Morning at a Farm Market.

There aren't a lot of things prettier than an open air market in autumn. Annie and I met some new friends from church at just such a place this morning.

Besides the gigantic spider, Anna was well pleased with the large wooden sandboxes filled with soybeans, and the hay maze, too.We are attending a new church now, New Covenant Presbyterian. It has been an incredible change for us; this church was so welcoming right from the first Sunday. The change has had a major impact on my life - rather than feeling somewhat isolated in a large congregation, we now look forward to seeing new friends throughout the week at small group and get-together's. Sunday mornings are even happier in our home, there's an excitement about going to worship. Ever think about how motivating it is to start the week out by being challenged, I mean really convicted about surrendering your life?

The other thing I love about it is Annie gets to be with us all through singing. It's something else to be holding her little hand as she's singing with us, or to have her resting on my shoulder and hear her singing her favorite song to Jesus, even though we're singing something totally different.

Along with Bible stories, there's an intentional incorporation of practical theology into kid's lessons, even for three year olds. On one of her take-homes, I was reading the question, "Why wasn't Caleb mad about being put on the same soccer team as Daniel? It was followed by, "What is the word that tells us God is everywhere, He is all powerful and in charge of everything?"

Finally, as someone prone to making checklists and having a plan in place, here's something from Sunday that's been challenging me all week:

Ours is not a call to greater self will, but greater surrender.