My family went to a non-denominational church for some time and I was raised Presbyterian. Our church met at a middle school, being that we didn't have our own building. The worship service took place in the auditorium while Sunday school took place in classrooms. When I close my eyes, I can still imagine walking through the halls. My family became quite involved with church activities. My parents were part of a couple's Bible study, my mom played Mary in a Christmas play, I was in several plays and participated in junior high and high school youth group. I honestly can't remember what my sister participated in, but maybe that's because she was still pretty young then. We were an involved family though. We, my mom in particular, would help out if someone needed anything. That's why it came as such a shock and heartbreak to us that when my mom broke her back, and was unable to do much of anything, that no one from the church called or offered help. The details are a little fuzzy to me about everything that happened, but let's just say we didn't go back to that church. And, because of our experience, our family was a bit burned from finding a new church. We did go to another church, the one where my grandma went to and still does, but we didn't call it our home. We didn't get involved like we did at the last church. My parents always have believed that faith is a very personal thing. They have always said that you don't have to belong to a church in order to believe in the Lord, to walk with Him daily or to be a Christian. So, slowly we stopped going to church each Sunday.
When Kevin and I got married, we had a couple fights over a Presbyterian or Lutheran (which is how Kevin was raised) church for our ceremony. The decision wasn't solely about your church or mine, it was what faith we would become as a married couple, and how we would raise our children. We each had our opinions of the opposing denominations including how the church service was conducted. With parental guidance and disagreements on both ends, Kevin and I chose the Lutheran church to be married in. After all it doesn't truly matter which denomination as long as the Lord is at the center of our marriage. Since we were married Lutheran, we went to Kevin's church for quite a while before deciding it was time to find our a church near our home.
Two years ago, Kevin and I wanted to explore our options and find a church that we could call our home church, one that we would become involved in and one that our children would become involved with too. We decided to go to to the Lutheran church near our house. That first Sunday we were instantly greeted by this nice, very loving, older woman that introduced us to so many people before we even sat down for the service. The service was a blessing to us. We really felt at home there, and we really felt this is a church were we could grow not only our faith, but a place for our children to learn the Word of God. We kept going week after week, and soon joined the church. We have since become involved members, taking on roles as scripture readers, greeters before church, junior youth group and participating in Bible studies. One of my favorite parts though is the fellowship and the friends that we have met at church. And, that is something that was something that I always overlooked. I feel blessed for the people I have met and continue to meet and get to know on a personal level. There are several woman who I feel so blessed to have in my life. And, it excites me at the number of young families with children because as a mother I want our children to have church friends and become involved in church activities just like Kevin and I did as kids.
But, the most important thing is helping our children find their way to the Lord and being a daily example to them through the way we live our life. After all, that's what our parents did for us.
