Memories

Sitting here tonight reminiscing a bit... I just sent off a note to a friend from our old church in Ohio. The note started out as one thing and turned into another, and now has morphed into this blog post.

As I was writing her and telling her about all the changes that are coming up in our life here, I thanked her for the example she and her husband were to Brian and me when we lived there. Her husband was one of the elders at our church, and both of them were awesome models of a Christian marriage, as well as of what it was to be a follower of Christ. The entire congregation as a whole was one of the most loving congregations we had ever been a part of up to that time. What I told Diane (and what I tell others when I talk about our time at this church) was that it was during our time there that I learned what it was to feel loved and served. In the 3 years or so that we attended there, I gave birth to a baby, had a medical scare with said baby, and lived through Brian being deployed for 3 months. I never had to ask for help; it came running up to me every time I needed it without me saying a word. I still am in awe of it. I don't know if I ever adequately expressed my appreciation to the jr. high and high school girls who would ask to go home with me after church during the time Brian was deployed.... and then proceed to send me off to the grocery store while they cleaned my house or folded the laundry. Or the folks that invited us to lunch with them (whether it was Dutch treat at a restaurant or at their home) and made us feel like we were really a part of their family... For a young couple whose biological families weren't nearby, those experiences were invaluable to us. Leaving that church family behind was the first move we ever made that left us in tears.

Thankfully, it wasn't the last.....

To be continued......