Mountain Musings

Uniting Church and Family ~ Quilt Shop

Who knew there would be a quilt and yarn shop in the small shopping center located almost right next door to where the conference was being held? And guess who spotted it immediately and started making plans of when she could sneak over there? :)

Actually, I didn't have to wait too long. The first day we had some extra time for lunch, and since I figured I could meet and talk to folks at several other times during the conference...I quickly ate lunch and off I walked down the road, safely crossing some railroad tracks, and arriving at Quilts Like Crazy to find a wonderful yarn shop on one side and a quilt shop on the other with so many samples of quilting and knitting projects that it was unbelievably inspiring!

I purchased six colorful skeins of Cotton Classic Tahki - Stacy Charles yarn--all on sale! These will be added to the skeins I purchased at a yarn shop in Roanoke when we were on our anniversary trip back in August. Whatever these skeins end up making (probably an afghan), I'll have some neat memories of the places where each of the yarns was purchased.

I think knitting must be the "going thing" these days even among the younger crowd. I saw several little girls at the conference who had their small pink balls of yarn with them. One was eager to tell me she was making a dishcloth, but the other one said, "Yes, it's going to be "something." So cute.

Next: Sunday Services at The Browns' Farm

~Deb

Happy 21st Birthday, Sarah!

My baby is 21 today! That is so amazing and hard to believe! How could a tiny little "Pipsqueak" grow up into such a wonderful young lady so quickly?

And what did Sarah pick for her special birthday meal?

Snow on the Mountain* (some folks call this recipe Hawaiian Haystacks), Lime Jello Salad, toasted crusty bread, and FunFetti cake with orange sherbet.

Sarah, we wish you the very happiest birthday ever! Happy 21 on a snowy Wednesday--what a perfect birthday gift just for you!

~ Your family

* recipe follows

Uniting Church and Family ~ Day 2

Scott Brown began the two-day session with the keynote addresses: "Returning to Biblical Order in Church and Home" and "Biblical Pictures of Headship in the Home." Scott is the Director for the NCFIC (National Center for Family Integrated Churches).

Voddie. Everyone was waiting for Voddie to arrive. We had never met or heard him speak in person, although we knew he was a very motivational and encouraging speaker after listening to one of his CDs we had borrowed. The announcement was made that Voddie was recovering from the flu but would be flying in later in the day, and the schedule was rearranged so he could still get in his three keynote addresses.

His sessions included: "Answering Objections to Uniting Church and Family," "What He Must Be--The Biblical Portrait of a Father's Discipleship Responsibility in the Home," and "Go and Make Disciples--Evangelism and Missions in the Family Integrated Church." 

Jonathan's goal was to interview all the speakers at some point during the weekend. Voddie was usually swamped with folks around him asking questions. Finally, as he was rushing out to catch his flight home, Jonathan managed to snag him for a two-minute interview. (And when Jonathan is not so swamped himself with end-of-semester school assignments, he is going to post snippets of the interviews and additional pictures on his blog.)

Here's Jason Dohm, one of the breakout session speakers, holding his little cutie. His sessions included: "The Sufficiency of Scripture--Establishing Biblical Practices in the Church" and "Establishing Biblical Church Leadership." 

Other topics by various speakers: "Calling Men to Lead," "Equipping Family Shepherds," "Church Planting Principles and Practices," "If, When, or Why to Leave a Church," and "Transitioning to Family Integrated Church Life." Of course, with these being breakout sessions, we had to pick and choose which ones we most wanted to hear.

We will try and gather our notes together on some of these sessions and post in a separate entry later this week. Do you get the idea that our two days were cram packed with excellent teaching and times of fellowship? It was very enjoyable!

However...craft lovers usually find a way to sneak out and pop into a local yarn shop at some point, also very enjoyable. :)

Next: Quilt & Yarn Shop Excursion During the Conference

~Deb

Uniting Church and Family Conference ~ Day 1

Day 1 - Arrival and Fellowship. What a wonderful weekend we had in Wake Forest, NC, attending the regional church and family conference. I wish you could have been with us! Here's a picture of the gang just before we checked in this past Friday morning.

The schedule included keynote addresses by Scott Brown, Voddie Baucham (author of Family Driven Faith), and Dr. Andrew Davis, along with other workshop speakers. It was a full two days of insightful messages on family integration in the local church. Everything we heard about family discipleship and men leading their homes was very encouraging. To the left is a portion of the audience as we wait for the next keynote to begin.

As you well know, some of the most important times at a conference can be between sessions and at meal times when we get to meet and fellowship with other families. Here we are at lunch with our friends, the Wagners, who are in a local home fellowship with us. It was so fun having friends at the conference!

A very interesting time of interaction was when folks from different states gathered together in various sections of the sanctuary to get acquainted with others either already in a family-integrated assembly, those in a newly-formed church, or those wanting how-tos and information from other families on how to get started. We saw many names and email addresses being exchanged in an effort to get together again with those located closer to them.

In the picture on the left, Jonathan is talking with Pastor Marc Jantomaso of River Rock Church in Lynchburg, a family integrated assembly. Pastor Jantomaso also participated on a panel with other pastors on stage fielding questions involving family integration.

Next: Day 2, The Speakers

~Deb