In other news

It looks like Utah legislature is trying to tax caffeine now. Like they don't get enough revenue from alcohol? It's so expensive and hard to get that many people choose to go over the border to Idaho or Wyoming to purchase alcohol. Unfortunately, that is illegal. So the police stake out the highway and try to catch people who've gone over the border and back in a relatively short amount of time and fine them huge amounts of $. I guess next we'll have people going across the border just for coffee!!!

Only in Utah do the coffeehouses have "hoodlums and punks" as regular clientele! Forget the bars--they hang out in the coffeehouse parking lots with their motorcycles and dogs and tattooes. .It's quite unusual. Terry and I loved walking to the local Grounds for Coffee and being around other "gentiles." The kids, too.

Ironically, the state liquor store (the only place from which liquor and wine could be legally purchased) was rather upscale. Probably because alcohol cost so much! They even had lollipops for the kids when I brought them in to grab a bottle of wine!

Search For Significance

This is a study my church has started, using the book of the same title. I'm excited  about the book and hoping to learn much from it! It's written by a Christian psychotherapist, and I suspect it will do my mental health a world of good. :)

Meanwhile, we're waiting to make our big "we're moving" announcement. We've let those in leadership at our church know, and i think we're going to make it public knowledge starting tonight at our home group. In a way, I'm afraid that we're backing out of a mission. In another way, I feel like we've done what we needed to do.

Terry and I have grown so much, spiritually and emotionally. I've watched Terry step into church leadership like he was born for it. I've seen him talk to coworkers about his faith and what Jesus means to him. I've watched him minister to other men at church in accountability groups. I've heard him witness to his family and I've seen him be a great soccer coach for Grace. I love him more than I ever have before, and I do believe that Utah helped make a good marriage fabulous. We've grown closer as a result of having to depend on each other, and we've supported each other in difficult moments.

I will miss our church dearly. But I miss my family, friends, and the ocean more.

Finally better!

It takes longer than I'd thought for all the meds to kick in. Today is the first day in a week that my head hasn't ached. I took Grace and AJ and Kellyn to breakfast at a new place in town called TooJay's. It was a delicious, reasonably priced meal. I had French toast which was made with fresh challah bread. YUM! A server resembled my brother, and every time he walked by, AJ pointed at him and engaged the server in conversation. It was quite cute.

Grace has a cold now. Her nose is runny and she has a post-nasal cough thing going on. She was miserable until I gave her a dose of Motrin. Now she says she's much better. I hope it doesn't turn into an infection on her.

I think we're going to my parents' condo at New Smyrna Beach next week. My mom plans to stay for the whole week, which means I'm going to have to back out of the Bible study I had planned to go to at church. It's just as well. . .

I always thought if we moved back to Orlando, we'd attend my home church. But I don't feel connected anymore, and frankly, it seems like the church has grown very impersonal now. I don't really enjoy the traditional service the way I used to. And it's not as Bible-based as I would prefer. It's odd to come to this realization. I go to church to worship God, not be entertained by a choir and a gifted speaker. And I enjoy hearing the sermons, but then my parents pick it apart if it's not a sermon by the head pastor, who has a gift for eloquence, charisma and public speaking. It shouldn't be a SHOW, though. It's supposed to draw us to the heart of God, and I don't sense that anymore at St. Luke's. Yet at the same time--that's why I attend services when I'm in town.

I go to church to worship God, and it's not about me. So I go. And then I have to hunt down my family, who slipped out at 12:00 because they don't stay in church past noon, and I didn't know that, and was sitting in the back so I didn't have to climb over my family after dropping Grace off in childcare (don't get me started on THAT fiasco) and so I don't disturb everyone around with my horrible cough. I think it's the height of rudeness to leave a worship service early. And it's completely disrespectful. So this Sunday, I think I'm going to stay home in the morning and take my children to the evening contemporary service. Perhaps that will work more smoothly.

It's kind of nice to know that my church home really truly is at Alpine Church, in Utah. It's the best part about Utah, IMO. The members there have become family to Terry and I. The staff have gone out of their way to welcome us and befriend us. The people in our home group have become authentic friends--people I can talk to beyond "How are you?" and "Fine." They pray for and with us, they care about us, and we care about them. We look to the Bible for guidance, not the latest pop-culture speaker. Our pastor and his wife even watched our little dog, Angel, while I was in FL and Terry had to travel with work. They've been beyond friends to us, and we're so grateful to have all of these people in our lives.