Doin' a little church shopping

Now that we've been here for a week, we're working on finding our new church "home". Not easy...there's always something you REALLY like about a church and something you don't. One of the things that decides it for us, is whether or not our kiddos like the nursery. In Hermiston, we chose NOT to stay at the church where Andrew got so upset in the church nursery that he gagged himself, vomited all over himself and begged us never to take him back. To this day, I wonder what happened in there! We DID stay at the church where he managed to escape, but that was just because they had him in the little nursery and not the "big kids' nursery" as they call it. He LOVED their nursery--it even had a slide.

So this morning we took the reccomendation (did I spell that right? I think there might be 2 m's...oh well) of a close friend and tried out the New Life Foursquare Church. Andrew cried and cried when we picked him up from the nursery. That's always a good sign--he's having so much fun, he doesn't want to leave. Tori was a happy camper, too.

So the kiddos were squared away--where does that leave Mark & I? We really enjoyed the music and the pastor was great. However, he was a visiting pastor, so we have yet to hear the Sr. Pastor. Pastor Eric (visiting from Baltimore) gave an amazing sermon on spiritual warfare. I took three pages of notes and Mark & I came away feeling like soldiers in the army of God. He made us think, he taught us new lessons and made us laugh. Perhaps we should consider a teaching position in Baltimore? Nahhh....not yet.

Pastor Eric reminded us that there is a constant battle--the question isn't ARE we at war, but are we going to show up to fight that war?

"Spiritual warfare is a battle that rages in the invisible between the armies of God and the satanic forces of darkness"

"Darkness is not just the absence of light; it is anything we have not declared for Jesus and His Kingdom. Have you declared your home for Christ? Your job? Your family? Anything you have yet to declare is dwelling in darkness..."

"There is no 'de-militerized zone'. You're either on God's side, or Satan's side."

"The Devil has nothing except what we give him."

"Victory for the armies of God is guaranteed--we just have to get there."

These are just some of the things he said that made me think. I've spent the remainder of my morning praying and asking God to show me how to declare my house for His sake and how to better teach my children to be warriors for Him.