No Idea What This Post Will End Up Being About

Nason is watching basketball with some friends.  I'm watching 90210 (yes, it's the guiltiest of all my guilty pleasures.  Any show that comes on the CW is a bit embarrasing, but this one is FOR SURE aimed at an audience much younger, and I'd like to think much DUMBER than me, and yet, I watch it.  I like it.  I love it). Anyway, I kind of feel like writing on my blog, as it's been a while since I've done so.  However, I don't really have a particular topic in mind to write about.  I figured I'd just start writing, and see if anything interesting came out.  If not, I'll just erase this, and no one will ever see it anyway.  Or, you may be reading this wondering, "Why in the world didn't she just erase this.  Clearly nothing interesting ever came out"

I haven't done a "weekly update" in a while, and I don't really think that's what I'm in the mood to write about right now.  If I WERE going to do one, our week basically looked like: getting our house painted, hanging with friends, an impromptu family date to Chuy's, one lazy morning at home, an evening spent in the Losurdo's backyard, Gunnar's ear tubes, an impromptu family breakfast at Kerby Lane, women's bible study, hanging with Baby Josie and Fam, Chuy's once again. But yeah...I don't really feel like writing about our week.

I've read two really good books lately:

Both are REALLY good.  At least I thought so.  If you are a HUGE, die-hard Obama fan, and/or don't have a sense of humor, I don't recommend The Obama Diaries.  If you have horrible taste in books, I don't recommend In The Woods.  Seriously, that's the only way you could NOT like it.  Up next on my book list, to be started tomorrow, is Mere Christianity.  I've read it before, but it was a lot of years ago.  Its kind of a "thinking" book, but after zoning out for the last hour to 90210, I think my brain is going to need some use again, by tomorrow.



I totally (well, almost totally) lost interest in American Idol this season, BUT there was one redeeming factor for me:  Philip Phillips.  I seriously love this guy.  If I was 21, and not married, I may have an itsy bitsy "American Idol Crush" on him.  But I'm not and I am, so I don't.  Anyway, me, Nason, AND Gunnar ALL loved this performance:



Gunnar insisted on getting his guitar out, sitting on the living room floor, and singing along with him.   Over and over and over.  Seriously wish I had a video of THAT, but I don't.



We started a new sermon series at church that I'm really excited about.  It's called "Ecclesiastes: The Search For Meaning".  Last week was the first week, and we basically discussed how ironic (dumb)it is that we spend so much time spinning our wheels, exerting mental and physical energy, time, money, and resources, in an attempt to make THIS life significant, and specifically, make ourselves seem/feel significant, when really, this life is "but a vapor", compared to our life in eternity.  Two things Pastor Tim did during the sermon that I liked, and that really made me think:

1) He brought a bottle of bubbles up on the stage, and blew a few.  We watched the bubbles float across the stage for all of about 10 seconds, and then they popped.  He then compared that our lives.  Fun for a few minutes, and then over.

2) He asked us to try to think of our great great grandmothers name.  If you can come up with yours, then you are better than me, because I have no idea, and the assumption was that most of the people in the congregation couldn't either.  The point: when you're gone, not a lot of people even remember you. Even people in your own flippin' family!

Depressed yet?  That was kind of the point.  To come to terms with how INsignificant this life is, so that we can begin to understand that we were created for something SO MUCH bigger and better, and then begin to make our lives here be about THAT.

If you'd like to listen to/watch the sermon, you can go here:

http://mediaplayer.hcbc.com/sermon/monotony-1269



Nason and I are going on a vacation in June (I think).  I say "I think" because we've gone back and forth for months now, changing our mind a million times about if/when/where, so until we're actually in a plane, train, or car headed to our destination, I'm not getting my hopes super high.  However, we do have a date picked out, we do have a sitter secured, so I THINK it's pretty close to being official.  We CANNOT decide where to go, though!  We've considered everything from a "staycation" in downtown Austin (we love doing that), to Mexico, to Florida, to California, to New Orleans, to Vegas, to New York.  It really shouldn't be so hard.  The only components that we're looking for in a vacation are:

- a comfortable bed, where we can sleep late
- close proximity to at least one decent restaurant
- a pool, preferably one where people bring you drinks
- a comfortable place to sit/lay, while we read books all day long

If anyone has suggestions, feel free to send them my way!  Otherwise, we may just end up sending Gunnar to the grandparents, and staying HOME for four days.  After all, there's a comfortable bed that we could sleep late in, Chuy's nearby, a neighborhood pool (and maybe we could pay someone to bring us some drinks), and our own two recliners to sit and read books in all day.  We're not picky.

Well, that brings me to the end of this post, I think.  When it's all said and done, it ended up being pretty pointless and non-interesting, BUT I did give you some good book recommendations, I DID introduce you to the awesomeness that is Philip Phillips, and I DID link you to a potentially life-changing sermon, so I guess it's not a total wash.

I'm off to go kill a few more brain cells watching So You Think You Can Dance!

Weekly (and a half) Musings

My infamous "Worry Problem"....
Is rearing it's ugly head a bit.  No need to list out the various, non-sensical things that plague my mind as of late, because, well...because they're non-sensical, unfounded, and basically make me seem a bit crazy.  I'm trucking along just fine, though.  I read this verse the other day:

"Cast all your anxiety on Him, because he cares for You" (1 Peter 5:7).
]
Did you know that one synonym for "cast" is "hurl"?  So the verse says to HURL your anxieties at God.  So that's what I've been striving to do.  As soon as a worrisome, anxious thought hits my brain, I just instantly "hurl" it at God, and let Him handle it.  This arrangement seems to be working out pretty well for us (me and God, that is) :)

Aerobics Classes....
I used to be an Aerobics Class Queen.  In high school, I would go to step aerobics classes with my mom, and, at the risk of tooting my horn, we were AWESOME at it.  We were!  Don't you go thinking that step aerobics just means that you step up and down over and over again on a bench.  There's actually a lot of choreography and coordination involved.  Yeah, I'm bragging, because it's probably the ONLY thing I've EVER been coordinated at in my life.  Anyway, I think step aerobics must be a thing of the past, as most gyms (or mine anyway) offer very few step classes.  I do miss doing aerobics classes though, so last week, for the first time in practically a DECADE, I went to a class at my gym.  Body Pump, actually.  It wasn't step, but man oh man was it a good workout!  I loved switching gears a bit from all the running I've been focusing on lately.

Learning Activities....
All last year, I was SOOOOO on the ball, as far as doing learning activities with Gunnar.  We had designated time EVERY day (only like 15-20 minutes, lest you think I'm some sort of drill sergeant for toddlers), where we worked on activities that I had planned out AHEAD OF TIME, that had a learning component involved.  We had Letters of the Week, Words of the Week, Colors of the Week, etc etc etc.  I had been SO lazy about it this year, though.  The year got off to a good start...in January, I even sat down and went ahead and planned out a "curriculum" for the entire year. Themes for each month, activities that went along with each theme, "field trips", even!  I planned it all...but we've done none of it!  Until last week. We finally got our rears in gear, and we are back on the saddle.  We have a "nature" theme going, and Gunnar seems to like it so far.

Wednesday Night...
Was Girl's Night, for the four girls who make up my small group from church.  We obviously see each a lot, between our small group meeting, various playdates, get-togethers WITH our husbands, etc, but this was the FIRST time we've ever gone out just the four of us. It was awesome, and I think we all found out some things about each other that we didn't know before (Kelly, I'm mostly referring to you, and a certain quest that you are on, to "find" a certain something).

Easter...
Will have it's own post :)

Initial Thoughts on "Radical"....

First of all, a warning.  If you haven't read "Radical", you're going to be super bored, or confused, but mostly just bored, by this post.  You really really are.  So if you don't fall into the category of people who have read the book, I suggest you stop reading now.

Also, I'm kind of laughing at myself right now, because I'm thinking, if you take the 20 or so people who read this blog, then subtract the number of people who HAVEN'T read "Radical", you're probably down to about 3 people, and then if you subtract the number of people who HAVE read it, but who DON'T care about my opinion and thoughts on it, you're probably down to 1 person.  And that person is probably Krista, who is my best friend, and whom I could just discuss the book with in person any 'ole time.

So anyway (Krista) here are my thoughts, thus far ; )

Things  I Definitely Totally 100% Agree With From the Book:
I definitely, totally, one hundred percent agree that God asks us, as followers of Christ, to be "radically" obedient to Him, and I definitely, one hundred percent agree that many of us, probably MOST of us, myself for sure included, are not.  I think that "radically obedient" means that when God asks us to do something, we do it.  EVEN IF...no, ESPECIALLY IF... it doesn't make sense, isn't comfortable, isn't logical, goes against what everyone else is doing, seems impossible, seems crazy.  I believe that it is safe to assume that God OFTEN times DOES ask us to do things that fall into that category.  I believe that God SERIOUSLY is not concerned with what we find to be comfortable, safe, and logical, but that He IS concerned with reaching a very lost, very hurting, very needy, very desperate world, for Him, and that in order to please Him, and truly live for Him, anyone who claims to be a Christian needs to be primarily concerned with the same thing, AND (I know this is a huge run-on sentence) that "being concerned with the same thing" often times will mean that we HAVE to do things that are crazy, uncomfortable, and "radical", because how in the world else are you going to, for example, love on and care for orphans and AIDS victims in Africa, other than to do something a bit crazier than sit in your living room and watch American Idol every night?  Oh wait...I just remembered....there IS that "Idol Gives Back" episode, where you can call in and donate money to charity.  That's pretty radical, right?? ; )

Things That Fall Into the.."I'm Still Chewing on This, and Not Sure What My Thoughts Are" Category:
Well, there's only one, so far. As my small group continues to go through this book, I intend to post more thoughts in this category.  Things that I haven't fully decided I agree with, but definitely haven't thrown into the "this is crap" pile.    This is the category that, if there IS anyone still reading this post, I'd definitely love your feedback on.  Or....Krista....we can just discuss at accountability.

The author, David Platt, seems to go on and on about how it is hard for us, as Americans who have so much "stuff" (entertainment, wealth, resources, education, etc) to be truly dependent on God.  We are so self-sufficient, or at least we think we are, that often times we feel like we don't even need God.  Because of this, Platt challenges all of us to intentionally strip ourselves of many of the "extras" we have, that contribute to these feelings of self-sufficiency....basically, to intentionally simplify our lives, for the purpose of being able to better recognize our need for God.

I'm not so sure about this point.  I'm not saying I'm opposed to stripping ourselves of extras, or simplifying our lives (in fact, I'll discuss that more in a bit), but it seems to me that if we have to DO things in order to make ourselves dependent on God, we're almost manipulating the situation.  The whole point is supposed to be for us to recognize our need for God, and our insufficiency on our own, but if we are orchestrating situations....purposely MAKING our lives more difficult, less comfortable, etc, just so that we can experience a FEELING of needing God, it almost seems to me that that is belittling God.  It's like, God isn't big enough or powerful enough to just,  by His very nature, COMMAND our dependence and worship, or, God isn't capable of putting us in situations where we are required to depend on Him, so therefore we need to "help Him out", and take control, and DO things in an attempt to manufacture a feeling of dependence on Him.

I'm pretty sure that I am not expressing this point in a way that makes much sense.  It makes a lot of sense in my head, but I wasn't really able to verbalize it very well to our small group last week, and I thought I'd have better luck WRITING it out, but I'm still having a hard time translating my thoughts into words.  Anyway, maybe I just need more time to ponder that point.


Things About the Book That I Don't Like
So, I've already stated above what I think "radical obedience" means.  However, I wonder if sometimes books like "Radical", and even "Crazy Love" by Frances Chan, don't possibly result in people being "radical", but missing the "obedient" part.  Here's what I mean...

I think it's possible, after reading "Radical" to walk away and conclude that, the way to truly please God, to truly be obedient, to truly impact the world for Christ, to truly be holy, to truly WHATEVER, is to sell all your stuff.  Or to be poor.  Or to be as uncomfortable and unhappy as possible.  Or to move to a third world country.  Or to frown upon any and all comfort, luxury, and entertainment.  To do those things, and then think, "Ok, now I'm for sure being obedient to God".  What I'm saying, is this:  Radical OBEDIENCE, requires being OBEDIENT to what God is specifically asking YOU to do.  It's not about just being radical for the sake of being radical.  Being radical just to say you are radical isn't necessarily being obedient to God.  Are you purposefully, prayerfully, EARNESTLY, daily seeking God, and His will for your life? (and by the way, I'm not claiming that I do an awesome job at this, because I don't) Through that, do you feel Him leading you to sell your stuff?  Give up some or all of your comforts and luxuries?  Move away and become a missionary?  He might be. He really might be. If so, you've got to do it.  You have to obey, even if it seems radical.  BUT, are you NOT purposefully, prayerfully, earnestly and daily seeking God's will, and you just think that by acting radically on a whim, you're obeying God?  I don't necessarily buy into that.  In a roundabout way, I guess what I'm saying is that I think after reading this book, it would be easy to take our eyes off of God, and what he is specifically asking us to do.  It would be easy to forget about the whole POINT of being radically obedient, which is to reach people for God.  In fact, it could be easy to forget about the PEOPLE completely... lost and hurting PEOPLE who don't know God are the FOCUS of what we're being radically obedient to DO.   I think  it could be easy to  get swept away in the idea of just giving stuff away, and stripping ourselves of stuff, without even remembering that it's for the PURPOSE of being able to GIVE to others.  Here's a good way to summarize what I'm trying to say:

There are three "camps" a reader could fall into, after reading this book:

1) Whoa, that's way too radical, and I don't believe God is asking me to do ANY of that stuff (this, for the record, is a bad camp to be in)

2) I need to go sell all of my stuff now, because David Platt insinuates that I should (and I personally feel like he DOES insinuate that)

3) I need to start praying, "God, what is something you are calling ME PERSONALLY to be radically obedient to?  Show me what it is, so that I can do it" (that is the camp I would like to be in)

Gosh, the more I keep writing, the more thoughts start swirling through my head about this book, and the more rambling and confusing I become.  That's ok though.  This is kind of one of those posts that is more for my own benefit than for my legions (ha ha) of readers.  My hope is that as we continue to go through this book, God will be more and more clear with me about what He wants me to understand from the book.  Maybe at that point, my thoughts on this will get more concise.

Thanks for hanging in there with me through this extremely long and rambling post. Krista ; )

Taking It Down a Notch...Or Up, Depending on How You Look At It...

This blog post is possibly a bit "heavier" than my normal posts are, but come on....things are typically pretty breezy here at "The Gunnar Show", so it won't kill anyone to have read something more serious.  Mostly, I LIKE writing about fun and easy stuff, but I've been thinking about this particular topic lately, so of course I have to blog about it.  

We have some friends...really, more like friends OF friends, who recently delivered twin baby boys at 22 weeks.  One baby, Titus, did not make it, and passed away after 45 minutes.  The other baby, Asher, weighing in at 1 pound, 6 ounces, is fighting for his life in the NICU.  If you'd like to pray for them, that would be awesome.  If you'd like to follow their blog, you can do so at www.bryanandrobynadams.blogspot.com.  

Anyway, Robyn had a post the other day, that really resonated with me.  I'm warning you...the post itself, and the following statements I'm about to make regarding the post, seem a bit sad, BUT really they're not, in the grand scheme of things, and what she had to say is so true.  First, let me summarize what the post was about (for those of you who didn't click on my nifty little link above, and read it for yourself).  Basically, Robyn was talking about how she's been hesitant to fully embrace being a mom. How she's been hesitant to celebrate.  How she's held off on buying some fun things (like a diaper bag), and some necessary things (like a breast pump).  How she hasn't been a full participant in some of the "little victories" that Asher has accomplished so far in the NICU.  She's AFRAID to celebrate, AFRAID to enjoy.  She's AFRAID to buy that diaper bag,  and buy that breast pump, and then end up losing Asher (because yes, his condition is still pretty precarious), and have to have that mommy memorabilia lying around, unused, and serving as a constant reminder of what she lost.  

However, she really felt God speaking to her, and changing her heart, and telling her that she needs to enjoy being a mom NOW.  In fact, her exact words were, "But then, I felt like God was telling me I'm a mom right now. I need to enjoy it now- whatever version of it I get. And I can't live in fear."  It doesn't MATTER what the future holds...good, bad, or something in between.  What matters, is that God has given her THIS moment.  He has blessed her with a child.  He has blessed her by allowing her to experience giving life to little boy, and being his mom.  THAT IS A BLESSING.  

The reason this really resonated with me, even though I have a healthy child, is because I too spend a lot of time living in fear, when it comes to my child.  Ummm, hi, my name is Hayley, and I have a worry problem.  Have I mentioned that?  Ha ha.  Anyway, prior to even reading Robyn's blog post, God had really been convicting ME of the fact that Gunnar is a blessing.  I know..duh, right?  Of course he is.  That wasn't necessarily news to me, or particularly convicting.  But what WAS convicting was the realization that by spending SO.MUCH.TIME living in fear, worry, anxiety, wondering and worrying about what could be wrong with him/is wrong with him/might one day become wrong with him/seems like is wrong with him/heard of someone else that had something wrong with them and so does Gunnar have that wrong with him too?/etc/etc/etc, I'm basically turning something that was INTENDED to be a blessing, into anything BUT.   It's downright shameful, really.  God gave me this wonderful opportunity to be a mom, to have a beautiful child who brings so much joy into my life, and yet I rob myself of the blessing, by allowing that blessing to become a source of anxiety, thereby cancelling out the entire "blessing" aspect of it.  

Psalm 127:3 says, "Children are a blessing from the Lord, the fruit of the womb is a reward."  Period.  Bottom Line.  Children are a blessing.  They just ARE.  

I'm blessed enough to have a child who is healthy.  But even if he wasn't, or even if he someday isn't, or (moving away from the healthy/unhealthy aspect of it) even when he's a total pill, and drains me physically and emotionally, or whines all day, or disobeys all day, HE IS A BLESSING.  I WAS MEANT TO ENJOY HIM.  

I think it's so important that I (and maybe you too) realize this, about our kids, and just about God's blessings in our lives in general.  We don't need to spend so much time..or any time, really...dwelling on what will BECOME of the blessings God has given us. We need to enjoy, and savor, and be thankful for those blessings, in those moment.  

I just can't say enough about how convicting this is to me, and how much I need to apply it.  Yes, for me, it mostly speaks to my worry issue.  But it also speaks to the, "how many more minutes until naptime??" issue, and the "how much longer until daddy gets home, and he can handle you for a while" issue, and the "I cannot wait until the toddler years are over!!" issue.  

I resolve to enjoy every blessing, in the moment, as they come, paying no mind to that Big Bad Bully called, "what the future holds".  

The End

My "Grace Story"

I became a Christian when I was 6 years old.  I know....sounds so dumb, right?  Are you old enough to make decisions like that when you're only six years old, or are you just kind of rolling with whatever your parents believe?   Well for me, I'd say "both", and I'll go on to describe what I mean in a bit.  Anyway, when I was 6, the church that we were members of at the time put on this big children's event with music and plays and speakers, in an attempt to present the gospel to us in a kid-friendly way.

So I remember hearing the message, mostly understanding it, knowing that it was something my parents believed and had accepted, knowing that hell certainly sounded scary, and that was no place I wanted to go, and deciding, "Guess I'd better do this".  Luckily, my parents and my church knew that the decision warranted more thought and consideration than that, even if you were only six, and so I went through a short class at the church, that basically laid out the gospel message in terms that a six year old could understand.  Wanna hear the Gospel Message for Six Year Olds?  Ironically, it's the exact same thing as the Gospel Message for Thirty Year Olds:

- There's God, and He's perfect (He has no sin)
- There's us, and we're not (we're full of sin)
- God can't be around sin
- God loves us and DESIRES to be around us
- The sin's gotta go in order for that to happen
- We can't get rid of it ourselves
- Uh Oh...sounds like a problem
- Actually, it's not, because God sent Jesus to take the sin AWAY from us, so that we can still have a relationship with Him, DESPITE our sin
- We have to believe that and accept that
- Problem Solved

Anyway, that all made sense to me.  It made perfect sense, in fact. So I made the decision to accept Jesus as my savior.

And then after that, not a lot happened for a while.

Then when I was probably 14 or so, I started questioning EVERYTHING about what I believed.  I wasn't sure at all anymore if God was real, if Jesus was real, if the Bible was real, if Heaven or Hell was real...all of it seemed a bit hokey for a while.  I was really scared that I was "believing" something that was all a lie.  I was also really scared though to NOT believe it, in case it was true.   So I spent a whole summer pouring over books...reading anything and everything I could get my hands on that presented evidence...both philisophical and physical...of why it wasn't crazy to believe what I believed.  Why it, in fact, was very well-founded, and rational.  That was kind of a weird, difficult, and draining summer for me, but at the end of it, I felt like I could truly say that my faith was my own, and not just my parents.

And then after that, not a lot happened for a while.

I went to high school.  I drank beer and went to parties.  No one would really ever have any reason to "suspect" that I may be a Christ-follower.

Then, I went to college, and Nason stayed home in Austin, and pretty much NONE of my friends came with me to A&M, and I knew NO one, so for the first month or so, I felt a little lonely, and lost, and suddenly very aware of how dependent I was on PEOPLE (specifically Nason, and my parents) to make me feel happy, secure, and content.  I had a renewed desire to kind of "get to know" God again.  I started attending a Bible study at A&M, and really began to grow a lot in my relationship with Him.  I learned a lot that semester about what it meant to depend on HIM, and not on other people, to make me whole.

AND then....I drank some more beer, and went to some more parties, and kind of forgot about God for a while.

Don't hear me wrong by the way...if you're in college, and of age, by all means, drink some beer and go to some parties.  It'll be ok.  Of much graver concern than the beer and parties, was the fact that nothing in me was seeking God whatsoever during that time...figuring out what He wanted from me, DOING it, becoming more like Him, telling others about Him...those were the furthest things from my mind.

Then Nason and I decided it was time to quit being lukewarm...either we WERE people who followed Jesus, or we weren't.  We decided that we were, and that our new priority was going to be to live for Him.  So we did, and we do, and in the last 8 years, I have continued to backslide here and there....going through periods where God is really really growing me, and changing me, and showing me new things every day, and then going through periods where I am just so spiritually lazy, and so caught up in day to day life, that I forget about God for a while.

And that's it.

Which is why sometimes I feel like my "grace story" sucks.  I hear about people all the time who were addicted to crack..well ok I guess I don't really hear about people ALL the time that were addicted to CRACK...but I hear about people who had drug addictions, alchohol addictions, crazy horrible lives...and then they accepted Jesus and their lives were turned around 180 degrees.  They have these awesome stories where it is SO obvious how Jesus changed their lives, and I sometimes feel like I don't have that.

BUT...

I've come to two really important realizations, and if you didn't pay attention to anything else, I hope you pay attention to this:

- Sin is sin, and it's what keeps us from God.  Maybe I was never a prostitute living in a crack den, but I may as well have been.  In God's eyes, no sin is better or worse than another, and by continuously turning my back on Him, continuously finding other things that were/are more worthy of my time and attention than Him, by continuously making MY priorities more important than HIS priorities, by losing my temper, by gossiping, by being greedy and stingy with my time and money, I'm offending God, and therefore I too need/needed someone to take my sin away from me.  Jesus did.  THAT's grace.  

- God loves me too much to leave me the way I am, so when I think back over my life, every time I've gone through periods where I'm oblivious to God, he has ALWAYS reeled me back in. He has ALWAYS continued to grow and shape me. He has ALWAYS met me where I'm at, and then shown me how to go from there, to where HE wants me to go.  Every day, He works on making me more and more like Him.   THAT'S grace.

And that, folks, is my "Grace Story".

Own It!

Our current sermon series at church right now is called, "Elements: Essentials for Owning Your Salvation".  We've been talking about how we are each responsible for our own spiritual growth, and that in order to "own it" (take responsibility for it), there are 5 "essentials" that every Christ-follower should be doing.  So far, we have discussed four of them:

1) Pursuing God 

2) Forming Christ-Like Relationships

3) Being Good Stewards of our Lives

4) Sharing our "Grace Story" with others

(In the event that you were interested in learning more about any or all of the above, you can listen to the sermons online http://mediaplayer.hcbc.com/. )

Anyway, last week, Pastor Tim gave us a huge challenge.  (and really, there shouldn't be anything all that challenging about this "challenge", but for some reason, it is).  He  talked about how most of us are OVERLY eager to share so many aspects of our life with others.  For example, we post all kinds of things on Facebook, blogs, etc about our new house, our new job, the milestones that our children are achieving, our current workout regime, the fact that our kid peed in the potty for the first time (ahem ahem), what our views are on politics and specific candidates, and the list goes on and on.  How many of us though bother to share with others the very thing that a LOT of us CLAIM is the most important thing in our live...our relationship with God?  Not many.  Hang on...it gets more convicting.  

He went on to say this: as Christians, we believe that there is such a thing as Heaven, and we believe that there is such a thing as Hell.  We believe that a relationship with Jesus....accepting and acknowledging Him as our personal savior...is the ONLY way to get into Heaven, and thereby avoid Hell.    We CLAIM we believe this...we accept it OURSELVES...and yet......we don't tell anyone else about it?  What!?!  The point (right now) is not even whether we are right and wrong about our beliefs.  That would be a whole other sermon.  An entire sermon series, perhaps.  The point he was making in THIS particular sermon, was that we BELIEVE we know the way to have eternal life, and yet often times, we don't feel any urgency to tell others.  He compared it to a person who found the cure for cancer, used it to cure themselves, and then never bothered to tell a single other soul about it, despite the fact that millions of people worldwide suffer from cancer.  

ANYWAY.  He concluded with a challenge, to EVERY. SINGLE. PERSON sitting in church that day.  He said, "I challenge you this week to tell someone your "Grace Story"...YOUR personal story of what Jesus has done in YOUR life".  He said it multiple times.  Like, maybe the first time you could just pretend you didn't hear him say that.  He said it at least three times though, and even if you were there and you are deaf, that wouldn't be an excuse, because they have a sign language interpreter.  So personally, I feel like if I don't take him up on this challenge, I'll be the lamest, most timid little mouse of a person ever, so.......up next is my "Grace Story".  ("up next" because I hear a certain two year old starting to stir around in his bed, and I'm betting I have about two minutes left before I start to hear "Mama" being yelled at full volume from his room)