Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Good Afternoon, Thank you for calling JetBlue Airways, this is Shannon how may I help you?

Just when I think I can't learn anything else they keep stuffing more into my brain. Actually, I am loving it. I miss being away from the kids and Aaron, but I love going in to work every night and learning how all of this works. They are trying to make it as fun as possible, and they are doing a pretty good job at it. I have met several people and have made a few new friends. Now I am waiting to finish training and then I can use the flight benefits....My friend and I already have a trip to New York planned for may! I can't wait. I've never been to New York.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Our Church is Broken.

I mentioned in my last post that Aaron was asked to be a deacon and that we had been thinking about leaving our church. I thought I might explain just a little bit because I have been asked what a deacon does.
Well, our church just seems to be broken. Nobody knows what they should be doing, and it is seriously affecting all aspects of the church. We love it there, and love the people...BUT we feel like something just isn't right. I'm not sure exactly how to explain it. When we joined we were told that our church is "elder rule"...meaning that there is a group of 12 men that pray and make decisions of where things should be going. Well, I guess awhile back our deacons were the ones who did this, but things happened and that is not the case anymore. Now the staff are the only ones making decisions....
So, the children's groups need help, the deacons don't know what role they are playing, our church isn't following it's bilaws (the group of elders), and things are just an all around mess. Nobody has any direction. When you offer help it is turned into "take all of it" not just help with it. It is seriously frustrating....
So, to answer the question "What does and Deacon do?" Right now, not a whole lot in our church. They should be the leading force, but they are not. Aaron was told that a lot of changes are being planned for this next year.
We had been planning on looking for another church, but Aaron was asked to teach Sunday School...he accepted we stayed. We had planned to leave, and Aaron was asked to be on the church planning committee basically figuring out what is needing to be fixed (everything in my opinion) he accepted and we stayed. Now He has been asked to be a deacon, he will be ordained on April 2 if they decide that God wants him there...we prayed, he accepted, if he makes it (which at this point it sounds like a formaility) then we are committed to staying for 5 years.
All of this has happened within the course of the last 3 months, and the latter 2 within the course of the last month. We feel that God has us there to help the church through the ripping off of the band aid and putting on the medicine so that the wounds can be heald. It doesn't matter how the wounds got there, just that they are there and need to be fixed.
It will be a long time to heal, but I think that God has big plans for us and our church.

Monday, March 13, 2006

News from Wampville.

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. Things have gotten crazy hectic since Jetblue called and then on top of all of that I got sick and then Girl Scout cookies came in...so I am just now finding time to sit down and give you all an update.
We have been so blessed with wonderful friends and family who have graciously offered to come and help us take care of Aidan while I am transitioning into the world of the employed. This Wed. my inlaws are coming to stay for 2 nights while I am in Orientation meetings on Thursday and Friday. I am so grateful that they are able to do this, these meetings are during the day. Then on Monday we have a neighbor boy who also goes to our church coming to watch the kids after school so that I can make sure to get to training on time. That way Aaron doesn't have to worry about how quickly he needs to get home. God has been so good to us and just took care of all of my worries about this transition.
More news...Aaron has been asked to be a deacon in our church. While kind of scary it is such an hounor for our family. We had been thinking about pulling out of this church for awhile, but it seems the more we try to pull out the more God asks us to do. So, we feel like God it telling us we need to stay put and try to help make the change. Not exactly what we would like, but as we have learned before we need to do what God wants. So, please pray for us as we are still making the decision about this. Tonight Aaron is going to meet with a few of the deacons and they will be questioning them about his faith... please pray that God will direct his answers.
On one last note...Girl Scout cookies are here! We are busy dividing them all up and getting them ready to be delievered. If you are out of state and ordered some I will be trying to mail them out before Thursday. We have already sampled some and boy are they yummy! Our troop is also doing a few cookie booths. We have 360 extra boxes of cookies to sale and we have already sold 88 of those boxes! The girls have done such a great job!
Ok, I'm off to go paint. A friend of ours works for a blind installation company and he brought over a drape for our slider (no more yucky verticals!) It is a really pretty beige microfiber, but now that it is up the wall looks yucky...so I'm going to paint the 2 walls in the family room and the one wall that wasn't painted in the kitchen a nice beige color that matches the drape. When I get it all finishe and put back together I will post some pictures.