All Aboard!

We went on our last shopping trip yesterday. For churches, that is.

Let me tell you, our entire family was at the point where we did not even want to attempt another church. After 7 weeks of searching and not finding a good fit, we were more than a little disappointed.

The first church I had found online looked the most similar to the one we had been attending before the move. However, our second day here we were forced to drive to the town where it is located and got terribly lost. So because of the drive that took ages, we assumed the church was too far and did not go. We did not have internet access for 3 weeks, and could not mapquest it, and we dared not try to find it on our own.

That is approximately when the 7 week famine began, in the sense of finding a church.

We had no real "worship" time during these weeks, not as D and I consider worship. No Christian setting to talk about real life issues. No music from the heart.

Once, at one of the churches we visited, I answered a question in Sunday School that was posed about why, as Believers, we stop being serious in our commitment to Christ. My answer, nothing earth-shattering, was that, just like marriage, a relationship with Christ requires work and over time, the newness wears off. People do not keep going and put forth the effort because we get distracted. Not that that is okay, just that it is one reason why Christians dawdle when it comes to their relationship with Christ.

D and I proceeded to get marriage counseling from the members of the class because I compared it to marriage. It was just unbelievable. One guy even said he worked on his marriage every day for last 23 years and has never felt the newness wear off. Then a lady chimed in to let us know how much work marriage takes.

Remember, the question was not about how to have a good marriage, it was about how to keep our commitment to Christ. Plus, the people kept looking straight at D and I when they spoke. It was both comical and humiliating!

Then during service we were informed we could overcome all of life's problems, whether depression, alcoholism, porn-addiction, if we just stop doing those things and instead, focus on Jesus. While I agree that we cannot overcome those things without Jesus' help, there are serious problems that require counsel, medicine, and community to hold us accountable. He talked about death and how we are selfish if we want that person to come back, and we should get on with our life and live joyfully for the Lord.Tell that to my friend who is a widow from the war in Iraq and has 4 kids to raise alone. Tell that to the parents who have lost their child. Life is not that cut and dry. People are hurting, and as a Believer, I choose to show Christ's love by meeting them where they are, just like Christ does for me and did in the New Testament for those needing His touch.


At the church we went to last week, the preacher talked about getting drunk on the 4th of July. I'm telling you he used the term "pony-keg" from the pulpit referring to his personal celebration, then proceeded to let us know he drank it himself. He even made some noises to let us know how drunk he had become on Friday night. Then he said God spoke to him and he prepared the sermon, all while inebriated.

I kind of thought he should get to know the guy from the other church, so He would know to look at Jesus and he would be "all better".

Needless to say, we were NOT happy campers. We both believed God would lead us to the church where He attends regularly (hehe), we just were not sure when.

On Saturday we drove to the beach. We mapquested the way, and it took us back in the direction of the town where we had gotten hopelessly lost. We had driven a relatively short distance (compared to what we had been driving to church) and there was the sign on the building for the FIRST church we had wanted to attend. Remember, the one we thought was so far away? Yes, well, it was the closest.

I just commented about oh, look , there's that church. About 10 hours later, on the way home, we passed it again. So I asked D what he thought.

He said, "What have we got to lose except another Sunday morning?" So we told the kids we were going to YET another church. They were all like, yeah, whatever, at this point. And so were we.

D prayed that God would PLEASE show us because we were SO tired of looking. SO done with being without a community of like-minded Believers.

I kind of thought this might be The One when D prayed that because I felt like otherwise, there was a very real possibility we would either stop going all together except occasionally when we could stand the "rituals", or we would settle and become numb, neither of which is God's will, and neither of which we desired.

When we got out of the car on Sunday morning, the entire posture of our family could be summed up in one word: resigned. We had no expectations. Well, that's not entirely true. We expected to be disappointed.

We got the kids settled in Children's Church and went into service, where we proceeded to sing contemporary music (a must have for our family) and saw people in love with Jesus. The pastor got up and I am telling you, God gave him that message just for us! While we did need it spiritually (remember the 7 week famine?), it was like God was saying to us, "This is The Church for you. This church and your family are on the same set of tracks, going the same direction, with the same Conductor." I call that trackin'.

The church was formed specifically to reach the unchurched. Which was the goal of our previous church. Which is the goal of our family.

No need to dress as if you are going to a ball. People were dressed all across the spectrum, and Maddie felt comfortable in her shorts and T-shirt. The pastor had slacks and a polo, no jacket and tie like he is going to sell me some insurance.

We got to talk with the pastor afterward. We told him about our time in Germany and how God taught us not to box Him into some "Americanized" mold. We talked about worshiping with nationalities from all over the globe and how that affected our view of God. We talked about the importance of practical, relevant, Biblical preaching, which he had already delivered. Missions is HUGE on our list, and we were on the same page there too.

Our entire family loved it! You can imagine the burden that has been lifted, just knowing we belong. We have a place. We will be able to talk to like minded Believers about real life issues. What a relief.