Homesick Sundays

Well we tried another new church today called Revolution. EXtreme opposite of last Sunday. The church meets in a movie theater, and they have 2 services.. we went to the 10.30 am service and there were still probably 300 people there. First off, kind of put me off to start with because as we're checking in the boys to their classes for church, the lady asked me how old Trinity was. I said 9 1/2 months and she said, "Well, let's sign her in".. I told her that I would prefer to just keep her with me because it's been a rough transition for her., etc... I was informed that they do not permit babies over 3 months in the service - EVER. Did I mention EVER? Maybe I'm kind of old school, but as a first time visitor, the choice seems like it should be mine whether I put my 9 month old in the nursery. :( I did put her in the nursery, and she seemed to be fine, but for the liberal church they are, I was rather suprised by that. I also found out that once we got into service, there is a 'special section' near the door where you can sit if you DO have a baby under 3 months with you.. and that is the ONLY section you may sit with your baby. Hmmm... I understand wanting minimal distractions, but come on people!

Anyways, onto church itself. It was very, very loud. :) Kinda felt like I was at a rock concert, although God's spirit was definitely there. Very odd for me, though. The pastor was a young guy, about our age... who was wearing holey jeans, a tshirt and tennis shoes. :) Not exactly an Assemblies church - I can tell you for sure! :) He was a very dynamic speaker and had a great sermon in a series about "If you had 30 days to live". It honestly brought me to tears at the end, and I would actually love to hear the 3rd sermon in the series - if I can get past all the rules. Very odd combination for me - VERY liberal church with lots of young people and tons of 'unchurched'.. great speaker and very modern music... but definitely still not what we're used to. (Though let me just add, it was a great service despite any complaints I might have. God's spirit was very present and we were indeed spoken to... ) And again, made me very, very homesick. So much so, that I could hardly catch my breath at the end of service because I missed home and Faith Chapel so much. I guess the hardest part of this is constantly feeling/being 'the new kid'. I haven't had to be that person for a long time, and maybe that's one thing God is trying to teach us in all that - how to be stretched beyond our comfort zone and to have more empathy for the new person in the crowd... but it's hard when we're the new ones in the neighborhood, in churches, at schools.. to not have anywhere where you walk in and just feel at home. :( We were so well established in Olathe, that honestly we felt very at home and loved in our neighborhood, our church, our dentist office, our doctor's office... everywhere. People had known us for years and had known our kids since the day they were born, seen them grow, loved them.... friends who were more like family to us than just friends.

I still have an overwhelming peace of God's presence and direction that this is where we're meant to be... but man, I sure do miss home. I long to walk into a church and go 'Ah... this feels like home." I know, in a big city like Atlanta, that God has a church home for us and I yearn to find it.

As I was thinking on this today, another thought struck me.. a reminder.... that we are indeed "foreigners in a strange land" here on Earth. Heaven is our home and maybe I needed a not-so-gentle reminder of that... that I long for a church home here, but we are also to be yearning for our Heavenly home. God wants more than anything to welcome us home there too.... and wants us to be as homesick for Him and for Heaven as I am for Kansas and Faith Chapel. Maybe He has more lessons for me in all this than I care to admit. Moving out of your comfort zone sure has opened my eyes to several things.