{daily devotional}

We've been attending a new church about a half hour from our house lately. It's a UCC church like our church in Salt Lake & are considering making it our "home" church. It's been a tough decision for us since we're very entwined in the church where Cassidy goes to preschool as well. That church, which is United Methodist, is wonderful but we are feeling a little more aligned with this other right now. We'll see. Anyhow, this past Sunday the girls went to Sunday School for the first time. Apparently they used the Sunday School reflections for one of the daily devotional emails this week. Here's what I got via email. See if you can pick out the sentence in the prayer at the end that our children must have contributed.

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Luke 24:36b

While they were talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, 'Peace be with you.'

Reflection by the Pilgrimage Sunday School Children

Hi; Nice to see you; How are you?

These are the things we would say if we hadn't seen someone in a while. But Jesus said "Peace be with you." So, we talked about what the word peace means and when we hear the word and why Jesus might have said it.

·   It means quiet.

·   In the Joy song we sang with Pastor Kim, one verse was "I've got the peace that passeth understanding".

·   Pastor Kim says "Peace be with you".

·   You would say it to help someone be calm.

We said the word Jesus used was actually shalom, and that shalom means slightly more than peace. We talked about wholeness and wanting people to feel that everything in the world was good and right.  What would it look like if all was "shalom" in the world?

·   No one would be hungry or thirsty.

·   No one would be poor.

·   No one would cut down trees (and we would find another way to make paper).

·   Everything would be free so people would have everything they need.

·   People would not be mean to each other.

During our closing prayer, the children each prayed for something they felt would make the world better. While some of the younger children's wishes were personal, it was inspiring to hear most of the group think beyond themselves and out into the world. 

Prayer:

Dear God, we pray that poor people would have enough money so that no one would be poor. We wish things would be free so everyone who needed something could have it. We wish Tinkerbell would come. I wish my tree house would be finished. We pray there would be enough water for the trees and everyone. We ask that you help us make your light shine in each of us so that these wishes come true. Amen.

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Did you pick the sentence about Tinkerbell? Yep. That one. By these girls. You know, the ones in the Tinkerbell & (insert some other fairy name - who knows!) costumes! Love her, love them. But, it looks like we've got a ways to go learning about "shalom".

{easter}

We had a lot going on the past few weeks leading up to Easter. In the midst of the egg hunts, candy & fancy dresses we did manage to make it to not one, but three, different churches! We're still on the fence about where we'll make our church "home" but are glad to have been welcomed at each.

The first celebration was at preschool where I was lucky enough to be one of the party moms for the day. The kids chowed down on Pinterest inspired lunch treats. The adults thought everything was super cute...the kids were just happy to have a party!

That Saturday we headed to Adams Park for an Easter Egg hunt sponsored by the City of Kennesaw with some friends. The girls all did really well & there were no shenanigans from other grown ups as far as we could tell. The city also set up a bunch of food & cheap bounce houses & slides on an adjacent field where the kids crawled, jumped, slid & played before we went out to lunch. We're really liking the events that the city puts on regularly. It's totally a family centered place to live & we're grateful to have found friends & a community so quickly...can you believe that Michael's been back in the South for an entire year already?!?

Then on Thursday after dinner we painted eggs...or, as my brother-in-law corrected me, dyed eggs. Apparently I haven't completely assimilated into the South & say it wrong! :) Cade was very interested in what his sisters were doing. He's definitely loves his sisters & thinks they are hysterical. He's a sweet, pleasant baby nearly all the time, but get him around the two silly girls & he starts baby belly laughing. It is hysterical & none of us can keep from joining him.

We spent Easter weekend at Gran & Poppy's house. Thankfully the Easter Bunny got the message that we were there & remembered to deliver our baskets. I wasn't in the kitchen when the girls discovered the baskets but apparently Cassidy didn't even notice them until Kalea pointed them out saying, "Look! They trying sneak up on us!" It's fun that Kalea is participating in holidays & traditions now. Both she & Cassidy particularly enjoyed the tradition of candy for breakfast!

And of course we had egg hunts at Gran & Poppy's too. Unfortunately my camera was M.I.A. for the first one, but I found it on Sunday for the second round. Cassidy ended up finding one of the "golden eggs" & you would have thought she won a million dollars! I got one picture of her holding it that kind of creeps me out how much I think it resembles me around that age. What do you think?

We hope you had as wonderful an Easter as we did!

project 365 photo: 09.25.2011 {preschool sunday}

Cassidy has been attending preschool at a local church for the past month or so & loving every minute of it. She comes home every day & exclaims that she has a new friend named _____________. Every day it's different &, much to her daddy's chagrin, many times its a boy!!! We don't get much information about what she does daily when asked outright but her teachers are clearly making an impact on her because tidbits trickle in during the late afternoon & evening.

This morning was "Preschool Sunday" at the church to give the congregation a chance to see the children they support. We've not found a new church "home" so it also gave us a chance to check this one out. There were tons of kids there & the preschoolers got to sing a song during the service. Cassidy did great - singing loudly right up front!

project 365 photo: 07.10.2011 {Sunday Schedules}

At some point in the future I plan to make a small scrapbook of "life in Salt Lake City" to help our girls remember things that we did, places that we went & people who we loved while we lived in Utah. One place that will certainly make an appearance in this book is Holladay UCC. 

 

When Michael & I moved to Utah it seemed a little daunting to find peers & like-minded people outside of work acquaintances, especially since we were both working a lot during that time. I started the search for churches in an effort to meet people & stumbled upon their website. HUCC was the first church we tried out & we felt at home right away, not even bothering to visit other churches before deciding to make it our home. 

 

 

During the five years we lived in SLC Michael & I became members, both girls were welcomed & baptized into the church, I taught Sunday school for the little ones, Cassidy attended preschool there, Michael participated on the preschool Board of Directors, we met and became close friends with a number of individuals and families and HUCC became a real part of our community. 

 

 

We'll have a hard time finding a place that lives up to the high bar HUCC has set for a church community!

On Sundays in SLC we commonly stopped for breakfast on our way home at a favorite, fast, breakfast spot: Over the Counter. We actually discovered the diner upon recommendation from my mom's cousin who lived in SLC until just a month or so before Michael & I moved there in 2006. 

 

Yum! More memories & photos to come soon as we get caught up on blogging & documenting the big move!

project 365 photo: 06.05.2011 {we love church}

One of the things we're really going to miss about Utah is our church, Holladay UCC. While I wasn't brave enough to take the girls to the Pride Parade where our congregation took part in carrying a humongous flag this morning by myself (you know, pregnant lady + three year old + no bathrooms = not a good idea), we did manage to make it to church less than 5 minutes late.

As we walked in they were handing out various small hand percussion instruments to all the kids & kids at heart to use during the service. Cassidy was beyond excited & ran to the front to get one. She danced, sang & shook her shaker during the opening songs just about as joyously as anyone I've ever seen. I just love that we're part of a community that values diversity of all kinds, including age, & thinks about ways to engage the little ones during the service instead of rolling their eyes & complaining about the noise in the background.

We're going to miss everyone - they'll be a hard crew to replace!