So, you know when you have to do something that you don't want to do?
Like, really really REALLY don't want to do?
But you have to do it because you know it's the right thing to do and you're being told to do it?
That's what we are doing.
After being at my (our) church for 12 years (for me) and 10 years (I think for Brian) we are being called to leave.
It's definitely one of the hardest decisions we've had to make because the church family has been our family for so long.
I've never been accepted and loved so much by a church ever.
It's also hard because I'm the praise leader there and I love doing it.
We know the Lord has a plan for us but we just aren't sure what it is right now.
This is a very hard thing for us to do because there is so much uncertainty.
Where are we supposed to go? What are we supposed to do? How are we going to make up for the lost income?
These are just some of the questions that we've been asking.
Another big question is...
WHY?
We know the Lord has a reason for what He's doing.
It's our human nature to want to go against what we are being told to do.
I keep telling Brian that I don't want to find out what would happen if we didn't listen to what God was telling us to do.
We've both had dreams that have given us both confirmation that this is the right thing and we are listening to the Lord.
We have no idea where we are going to go.
There are a couple churches out our way that we've been thinking about checking out.
Going to a new place for the first time in over a decade is a little scary.
There's a little bit of fear of the unknown, there's a little bit of fear of being judged (but if we're at the right church, I'm sure that won't happen.)
There's still a lot of what if's and such, but we know that we will be taken care of.
The Lord will never give us more than we can handle.
He will also take care of us because we are His children.
January 26th will be our last Sunday there.
It's going to be emotional, I don't know if I'll make it through the morning praise service without bursting in to tears.
There's also a little bit of relief.
We've been "fighting" this for months and now that we've finally made the decision we feel a little bit better.
Please pray for us, and with us that we make the right decisions and we are in the Lord's will.
I've always moved before settling in at a church, and even through college I went to several churches because I was still learning about what I wanted in a church family. I remember going to yours a few times, and it was fun!
ReplyDeleteI finally have a church home here in State College, and I'm just starting to get attached enough that I'd feel pretty devastated to leave it. Sorry you have to leave yours :-(.
When I was at Behrend, I eventually landed on Grace Church, which I loved very much. It was difficult though because it's such a large church, so in order to meet anybody you really need to get involved in one of their smaller ministries (which I did not because I was a senior by the time I went there regularly...about to leave town again). They do have a Harborcreek campus now though, so that might have a smaller feel to it. Anyway, what I'm saying is, if you have any questions about some of the Erie churches, I can probably help you out :-).
Also, your baby is cute :-)
We went through the same thing last year. I was at my church since little, and my husband since he was 15. So us.leaving was a big deal for us. I was part of the worship team and my husband was.the leader of it for like 6 years. A year later we still haven't found a permanent church but we still are trying to find a church and in the meantime have a little praise and worship group of our own so we can still use.our talents. Hope you find someplace soon and hang in there!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it's really hard. I've been praise leader at our church for the past three years (I think...maybe two...) but I've been going there for 12 or 13. It's definitely not at easy thing to do but it needs to be done. In the meantime we will continue to follow God and see where He takes us and have some praise and worship of our own at home! :-)
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