teary eyed

i have watched a decent amount of the inauguration today of president obama.  and for some reason, i keep tearing up!!  i hate politics mostly, and really don't pay much attention to a lot of it.....i couldn't tell you where politicians stand on certain issues or anything.  but there is something momentous about this day that just keeps getting me all teary.  when i think about the suffering that so many black people have gone through in this country because of stupid, racist white people it gets me so mad and upset.....but then to know that our country now has a black president is just incredible.  i have enjoyed hearing the news people talk of martin luther king jr and his "dream" and vision for what this country could be......and seeing a little bit of that dream realized today was just historical.  i know that we have a long way to go to get rid of all racism in this country, but to know that enough people of all races voted for president obama is just really cool, i think.    

common meal

last sunday our church (crossings...love it) moved to market square for worship and we started having 2 services. dustin and i decided that molly is getting old enough now that she could sit in "big church" for one service and start learning from mark's teachings.  she did very well throughout the service (we asked her afterwards what mark taught about and she replied, "mostly about jacob."  she was dead-on).  beforehand, dustin and i had talked about communion....would we let molly take it?  we both grew up in christian churches where the "norm" is that you ONLY take communion if you are "a baptized believer and member of the church".  heaven forbid you be anything else.  well, there's nothing biblical about that, so dustin and i decided that, yes, we would allow molly to take communion if she wanted.  we had talked before about what communion represents, and thought molly pretty much understood.  and at crossings, all people are invited to take common meal and meet Jesus to commune with Him.  so, when it was time for common meal, i helped molly get her cracker and juice and then bowed my head for my own time with Christ.  i looked up a bit later and molly's face was streaming with tears.  i said, "baby what's wrong?"  and she said, "i was thinking about Jesus on the cross....and it's just so sad."  wow.  i had to hold back my own tears to talk it through with her....we talked about how it WAS so sad - but that Jesus had to die to save us....and that He rose again.  (woo-hoo!!)  sure, she may not really understand the depth of Jesus' sacrifice yet (do any of us, really?) - but she gets it.  and she believes in Jesus.  and we are so happy to be a part of a faith community that allows us to make decisions like that - decisions, that ultimately, we think, will help our girls genuinely love Jesus and hopefully help them grow into a love-relationship with their Savior.....all without somebody checking the "baptized" and "membership" lists.  thank you, Lord!!!!