Our New Church

So we officially have a church! We're really impressed at how smoothly God has made this decision go for us. Thank you to all of you who were praying. We truly loved Green Valley in San Diego, so we knew that our expectations were high for another church family. And I honestly felt like we may just have to settle for something not as great, or that it would take months to find something. But God doesn't ever work like we expect... shocking...

Walking down our street, I had passed by this little church building a few times and thought that we should try it out, since we were so close and all. I finally looked at their website last Saturday night to see if we wanted to check it out. Unbeknownst to me, the website was just updated a couple of days before I looked at it. And it's honestly God's timing that it was, because I'm of the generation that puts a lot of stock in websites. It looked pretty good, so we went the next Sunday evening to their only service.

First impression, it's a really small church. Second impression, they're talking about Jesus and the Bible in a way we like. Third impression, these are the most welcoming people we've ever met. Since it's so small, we certainly stood out as newbies, and I think every person in the church introduced themselves to us that first day. It was very warm and inviting. The pastor called Brad that week to try and set up a lunch, though it never worked out, and he e-mailed me to set up a time he and his wife could have us over for dinner. Another woman from the church who we'd met briefly e-mailed me to see if I wanted to hang out or go to a Bible study the next day with her.

Naturally we went again this Sunday (we almost felt like we couldn't not go after everyone was so nice), and we got to be a part of the family-style church dinner they do every month. It was great. We met two couples near our age who were both fantastic and friendly and interesting, and there was again a feeling of welcome and family. We ended up signing up for a small group the those two couples were also in, and it just felt so right. I left that Sunday so excited that we're finally getting a start on having friends in Chicago! And ones that love the Lord. Yay!

So tonight, we've just gotten back from dinner at pastor Tom's house with his wife Traci. It was wonderful. They have a beautiful home (I must confess coveting their range...), and a beautiful family, and we talked for almost four hours before we realized we should probably leave them to go to sleep. (It's their 10 year anniversary today, and they still wanted us to be there, that's pretty awesome). All in all, we feel great about this being our new church home. Both Brad and I have already found places in the church where we may be of service and where we can get plugged in.

Thanks again for praying. I think this is clearly where God wants us to be. (Yay for friends!)