We have enjoyed the week, and although Eli and Chase were under the weather with a sinus infection for a few days, they are over that and back to being happy and playful. Yesterday we went to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, and that was incredible! It featured the country of Bhutan, and although I loved the arts and crafts and watching the people make their crafts, I think the boys' favorite part was the HUGE NASA section. It was NASA's anniversary, so they had tons of tents with different activities. Some had astronauts giving lectures, and others had kids activities and crafts. I tasted some of the best handmade lemonade I'd ever tasted, and it was totally worth the $4 per glass we spent drinking it. Can I just say though, it is H-O-T here!!! It took us quite some time to adjust to the cool temperature of Ohio, and just as that was feeling great, we got moved back to a very warm environment!! It will take the entire summer, I'm sure, to get re-adjusted, but it's so worth dealing with the heat for all that there is to do here!
Today was our first church search day. This is most definitely the hardest part of the entire moving process. As most of you know, my background and what Norman and I have been attending since we were married is church of Christ. We have found that churches of Christ are very different up here than in the good ole midwestern Bible Belt. Not only are they different, but here in D.C./Arlington, there just aren't any. It's odd...So, we have come to the conclusion that we are going to have to open our minds and our hearts and pray that we find a church that we feel is scriptural in its teachings and a Christ following body of believers. We did like the church we attended today, but we are still in search mode. I know that we will be led to the right one if we just keep up the searching and the praying.
You know, this is going to be a bit more on the serious side. Living here, becoming a part of the military and living in D.C. with its history and traditions, and the friends that I've made along the way, have helped shape my views on lots of things. Family, friends, life, spiritual matters...everything. Today as we were driving home from church, we drove past Arlington Nat'l Cemetery, and just like I do every time I drive by there, I am reminded that my friend's husband is at peace there. Life is so fragile. All you can do along the way is the best you can, and make decisions based on everything you know, so that your decisions are made with the best of intentions and thats all you can do.
The thing is that, sometimes life requires that you make decisions based on information you have. And although the call you make on how to handle something, might not be seen as the right thing to do, you have to do what you think is truly the right thing to do in your heart of hearts. Once a decision is made, you cannot go back; we can only go forward, and hope and pray that in time people will come to see that the decision was made out of love and concern, and with no malicious intent. And with that same love and faith that God ultimately can heal all broken relationships, we just keep moving forward not lingering in the past, but hoping for true health and restoration in the relationship. That is my prayer, and it has been something that has been on my mind for quite some time now.
So on that note, I will wind this blog up and end it with a few pictures of the boys from our day out at the festival yesterday. Have a wonderful week!!!
Good luck on the church search. I know how important a solid church is, especially with your family in tow. The kids are cute as always!
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