Ten Things I Learned in Church

 Yep, 10 things I have learned in church. 

1. Admitting you can be taught something is hard, but for me, its par for the course.  I seem to be in a constant quest for knowledge and refinement I guess.  So one thing I have learned in church is to expect to be learning, and refined all the time.  This must be my gift. *smile*
2. Watch what you say.  Little ears repeat what you say and sometimes it doesn't sound nice coming from those little mouths.  This also includes what you do. 
3. On the same token as the above, slang is still bad even if you aren't saying that word.  So I am trying very hard to eliminate words like Dang, Gosh, Darn, etc from my vocabulary.  I agree whole heartily that the word "friggin" is just as distasteful as the word "f%$k"  so while that has never been a big part of my vocabulary, I am human and can slip up and will be tending to my words more carefully.  It doesn't mean I wont falter, but I need to make sure Bear knows that our words mean something and we should be careful about them.
4. Making mistakes is fine, its not repenting and going forward that is the real tragedy.  We are all living breathing people and we are not perfect, we will falter, we will fall but the key is to get up, dust ourselves off and go forth learning from that mistake.  If we repent of it, God will do the rest.  He doesn't charge fines or late fees, unlike the library that charges for that book it took us two months to locate.
5. It's OK to cry in church.  God created us and I think He even cries when we experience trials and hard times, even death.  We were created in His image and even Christ weeped.
6. If you fall asleep, make sure your child whispers softly or better yet pokes you instead of saying, "WAKE UP MOMMY!  YOU CAN'T SLEEP IN CHURCH."  A little voice can really carry.  Not sure if this is worse of if its worse for your own snoring to wake you up.....  This is saying nothing about the sermon.  Even a very good serman sometimes can make you sleepy.
7. Eat breakfast, because after communion your stomach will really begin to rumble.
8. That we can't control how others act.  We can't control how they interpret what we say, or the double standards they may appear to posses.  I went for years fighting this and after much prayer  have been able to at last turn it over and figure they have to answer for their actions and while the double standards sting at first, turning it over really does feel better.  I learned that I can forgive without forgetting and feel better, lining up my life more with how God intended for it. 
9. Family isn't always blood.  In fact if your family doesn't share the same beliefs it can lead to some serious differences.  We have found a loving church family and I feel blessed.  I wish others could as well, including those in my own family.  I think it would change their outlook and relationships with others.
10. Discipleship comes with a cost.  Our pastor was talking about this a couple weeks ago, and he's right.  Becoming a Christian has a cost.  We may lose friends and family.  No strike that, we will lose friends and, sadly, family likely as well.  People may not understand what having faith means to you, or it might scare them, and they just stop talking to you or they think that they can't be around you for fear that you will be questioning everything about them. 

Linking up today with Angie over at Many Little Blessings. 

God's love is boundless.  He expects us to count all things for joy, and we need to heed the advice written in the book of James.  While we might not be jumping up and down as we are learning and walking on the path, we can find peace and comfort when those things come up.