Death of The Hymnal

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today in memory of a well-loved book, who is used no more. The hymnal has been declared "not needed", and whether that is the case or not, it is rarely ever used anymore.


My family just recently moved, and like always, it is somewhat difficult to find a good church. Every church you visit seems to have a hard time measuring up to your old church (or even the one before that!). One thing I've noticed in the past few years is that it is difficult to find churches that still have a more traditional style of music. Most churches nowadays either have very a contemporary style, or have a "blended" style where they mix old with new, in hopes of attracting both kinds of people, while not offending either type (traditionalists and contemporary worshipers).

A church I visited has hymnals in it's pews, but the congregation does not pick them up, or even mention them (as in, "turn to page 342 in your hymnal, or follow along with the words on the wall"). I asked a sweet lady about that, and she mentioned that the hymnals weren't needed because of the projector. I guess I just have mixed feeling on using a projector in church. If hymnals aren't needed because of the projector, where did the need for the projector come from?
Pros
Being able to sing contemporary songs that aren't in some hymnals. (BIG con to some people, myself included)
The projector can be used for displaying announcements and scripture readings.
The projector can be used for sermon outlines to help the congregation follow along with the sermon.

Cons
Is not convenient for near-sighted people who would better benefit from holding a hymnal closer to them.
Discourages the necessity of reading music. (could be a pro or might not matter, depending on how you look at it)
In most cases, does away with conducting as part of the song leading (again, might be a pro or not matter to you).
The hymnal becomes obsolete.

What about you? Has the hymnal died at your church? What is the worship music style of your church? Can you think of any pros or cons to using a projector in church that I have forgotten to mention?

In Christ,
Hayley

Homemade Tortillas (And Pizza Too!)

    Tonight was a fun experiment in making homemade flour tortillas that I thought turned out pretty well. I have never made tortillas. Growing up, it was never even something I considered making at home. They are one of those items you just always buy at the store. The idea did not just come to me, it was given to me in a bag mix, by way of some Chinese friends my family made this past summer. They were cleaning out their pantries before leaving to go back to China after a summer work program. I have the feeling they thought it was flour, rather than tortilla mix.

    I guess a "true" 'from-scratch' cook would balk at my calling them homemade, considering I used a flour tortilla mix, but I did mix the dough, knead it, let it rest, and roll it out into tortillas. It felt pretty scratchy to me. ;) It was really fun. But the tortillas were only fajita/carnita size (if that), next time I would like to double or triple the recipe in order to see if I can make burrito size. Every Tuesday my grandmother comes over to watch Wheel of Fortune and Biggest Loser. My mom and I always enjoy finding new ways to impress her with our culinary skills. If she touted my homemade pasta (no, the noodles were not from scratch), I would love to see her reaction to my tortillas!

My mom also made her first homemade (I love the passion and love imbedded in that word!) pizza since moving to our new house a month and a half ago. It was delicious pepperoni. Better than DiGiorno!  

Here are some pictures. Unfortunatly, I didn't realize the flash wasn't on (whoops!), and well, you can't turn back time and re-take pictures of the past, maybe I'll try again with my next batch.



Rolled out tortilla



All eight rolled out tortillas

Tortilla in a cast-iron skillet

cooked tortillas. Yum!

Even with bad lighting my mom's pizza looks amazing! (the one in front was just out of oven,  the one in  back about to go into oven.)



















Wish List And My Jealous God

Grow closer to the Lord

Get a job (might happen soon)

Lose twenty pounds without trying . . .ha ha ;)

Learn to knit, crochet, or both

Go back to school

Start exercising again (could go hand-in-hand with the losing twenty pounds =). . .)

Well, we'll see where I get with these.

On another note, one thing I've noticed when reading my Bible, is the continual mention of attributes of God. Sometimes a word can get such a bad connotation. The word jealous, for instance, when you hear that word you think of a possessive boyfriend or husband who won't let his girlfriend or wife talk to any other guys, or have any "fun" without him. In that case, of course, jealousy is a bad thing. But this is the way I started thinking about it, God loves us so much, that he doesn't want us to love any one else more than we love Him. He wants us to love Him as much as He loves us. Which isn't too much to expect, considering how much He does for us, but when we don't, He gets rightfully jealous. (Deut. 4:23-24; 5:7-9; 6:5,13-15)

I'm now at Deut. 7. Yay!

Just one more chapter

     All my life I have been an avid book reader. I would do my schoolwork in my room, out of the watchful eyes of my mother and read a book during school time. I thought I was quite clever with my system. I would read a paragraph, or chapter, and then answer a certain amount of questions or read a certain amount in my school book.
    Once you get into a book it is hard to put it down. It draws you in. You have to take it everywhere with you. But for some reason, the most important book that any of us could read sometimes feels like a chore. You read a chapter or two and you think "OK. I've done my reading for the day. God should be pleased. After all, I have spent some time with Him." I think we lose sight of the fact that it's not just "the book of all answers", or your holy book that you must read in order to stay faithful. Yes, it's true, the Bible does have the answers to most everything in life, and reading it does help you stay more focused on the Lord and being true to Him; but it is so much more than that. It is a story, with plot and climaxes, and main characters, romance, war, great writing. The good guys win in the end. It is a story that can suck you in. . .if you let it.
     I read Gone With The Wind a couple years ago. It was 1024 pages long. The first chapter or two were not that interesting at all. It was all about the history of Mr. O'Hara in Ireland, his journey to Savannah, and eventually, Tara, not to mention, Mrs. O'Hara's childhood  in New Orleans, etc. I continued reading however because of the hope and knowledge that it would get better, and this background was crucial to the story. Maybe I should mention that it took me less than three weeks to read this book, while working my busy, summer job at Six Flags. If I could read a novel like Gone With The Wind in so short a time, why not the book every Christian claims as their "favorite"? As a child, I remember many times reading a book when asked by my mom to do a chore. I would usually give one of two responses "Let me finish the chapter" or "just one more chapter, please". So, as I challenge to myself, my new motto when reading my Bible is 'just read one more chapter'. If I keep saying that, there's no telling when I'll finish from beginning to end. I'm just now at the beginning of Numbers Deuteronomy (whoops!).

sincerely,
 Hayley