It's been quite the peaceful day here at Team E (CME's new nickname for our family.)
Matthew is battling a cold, so he stayed home today, while CME went happily off to school. Matty and I played with trains and race cars. He was pretty good company while Mark did the grocery shopping.
We've been having freezing rain on and off most of the day, and it is COLD!
The phone rang at 1. Mrs. C was calling to tell us that CME was upset. Apparently, somebody at school hit him with a ball during recess. I asked him if he was supposed to catch the ball, and he said the kids was trying to "shoo" him away. Mrs. C said that she was down to 5 kids because of the ice storm, so we went ahead and brought him home. He'd had a good morning, so we brought him home on a good note.
Then we had quiet time, all of us napping while CME played his DS. He loves that thing.
Now Mark is making some chili for dinner. A warm, tasty end to a peaceful day. I feel like some fuzzy slippers and some knitting is in my immediate future.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 11, 2009
An experience
Being on vacation this week means that church is going on today without us. When on vacation, we like to visit some other churches, to see what they are doing, and get ideas from them. We've been to a Methodist church, Catholic mass and CME's school's church services, to name a few. We'd never been to one of those "mega" churches, and I've always wanted to see how they do it. So last night, we went to LifeChurch.tv. They don't call it a worship service. It's an "experience," and let me tell you, it certainly was.
We walk in the door, and it looks like we'd stepped into Disney World. The entire entryway/foyer, which was huge, looks just like the It's A Small World ride. There is a ticket/information booth, with computers that do goodness knows what. Beyond that, there is a giant room for elementary aged kids with moon bouces, and an arcade, and goodness knows what else. We knew we couldn't leave CME in there because he'd get over-stimmed in no time.
Down the hall, which was plastered floor to ceiling to look like a forrest--Wait. I know I'm not describing this properly. It wasn't covered in decorations. It WAS a forrest. The hall was lined with "trees" for sitting on. There were "leaves and branches" on the walls and ceiling. The place looked like a freakin' forrest. In the middle of the hall was a giant, beyond life-sized tree. It was talking. An animatronic tree telling stories in the hallway. Down another hall was an animatronic bird! We found a playroom, and asked if it was a place for a three and six year old. We were told that Matty could stay, but CME was supposed to go in the giant moonbounce arcade room. I told the girl there we'd like to keep them together, and she told us it was okay for "just once." I didn't tell her, fine we aren't coming back anyway.
So the kids went in to play, and Mark signed the sheet and we went into the auditorium. It's a humongous room set up with hundreds of thousands of $$$ of big-screen TVs, sound and light equipment. We were reading the information handed us, and saw this, "Are your kids sitting next to you? Boy, are they missing out!" The seriously think that having your kids in church WITH YOU is a bad thing!
Well, then the "experience" started, and we quickly understood that it would have been a bad thing, if our kids had been there. Holy cow. That was loud.
The band came on stage. The strobe lights flashed. The fog machines (I shit you not) went off. And the music started. Let me say, they have a great band. The music was great, but it was loud. They did a 20 minute "set" and then it was time for the message.
The message was a 30 minute TV informercial for LifeChurch.tv. (I guess I get now why it's called Lifechurch DOT TV.) Their head pastor, super honcho guy broadcasts to all their campuses. It was kind of a cross between Oprah and MTV. There was plenty of scripture and gospel, but the whole thing came across as, "Our lives are so great because of Lifechurch!"
Don't get me wrong. What they are doing is powerful and great. They do something like 9 "experiences" each weekend, and the one we were at had at least 600 people there. It works for a lot of people. Not my cup of tea, however.
We left a bit early to get the kids. We were promptly told that 6 year olds were not allowed with the little ones. (Sorry, but you said it was fine before.) And then, it turns out we were supposed to get a sticker with a number to identify our kids. (Um, we were standing right here signing in and no one mentioned this to us.) They told us how worried they were that our kids were there with no identification, and how we'd better not do that again. So I was disappointed how rudely we were treated when picking them up. Like we had deliberately broken all the rules, when we said right off the bat that we were first-timers. They lost some points there in the "visitor friendly" department.
But the kids had fun. We got pizza on the way home and had a picnic on the living room floor while watching football.
Neither of us felt like we'd been to church. It was more of a concert/informercial. I don't feel like it's worship when all you can hear is the band. I like that feeling of communion with other people singing, and feeling like I'm a part of it, not just a spectator. And while I'm sure God was present in the music, I pretty much just felt the subwoofers.
We walk in the door, and it looks like we'd stepped into Disney World. The entire entryway/foyer, which was huge, looks just like the It's A Small World ride. There is a ticket/information booth, with computers that do goodness knows what. Beyond that, there is a giant room for elementary aged kids with moon bouces, and an arcade, and goodness knows what else. We knew we couldn't leave CME in there because he'd get over-stimmed in no time.
Down the hall, which was plastered floor to ceiling to look like a forrest--Wait. I know I'm not describing this properly. It wasn't covered in decorations. It WAS a forrest. The hall was lined with "trees" for sitting on. There were "leaves and branches" on the walls and ceiling. The place looked like a freakin' forrest. In the middle of the hall was a giant, beyond life-sized tree. It was talking. An animatronic tree telling stories in the hallway. Down another hall was an animatronic bird! We found a playroom, and asked if it was a place for a three and six year old. We were told that Matty could stay, but CME was supposed to go in the giant moonbounce arcade room. I told the girl there we'd like to keep them together, and she told us it was okay for "just once." I didn't tell her, fine we aren't coming back anyway.
So the kids went in to play, and Mark signed the sheet and we went into the auditorium. It's a humongous room set up with hundreds of thousands of $$$ of big-screen TVs, sound and light equipment. We were reading the information handed us, and saw this, "Are your kids sitting next to you? Boy, are they missing out!" The seriously think that having your kids in church WITH YOU is a bad thing!
Well, then the "experience" started, and we quickly understood that it would have been a bad thing, if our kids had been there. Holy cow. That was loud.
The band came on stage. The strobe lights flashed. The fog machines (I shit you not) went off. And the music started. Let me say, they have a great band. The music was great, but it was loud. They did a 20 minute "set" and then it was time for the message.
The message was a 30 minute TV informercial for LifeChurch.tv. (I guess I get now why it's called Lifechurch DOT TV.) Their head pastor, super honcho guy broadcasts to all their campuses. It was kind of a cross between Oprah and MTV. There was plenty of scripture and gospel, but the whole thing came across as, "Our lives are so great because of Lifechurch!"
Don't get me wrong. What they are doing is powerful and great. They do something like 9 "experiences" each weekend, and the one we were at had at least 600 people there. It works for a lot of people. Not my cup of tea, however.
We left a bit early to get the kids. We were promptly told that 6 year olds were not allowed with the little ones. (Sorry, but you said it was fine before.) And then, it turns out we were supposed to get a sticker with a number to identify our kids. (Um, we were standing right here signing in and no one mentioned this to us.) They told us how worried they were that our kids were there with no identification, and how we'd better not do that again. So I was disappointed how rudely we were treated when picking them up. Like we had deliberately broken all the rules, when we said right off the bat that we were first-timers. They lost some points there in the "visitor friendly" department.
But the kids had fun. We got pizza on the way home and had a picnic on the living room floor while watching football.
Neither of us felt like we'd been to church. It was more of a concert/informercial. I don't feel like it's worship when all you can hear is the band. I like that feeling of communion with other people singing, and feeling like I'm a part of it, not just a spectator. And while I'm sure God was present in the music, I pretty much just felt the subwoofers.
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