Sacred Days...

Hi! 

 

I've been reading through Romans the past 2 weeks.  It's been very good for me.  I haven't really ever read the whole book for myself.  I had read chapters 3 and 6 before, and I've heard different sermons on Romans before, but reading for yourself lets you think about all the things we don't hear about.  What really made me think Saturday was chapter 14.  When I read chapter 14, God impressed on me a new idea.  That personal convictions are just that - personal and we shouldn't try to force our convictions on someone else. I used the believe that in a perfect world, everyone would have the exact same personal convictions, but that's not in line with what I read on Saturday. 

 

Romans 14:5-9 says "One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living"

I know this isn't news to many who may be reading, but it was a revelation to me.  We wonder why we're so eager to judge or look down on others because they drink occasionally or they have a few tattoos or they don't dress like we do or they don't cover their hair or they wear make-up... different people feel differently about these things because we regard them special and we are fully convinced in our own minds.

verses 21-22: "So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin."

This whole chapter is filled with goodness and you should read it for yourself, not only my excerpts.  I could talk about the whole chapter, but I don't want my blog to get too long and I still have more to say about this past week! We have had a busy and interesting past week.

Our Life Happens Brochure

We've been going out for walks in the evening.  We tend to talk to more people then since they are out when it's cooler. We decided to make brochures in Spanish and in English to hand out when we go door to door in the future.  A big thanks to my last job, Project Renew, for the layout.

Josh went to men's breakfast and had an interview at YMCA in the afternoon- he's still working on getting files from KC YMCA to send in with application so he doesn't have to re-do any trainings.

We're keeping the church nice and tidy. It's a big job since the church is big and pulling weeds is a year long job in El Paso, since it doesn't really get cold enough to kill them. We also took the car  in for the state inspection-failed because of engine signal light.  they said the catalytic converters have to be replaced to pass inspection. Still waiting for them to order parts. We're still working on that for our car registration and then we'll be able to get driving licenses. Met some men from Mexico who came by. They talked to us about a plan they are excited about starting involving sending people to minister in the biggest cities in Northern Mexico. We've started going to Memorial Park, one of the bigger and nicer parks in El Paso, to have a fellowship time in the middle of the week with people from 1st Church is they come and join us. We had a nice time last Wednesday with two families.

 

I've applied at walmart and 2 nannying jobs. I hope I get to nanny, I think that would be nice to watch Esther and other kids instead of cashiering.

Saturday was exciting.  Turns out our A/C unit started to leak, so our livingroom carpet was soaked.  So we and another family worked to drying  it out. The repair guy wasn't able to come until today, so we were a little toasty this weekend.  I'm glad he was able to fix it and we have A/C back in the apartment.

Yesterday we led the Border Town lesson on creation from a curriculum we found in the supply closet and it went really well. Josh did it in Spanish and I showed the objects at the right time.  Yesterday afternoon we went to Cielo Vista mall with our friend, Ashley and her son. Last night we went to pastor's house and watched Les Miserables with others from the church.