Blessings!

Sunday morning we got up and got ready for church. We sat with Amy and her husband Chase this week. Erika wasnt there this week *cries!* haha. There was another great message this week on the "End of the World." I am really liking this series. We heard that the Christ Church band was going to be playing at Oktoberfest that afternoon at 1pm, so we decided to go see them after church. We picked up some lunch on the way (because we all know how expensive it can get feeding 5 people at a festival.. you can easily drop a lot of $$$!) But when we got there, we did give the kids a bag of cotton candy to share. Rachel used to be confused by that stuff but now she loves it and begs for more and more.. she's definately Arnold's kid! Anyway, we sat out on some of the bleachers and waited for the show to start. When the music started Arnold took the kids up closer and they were dancing around, it was so cute. By now I know a lot of the songs they do, so I am able to sing along by heart. I love the more modern music, that is one of the things that made us fall in love with Christ Church. You cant go in there and NOT leave smiling!


After being there for around an hour we had to go home and get the kids changed, because Arnold and I had our 2nd and last Membership class that afternoon. While we were at home I was painting Brooke's nails purple and Rachel seemed interested so I painted hers soo.. first time shes had them done! :) And Caleb asked too.. but Arnold said no way ;) Anyway, we dropped the kids off at the childcare and then went into our class. This week's class was more about the things that are expected to you when you become members. We took notes and listened to a few speakers. And we were going around the room telling a time when we felt closest to God. Arnold's was when we thought we were losing Caleb (we had a treatened miscarriage around 12 wks when I was pregnant with him) And mine was just here recently! Everything Ive been going through this past year has made me so much more closer to God its incredible. I always called myself a Christian, but wasnt really LIVING it and WALKING the walk, if you know what I mean. Now i find myself wanting to change, and live better. I smile more, have more patience with the kids and other people, work harder on my marriage, try to be a better friend, pray more, and all sorts of things like that, and all because I know God wants me to, and it brings me joy. Not trying to be all mushy, but I am serious. I am so thankful for so many things at this point in my life!!! :) :)

Now back to the class... speaking in front of the 25+ people in there was still sort of embarassing to me, but i am getting better and better at talking in front of a crowd I think. After the class they had a dinner for us. They made.. wait for it.. chicken on a bone! What are the odds of that? That id be faced with that 2 times in one week. Haha... Arnold says it was like a sign Im supposed to be eating it.. he loves it. He cut the meat off the bone for me, what a sweet husband (i felt like a kid at that moment and im sure we got a few looks, but who cares!) And then after dinner they had an icecream bar set up, with all sorts of toppings.. sprinkles, syrup, crushed oreos, nuts, cherries.. you name it! So that was delicious!!! And after we ate dinner we talked to people who worked in the areas we were interested in serving at in church. I cant quite make up my mind.. I was thinking along the lines of helping with the kids.. And the "Boxcar Babies" group which is ages birth-2yrs, because everyone knows how much I love babies! Plus, id get to be in Rachel's class some Sundays. Arnold is thinking along the lines of helping with setup/take down and cleaning, etc. More hands on stuff around the building. So we will see where the place us!


So now that we are done with the classes, we officially stand up in front of our church and become members, on Nov. 27th at the 11:00 service. I am happy they arent doing it until then, because my parents will be out of town at the end of this month, and I really want them to be there. Also, I will be Baptized!!! I am so excited about this. I was "christened" as a baby, but never baptized, so I think it will be neat to do it as an adult, in front of everyone, and proclaim the changes Im making in my life. And yes, im aware that it will be in NOV and COLD.. but thats ok with me! They have an indoor jacuzzi they are going to use, and I had the option of "sprinking" or full-on DUNKING, and im going for the dunk. I figured why not.. if im going to do it in the first place, might as well go BOLD!!! :) So on that day I plan on inviting my family and friends so they can be there with me, and hopefully my lifegroup will be there too. Hoping my video testimony goes over well too, I am planning to start working on that soon! And afterwards we will all go to lunch at Dos Amigos with everyone.. that is the plan, anyway. I am so excited about that week.. it also happens to be the week of Thanksgiving.. so that will be a fun week!! :)

3 things in life im *extremely* thankful for!!! :)