Rainy day posting...

Whew! It's been a whirlwind around here. Seth and I got back from Mom and Dad's in time for us both to get an afternoon nap. David got home by 5:00ish, and it was out the door again for our membership short course at the church. Mom drove up to babysit, since it was Friday night and Saturday until lunchtime.

If anything, the membership course only cemented my confidence in this church. The head pastor who has been there for over 30 years taught the whole thing, and I have a ton of respect for that man. His maturity is awe inspiring. He has led the church to truly major on the majors and minor on the minors, and that is exactly what I look for in a pastor these days. As far as the major issues, like the church exisiting solely for the purpose of glorifying God and looking first and foremost to Scripture for what that means, he's hitting it on the head.

Every matter is bathed in prayer at that church. They listen for the Holy Spirit's leading before moving forward, and they're willing to go forward in faith, even when they don't know exactly how God is going to accomplish something. It's not a one man show; there's a plurality of elders. I see a lot of genuine humility exhibited. The pastor admitted that he had been wrong to oppose some programming, and that he'd had to be shown the light.

I feel like I've been in churches that have tended toward opposite extremes in the past. On one hand, I've been a part of churches who didn't follow the Bible unashamedly on the major stuff (like when it might offend some people). On the other hand, I've been a part of churches who made minor points of specific doctrines too important in their zeal. I think we may have finally found a balance that I can get excited about. We came back from our membership class pretty refreshed.

And now the weekend's over, and we're getting back into the nitty gritty of everyday life. The rain is pouring down. We haven't had a good, rainy day in awhile. I think it's just the kind of relaxing atmosphere that Seth and I needed today. He slept until 10:00 this morning! I think it was the combination of the dark day, and that he was worn out from the last week.

He helped me wrap some presents this afternoon for Sarah's private baby shower tomorrow. I kept putting little pieces of tape all over him, and he'd pull it off and say "sticky, sticky..." over and over. After I was done, I offered him one last piece of tape. He took it, and without any prompting, for the very first time ever, my child said, "thank you." !!!!! It's been a red letter day in this household.

Thanks for all the cabinet advice! I think I decided on a middle of the road policy. I have put rubber bands (David's suggestion) around the handle nobs of most of the cabinets in the house. I have left 2 cabinets in the kitchen that are available for him to use all the time. They have tupperware and kitchen towels in them. He loves his tupperware cabinet. I know that I will have to teach him which cabinets he can't get into later, but at this point, they all look alike, and I'm worried that he'll be confused. We're going to work on some of the other "no touches" first. =)