Last night, I attended a prayer service held at our church. During the service, I was pretty sure that my church was going to be day 2...And I was right! Tonight's prayer service made me sure that my church family is what I'm thankful for today.
This prayer summit has become something wonderful. Last year, it wasn't a priority for me to attend, so I was only a part of the typical Sunday morning service. This year, Matt and I planned to attend the evening services (in addition to our regular Sunday morning service) and I'm so glad that we made that decision.
Last night, I took Aynsley (Matt was still asleep after his first night back at work and a morning in court) and was blessed to have one of my best friends keep her while I was a part of the worship team. The worship was, in a word, wonderful, and tonight's worship time was the same. Due to Aynsley's current feeding schedule, I'm not able to stay for the whole service, but even those brief moments of worship have helped to encourage me.
Our church family is such a blessing to us, and I could go on and on about the wonderful community that we get to be a part of (and I did so here), but I'll try to keep it brief and let you know how much I appreciate the amazingness that is our church.
We have a fantastic pastoral staff, and I am so glad to be a part of a church led by such godly men and women. Our church spreads generational lines - we have brand-new babies and we have members in their nineties (I'm pretty sure...). We have people that remind us frequently that they pray daily for Matt, people who brought us meals during those first tiring weeks as new parents, people who lift us up and support us and encourage us in every way possible.
Just sitting in the pews these last few nights, I realized how thankful I am for so many members of my church family. We are close with Pastor Carlos and Kristen Lonberger and so blessed by their friendship and their four wonderful boys. I truly look forward to seeing Sarah Warren each Sunday morning and, although our chats are often pretty brief, she's sarcastic and fun and I love her. I got to hear a beautiful song from Sarah Smith last night and her beautiful voice matches her beautiful heart - she is one of the most caring people I know. Pastor Joy is an encouragement to me and I love spending time with her - I feel blessed to be a part of the children's ministry that she leads. Joy Schroeder has been through such an ordeal with cancer but I always see her with a smile and an encouraging word. Lindsay Fulda is a beautiful, talented teen that I adore - I can't wait to see what God has planned for her future.
Really, I could go on and on and on and on and on about all of the wonderful people at church (really, I could), but those are a few people who stuck out to me over the last two nights of the prayer services. My heart is full as I think of these wonderful people and the wonderful place that we get to be a part of here. I am so grateful for my church family!
No comments:
Post a Comment