change

We are changing churches. There wasn't any kind of big crises that led to this and we don't look down on the church we have been at for 3 years. We feel like God is taking us in a different direction. This is an awkward place to be. It's hard. We're wondering what the big picture is and what God is doing here, but we don't have a clue....

We've been checking out a church for the last 2 weeks and there is some excitement that comes with that. Some fear--meeting new people is hard. Learning a new environment is hard. Familiar roads are easier to travel on, I think...But there is adventure in a new road trip--new directions, new curves in the road to learn...

2 weeks ago we went to a big service with my friend Angie--all of the 5 local congregations (and some of the 4 not-so-local congregations) met together for worship and then a picnic. It was awesome....

I have to say, the church we are checking out is Household of Faith. 3+ years ago when we were "church shopping" we considered checking out HOFCC.  We had preconceived ideas about the church though.  I have been hearing more and more about the church (4 families from our old church go to the various congregations, and 2 other families I know from Canby go to one), and I have been hearing SO many great things. Last year at the homeschooling conference I heard Steve Rouse speak and walked away frustrated because I thought the class was more like an advertisement for his church. But the more and more I thought about everything he said, the more I wished we could be a part of something like that....And then I started voluntarily listening to his sermons online, occasionally. :)

This is the path God has brought us down. Our preconceived ideas about Household of Faith were blown away at that first service.  I used to be a part of a Yahoo Group of other conservative homeschoolers, and there were a few who were so ultra conservative that I was certain any church that had a lot of homeschoolers in it was just like that. Some of the women talked about praise songs being bad, and the King James Bible being the only version anyone should read. I wasn't into that. I thought HOFCC was like that. I thought every woman there would wear dresses only, all the time, and head coverings too.  Nope.

First service: huge. 40-50% of the women in pants or capris or something like that. 50-60% in skirts or dresses (like a lot of churches), but not what I call "ugly girl dresses." There were a couple of those, but not like I thought it would be....I think I saw 1 lady with a head covering (I've seen more in Albertsons lately :).  Hymns? I think 1. I love hymns, don't get me wrong--but the worship rocked. That's good. Karry loves music. I like it, he loves it. He used to sing in a bunch of different choirs before he had all these children. =) The music rocking was a big deal to him. They didn't read from the KJV. Let me say here, I do believe that the KJV is the most accurate translation, personally, and for in-depth study I appreciate it a lot. I don't think it's legalistic to have kids memorizing Scripture in KJV, I think it's great to get them used to the language and to not think it is foreign. Ok--that's my two cents. But they read from the American Standard--good version...So our ideas about what the church would look like and be like were blown away. So then--what we thought might be negative wasn't...And we already knew what was good....So this is where we're at...This last Sunday we went to the "Milwaukie" congregation, which is actually in Gladstone (they moved locations last year).

We're not positive this is where we will stay, but we're excited to check it out more and really get to know it. We're praying for God's direction here. Right now there are some things we really like and we're eager to learn more about.  The things we like:

~~They build the men up, and teach that men ought to be leaders of their home. There is a couple we know from our old church who is attending one of the congregations--the man of this family used to be very timid. A very nice guy, but very timid. Next Sunday he is preaching at his congregation. His wife says that he has grown leaps and bounds since being at this church--the men have come beside him and really challenged him. 

~~A motto they have (and the title of the class I took last year), "God's church runs on regular." They believe regular men can lead the church, they don't need a Bible degree. They train the men up. They ground them in Bible. If they have a desire to teach, they teach them how to teach. There's not one teaching pastor, there are several, and they rotate. They are regular guys, with regular jobs. They're expected to put 20 hrs into studying for their sermon, so they're not pulling it out of a file cabinet or out of their own brain at the last minute.  After they teach, that week, they're given constructive criticism by the elders--so everyone is held accountable....

~~There are a lot of homeschoolers in the church.  I've been feeling really alone as a homeschooler lately.  I've been desiring friendships with some other people in the same spot that I'm at...I've been really desiring relationships with women who have done what I'm doing, too.  I loved the Duggar family book because I could get that wisdom (what curriculum has worked for them, how they schedule their days, etc.) from someone...But I'm feeling like I NEED that kind of wisdom in my life from people I can see face to face. 

~~There are potlucks or picnics every single Sunday after church. People hang out until about 4 pm. There is a playground (it's at a school) and the kids run and play. The adults sit and have fellowship. Nice....(honestly, hard at first, when we don't know people...but I can see the value and how great it must be for the people who have been around a while and do know people).

~~The church encourages hospitality and people invite others into their homes. Our mini church at our old church was very centered around hospitality, and that worked for us. We felt connected there and we loved having people over 2x per week or so, and going into other people's homes as well.

~~The kids sit in church with their parents. This is hard when you're not used to it. 4 or so years ago we trained our boys to sit in church with us, and we did this at our old church for a while. We've been practicing again, and they're pretty good at it. Ruby is the hardest one, but she'd be like that anywhere (she screams if we put her in the nursery, so we often end up holding her). Angie told me that she trained her son Luke to take a nap in his stroller. I did that with Ruby 2 wks ago (just put her in her stroller at nap time and kept her in the family room by me, gave her a blankie and said "go night night." She slept through service the first time, but not this last week....That was a little rough. The services are 2 hrs long. =>  I like that the kids sit in church with us. "He who walks with the wise grows wise..."  The church believes it's our job to teach our children about God--specifically the fathers.  Over the past few weeks Karry has been very consistent at reading the Bible to our kids every evening. I have already seen a change in our kids--in their questions--in their discussions.  They're thinking about God a lot--because their daddy is teaching them about God. I teach them too, during the day, but I just love the encouragement of fathers teaching their kids...Men leading & men teaching their children about God is such a foreign concept in our culture. We don't want it to be foreign in our family.

~~Dads lead communion for their family. Karry is SO excited about this!!

~~The church values children as blessings. There are lots of kids in the church. Lots of big families. Tons of adoption (first service we went to--the big one--there were at least 20 little black girls within my view. I really want that kind of environment for Ruby!).

~~They have "work parties" when people need help  with projects around their house--a couple of families will go get a project done and share food together. 

~~My friend Chelsea said that the congregation they go to has really come around them "like a family, like no other church experience" they've ever had....

All of this is not for everyone, of course. I'm not trying to advertise the church, I am just excited...Karry is more excited than me, truth be told. I am still in a state of "why God?" and "what is this going to look like?" and Karry is my steady rock who is excited. I am writing this tonight to help myself remember why I am excited....And why I can trust Karry's leadership here. I love my husband. I trust him right now....