The 7 items of the week that occured to me but didn’t warrant their own blog post.

You may remember that we had our meeting with The Denomination about church planting. We were assessed and evaluated within an inch of our lives. Prior to the meeting, Brian and I spent much time talking and praying about it. We came to the conclusion that, while we feel like starting a new church is something we very much want to do – nay, feel called to do – we don’t feel like right now is the time. We have grown to feel the need for more time in the local church, more time becoming part of this family and also, to be honest, we are aware of the enormous dedication of your time that it requires. With our children so small, we decided we weren’t willing to give 70 hours a week to this. So as we talked and prayed, we decided that it might be best to serve as associates or even a lead pastor for a few years more.

Then we received our results from the church planting assessment. And it said the exact same thing. So we had mixed feelings about that. Even though you may not want to do something, you kind of want the other guy to be like “WHAT? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You should TOTALLY do this NOW.” (Just being honest!) So we felt a bit let down but I wasn’t surprised. After all, we thought the exact same thing! They gave us what is called a “qualified yes” which means that if we truly wanted to move forward, they were ready to support us. But their recommendation was that we – you guessed it – wait a few years and serve as pastoral staff in the local church. The assessment itself was positive. There were a few points that I disagreed with but then there were others that even identified a blind spot or two for us. So we look at it as a gift.

I’m obsessed with farm houses these days. I want to live on a big piece of land and create a garden. I am starting to feel all hemmed in these days. I don’t know if it’s the prairie kid thing but having people under me, beside me, on top of me and, when I look out my window, just a few metres away again, I start to feel surrounded. Noisy, noisy people. Nothing quite like polar opposites, eh? Urban dwelling in apartments, packed into the thoroughly modern city to the farm house.

If we had a garden, Brian would be in charge of it. I love the idea of a garden and the results of the garden but have zero desire to do the work. (There is a sermon in there, yes, I know.) Plus, I don’t have a green thumb. He does.

Of course, if this did happen, it would be a miracle because I am not living any further from a bookstore than 20 minutes. And somehow I don’t think I’m exactly a rural girl.

Brian’s chocolate chip cookies are to die for. Seriously. He once won 2nd prize in a church baking contest with these babies. Never mind that he hasn’t made them since and I’m the one that does the baking but whatever.

Here you go….you’ll thank me this fall when it’s finally cool enough to turn on your oven again.

Soften 1 cup of butter (yes, dear – REAL BUTTER) to room temperature. Not melted, not hard. Just soft.
Stir it together with 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of white sugar.
Add 1 tsp of vanilla (I always dash a bit more) and two eggs.
Add 2 and 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp baking powder.
Stir well. (Take note of the stirring – no mixers allowed.)
Then add 2 cups of chocolate chips.

Bake at 350 for about 10-12 minutes or until they’re done.

And a tip for you: I ususally pop mine into a big freezer bag and dump them into the freezer once they’re cooled down (and we’ve eaten far too many warm and gooey ones). They taste delicious frozen.

And another word of warning: they may not make it to the oven. Because the dough seriously should be a national security risk. I love me some raw cookie dough.

I have this site metre thing that tells me how many people are reading my blog. (Hi, Lurkers That Never Leave a Comment!) For fun the other day I clicked on something called Keywords. Basically, it’s the ranking of all the ways that people find my blog.

I’m not sure how I feel about the top searches to find me:
1) spanking
2)the emerging church is DEAD
3)Super Target clearance deals
4) birthday party ideas and
5) standing up birth pictures.

So to clear matters- I don’t spank my children. The emerging church is still alive and kicking, thankyouverymuch. I am not exactly your clearing house for Super Target deals. I don’t plan birthday parties; my sister in law does that.

And no one took any pictures of me having the baby is stall 74. Or if they did, they did it with their cell phone camera and I have no knowledge of it. And no wish to know of it. Don’t tell me if you did that, please.

I am in love with my little niece, Addison. She is growing up so fast – she cut her first two teeth just shy of her three month birthday, if you can believe it. She has one dimple in her left cheek, just like my sister. It is one of my favourite things about my sister; it gave her the dearest, lopsided grin as a child. To see it in her daughter just makes my soul sing.

Annie and Joe are quite in love with her as well. Anne calls her “Sweet Girl” and piles toys about her like a fortress. Why? Because Joe hasn’t learned his own strength and just wants to beat on her when he gets too close.

Seriously. Look at that face. It’s dangerous for me. Makes me want more babies.

(For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary.)