You may or may not know this but about a year and a half ago Chris and I began on a new journey with Christ. We sought out to not find a religion but rather a new and renewed relationship with our Heavenly Father. And along the way we have rebuilt our relationship with each other and as parents.
When Chris and I found our new church we were at a terribly low place. Divorce hung low over our heads and was a daily mention. We were drowning in debt and couldn't find a way out. Chris and I could not stand to be in the same room as the other and we never had a nice thing to say to each other. We were fighting all the time and I am ashamed to say a lot of that fighting was in front of Alex.
Chris and I each grew up practicing the same religion(different than the one we define ourselves with now) but neither one of us went to church each week and religion was not something that was ever mentioned outside of the 4 walls of the church. We got married in the church I grew up in and never went to church together after that day, except maybe Christmas and the day Alex was baptized. When I would go to church I would beg Chris to go with Alex and I, but Chris' response was always, "I don't find God in a church." So eventually I stopped asking and stopped going altogether.
Fast forward to fall 2014 and I was looking for a safe trick-or-treating environment for Alex's first real trick-or-treating experience. I was browsing Facebook and came across a "Top things to do in the fall in Cincinnati." On the list was a trunk or treat event hosted at a school not far from our home, it was being put on by a church that I had never heard of. The event was that night so Alex and I packed up, got his costume on and recruited my sister to go with us.
We headed over and the experience we had there was fantastic. It was organized and fun, but also full of people. And being who I am, I was people watching and listening in on conversations. It was so awesome to hear people talking about Jesus and how much they loved their church. This was something I wanted to look into more. Well the next day I received a text message from an amazing lady, who I am beyond blessed entered my life, and she told me that we had won a basket from their raffle and I could pick it up on the following Sunday at church.
My next hurdle would be to see if I could get Chris to go with me. So I told him a little white lie. (Yes I lied to my husband to get him to go to church.) Amazingly he agreed. I remember back to that morning and it was a really tense morning and I know there was fighting involved. That was until we got out the car, that's the way it always was.
As we we pulled into the lot of the church there were people directing us as to where to park, and as we were getting out of our car they welcomed us and asked us how we were doing. Then as we walked up to the doors, there were greeters there as well. They were incredible, one in particular, who Alex now looks for every Sunday, recognized us as new people and walked us inside and sent us to the raffle basket for us to redeem but also spoke with us a few minutes and encouraged us to stay for service and also encouraged us to take Alex to the church nursery.
We did just that. From the time we walked in the doors Chris and I both felt welcome and wanted. Neither of us had ever felt that way in a church before. Then we entered the auditorium for the service to begin. This was such a different experience than what we were used to. Our church we were from sang hymns, this church sang songs about God but they were up-tempo and people were outwardly showing their affection for God. It was an amazing sight to see and I was hooked!
This was the relationship I had always wanted with God.
The pastor gave an awesome sermon and it was one that kept not only myself intrigued but also Chris. After the sermon was over Chris looked at me and said, "For the first time in I think forever, I felt God's presence today."
I feel like that will be a great place to end this post. I would like to make this a weekly bit until we come current with our life story. God is moving in big ways in our lives. Chris and I have made a promise to do all things for His glory and we would be wrong not to share the amazing ways He is moving in us. We hope you enjoyed this and come back next Sunday to hear the next part of our journey with God.
Do you have questions about God or do you long for a relationship with him instead of just a religion? Please leave your questions in the comment section below and we would be happy to answer them for you or get you in touch with someone else who can answer them.
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