Cherished

Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Our weekend was great! We had the chance to spend some time with our college son, Luke. We stayed up late Saturday night playing Apples to Apples and laughing uproariously. What fun! And then on Sunday morning, we became members of our new church, Lord of Life. Seriously, who wouldn't want to belong to a church that calls itself LOL? LOL!

Let me tell you about our church saga. We moved here in March of 2008. The movers unpacked our stuff on Good Friday, and we were attending a new church that Easter Sunday. This church was not exactly close to our house....it was a good twenty to twenty five minute drive one way. And when you factor in that Sam was going to preschool there three times a week, and I was attending bible study, choir practice, and altar guild, it added up to six hours a week in the car driving back and forth to a church that wasn't even located in our town. All of this aside, it might have been worth it if we felt truly connected to that church. But sadly, a year later, we were still attending services on Sunday and leaving with not a single person greeting us by name. And when you consider that I stopped attending MOPS after a semester and no one even called to see what had happened to me? Let's just say I wasn't feeling the love.

I began to really pray about this, asking God to show us where we were meant to be. And then, a new church plant had just been built five minutes from our house. Every time I turned around, I was reading articles about this church and getting postcards from this church. It was as if God was saying "Here you go! New church home just for you!" We began attending, and instantly felt at home. My son, Luke, liked the music and thought he could play his guitar there one day. My son, John, loved the cushy chairs and new church smell. My husband and I loved the pastor and his awesome message.

We talked a lot with the pastor. In our discussions, he told us that he'd begun his ministry twenty five years ago in a little town in Michigan...the same town where I was born and had spent much of my adult life! Coincidence? I think not. God wink? Most definitely.

Now, we're becoming more attached to the people of this little church after just a short time than we had with the people of the last congregation after a year. Ed attends Saturday morning bible study with the pastor and the men's group, John will attend the high school youth group this week, Sam's excited about Sunday school, and I'm attending women's bible study every week. We're studying Priscilla Shirer's study "He Speaks to Me" ,and then we're following it up with her study "Discerning God's Voice" next month. This beautiful woman is awesome! I could listen to her speak all day! Do you know Dr. Tony Evans? Well, that's her father, and let's just say that the apple did not fall far from the family tree!

I'm excited to see what new ministries we'll begin with our new church family. We cherish them, and you know what? I feel like they cherish us, too.



I made this card today as part of Gina K.'s WCMD challenge to use chocolate chip, pumpkin pie, and vanilla in a card. Well, I have a great person that I needed to make a card for, someone I really cherish. My husband, Ed, and I will be celebrating our twentieth anniversary tomorrow! I think he'll like this autumnal card...this is, after all, our favorite season.

{recipe: Baroque Motif (SU), choc. chip/pumpkin pie ink and cardstock, Pure Luxury vanilla cardstock, Basic Grey Mellow paper, circle punch, word window punch, modern label punch, wide chocolate satin ribbon}

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