It's my mother's world...

... and I'm still living in it.

My mom is visiting us this week. She is a cleaner, organizer, subtle criticizer, helper, theoretically well-meaning work-horse. Yesterday, I was asked if my oven was self-cleaning, when the next load of laundry was going to be ready, and whether we needed to empty the Diaper Genie, all within two minutes. After taking a breath, she mentioned the garbage can needed cleaning and mumbled something about mold.

I recently cleaned my house, believe it or not. And everyone accounted-for has clean underwear and towels. And the Genie takes two seconds. And aren't garbage cans supposed to be dirty?

Today she was scrubbing the trays for the toaster oven (that incidentally, I scrubbed and put in the dishwasher probably the day before she arrived). She was also scrubbing the inside of the microwave. And the outside of the toaster oven... the glass door that has English muffin wrapper melted onto it. You can see the writing. It's not dirt, it's permanently melted-on plastic. I think a razor blade is required for extraction. I should go look to see if the scrubbing worked...

Today we are also switching from an over-priced cable to a lower-yet-probably-still-over-priced fiber optic provider. It is now 4:00 PM and he has been here since 9:00 AM, minus a lunch break.

He knocks, my mom says "Come in!" before I can even open my mouth. He goes in the basement to finagle things and my mom asks if he needs help moving things. He is standing in the foyer and my mom asks if he needs a glass of water or anything.

These series of exchanges made me realize: where my mother is, there lies her home. I guess on Saturday I resume ownership again.

Question: If I whimper "Mommy, I'm thirsty, so thirsty!" in the middle of the night, will she bring me a glass of water? (Or will I just annoy my husband?)

And yes, she did ask me why we need so many channels.

Coming Out

Today on Facebook, I noticed that someone was a fan of Derek Webb. As a fan (or at least a nostalgic fan) of Caedmon's Call, I considered myself a fan of Derek, since he was a big part of the group and now a solo-artist. Christian band. Christian artist. So I clicked on his fan page. There, I find that he recently added Jennifer Knapp to his current tour. Another Christian artist, Knapp's "Kansas" goes down as one of my favorite Christian albums of all-time, competing with Jars of Clay's first album. I digress...

Recently, Jennifer Knapp came out as a lesbian. After that, Derek adds her to his tour. Also, from his fan page, I learn that he gave a concert for a "Christian LGBT" event and he at one point said that if it came down to it and he had to choose, he would choose to attend a gay-affirming church. That, right there, is why I am blogging.

A "gay-affirming church" is a Bible-denouncing church. Period. Not because it involves homosexuality but because it involves something God calls sin. You can't have a sin affirming church and call it part of The Church. It becomes something else worshipping someone else. Just as you can't have a "liar-affirming church," "infidelity-affirming church," or one that might suit me nicely, a "gluttony-affirming church." You can't affirm a sin in a church and worship the Lord. Can you struggle with sin and welcome the struggling sinner? Of course. You have to - that is the gospel. The mark of a Christian isn't that you're sinless. Please, it's that you have the struggle. That you have the struggle between your flesh and your redeemed spirit.

Living in an unchurched area, for the most part, has made me see things in very black and white terms. But you know what? The Bible is black and white. There is no part of sin that is okay. There is no part of sin that can be affirmed. There is no part of the gospel that needs adding-to or tweaking. It is perfect and if you want to change it to suit you, you should read about Eve reaching for the apple because she wanted to know what God knew, causing sin to first enter the world. Sin is entering churches that "mean well." Don't mean well, teach the Bible. Love the sinner but acknowledge the sin, whatever it may be. Enlightenment of sin is what brings you to your knees before a holy God. That is much better than being "affirmed."

I gossip. I eat too much. I can be quite lazy. I'm not as loving and kind as I should be. I can be very prideful. I often find mean humor funny. I can go on and on and on and on of sins with which I struggle regularly. According to the Bible, they are no more or less sinful than homosexuality. They are all sins and I'm as guilty as the next. I do not want a church that affirms these things. Maybe it would make me feel fuzzy and high on myself, but I don't think so because it would prevent me from going to the cross, from asking forgiveness, from the hope and peace that comes from repentance and a contrite heart.

I want a church that is a Biblical gospel-based church. One that welcomes my mean, fat, gossipy self and points me to a Holy God who wants more for me.

So I'm coming out as a Christian who is sick of the church being pushed and prodded, molding to a sinful world, rather than being the beacon of light that Jesus calls it to be. The truth may hurt but it will ultimately set you free.

Mothervision

So Mothervision sounds a little odd. Half-granola-ish, half-futuristic? A little vulgar. Mysterious. Or, really, it was because I was watching "Max & Ruby" (again) when trying to find available blog names. Truth is, most of the clever names I came up with, for example, "Momumental" and even "Mommyvision" were taken. It's the worst - coming up with a great blog name to see that it's taken by someone who wrote one post in 2005... about gardening, no less.

So this is my new blog that will have less celebrity gossip and more mommy stories and concerns - that includes the state of both Christianity and the Union. As I see it. Which is a flawed perspective but real. This may not be for everyone!