If You Say So....Luke 5:4-7 (NASB)

"We're going to follow the policies from the Church manual with this situation." Those were the words I had been waiting to hear for almost 8 months now. In fact, when I spoke with my pastor at the church I was attending, that was my question to him: how does the church handle these kinds of things? He didn't have an answer for me - but he should have. It's written in the policy manual for the church. Those policies are detailed and specific. They are quite stringent and they are fair . That is, they are based on biblical guidelines which are the wisdom and provision of God for grace and protection in ALL matters. She herself was rather cold and matter-of-fact, which is perfect for how she needs to be to approach this issue. She asked about the long time which had passed - more than two years - and I felt ashamed and discouraged at what felt like a criticism and an unspoken question: "Why did you wait so long to report it?" She didn't say...

My happiest summer picture in a field with cows nearby sitting in natural hot springs        So, my French exchange student left today. She had been here for 5 weeks and I struggled to relate to her. She was guarded and aloof and hardly ever said thank you. I complained about her a lot and it drove my daughters nuts. Towards the end of her stay, she overheard my comments. When I walked her to the customs gate at the airport, she seemed almost tearful, and I wasn't sure why. When I was driving home with my daughter Julia, she told me that Louise had overheard my negative comments about her and that she was really hurt. Ohh...snap! I talked to two daughters about my shitty attitude later and my mistake in even having an exchange student. My expectations were not met and it was so hard having a girl who almost never said thank you and didn't emote in many ways at all. She had a closed off energy about her and it was just...hard. I wish I had known earlier in the day bec...