doing it to record the way Dwight and I met. It is such a cool love story that I wanted to keep all the detailes, including all the letters we exchanged, etc.

Then, with kids and family events, I saw it as a wonderful way to make those memories alive and even more beautiful.

It was with time that I realize what a wonderful tool it is in making friendships and sharing your faith and values with other ladies!

In Madrid, Spain, God brought a group of ladies to scrapbook together. I had many changes to share my faith, my biblical points of view on different aspects of life, and me!

Also, it becomes a support group. In this busy pace of life we all live, it is hard for anyone to find true friends, who know you, who cares about who you are and are interested in what you have to say.

I feel this kind of group offers this kind of support. Through their pictures, they share their most valued memories, they share who they are and we get to know each other really well.

We met once a week and in some of those morning, we never got to actually scrapbook. We shared so much over coffee that there was no time to work on the pictures! We had all kinds of circunstances. Some times it was just plain fun among girlsfriends. Other times it was not as light. We had one lady sharing family problems over tears. We had other one sharing about all the bitter memories she had when seing some of her baby/child pictures. And the list goes on ...

We also had two occasions in which a group came to do a workshop for them. There are many stablished churches there that have a scrapbook ministry and would love to come and help you with resources and their presence. Actually, many do not realize the impact they can have in a church start. Our experience shows that many, if not most churches start with ladies!

So, as you can see, I am an avid scrapbook lover!

Visit this article I wrote in my other blog about how I found out that "Scrapbooking is Biblical!" :

http://marasplace.blogspot.com/2005_05_01_marasplace_archive.html
Note you will have to scroll down on this page above to read the article!
Have a good week and get those pictures out of the shoe boxes!