Experience tells me that I should only blog my thoughts once they are semi-sorted in my mind, but I am ignoring that and will probably ramble on. But, this is my blog and I can ramble if I want to.

Both of our kids have rythym (I know that is spelled incorrectly), a keen sense of movement and a love of music. Our 9 year old daughter is a talented singer and has a sharp ear for pitch. Our son is only 4 and so the jury is still out but we can see the signs already. All that to say - they are drawn to music in a very powerful way. The VBS Cd and DVD is played months after the event. The moves and choreography is done and redone to perfection. We listen to Christian radio, they play CD's, we all go to concerts - this is their life. So, I am so thankful that our church had a music camp during the first week of August. The elementary kids went from 9-3 all week. They learned the music and dances and voila! on Friday they perfomed an incredible show. The reason this thrills my heart is that in their minds, praise and exuberance go hand in hand. They know nothing else. Don't you love that!

I believe it is vital to raise our kids with their christian identity being "Jesus Follower." I do not want them to know church of Christ stuff, I pray they never have to deal with it. I want them to be as comfortable at a Saturday night service at a local community church as they are on a Sunday morning at a cofc.

Some may recoil in horror and say I have bad ecclesiology. Not so. This is not a permissive response to what I do not like in our fellowship. It is an intentional attempt to raise my kids with their only core being: God is God; the Spirit indwells and empowers; Jesus is the way to the Father and following Him requires a life transformed daily to look like Him; People are always more important than things; We are created to Praise; God is more concerned with our shaping than our happiness; To be like Him we need to see people with His eyes.....You get the picture - it is not about church identity markers for me. Sure, they need to ask questions when they see things that are different in the church world. And yes, I will engage those discussions with passion but quite honestly I pray they will look only for the Spirit and when they see His work, they will know that God abides in that place.