5 senses of my church

In the kitchen at my church there are many different smells. down at one end you can smell all of the food being made and you can usually tell who made what because of the smells wafting out of the crock pots. At that same end there are all of the sinks and there is usually a steady stream of dishes being washed so the smell of dish soap clouds around that area. A little further down are the two rangetops we use to make tea. At this spot there is an earthy watery smell that you catch a wiff of as you walk by. Down at the end there are all of the random platters and bowls and assorted plastic items that don't really have a home so they go down there. When you open those cabinet doors the odor that comes out reminds me of an old church. Our church is not that old and that is the only place I can smell that smell.


There are many different things to feel at my church. The oddly soft roughness fo the pews, the texture of the walls as you walk by and the smoothness of the wood on the other "furniture". There is also the cold hardness of the microphone as I hold it up to my mouth when I sing and the metal of my flute as I play with the congregationals. Most of the things I feel at church are not physical. I feel extreme joy, love, compassion, sometimes sadness, respect, wonder, purpose, responsibility, young, old, and many other things. Yes our 'church' is made out of steel and plaster but Hillside Baptist Church is the body of believers that come together so it would make sense that most of what we feel is not physical.


On Sunday mornings, evenings, and Wednesday nights the sound of preaching can be heard without fail. There is also the sound of teachers teaching bible lessons and kids laughing and singing praises. There is much laughter at my church through the many different age groups because we enjoy each other. Hardly ever do you hear the sound of a harsh word (unless it's a parent scolding their child) and everyone has something encouraging to say. You also hear the pledge of allegiance being said so that we can instill in our children the pride we should have to be Americans.


Even now that I'm older I sneak pieces of candy out of one of the Sunday School teachers classrooms. They know I do it and someitmes they have a little stash waiting for me  so I taste the tastes of chocolate and bubble gum while I'm sitting listening to the preaching. There are also the dinner fellowships where everyone brings something so yummy to eat. Almost everyone at my church is an amazing cook and everything is so good when you eat you almost have to roll yourself out to the car when you're finished. There is wonderful potato soup, scrumptious salads, and ooey gooey dump cake, and strawberry layer cake. It's making my mouth water right now just talking about it. There is also the Lord's Supper that we take. The little crackers are hard and dry and then the grape juice that you wash them down with.


My eyes might be a bit biased but when I see my church I see something the Lord has blessed and something that we as Christians can be proud of (a good pride). I see smiling faces all around, especially in the children who are my favorite to see, and I see everyone working to help others and to glorify the Lord. We just built a new sanctuary and as they were getting all of the steel beams up we as church members would take sharpies and write different bible verses on the beams. There were verses everywhere and and everyone had a good time doing it. I see old people I see middle aged people and I see young people. Oh yes we have problems and those can be seen too but usually they are overlooked by people who are just looking because they see the love of the Lord shining in the faces of our church.

My place...

If I was somewhere else right now I would want to be at my church. Hillside Baptist Church. I've grown up there and it literally is my second home. so many things happen there that are as much a part of me and my life as anything else I do. Now that I'm out of the teen department I am actively involved in almost everything at the church. I teach a Sunday school class and help in the primary church classes because I love those kids so much. They are like my little brothers and sisters and to my mother's heart they are like my children too. I sing in the choir and in special music. I am also in orchestra and special instrumental music too. I am the projects director for our Wednesday night kid's program Master Club. I am in charge of costumes for the children's Christmas play this year and I'm helping with the music for that. I instruct a cardio workout (Zumba) class for the ladies at my church and work in the kitchen when we have fellowships. I also help with many many other things that need to be done and if someone asks me to do something I pitch in and help because I love my church and my church family and I want to make it the best it can be. When all of the "minor" details are taken care of then it's easier to worship the Lord. My church family is the most awesome church family ever. Every one's chemistry is great and we try to always portray a loving friendly attitude to everyone members and visitors alike. In the past few years several of the older people have taken me under their wing and taught me things and showed me things that will help me for the rest of my life. The older people really invest in the young people at my church and they really care about them too. We have three amazing pastors and they all do their jobs seamlessly and effectively. Many things have happened over the years. One night we were having a youth all nighter and us girls had already went up to my youth pastor's house with his wife, Mrs. Kristen, to watch a movie and do each others hair and things like that, and I guess the guys thought it would be a good idea to use the rolling bottoms of the trash cans to use for scooters and they got a little rowdy and they made a big hole in the wall. And I'm pretty sure it was my youth pastor who was on that scooter.

Knock down drag out...

My friend has been ignoring me recently and it's really ticking me off because I haven't done anything to deserve it. We were supposed to go shopping a couple Sundays ago but she cancelled. My other friend and I didn't end up going anyway so that was fine and everything, not mad about that then I go to lunch at a church member's house and who do you think is there but my friend who was too busy to go shopping with me! She was like, "Oh my plans were cancelled". Uh yeah! She doesn't tell me anything anymore and she doesn't even care how I'm doing at all. We are from the same church and people always come up and ask me how her or my best friend, who is going to college at Truman State University, are doing and I'm like, "How am I supposed to know? Why don't you ask them!?!" My best friend doesn't go to my church anymore because she is too far away so I understand people asking about her (besides the fact that we are almost inseparable) but my other friend does. Why don't they just walk to the other side of the church and ask her? And what about me? I'm not doing so hot myself but it's ok don't ask me about it because you just assume I'm fine because apparently I'm always fine! It just irks me that when she comes home and wants to do something she wants everyone to drop their schedules and spend time with her but when we"ve actually planned something, that she has wholeheartedly agreed to, she cancels last minute then makes up an excuse. Whatever I don't want to deal with you right now so whenever you get over this all about me attitude let me know and we'll talk.

Rich and Ugly or....Poor and Beautiful?

I think I would rather be poor and beautiful. I am already poor so that would be nothing new and I would much rather be a good person and someone that everyone liked rather than someone who had everything but didn't ever share it or anything. You can always make money but you can't always "make beauty". I believe that true beauty comes from inside and when you let it show on the outside it makes you even more beautiful than you already are in other people's eyes. People have preconceived notions about others sometimes before they even meet them. A lot of times it's from seeing them doing something or talking with someone else and they make judgements about you that are either favorable or unfavorable. You can always change that opinion but people's first impressions stick a long time. It's better they see you with the right attitude the first time because then they will be much more receptive to what you have to say. Being poor is not a disease either. If you have things in your life that you really need, like family, love, faith, joy, then you don't need a lot of money. don't get me wrong it would be nice to be rich because it would be a lot less stressful and you could do things you wanted but as the old cliche goes "money can't buy happiness". Besides if everyone were poor and beautiful poor would become the new average but nobody would really care because everyone would be nice and friendly about things anyway.

OGYBL!!!

There have been so many times I have laughed with my best friend Teah. I remember one time we were just sitting in her room and I was sitting at the computer and she was sitting on the floor next to me and I have no clue what we were doing but all of a sudden something struck us as hilarious and we start laughing really hard. We probably laughed for a minute when one of us made a comment and that really got us going. We sat there for like 5 more minutes laughing so hard that no sound was coming out. Our mouths were open and we were grabbing our bellies because they hurt so bad but we could barely breathe because of the laughter. we finally got ourselves under control but we made the mistake of looking at each other and we totally lost it again. We still have no clue what we were laughing about but everytime we think about it and remember each others faces we crack up. I almost started laughing in the middle of class as I was writing this.

This person...only better

This person can be instinctively quiet, and sometimes distant simply because not interacting comes easier than making yourself vulnerable and opening up to people. Because of this they sometimes come across as snobby without even meaning to. They love to observe and study people though scholarly studies do not excite them as much.  Normally words flow with some wittiness thrown in there, and every once in a while gets a little boisterous, and outgoing. Even though they love to smile they have a straight face just because they guard their feelings too tightly and don't let enough emotion show on their face. They tend to have scrunched hair because they like the way it looks, all pretty and natural looking.  Usually more casually dressed, they wear a lot of blue jeans, but they dress up for church and occasionally school. This person doesn't wear a lot of physical hats necessarily but as they have many different jobs this person has to do and different things they need to be be it a teacher, cook, friend, or student. Only being one age they wear many different maturity levels. They can be expressive in many ways including dress, attitude, lack of expression, and body language.  They like familiarity but it does take a while to warm up to people. They like the love language of touch and show love by touching and hugging people they have "let in". This person has many different and sometimes conflicting traits but it all balances out. They just want to be a loving, good, friendly person. This person is me.

What if...

What if I could go back in time? Where would I go? I would go to the 1800's. I love everything about that time in American history and it would have been so amazing to be a part of it. I would want to be one of the pioneers (none of the city slicker stuff for me) and go west on the Oregon Trail. Have a ranch in Montana or something like that with wide open sky and mountains touching the sky. Or a ranch in Texas with cowboys running around and the quest for independence from Mexico and union with the United States. To tame the frontier with all its wild animals and unused land. To carve out a home in the vast wilderness of the west, to see horses running wild and rivers flowing freely. That is where I would want to be because that is where my heart is. It would be so cool to meet Indians and see their culture (the friendly ones anyway) and watch the buffalo grazing en mass on the prairies. I know life was extremely hard back then but whenever I think of that life I only think of the fun of a challenge. Oh to be a pioneer!