Chit Chat....

[KC's wifey]

We stayed home and watched the Super Bowl. I am so grateful my DH isn't a sports fanatic. His whole family is. They are glued to the tv every single day and constantly have a game on. They are super loud about it as well. I can only handle so much of that. DH enjoys sports, but he really only watches a game here and there, and the Super Bowl. So while he WAS really loud last night lol, I can laugh at it and find it funny because its pretty much a once a year thing.

I haven't slept well the past couple nights at all. Saturday was my shower, and Lily ended up not getting a nap. So that night she had bad dreams and was up crying several times (which tends to happen when she gets over tired.) On top of that, she slept in our bed, and there is just not enough room for the four of us. I couldn't sleep. Then last night, the baby did something funky in there... like turned a little bit or something? She was sticking out either side, which hurt and made it impossible to get comfortable or fall asleep. She is back to her normal position now, and I got a few hours of sleep in late this morning.

Its just getting toward the end. She is getting bigger and stronger, which is great!! Just really uncomfortable. lol

[Sakura]

We had the super bowl on, but we weren't really watching. At least not until the end. The big kids were more excited that we had chips and dip (a rare occurrence in our house ) than to watch the game.

[JJorn]

We didn't even flip on the game. We normally watch it over at my Aunt's but this year we didn't care who won and were just so tired. My DH actually went to bed the earliest he ever has, I think, without being very sick. He really needed the sleep and should go to bed that early all this week!

[i.<3.cheesysmiles]

didn't want to post over in bridget's thread, but i got such a different feeling than what I feel in everyday life. There are many non-believers there who felt afraid IRL to talk about their beliefs, and I feel the same way IRL! I feel like I am surrounded by nonbelievers or inactive Christians. I feel like I am the one who is such an outsider as a conservative Christian. I read a lot of arguments about the whole susan g. komen/planned parenthood thing, and as a pro-lifer, I was shocked at what people were saying. I look at the way Tim Tebow was mocked for his beliefs, and it was perfectly acceptable to mock him. Our media is so secular and liberal. It just makes me reflect on John 15:19: If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Even my family - they are all non-practising Catholics. I cannot talk about Christ with them, and they do not understand why I do the things I do.

I do feel that it is a daily battle to live life in the US as a conservative Christian. I also live in a pretty liberal area. No one talks about church, except the people you go to church with . Maybe it's different in the Bible belt or in other parts of the country.

[luvinmykids]

Lisa: I totally agree with you. It's so crazy how it's perfectly okay to mock people like Tim Tebow, and I just think it's so wrong. I am kind of the same way with my family. They are practicing a certain religion, but they can't seem to (or don't want to) see how my relationship with Jesus is different from their religion. They think we are the same, but I am just not doing what their religion expects. It's really bad, but I find myself avoiding any talks of religious elements with them at all. I know I need to be a better Christian and open my mouth, but it's hard.

Anyway...sorry to kind of go off subject there. But I really do agree with you Lisa. I feel totally like the outcast because I am an outspoken Christian to those around me (at work, etc.) and I am looked at as "weird". The scripture you mentioned is perfect....be IN the world, not OF the world.

[Sakura]

Lisa and luvinmykids

[i.<3.cheesysmiles]

Lisa: I totally agree with you. It's so crazy how it's perfectly okay to mock people like Tim Tebow, and I just think it's so wrong. I am kind of the same way with my family. They are practicing a certain religion, but they can't seem to (or don't want to) see how my relationship with Jesus is different from their religion. They think we are the same, but I am just not doing what their religion expects. It's really bad, but I find myself avoiding any talks of religious elements with them at all. I know I need to be a better Christian and open my mouth, but it's hard.

Anyway...sorry to kind of go off subject there. But I really do agree with you Lisa. I feel totally like the outcast because I am an outspoken Christian to those around me (at work, etc.) and I am looked at as "weird". The scripture you mentioned is perfect....be IN the world, not OF the world.

I actually avoid talking about it, too, with my parents. They went to my church for DS1's baptism, and they did not get it at all. They did not like it.

Today, a friend on FB posted a status about a student of hers (she teaches at a college) who compared Jesus to Snookie of the jersey shore. I responded something about how it is ridiculous that someone who will soon have a college degree said that. She responded that the student was just joking. I am glad he was just joking, but it's still offensive. What if the student had compared Snookie to Mohammed? I am sure that would not have been ok. We are so cautious about saying anything negative in regards to Islam, which I agree, nothing should be said negative of any belief system, but it just seems that to make fun of Christianity is ok.

[KC's wifey]

I have so many thoughts on what you guys are talking about, but none of them are cohesive at the moment. I don't know how but this baby is squishing brain cells, too.

Just wanted to say I get it. Totally understand.

[JJorn]

We have moved! It has been a crazy week but it is wonderful to be back in our own space with our own rules and such. I still have some more furniture to buy (since we sold almost all of it to the renter when she moved in) but three of our five rooms are put together for the most part.

I also agree that it is ridiculous that only Christianity can be mocked. But it is really not hard to believe. Those who are mocking really are blind (really can’t see) to the truth and as the Bible says, the truth is nonsense to them.

[Rae_1478]

Congrats on the move! It must be wonderful back in your own space!

Mocking of Christianity from non-believers doesn't bother me as much as mocking of Christianity from believers! You're right, non-believers DON'T see; but believers who mock it? It saddens me. They claim Christ but then they want to be claimed by the non-believers? I'm not sure if that's worded exactly right to describe how I feel it. I wish there was something I could do, but I don't know what and I don't know if I'm strong enough.

[Sakura]

Yay for the move!

[KC's wifey]

Jess - Yay on the move! I love buying furniture and decorating, so that would be fun for me. haha. Enjoy your space!

Rae - I agree. That bothers me more, also.

I do think that it can be difficult being Secular or a minority belief in this country. Stats show that more than 80% of the US populations claims to be Christian. However, I really think its more culturally Christian than authentically Christian. Many people claim to be Christian but they don't live it as the authority in their life. Honestly, I worry about raising my kids in the "Bible belt", because I meet so many people who label themselves Christian, but its mostly just what they do because its what they've always done and what everyone around them does. They don't really seem to have any deeper roots or know why they believe. They can speak a lot of "Christianese" but it doesn't sink in to their life. Its kind of "one foot in the church, one foot in the world." So is our country really that Christian? Im not all that convinced. In the places I have lived where there is a stronger Secular influence, most the Christians I met were pretty strong in their faith because it was a daily choice they had to make to stay true to their beliefs.

ETA - I struggled with how to word all this because I don't think that being secular equates to having bad morals. There are a lot of secular people with better morals than some Christians. Not sure what word would be better to describe the worldly influence I am trying to convey.

[Consensus]

It's been a loooong time since I've been here. I'm in a due date room now so I will probably be on APA a bit more.

When I started thinking about how to define secular influence, it only boiled down to one thing, which is influence that is lacking our God. I'm not sure if that's what you were thinking Polly. I agree with everything you said, about it being difficult to be secular in a "Christian" nation. I was "raised" Catholic very much in the sense of your bible belt experience, but I wasn't raised there. I was raised on Long Island, where you were Catholic or Jewish, meaning you celebrated Christian or Jewish holidays. Now there are some very strong Catholics, but I didn't know of or meet them until I moved away from NY. I became a much stronger Christian when I moved away from that environment, started questioning my faith, and honestly college helped that quite a bit. My degree program wasn't ripe with Christians but the Christians I did meet were awesome, very strong in their faith. That's when I really started looking at Christianity again. In my workplace now it feels about 30/20/50, believers/believers in proclamation not heart/non-believers. There are very few church-goers in my neighborhood, but I interact with my church social group quite a bit, listen to klove, and have an online group of Christian friends so that even in a liberal city I feel a strong Christian influence in my life.

There's a girl I've been working with a lot lately; I really, really like her and we get along fantastically, and have talked about meeting up after work. The main difference between us is she is not a Christian even a teensy bit, she's "spiritual" and has the idea of there being a greater being but we've never really expounded on that. I've become a lot more comfortable over the past couple years with bringing up God, Jesus, going to church or my bible study with non-Christians because golly I know a lot of them, and it's become less awkward. At first it felt like I had to work to make it an easy part of conversation and not a forced/weird part, if that makes sense; before I was a believer I know when felt "targeted" my defenses would raise up, so I just try to bring it up naturally with neighbors and family and now her. I've even shared some parables with her, actually when she brought up Tebow, in a way to share what the Bible/Christianity really says. The other day I was having a Christian based conversation with our female custodian who asked what church I went to when my friend walked in, and a few minutes into the conversation she made the comment that being prayed for her lack of belief was offending, and having been there I totally knew why and I shared with her that I understood that. She's a "good" person, she really is (I'm not saying that to be facetious), a hard worker, honest, kind and good to her family. Our society has this broad definition of the word "good", and to tell people that are "good" that they are sinners, that they need Christ's redemption, just isn't popular.

I don't know - what are your experiences? I mean, it's easy to talk about this generically, but how do you act around non-believers that you have real relationships with? As a formerly "good" person who slowly became aware of my need for Christ, I don't see how taking their "goodness" away from them is constructive, but showing my weakness and my need for Jesus seems to be more so. But of course that is how I was enticed towards Christianity, and I know others have had different experiences. I feel like many non-believers are defensive around outspoken Christians because they hear "I'm going to heaven, you're going to hell" ie "I'm good, you're bad", and that feels judgy, pretentious, and something that you don't necessarily want to be a part of if you're "good". I don't feel like my attitude is coming from a place of wanting to be claimed by the world, as much as it is reaching to meet people on their level to create a basis for a real relationship. I feel Christian confirmation in doing so as God does this with us daily when we reach out to Him and He answers our prayers or reveals something to us, and it's one of the fundamental reasons God became man.

I'll tell you something, about the girl that I met who drew me to Christianity; the day we became friends we were situated out in the hall after class with a group and the conversation turned towards mocking Christians. A bunch of blind physics students who knew everything were making fun of the crazy fundamentalist Christians who were blind to the real world. And then she spoke up, and said she was Christian, and the conversation dulled pretty quickly, but I couldn't get it out of my head how much I liked this girl and how badly I felt that I offended her. I called her up to apologize profusely, and that marked the beginning of our friendship and being called to have faith. So when I see other blind non-believers, I see me 10 years ago, and know there is always hope; and maybe, just maybe, God has prepared the soil in their heart for you to toss a seed there to grow.

I'm open to and interested in your thoughts on how to approach relationships with non-believers, whether or not it's helpful for your Christian faith to do so. We have the rest of our lives to interact, or not? with the secular world.

Gosh I don't know how to not write novels Good for you if you managed to read all this and not fall asleep or have your head explode

[Consensus]

Or maybe the post is a bit too long for "chit chat". oops

[KC's wifey]

I read it all, and I always love your posts.
Don't have time now, but will respond to this later!

[JJorn]

Just popping in quickly to let you know that I should be miscarrying my baby soon. The heart stopped sometime after 8.5 weeks and I found out yesterday at 11.5 weeks. I am very sad but honestly expected this outcome for some reason. Please just pray that I would miscarry naturally and that I would be able to grieve the loss of this loved child.

[KC's wifey]

Oh Jess, I'm so sorry. Praying for you.

[Rae_1478]

Just popping in quickly to let you know that I should be miscarrying my baby soon. The heart stopped sometime after 8.5 weeks and I found out yesterday at 11.5 weeks. I am very sad but honestly expected this outcome for some reason. Please just pray that I would miscarry naturally and that I would be able to grieve the loss of this loved child.

I'm so sorry to hear this! You and your family are definitely in my prayers!

[Rae_1478]

ETA - I struggled with how to word all this because I don't think that being secular equates to having bad morals. There are a lot of secular people with better morals than some Christians. Not sure what word would be better to describe the worldly influence I am trying to convey.

I promise to never make the assumption that ANYONE here is saying secular people are bad unless of course someone would write 'secular people are bad'.

[Consensus]

Oh I'm so sorry for your loss Jess I will be praying for you

[Sakura]

Just popping in quickly to let you know that I should be miscarrying my baby soon. The heart stopped sometime after 8.5 weeks and I found out yesterday at 11.5 weeks. I am very sad but honestly expected this outcome for some reason. Please just pray that I would miscarry naturally and that I would be able to grieve the loss of this loved child.

I'm so so sorry, Jessica. Praying for you!

[pants]

jess I am heartbroken for you. :-( loosing. Baby is never easy. My love nd prayers are with you.

[pants]

post away this is what chit chat is for.

Or maybe the post is a bit too long for "chit chat". oops

wow. Well I know for me we have a number of unbelievers we re in contact with. Very good people. But I don't know bout you guys but I fin our friendships can only go so deep. But we still encourage each other, hang out. The hardest thing I find is being around people, believers or not, who are not living a Good life. I find that harder then being around unbelievers who are good. Well my LO is calling me on the monitor so I have to cut my thoughts short. Sorry post more later.

[Sakura]

post away this is what chit chat is for.


wow. Well I know for me we have a number of unbelievers we re in contact with. Very good people. But I don't know bout you guys but I fin our friendships can only go so deep. But we still encourage each other, hang out. The hardest thing I find is being around people, believers or not, who are not living a Good life. I find that harder then being around unbelievers who are good. Well my LO is calling me on the monitor so I have to cut my thoughts short. Sorry post more later.

I find this to be true for me as well.

[caligirl07]

Jessica, Im so sorry Praying for you.

[KC's wifey]

Jessica - How are you doing?

[JJorn]

Thanks for asking, Polly.

I am doing ok. I am still sad about the baby but I did miscarry naturally when I would have been 12 weeks. I was home alone with the two kids and almost had to call some friends over but the Lord was merciful and the worst of it was over in two hours (while the kids were eating breakfast and then watching some TV). It was like mini labor. I am so thankful that is over.

Besides that, we just have been in a very hard season for the last two years. Life is just very hard right now and while moving into our own condo again has alleviated some stress, new stress has immediately replaced that stress. So, the move gave us a net gain of zero. We aren't sure what the Lord is trying to teach us in all of this, but I hope that we get it soon!

[Sakura]

Thanks for asking, Polly.

I am doing ok. I am still sad about the baby but I did miscarry naturally when I would have been 12 weeks. I was home alone with the two kids and almost had to call some friends over but the Lord was merciful and the worst of it was over in two hours (while the kids were eating breakfast and then watching some TV). It was like mini labor. I am so thankful that is over.

Besides that, we just have been in a very hard season for the last two years. Life is just very hard right now and while moving into our own condo again has alleviated some stress, new stress has immediately replaced that stress. So, the move gave us a net gain of zero. We aren't sure what the Lord is trying to teach us in all of this, but I hope that we get it soon!

I'm so sorry that you had to go through that.

And for this hard season of life. I'll keep your family in my prayers that you all leave the "desert place" soon.

[JJorn]

Thank you all for your continued prayers. They are much appreciated!

How is everyone else?

[pants]

jessica you are in our prayers over here. God never promises that we will live without trials, but he does promise to walk with us through them.