Monday, April 6, 2009

Changing Churches

Man oh man is this a hard post for me to write. We finally made the decision as a family to change churches. We have been at Victory Church in OKC for 10 years! TEN YEARS and I have to say that church re-revolutionized my relationship with Christ and I have cried every kind of tear sitting in that building, joy, pain, hurt, love, excitement, sadness, grief, loneliness and tears that only come from worship.

I ADORE that church. I love the pastors with a full heart. I love the people that are ministered to, the staff, the way that things happen, the way that it sounds when I walk in the building and the way that I feel when I leave on Sundays. I love that I know the ins and outs of the building, that I taught dance to little babies in the rooms down the hallway and that I met dear friends in the rooms beside me.

I love that church.

So why are we leaving?

Well, Max does not like the kids section. For some reason he freaks out every time we try to take him to kids church. Maybe I scarred him when I would go early on Sundays while Rob was gone and spend time in class and service. Or maybe it was when he was in childcare for BABES after a long day at daycare. I have NO idea what it is but when he rounds the corner of THAT hallway he has a holy meltdown.

Secondly, I am comfortable there. Yep, you heard that right. I am too comfortable. It's so easy to slip in and out in the sense of comfort. And that is GOOD thing, a GREAT thing but it also allows me to stay "comfortable" where I am and where I am is missing a sense of the smaller community of church that I am looking for.

So where are we going?

We are going to the Edmond campus of Life Church. You might be questioning why we chose another big church for a smaller sense of community. Well, we feel like the Lord is leading us there for this season in our life. First and foremost Max LOVES it there. He literally tried to crawl over the door to get into his class yesterday. Seeing as how we will have small children for the next decade or so, that is so important to us. Secondly, the sense of community does feel smaller. I don't know if it is the size of the auditorium, or the sense of the experience that we have gone to but we like it. Thirdly, I feel like this is a challenge that will equal growth. It is hard for me to leave my comfort church that I love. It is hard for me to get used to something new. It is hard for me not to know the faces that surround me and not know the ins and outs of the building and basically not know who we are in this new community. But I love the challenge. And I love what God is going to bring out of it.

So pray for us as we embark on a new journey as a family. Pray for peace with our decision, speed in our ability to acclimate, faithfulness in His promises, courage in our attempts to make ourselves at home, wisdom in our decisions, and grace in our mistakes.

Always,
Rob, Jesi and Max

4 comments:

Nicole Knox said...

I am so glad I get to see you more

Jessica said...

Welcome to Lifechurch.tv! What time will you all be going? I will start serving in Life Kids again in the summer...I would love to have Max! I will be praying for this transition, it will be a hard one but you WILL grow from this. Love ya girl!

Jesi said...

Thanks Girls! We are excited and Rob took a lot of leadership in this so I am submitting to him and God on this one!

We will be attending 10AM experience and then I will be serving in LifeKids at 11:30 so Max will be in In the Garden for both of them.

it's me, just me, nothing fancy, just simple me said...

how funny! our church back home was victory! we're in the midst of church-shopping now too. our options are limited and i fear we may not find what we've had before. but, as long as God is in the house, we'll find the right house.