Moved. But not settled . . . .

November 20, 2013

I want to start this blog as a way to communicate with my church friends of yore in Tri-Cities.  I have fully immersed myself in a Mormon dominated community and am quickly praying and seeking the best way to minister to our LDS friends.  I will probably only privately extend invitations for certain people to read this but I also want to write in a way that if our LDS friends stumble upon this blog they will in no way be offended.
So, please feel free to comment with suggestions, admonitions, accountability questions, and the such to me!
As of yet we have tried two different churches and both we were a bit disappointed with.  The first had worship music exclusively from the 90's and we're pretty sure it was all the same bad worship album.  The sermon was OK--we are so used to Scripture-packed sermons that when there is only a few verses presented it seems slim.  The second we tried this week (we had previously tried this church already during our house hunting extravaganza) had a sermon that openly mocked other religions.  The pastor was overtly sarcastic and we were not impressed.  Back to the drawing board.  I think we might go back to church #1 and land there for a while until we can find a church we truly feel we belong at (and try not to cringe at the music).  It's hard 'church shopping' with kiddos.  I honestly didn't really think this through.  We have uprooted our children and know no one here and then hop around churches trying to find which one is a 'fit'.  Especially Evan doesn't appreciate this. He is our child that loves a schedule and predictability.  So, we are rethinking how we can find a church that will fit us.  'Bethel--Iona' is on the list of possibilities.  I listened to one of Dave's sermons while folding laundry yesterday and started crying . . . . oh how I miss my church!  However, this move also reminded me of one of our Perspectives classes and the teacher reminded us that our definition of home should be something different than what we normally expect.  I can't remember what he said (I need to dig up that lesson now that I have all my beloved books unpacked!) but the idea was our home is in heaven and here on earth is very temporary.  We shouldn't be in love with where we live, we should be more concerned with living in God's will and being where He wants us.

My first and most interesting conversation with a Mormon happened to be with the guy I hired to pick up the massive amount of leaves that was in our lawn.  I was out front talking to him and he blatantly said, "There's a difference between a Mormon and someone who is LDS.  I'm just Mormon."  He is currently attending BYU-Idaho.  I must reek 'non-Mormon' (surprise, surprise) because everyone I meet instantly knows we are NOT Mormon.  Hmmmm.  We have had several people stop by our house and outright ask if we are LDS.  When they find out we are not they smile and say 'Oh.  That's ok!'  I'm glad because I'm living here no matter what.  There are two Mormon churches within one mile of our home and the community we live in is only 1800 people.  No joke.  The per capita of Mormons is higher in Eastern Idaho than in Utah.  They're everywhere and obviously not all of them are happy with their religion and are seeking.  I guess what I'm wondering is what are some non-threatening questions to ask to get that information out of them if they are willing to share??

Our second more interesting conversation with some neighbors that stopped by was Trent explaining to them our small group concept at Bethel (and many other evangelical churches).  They didn't understand at all.  They kept thinking we did it with high schoolers or middle schoolers but not with families just like ours.  When they finally got the concept they were completely intrigued.  Something to think about.

Probably enough for now . . . . Love to all.