Brain vomit and church too!

(Thank you for that catchy title, Gretchen; I've been waiting for a chance to use it.)

-If you scroll down to the very bottom of my blog you will notice an ad, placed by Google, for pest control. This makes me chuckle. No more mice yet...sneaky little suckers.

-My new friend, Angela, just met her 2 Ethiopian kids today for the first time. Now she's a mom of 4! Adoption rocks!

-We went to Berry Patch Farms for a field trip today. Baby, stomped in the first mud puddle she saw, and spent the rest of the time sitting in the middle of the berry patch dumping handfuls of dirt on herself. When you're one this is 45 minutes of good entertainment. "Dirt Ball" doesn't even begin to describe how very filthy she was. But, she was happy, and the rest of us picked a bunch of delicious berries. Today, I liked homeschooling.

-So I played this little game called, "If I got to dream up the very best possible church environment what would it look like?" I made Eddie play too. But he sorta sucks at these type of games. He's entirely too practical, and that's not the point. I'm dreaming here:
-In my church there would be no pews, or benches, or matching chairs. Instead, there would be little clusters of overstuffed chairs and coffee tables - like those quirky little bookstores/coffeeshops I used to go to when we lived in Boulder. It would foster discussion, and community.
-In my church, there might be stained glass, and there would certainly would be art on the walls.
-The music would be worshipful and it would combine the best of reverent old hymns and contemporary worship styles.
-It would smell good - like freshly brewed coffee, or vanilla, or cookies.
-We'd serve coffee, and muffins. And communion would be gluten -free.
-In my church I would never feel obligated to serve in the nursery, but always feel like my kids were well cared for.
-There would be a children's program, but sometimes the church community would worship together - kids and adults alike. Childhood would be valued - and kids would have opportunities to contribute.
-There would be bookshelves - and a library of sorts .
-The pastor would not stand up on a stage, but somehow he'd teach from a overstuffed chair. And maybe the teacher would be a woman - and she'd be gifted and insightful, and used by God and no one would make a big stink about the fact that she was a woman.
-It'd be like Cheers - "a place where everyone knows your name." Only better, because some people would know your heart too!

Eddie said, " It sounds like your church would meet in someones living room."

Well yeah, actually, it does.

I like our church community, and I don't even totally hate the metal folding chairs we sit in. It's a good group of people and there isn't a overstuffed chair in sight. But I guess I think church happens best in family rooms and living rooms. I like the idea of a decentralized, organic church. I don't exactly know how that works.

Baby's up, and I need to be productive!