Changes

Five days into 2017 and there have already been two big changes. The first is our eating habits which have taken a drastically healthier turn in the pursuit of weight-loss and health, and the second is our church life.

On January 1st, we rejoined Faith Baptist Church of Wesley Chapel. It was a bittersweet moment for us as a family; on one hand, it was a homecoming of sorts because we have a lot of history in this church, and on the other hand, it was sad to be officially leaving First Baptist of Brandon.

We started going to First Baptist of Brandon when we moved to Brandon for Michael’s job in 2010. It took us a long time to join there because it was everything that we were not looking for in a church. It was big, it was more contemporary, it was Southern Baptist instead of independent, and no one we knew went there so we were complete strangers. But somehow, we kept getting drawn back there to visit. The people were warm and friendly and, in spite of the size of the church, it had a very small-church heart. We also fell in love with the preaching of Tommy Green and the teaching of Ron Smith.

I had always assumed that a large church must be large because they were attracting people by compromising the message or standards. That may often be the case but it certainly was not true of First Baptist. The difference was love. Pastor Tommy never shied away from the hard subjects but everything was always presented in love and wrapped in compassion. I really felt Christ’s love being communicated there and I loved the way that people were open to others in need. The Compassion House, the MAC, the deaf ministry, and Gift of Hope were all just normal happenings in the church and there was always an opportunity to give.

We started our family there and dedicated all three of our babies at that alter. On their first Sundays in church, we would take them down and pray and thank God for entrusting us with a new life and pray for protection and guidance for them. On their first Mother’s Days, we would join the other mommies and babies and do the formal dedication and make a vow in front of the church to do our best in raising them in the love of Christ and then the church would pray for us and vow to support us in our efforts. We worked in the nursery and enjoyed getting to know Ms Krystal and many of the teachers in the preschool department and made some wonderful friends as well.

It was a time of growth for Michael and me as we learned to be faithful to the Lord and follow Him without the influence of family expectation. No one in our families knew if we missed a service or lowered a standard and, if we are being honest, I think we would all admit that that is a big role in why we stick to those things. But being on our own, we grew up a little bit and found that we needed to be there and be involved and grow closer to the Lord simply because He is so good and we needed Him in our lives. Especially after the difficulties of the pregnancy with Jonah and then as we suffered through two miscarriages, we experienced how much we needed God and how good and faithful He is towards us. But not only in the valleys, we also needed and craved Him in the good times as we thanked Him and praised Him for His provisions and love.

So why leave?

It was not an easy decision to make and there were a lot of long talks and tears. It would have been easier if there had been a problem or issue that made us go but there wasn’t. We may not agree with everything single little thing but there wasn’t anything that we were disgruntled about. It was just life. With 3 little minions and a 35 minute drive each way, it was becoming more and more difficult to be faithful and involved. Wednesday nights had become impossible because of Michael’s work schedule and Sunday school was increasingly difficult to make on time. There were things that we wanted to be involved in but couldn’t be because of the drive and time constraints and all of the people that we would like to build deeper relationships with were in Brandon or father south.

We want to be able to be involved in church life more deeply again. We want to foster closer friendships for ourselves and our kids with Christian friends who will be a good influence on us and keep us accountable in our walk with Christ. And to achieve those goals, we need to be more practical about the location and commute.

We started by visiting around a little bit but found ourselves being directed back towards Faith Baptist. Michael and I were reacquainted there and started our life together there. I taught in the school after I graduated, we had friends there, my family now goes there, and it is closer to home. We share a pretty significant history in that place. It has gone through a lot of changes over the past six years, as have we, and while it’s not a perfect church, it’s where we believe God wants us for now. There is no such thing as a perfect church and there are no perfect people and we are FAR from a perfect family or having a perfect walk with God, but, this is where God has placed us to join up and be imperfect together.

I will, and do, dearly miss our old church and the people there but I am excited to see how this new change will work out as we walk through it. There have already been two times where I have been able to invite and offer our new church to neighbors because it’s not so far for them to go and there is already an outreach that we can start to be involved with because it isn’t so far of a drive. Jonah and Haven are happy to be making new friends and seeing Nana and Pop as well as Aunt Lory, Uncle Tim and Aunt Amanda more often. Michael and I are also happy to be “back home” with old friends and family.

So that’s whats going on in our year so far, who knows what the next 360 days will bring?

 

About the Author

Holly

I am a homeschooling, stay at home mom of four amazing humans which I co-created with the help of my husband of 15+ years, Michael. We love family, good food, big laughs, and getting into trouble together. We have no idea what we are doing, but we love each other and we love Jesus!

"We may not have it all together; but together, we have everything."

2 thoughts on “Changes

  1. I’m so happy for you, Michael, and your kiddies. I still have fond memories of serving with you in the preschool. Pastor Adam is doing a wonderful job as well as his wife in building the church. Your family will be a great asset in so many ways. Although the move was a difficult decision you will be blessed.
    Love you and your sweet family.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may also like these