Wow!

Wow. That's all I can say. We went to College Park again yesterday morning. We weren't going to go as I woke up with a bad headache and generally not feeling good. On an antibiotic, so hopefully this will cease. However, we woke up and decided to go ahead and go. It's nice going to a big church because there are 3 services. 8:00, 9:40 and 11:20. So we went to the 11:20 service. My mother in law had already said it was full orchestra and full choir and that we would be sorry we missed it. Well, we decided to go and I am so glad we did! It was awesome!

When we spent time leading worship before at our other church, we would try to pick songs out that would go along with the sermons, and whatever God was putting on our heart. I know Eric does this. He is great at his job. He mixes it up every single week. One week you may have three or four people on the praise band, other weeks, you have full choir backing up the praise band. Other times it is seven or eight people. Either way, it is great! And they do songs that are still relevant. Not all new songs. Not all old school songs. He mixes it up and it works.

College Park must be doing something right. They have very little debt, they are paying cash for the expansion that they are doing right now, and are hoping to be able to continue to do so. They seem to be good stewards of their money. They just broke 6 million dollars so far this year. I couldn't believe that when I read it. Wow! They are obviously doing something right at that church. In hard economic times, it is important for churches of any size to be good stewards of their money.

One thing I love about it is that when you walk in the doors, you see Jesus everywhere! His name is all over everything! And when you walk into the sanctuary, there is a massive cross hanging in the background of the stage with lights shining on it! It is beautiful. I think all churches need to have at least one cross somewhere in the sanctuary. But that's my opinion and I prefer a church where they have a cross. Some people don't, and that's fine too. I just like that they make church about nothing but Jesus. Applications you can apply to your own life. Mark makes you think and challenges you. He reminds me a lot of my father in law when he used to preach.

I always said I wouldn't go back to a big church. We went to ZPC for a while several years ago and just didn't fit in, but we were in a different season of our lives then. We went to New Life Community Church for about four years, but when the takeover happened, we just didn't feel like we fit in there either. I think our season there was over and it was time to move on. We tried to come back and fit in, but we just don't. We are more old fashioned than we originally thought I guess. We enjoy some of the older worship songs, we like full choir sometimes, we love the orchestra. We are just older spirits than some others I suppose. And I think that's okay. We don't fit in. No big deal. We move on and find the church we have been looking for. I just wish we had been invited to visit College Park this summer, maybe we wouldn't have set ourselves up for pain and hurt by going back to our old church only to leave again. I am sure the people from that church are looking at us with anger or hurt, and for that, I am sorry. But for the people out there that really know us and really cared about us before, I am sure they still love us and are happy we have found a place where we belong again.

Seasons change and sometimes we have to move on even when it hurts. I am just glad we have found someplace we can get involved, all three of us, and fit in and enjoy the service. That's hard to find sometimes. I am so glad my mother and father in law invited us to their church again.

Praise God for all that He does in our lives.