Definition of "Blog"

A blog is defined as, "A Web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer ; also : the contents of such a site." Please remember that these are my personal thoughts and reflections. Does that make them absolute truth? Heavens no!

Having said that, I would like to clarify a previous blog entry I wrote that seems to be causing some confusion. You all know I am a person who says it like it is...there is little processing between what comes in my head and what comes out of my mouth. This is an area that I may apologize for or I may be praised for, depending on if you agree with what I say or not. And having written in an earlier post about how our family (personally--Jason and I are all I can speak for--and Jason sometimes disagrees with me, but, hey, this is my blog, not his...so don't blame him)(and yes, I think he agrees with me on this subject) seems to not have much in common in the way of our Christian walk with other members of our extended family.

Now, I in no way mentioned first names or even last names of individual family members when I discussed this and sometimes my language is a little sarcastic, I'll admit. But the subject of the blog I still stand behind and still hope that those who read and disagree will call me or leave a comment so some discussion can be started about just that....our Christian walk on a daily basis. Lord knows we all need uplifting and encouraging in this life together. So maybe I don't know our family very well (which may be true considering we only see each other once a year and do not otherwise share daily happenings through calls or emails), in which case I'd absolutely LOVE to have some dialogue about so I may know that I walk among brothers and sisters in Christ and you too can know that you walk among brothers and sisters in the Lord. :) Maybe you didn't know that about me either (shame on me if my Chrisianity was hidden from you as well!!). I will feel much assurance if I know that we'll be reunited in heaven one day!

I will add some words below from another author that restate my point about non-church-attenders with the scripture to back it up about using your spiritual gift, etc. There are many who read this that may not agree (and possibly former co-workers, friends, etc.), but I don't see myself arguing with the Word of God. It's dangerous business when we argue with our Maker. :)

Here's the article:

Some people joke about the “Bedside Baptists” who attend the "Chapel of the Tube" on Sunday mornings. But it's more than a joke. Many people refuse to get near a church unless their nephew is playing the role of a sheep in the Christmas pageant! They claim they can get more out of a walk in the woods than from the typical sermon.
Can a Christian survive apart from a church? Some Christians have no choice. They are trapped in a hospital bed, or working in an isolated area where no church exists. And God is certainly sufficient to care for their needs. You can still get to heaven if you can't go to church.
But even though it's technically possible to live the Christian life in isolation, it's certainly not the norm.
When you become a Christian, you are called into a relationship with God (1 Corinthians 1:9). But I John 1:3 makes it clear that we enter a fellowship that goes two ways: with God and with other Christians.
The New Testament never divides Christians into the church members and the non-church members. All the way through, it assumes that everybody participates in their local assembly. It gives no samples of Christians who belong to the “universal church” but have no link with a local church. One scholar has said that "any idea...of enjoying salvation or being a Christian in isolation is foreign to the New Testament writings" (Alan Stibbs, God's Church, p. 92). Wherever Christians are within range of each other in the New Testament, they meet. Every time the apostle Paul comes to a town in the book of Acts where there are no Christians, he wins a few converts and immediately organizes them into a small group - a little church.
Acts 20:7 reveals the practice of the early church: "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached to them." For Christians in every location, regular gathering was a part of life.
It's illogical to say that you are merely part of the worldwide, universal church, yet refuse to gather with the segment of that universal church that exists in your geographical area. It would be like claiming you have a car, when the right fender is in Phoenix, the engine is in Tucson, and the wheels are in Paradise Valley! You don't have a car; you have the beginning of the inventory for a junkyard. It just won't function until the pieces are put together.
The church must be together to carry out many of its purposes.

Here are some irreplaceable pieces of the Christian that cannot happen when you live in isolation from the church:

USE OF SPIRITUAL GIFTS - I Corinthians 12 makes it clear that God has given spiritual gifts to every Christian. And verse 7 states unmistakably that these abilities are not provided to make you feel good; they are abilities to minister that should be used for the common good! I Peter 4:10 commands us to use spiritual gifts to help each other.
The same passage makes it clear that we meet with other Christians so they can use their gifts to strengthen us. God's gift of a preacher or teacher is wasted if no one comes to hear them speak.

MUTUAL MINISTRY - The church is pictured as a body in I Corinthians 12, and Paul explains that each part of the body exists to meet the needs of other body parts. In the same way, God intends each of us to meet the needs of other believers, using our strengths to help in their areas of weakness. I Corinthians 12:21 expresses it this way: "The eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of you." Neither can a Christian claim to be self-sufficient today.
The New Testament is full of “one another” commands. We are to comfort one another (I Thessalonians 4:18), build up one another (I Thessalonians 5:11), confess our sins to one another (James 5:16), pray for one another (James 5:16), and many more. How can we obey these directives if we stay away from the gathering of believers?

ACCOUNTABILITY - God designed the church as a place where spiritual leaders could watch out for our welfare, as a shepherd guards the sheep (I Peter 5:1-4; Hebrews 13:17). A Christian who answers only to himself can easily rationalize sinful attitudes or actions; regular contact with other Christians can keep us sharp.
A single verse should actually be sufficient answer for this question: Hebrews 10:25 warns its readers against “forsaking the assembly of yourselves together, as the manner of some is.”

Author: Dr. John Bechtle.

1 year old portraits

I took Jase to Portrait Innovations at Sandhills yesterday before his 1 year shots (boo!) and these were the decent pics we got. You just can't count on a busy one year old to sit still and smile for the camera! :) Gotta love this cute little guy!!

Not too happy about the flash!

Strawberry Pickin' at Lever Farms

This is the place where you pay---and they even have pound cake and strawberry SALSA for sale!
Examining a strawberry---then.....

Smooshing the strawberry all over himself!!!

Look what we picked! Pretty good, eh?

Emma Grace and Madeline with stains and all---I think Madeline ate more than she put in her basket!

Alex and Jase watching the action!

Here's one, Mommy!

Ms. Julie, Madeline, and Emma Grace---beautiful rows they have at Lever!

Today a friend and I took our little ones to pick strawberries at Lever Farm about 20 min. up the road on Hwy. 34 in Newberry County. Emma Grace and Madeline really enjoyed themselves...Emma Grace had never picked anything beyond our garden before, and this year she's really getting into the planting and weeding aspects of it. She was actually very good at only picking the big, red ones and picked most of what we brought home. We hauled Jase and Alex along for the ride and it was not long that they were reminding us of why it's hard to travel anywhere with babies. :) The strollers would not fit down any of the rows planted, but we persevered and came home with a gallon each full of juicy, sweet strawberries!! I'm talking YUMMY!!!! I'm so excited about what I might do with them tomorrow (tonight they just sit on the counter--maybe they should be in the refrigerator!). This is just the first of many wonderful trips around the Midlands---can't wait for the Zoo, the dairy farm, Edventure again (they have the butterfly garden now!), etc. Enjoy the pics of our little ones with red stains!

Jase's 1st Birthday

Food & Fun!
Jase was not too hip on the messy cupcake. He's a lot like his mother---a little OCD!

The happy Birthday Boy!

This was before he made too much of a mess.

Emma Grace helps Jase open his presents.

To my precious Jase:

God has blessed you with nearly one year of life! We are so honored to be your parents! God has only given you to us for a short time, and we pray more than anything that we can teach you how to truly love Jesus and trust Him for everything while we are caretakers over you. You have just been such a blessing to our family for this first year, and we all look forward to watching you grow up! Sometimes I sit and wonder and pray about what it is that you might become in this world. I must confess one year ago I sat in church on Mother's Day without a named picked out for you and, upon hearing the sermon about Hannah and her vowing to give Samuel back to the Lord (which she kept that vow), I wondered if we should call you Samuel. That name had been in my mind almost the entire 9 months I carried you, and I felt the Lord telling me that you were to be given back to Him even as we raise you. That God was getting ready to entrust to us another little life to help shape and mold.

Well, you came into the world on May 20, 2008 and your daddy and I decided you were going to be named Hennies Jason Pope III. But even at this your one year birthday coming up on the 20th, I know still that God has asked us to give you back to Him...that you are His covenant child and that we can give you no greater present than to pray for you to come to know Him at an early age! WOW! What an awesome blessing you are to us! We do pray for you in all areas: your salvation, to love God's word, to use the gifts He gives you, for wisdom and discernment, for a servant's heart, for kindness & compassion, health and safety, self-control & diligence, spiritual protection, friends, sibling, teachers, and one day your future mate. He can handle all of those things and MORE, so I am not scared to hand you back over to the One who lays our paths. May yours be filled with more love and joy than you could ever imagine. I love you, Jase Pope!!!