I have been reading a book called TrueFaced and it is truly impacting me in what I believe are going to be life-changing ways. 

The authors use a great analogy of choosing between two paths.  One is the path of "Trusting God."  This path leads to a door called "Living out of who God says I am."  The doorknob on that door is marked "Humility."  If you choose to turn it and go forward, you enter into a room called "The Room of Grace."  In this room, the people are full of life, obviously flawed and authentic enough to talk about it.  The room is marked by love, laughter, and the freedom to not be perfect.  The way sin is dealt with in this room is "you standing with God, with your sin before you both, working on it together."

The other path that most of us as believers have been on at some time is the path called "Pleasing God."  This sounds so very good on the surface, and most go down this path in sincerity and devotion.  (I sure did!)  As you go down the path called pleasing God, you come to a door marked "Striving to be all God wants me to be."  It is opened with the doorknob marked "Effort".  If  you turn it and go forward, you enter a room called "The Room of Good Intentions."  In this room, the people are "fine...just fine," but an outside observer might just characterize them as tired, lonely, cynical, guarded, and alternately trying really hard then schlumping away in defeat.  The idea in this room is that if you have more right behavior and less wrong behavior, then you will have a great relationship with God...so you are always "working on your sin to achieve an intimate relationship with God."

When I first started reading the book, I was like..."Hey, I don't think I have to chose between "Pleasing God" and "Trusting God", but the authors insist you must chose.  They say that only one of those values can be THE DRIVING FORCE behind your walk as a Christian.  The awesome thing is that to chose to, first & foremost, "trust God" will have the by-product or fruit of pleasing Him.

So...I'm hanging out in the Room of Grace a little more & more each day & I am finding it to be a great deal easier to breath here.

more later....

This is great! (Thanks, Barb!)

Lauren's Jr. girls team took 2nd place at the state homeschool basketball tournament.  Yeah!

We made them put their denim jumpers back on just after this picture.

This is when Lauren found out they had left one girl off the all-conference team....her!

We leave Thursday for Lebanon, MO for the regional tournament. 

If your idea of fun is:

watching hour upon hour of basketball,

celebrating the thrill of victory,

enduring the agony of defeat,

wanting to yell at refs who obviously didn't see your little darling get clobbered by the big burly girl guarding her,

sometimes giving in to aforementioned desire,

sweaty, giggling girls,

sweaty, grumpy girls,

spending way too much money on eating out & hotel rooms,

then you would love it.  And I do!