House Church

Many of you know that Ben & I don't go to a building on Sunday to worship. We worship "as" the church, not "in" a church. Because people are the church not the building. The church worships together. Not sure how or why the phrase "going to church" got started.

There are many reasons why we started meeting as a church in homes and I really hope to write more blog post about that, but today I'm sharing with you what a Sunday looks like for us. I know it's different and I know it sounds weird. Trust me, I thought the same thing when we started. It was different than anything I had ever known. Oh how my thoughts and feelings have changed.

There are 13 families and 13 singles that are part of our church here in East Lake. There are actually two house churches, but both under The Church At South East Lake. Ours meets on Sunday mornings and the other one meets on Sunday night. For those of us who meet on Sunday mornings we have three houses that host so we can take turns.

Now that you know just a little here we go....

Everyone arrives between 9:30 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
Some don't get far before shoes come off - insert very comfortable setting.

Since 9 a.m. is normal nap time for little man he usually finds someone to rock him to sleep.

When it's time to begin, the choir starts singing.....

No projectors hanging from the ceiling or song books behind the pew, just a sheet of paper with lyrics. We're working on memorizing a couple of dozen songs together so we don't have to print out song sheets every week - just not there yet.

One of the things we have started during our worship time is a global prayer focus. We have 3 guys that take turns and each week they bring to our attention a specific place / people group around the world and how we can pray for them. We divide the room into groups and spend focused time in prayer specifically for them.

We make sure the kids participate in this as well.

I guess I can say that Ben is the main teacher for our church. We have two elders for each house church, but there are also what we call elders in training - men who are not yet ready to be elders, but are being mentored by the elders. Most weeks Ben will be the one teaching, but some weeks Mike Landrum or one of the elders in training will teach. Most weeks, depending on the teacher, we even have notes with blanks to fill in.

Something we have just started doing after we sing and pray together, is teaching the kids separately. Someone (we rotate) will take the kids out and have a lesson for them in a different room. That lesson is always the same as the one being taught to the adults but on a different level and it usually involves a craft.

We always end our time with more fellowship and food. Did I mention we're a baptist house church? :) Every week an email goes out from Perfect Potluck. Even though it says potluck in the title we usually have a theme. The first one to sign up sets that theme for the week. This particular week was BBQ.

We end with communion every week. And yes, that's only one cup you see. Totally freaked me out the first few times we did it and I'm not ashamed to say that I made sure I was at the front of the line so I could drink out of it first. I didn't really know these people and I didn't want their germs. Totally different view now. We are a community of believers, we are a family, we are one in Christ and I am more than happy to share only one cup. Just so you know we do have a napkin that is passed with the cup and everyone wipes it down after they drink. Mike makes the bread each week - it's unleavened and made fresh.

We don't pass it around, but it has a certain spot that it sits. Tithes and offering are taken up each week. We have our own checking account and deposits are made weekly.

I do want to share with you our first baptism. Just a few weeks ago we had the privilege to baptize someone that is now a part of our church. We pondered on just how that would be done. Our answer was this....

Yup, a swimming pool. Don't worry, the water wasn't cold - thankfully the hot water heater had a place to attach a water hose so it was filled with nice warm water.

After the celebration of the baptism was over it wasn't long before the kids were asking or shall I say begging - can you guess for what?

How many of you can say you swam in the baptistry?

9 Months

Big boy is 9 months old today and look what he can do now....pull himself up from sitting all by himself!

Thinks he is so big playing Wii with big brother, Caden. What Cannon doesn't know is that Caden took the batteries out of his remote so it wouldn't mess up the game.

To make things easier on mommy's back, since we have not remodeled our small 1950's bathroom, Cannon's bathtub is the farm house sink in the kitchen. Haven't figured out if Isabel really likes to help give him a bath or if she just likes playing in the water with him. Either way helps me.

We're still not really mobile. Pretty much every time you put him in a sitting position on the floor he goes immediately to his tummy and tries to crawl, but just doesn't have it down yet.
He is finally cutting his first tooth, we'll first two, both bottom middle are making their way in.

It's getting harder and harder to get pictures with his "month" sign. All he wants to do is play with it.

And when you try to take it away, you get this look :)

Not Me Monday

I do NOT keep a container of orange Tic Tac's in the kids medicine cabinet to give them when they think they need medicine.

BBQ & Salad

There are several things that I just absolutely love and can't get anywhere else but in my hometown. Bishop's BBQ is one of those things. When my parents come down for a visit there is usually a frozen bag of my favorite BBQ that is brought with them.

Bishop's isn't a restaurant and it's actually made in Cherokee, AL. In my hometown you can buy it at the local Wal-mart or Big Star in a sealed package. All you have to do is open, heat, and serve. They also have a wondermus sauce that goes along with it - the more you shake it the hotter it gets.

So if you're ever up near the town of Florence, AL you really need to stop by and pick some up to take home. Promise it wont disappoint.

Since my parents came down just this week that meant we had BBQ :) and I made a salad to go along with it. This is called Apple-Blue Cheese Chopped Salad. Also one of my favorites. One of my friends is a fabulous cook and has a food blog called Let's Eat Tonight. Pretty sure most of my recipes at the moment come from her blog.

Here is the recipe - note that I do not do the blue cheese part, not something anyone in my family likes. So even if you can't have the BBQ you need to at least try the salad. Enjoy!

Apple-Blue Cheese Chopped Salad
1 head green leaf lettuce, chopped
1/4 red or sweet onion, finely chopped
1 green apple, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
2 oz. crumbled blue cheese
1/2 (9-oz.) bag bagel or pita chips, crushed
1/2 cup toasted chopped pecans
Poppy Seed Dressing

1. Combine lettuce and next 6 ingredients in a large bowl. Toss to combine. Gently toss in dressing just before serving.


Poppy Seed Dressing
I have found that mason jars are the best container for making vinaigrettes.
1/2 cup sugar - (note from Kylie, I only use 1/4 cp)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried mustard
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 tsp. poppy seeds

1. Combine sugar and next 3 ingredients in a jar. Cover and shake until sugar dissolves a bit and mixture combines. Pour in oil; shake to combine. Stir in poppy seeds.

7 and 8 Months

For some reason, he liked to put the hungry hungry caterpillar on his head.

8 out of 10 times when I get him up in the morning or at nap at least one foot is out of the outfit. Guess that's his way of cooling off when he gets hot while he's sleeping.
Still not real sure how he does it.

I let him sleep longer in the bassinet in our room than any of the other kids. I told myself since he would be sharing a room with Isabel he may wake her up. He quickly approached the weight limit (and height) in the bassinet and now he now sleeps in the pink room in the big crib :) Both sleep through the night.....most nights anyway.

Never took a paci, but has loved chewing these Gerber ones for teething. However we're all drool and still no teeth.

Having no teeth doesn't hinder him at all when eating. Boy is a champion eater.

He has never taken to the bottle, but is a great nurser (which I love because I never was able to nurse my other kids very long). We introduced the sippy cup and he loves it. Still can't really drink from it - kinda looks like a hamster drinking from it's water bottle , but he loves trying.

Not mobile yet, but I'm sure it won't be long. He would rather stand and try and take steps. Thinking we may skip the crawling phase, but maybe not, we're still working on it. He just gets frustrated with crawling, makes a few grunts and big brothers come running to the rescue and give him what he wants....to stand.

6 Months

Taking the last few days in February to play catch up on the blog.

For each of my 4 kids I took them at the age of 6 months for a photo shoot in just a diaper and bathtub. The three big kids were taken to Target portrait studios, but fortunately for Cannon I have a friend who is magnificent with the camera and we took a visit to her studio. The results were amazing!

By the way, yes, my baby is a red head. No photo editing on his hair color.








All photos are courtesy of Lacey Barnwell of LB Studios.com

Not Me Monday

I do NOT let my daughter and my mom play dress up with my baby boy.