Summer and a churchy conclusion
It seems to be time for my monthly Dumont update. We are in hardcore summer mode. The kids are having friends over. We're going to the beach. Cookouts, ice cream, and popsicles are happening. Football is wrapping up, but we've been at the park two evenings a week for the last month and a half. VBS is going on this week. Tommy has already done his yearly week with his friend, aka "Bro Week". Charlotte and Matthew have done a kids camp while I went to my CC practicum and training. Official schoolwork ended at least a month ago. In fact, I've been spending my time gathering books and curriculum for this fall and our next school year. I've done a few projects including upcycling an old TV cabinet into a homeschool containment device for board games, curriculum for the upcoming year, and supplies.
I'm already passed the ugly stage of the yearly book reorganization. In case you don't know, this is the time when I take all my school books off their shelves, move my bookcases around, and pull out the books I need for next year while shelving the ones I won't need. It's a big production that takes days. I can't tell you how much Jon loves it when I decide to move bookcases. He acts like the stacks of books all over the floor bother him, but I know he looks forward to this every year. A couple of other pinterest projects have happened. It's been good if just a smidge on this side of chaos.
Then there's our ever evolving church discussion. After years, years I tell you, I'm done with the subject, and I've come to my conclusion. I've read, searched, vented, and commiserated. I've gone through periods of attending out of a sense of obligation. I've listened to speakers, read blog posts and books. I pulled out my systematic theology book more than once to get some help in where to look in Scripture for prescriptive as opposed to descriptive. And where have I landed? Well, we landed at Journey Church where we started over 5 years ago. Church theology is one that is more fluid than soteriology for example. Councils and smarter people than I have hammered out the meaning of certain doctrines centuries or even a millennium before me. Doctrine on the church though is still evolving and didn't get councils, discussions, and creeds. So if a church teaches the Gospel of Jesus, and the people live to love others, what more do I need? Every church gets things wrong sometimes because each church is made up of people that get things wrong sometimes. God knows I get enough wrong on a daily basis.
It's been easier for me to extend grace to people that don't follow Christ than those that do. I've known through much of this personal journey that the problem is mostly me. Not that the church doesn't have issues. Of course it does. But I have a lot of issues in my heart, and I can actually do something about those issues. So I'm letting it go. I am all in with our church. It's our church home. We're committed. When I join the future churchy discussions and people start to dissect every line item of their church that's wrong, I will ask them "Do they love Jesus and teach the Gospel? Are they hurting people or are they hateful? Is your problem really an issue of preference?" If your answers are "Yes, no, and probably," I'm going to shrug my shoulders and tell you there are bigger issues in the world. I'm all for a good discussion, but I've exhausted myself of the constant critique.
By the same token, I know I have some friends with real questions and issues they're working through. Those are things I can get behind and talk about. I also had to go through my own path to get to the place I'm at now. I couldn't have gotten here if friends weren't willing to listen to me question, argue, and be judgy while offering their own more tempered and gracious responses. So friends that put up with me, thanks for that.
Anyway...summer. I think I've covered it. Until July...
I'm already passed the ugly stage of the yearly book reorganization. In case you don't know, this is the time when I take all my school books off their shelves, move my bookcases around, and pull out the books I need for next year while shelving the ones I won't need. It's a big production that takes days. I can't tell you how much Jon loves it when I decide to move bookcases. He acts like the stacks of books all over the floor bother him, but I know he looks forward to this every year. A couple of other pinterest projects have happened. It's been good if just a smidge on this side of chaos.
Then there's our ever evolving church discussion. After years, years I tell you, I'm done with the subject, and I've come to my conclusion. I've read, searched, vented, and commiserated. I've gone through periods of attending out of a sense of obligation. I've listened to speakers, read blog posts and books. I pulled out my systematic theology book more than once to get some help in where to look in Scripture for prescriptive as opposed to descriptive. And where have I landed? Well, we landed at Journey Church where we started over 5 years ago. Church theology is one that is more fluid than soteriology for example. Councils and smarter people than I have hammered out the meaning of certain doctrines centuries or even a millennium before me. Doctrine on the church though is still evolving and didn't get councils, discussions, and creeds. So if a church teaches the Gospel of Jesus, and the people live to love others, what more do I need? Every church gets things wrong sometimes because each church is made up of people that get things wrong sometimes. God knows I get enough wrong on a daily basis.
It's been easier for me to extend grace to people that don't follow Christ than those that do. I've known through much of this personal journey that the problem is mostly me. Not that the church doesn't have issues. Of course it does. But I have a lot of issues in my heart, and I can actually do something about those issues. So I'm letting it go. I am all in with our church. It's our church home. We're committed. When I join the future churchy discussions and people start to dissect every line item of their church that's wrong, I will ask them "Do they love Jesus and teach the Gospel? Are they hurting people or are they hateful? Is your problem really an issue of preference?" If your answers are "Yes, no, and probably," I'm going to shrug my shoulders and tell you there are bigger issues in the world. I'm all for a good discussion, but I've exhausted myself of the constant critique.
By the same token, I know I have some friends with real questions and issues they're working through. Those are things I can get behind and talk about. I also had to go through my own path to get to the place I'm at now. I couldn't have gotten here if friends weren't willing to listen to me question, argue, and be judgy while offering their own more tempered and gracious responses. So friends that put up with me, thanks for that.
Anyway...summer. I think I've covered it. Until July...
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