We've made the super-difficult-prayed-super-hard-finally-came-to-the-decision to find a new church. Life has changed so much now that we have a family of three. When I think of our future, my first thought is "how does this affect Josie" not "what about me?"
Our church is small, and there are almost no young kids. It never bothered me before, although I did notice that there weren't a lot of young people (the ones that have kids...). I just assumed that eventually there would be and when we got to that point in our lives it would be fine. Well here we are, and it's not fine.
Other things helped lead us to this decision, but now we have the task of finding a new church. Where do we start? What happens if we don't like any of the churches on our list-to-check-out?
We want a church that has a solid youth program, a dynamic and spiritually led worship team that isn't just a bunch of performers, a pastor that inspires us and is obviously allowing God to speak through him, and fellowship that brings us true friends and mentors along the way. It seems like so much to ask and impossible to find. And yet we'll look. God is good, and will show us where to go. I believe he is testing us, seeing how far we'll go to find Him. We are willing, we are ready, and we are scared. Now is a time for us to turn completely to Him, find our own ways to worship Him when we aren't necessarily getting it at church each week, and renew our own personal relationships with Him to guide us, strengthen us, and truly lead us (have we ever truly been willing to let Him do this?)
Needless to say, we are overwhelmed. Pray for us. Talk to us. Help us. I hope we have good news to share with you all soon.
This is an exciting time for you, a chance to worship with new people, in unexpected environments, to see what really touches your heart. I never thought of it as a testing time and believe that whatever church you are at you will be worshipping Him. May this be a blessed time for you, Mike and Josie.
ReplyDeletelove,
mom