Family Motto 2010

A few years ago Rusty announced that our "Family Motto" was going to be "Reduce Clutter". I thought he was just joking around, but quickly found out he really meant it. We try to move every two years, so it makes sense not to keep a bunch of stuff around the house that we aren't using. So he and I made our rounds around the house a little bit at a time and "reduced clutter". We even got the girls in on the job and Morgan was relentless in her room! She was so proud of her pile of giveaways! It sure made this last move much easier!

Last year our family motto was "Be a Blessing" based on the John Waller song "Blessing for Life". This song talks about every day being a choice to be a blessing or a curse to those we come into contact with. We decided our family was going to choose to be a blessing as much as possible. So when we would drop the kids off in their Sunday School classes instead of saying the traditional parental phrase "be good!", we would whisper "be a blessing!" and they knew just what we were talking about because of "our song". We like anything that builds a team atmosphere in the home.

So, here we are in 2010, and we hadn't even thought of what God might have in store for us this year in the way of mottos...really it isn't ever anything we consciously think about, it just sort of "comes up" as we go along. After a great Sunday morning service as we discussed what we had learned, Rusty says "I want us to be a family of ACTION!" and we both knew--that's our theme for 2010. To be a family of ACTION! This fits perfectly with Evan coming home. We will ACTIVELY GO to Ethiopia and physically rescue him from his loneliness and bring him home forever. We want to DO the gospel rather than just read about it or talk about it! How about you? Are you a talker or a walker?

James 2:14-19

Faith and Deeds

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? ¹⁵Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. ¹⁶If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? ¹⁷In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

¹⁸But someone will say, "You have faith; I have deeds."
Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do.

¹⁹You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.