If you missed the last post, I asked a lot of questions, mostly about change or evolution of our church.
I want to start this post off by telling you about a little church sitting atop a hill in the middle of nowhere... technically the church building is there, but as for the church you can find us there on Sundays, Wednesdays, and as luck would have it, all last week for vacation bible school!
My journey with these body of believers started at birth. Ironically, as I grew up my family actually attended another church, but I've always had some connection with it because my extended family is here. About six years ago, I took on a leadership role and responsibility to impact the youth and young adults of our church and community. Over these six years, I've seen many church leaders and members come and go for various reasons. It's heartbreaking, and it hasn't been an easy time for me either. During college I got a taste of community with other young adults and I've seen all the modern flare that worship can entail. Most of the time, I don't have that kind of worship experience. I miss the feeling I had during worship, but mostly just the ability to get lost in worship. I still find time to do just that, but I have to do it on my own. As for the lack of young adult community, that is changing as well as students mature and others move back home. Six years of hard work is starting to pay off. However, it isn't my hard work that is making a difference, but God's.
Six years is a long time and there have been many days where I wanted to stay home, go on a long vacation, or just find a new church. The Lord nixed the first thought pretty quickly - I'm currently the only pianist at church. I'm there every Sunday... or they have to sing acapella. (They hired a organist and piano fill in. She's starting next week!) As for the second option, nowhere to go, no one to go with, and no money to go on. Wow, our Lord can really keep me on the straight and narrow. As for the last one, I have felt like Paul many times with his desire to go to Rome and the Lord saying No! Every time I think He might be releasing me from my responsibilities, something amazing happens and I can't bare to leave!
I get asked a lot about why I stay, why I chose to worship here. My answer simply is because God said so. Ultimately, God has given me the desire to work for Him and He brought me to this body of believers. I will never forget the first year I spent here; it felt like home. My parents were living several hours away from me. My grandparents were geographically easier to visit for weekend getaways (aka cheaper! Gas is expensive!!), and so I joined my grandparents for church services when I visited. Not only did I have my grandparents looking after me, I had several pairs of great religious warriors who made me their new project. I like to think of them as warriors, you had the prayer warriors and the encouraging warriors. They were so strong in their faith, peaceful, and content, all things I longed for in my spiritual walk with Christ. They made me feel so special, wanted, loved - just like home. A lot has changed over the last six years many of these warriors have gone on to be with the Lord, but that feeling is still here. That feeling is Christ pouring through believers; it is what happens when we forget about self and allow our God to use us as he sees fit. For many of us, we simple describe this as love or a sense of community. That is what our churches were created to do, provide a place for believers to worship, learn, and deal with the world - together.
I'm proud to say that my God is awesome and He is using this little church of believers that meet on the top of a hill in the middle of nowhere to impact our community. My advice to Christians everywhere, be true to your instincts. Let God lead you. It doesn't always feel like what everyone else would choose, but deep down you know you are making a lifestyle decision that God is asking you to make. Whether that decision be singleness, a place of worship, clothing style, or missionary post, the Lord has a reason and a plan for you. It won't be easy. It will be difficult, but He will always be there to lean on and to guide you. Take a leap of faith... when was the last time you did something and didn't know how it was going to turn out... take that baby step, then just leap! He'll catch you, in his timing.
Prayer for this week: One Day At A Time by Christy Lane
