Worship

Worship- do you get distracted when you're worshipping? I do; either by my preoccupation with something or by someone else. Over the past several weeks at church I've experienced some interruptions during our worship time. It didn't occur to me until this week that this has become somewhat of a pattern when I attend church. So now I'm a little annoyed because we have some incredible worship music at my church and I really enjoy it. And when I miss it, I feel like I've been robbed.

Here are a few examples:

• Person in front of me kept turning around. (I thought maybe I forgot to put on a shirt-my husband assured me that was not the case!)


• Lovey-dovey couple sits in front of me (They probably should've stayed home, if you get my drift.)


• Person next to me starts texting on their phone (Could it really be that important?)

Now before the two people who read this send me a note, I realize that at any given point in my life this could've been me distracting someone else. Except the text messaging part...I'm not that cool!

But really, how do we keep our focus on God, on honoring Him, on worshipping the one we came to worship? I have a tiny bit of a clue about what it takes to put together a "table of worship" and so I want to come prepared on Sunday mornings to enjoy it with my church family. So how about you-how do you keep your focus during worship time?

September Sprint continues

This week was crazy! It started with softball, baseball, practice, games, batting cages, uniforms, hitting, not hitting, pitching, not pitching...it was all quite exhilirating really! I love watching my kids connect with these sports. I'm competitive and love me some good sports...too old to participate anymore, but I can definitely cheer them on.


Our kids also decided to take on some new activities this week. Our daughter tried out for the school chorus and made it. Go girl! Our son wants to join the Cub Scouts...go daddy! I'm sure that the male half of our house will enjoy some camping and cookouts, but not the girls.


Wednesday my Gather and Grow group met and we discussed our first lessons in Can We Talk by Priscilla Shirer. We had a few new people and God is just blowing my mind with these ladies! Each day covered a different relationship and how our words affect those we converse with. Our spouses, our children, other family members and friends, God, anyone we come in contact with can be affected by our words. We need to make the way we speak to each other worthy, not worthless.

Thursday I participated in probably my favorite event that our church does. It's called The Clothesline and we give away gently used clothes. I helped to sort some of the clothes for a few hours Thursday morning. I heard today that Saturday morning when the doors opened, it was packed. How awesome to see God's love at work. Makes me proud to go to NorthStar.

Saturday was my Mom's birthday. It had been a tough family week for us and we did not get to be together. We lost a very young family member to Tropical Storm Hanna earlier in the week, and everyone was just holding on. Apparently this was the only known US casualty from that storm, so it brought about some extra attention. Really could have done without that.


Today I helped present a seminar at church on Quiet Times. Mainly we dealt with how to have that daily time with God. It is such a humbling experience to think that God would use us to help further someone's walk with Him, to strengthen His Kingdom. I am honored and privileged to serve with Randy Elster, the pastor of the GrowthStarts ministry. Check out the blog...Randy always has some good information and encouragement for our faith journey.


Lastly, I attended the 11:00am worship service. Today's sermon was about finding the greatest treasure, becoming part of the Kingdom of God. I was left speechless, amazed by the grace of God. It was an incredible way to start this week.

September Sprint

O-K so my church just finished a series called August Rush. And now I think I've entered the September Sprint. School started, baseball and softball started, my Gather and Grow group started and life is just busy. Not out of control, but definitely takes some organization with all the tests, practices, games and meetings.
The challenge is to not forget the lessons learned in August Rush. The biggest one for me is to not let my relationships go in my haste to get things done. Not with God, my family or my friends. Keeping my quiet time with God a top priority is a must when things get crazy. Also, having dinner with my family. This is our one time of day to connect and catch up. Our kids are still young, so while we can keep this habit we are!

How about you? How do you handle the September Sprint?