One of those... months.

I feel incredibly frustrated and crabby lately.  I'm certain it's because I currently have no margin in my life, and when I do find an hour before bed free I end up watching an episode of 24 with Jeremy (as a date... for real). 

Last night was at least fun - I invited another couple over for dinner.  Having them over gave me the motivation to clean up the living room, kitchen and dining room, so I at least felt decent about some things before I fell asleep.  They have a a little girl who is a little older than Peter, so the kids entertained themselves while we ate BLTs, brownies and ice cream.  That also meant they were out the door around 8 PM to tuck her in to bed, so I got quality time with Stinky Pete, too.

Part of my crabbiness is stemming from work, because I've been given added responsibilites (that's what you get when you're a good employee, I guess) but that also means I've got more to do.  And I don't really want more to do, because I want to be able to leave early on Fridays and not worry about finishing things so I don't have to do them on Monday. 

Blargh.

Really?

So. It's been awhile. There are a million things to write about. Peter. Church. School. Marriage. But what's rolling through my head right now is just a comment made by someone who checked out MainStreet last week and emailed Jeremy letting him know that our church will not become their church home because it's 'too casual'. (Full disclosure - they also live like a half hour away, so they are also looking for something 'closer to home', which I totally get.)

'Too casual'? Maybe. I have worn jeans every single Sunday so far, but I think that's primarily been driven by unshaven legs and trying to get both myself and Pete dressed and out the door on time. Although I don't think they meant 'casual' in the dress code sense. If I was an outsider, I might think MainStreet is a bit too casual, too, but more from what I'm coming to think of as a style of 'abundant grace'. Jer mentioned that we have more liturgical elements than, say, the other new church down the street (scripture reading, etc.) so the service isn't exactly 'casual' in a biblical sense. However, our attitude regarding performance (read: presentation) might be.

I can't think of a Sunday yet that has been completely polished, with all people involved hitting their transitions at just the right moment, announcements and such being totally engaging and fun, or Jeremy not forgetting to mention something like prayer partners at the end of the service. The week this couple visited, Jer jumped ahead of the service order printed in the bulletin, only to realize it after a minute and backtrack. So... if someone is/was looking for a completely perfectly polished service, they probably won't find it at MainStreet (at least... not yet). I can excuse these blips because I know one of our core values is abundant grace. I would much rather (I think) attend a church that can laugh at itself when things don't go quite-so-right than attend one that gets high-strung and tense when a microphone stops working. All that to say, though, I wouldn't want to go somewhere that always felt like the service was thrown together last minute and was completely unorganized...

What a crazy line to walk between being a church that is too performance driven and/or too sloppy. My prayer is that we will get it just right for what we want to be at MainStreet. I hope that we can be a church that has high standards, but that also practices grace. And if that means we seem 'too casual' to some, I think I'm okay with that.

Sometimes Things Stink

Last night was one of those wonderfully awkward nights that I both loved and hated.

We got some stinky news from a dear friend who is being called elsewhere (as in not MainStreet). It left both Jer and I sort of shell shocked (though we saw it coming) and feeling like we're not enough. And then we have to remind ourselves that we don't have to be enough because God is enough. And He's building this church, and He's brought people into and out of this journey before. But it still stinks. Jeremy said our church planting director told him to expect that we will probably turn over every person on our team before the church really starts, so it's at least comforting to know that it's not just us that have gone through this.

And from this news to our new LifeGroup kickoff... only to have everyone we invited not show up. Argh. BUT. Jer and I got to have dinner with our host couple and hear their story... Cliff and Ruby have been married for 61 years. It was fun to sit back and listen to people who have gone before us and to hear their journey with the Lord and with the church. AND... Ruby has a history of praying things into fruition. Those stories were cool to hear.

Growing Fast

This is Peter at 11 weeks old. He has outgrown all of his 3 month clothing. Jer and I assumed we would have a tall baby, but this is nuts. He is growing fast, and he is healthy. We are grateful.

I pray that MainStreet would grow fast and healthy, too.

Baby Pete, meet Baby Church.

MainStreet Covenant is a real church!
Jer and I have always thought that, but now we look more like a 'real' church according to American standards. We had our first Sunday morning preview service in September, and are now one week away from our second one!
There were 147 people - which includes tiny people like Peter - that joined together to break new ground in Mound on September 18th. God showed up and took care of all the silly things for us, and we had fun watching person after person come through the door. It was a little overwhelming, but then again, we've been saying that God will build his church and it really has nothing to do with us. There were people there we've never met before, so that was really fun to see. According to church planting 'rules', at least 50% of your church body should be from new contacts. Jer and I were talking afterwards, and I think of the 147 people there, we only knew 20 or 30 of them when we said yes to this last spring. God is building this church.
I am excited.
I am especially excited to see how Baby Pete and Baby MainStreet grow up together.

Meet Pete

This is our son.

Peter Bjorn Berg
Born July 18th, 2011 @ 4:54 PM
8 pounds, 21 1/2 inches

It's been awhile!

I have to apologize for my absence from blogging... this spring I finished up two classes for my master's program, and then jumped into another one this summer. It ends two weeks after the Fish is due. (Needless to say, I'm not quite sure how that will work yet!) We also wrapped up meeting with our LifeGroup for the spring, but replaced that with a Dave Ramsey class every Wednesday - our buddy Graham will be taking that over, so I may find a free night to myself soon! We launched a Backyard Bible Study on the Sermon on the Mount last Sunday and had 16 people in our backyard. I realized I really like hanging out with these MainStreet people, so that was good.

And now Jer and I find ourselves staring at parenthood from about five weeks out (although I'm sort of expecting to have a little bit more time!) It's crazy to think about. Pretty soon there will be one more Berg body in our house. Jer and I are trying to sneak in whatever free time we have together and appreciate it. That usually happens around 10:30 PM until I NEED to fall asleep. Jeremy plays guitar for the baby, makes up poems, and we play Scrabble on his iPhone. Last night I got to pray for our marriage, for parenthood, and for God's mission in Mound and how that may affect our family. It's pretty fun to think about when we actually (well... 'I' actually) take time to reflect on it. We have been blessed.