A FAMILY Growing People to the Glory of God

Dec. 10th, 2006

If you've ever visted our church you can't help but notice the huge banners that hang at the front of the auditorium displaying our mission statement: "We are a Family Growing People to the Glory of God." These words have never felt more true than on two particular days that stand out in my mind. April 22, 2005 & December 10, 2006. The first was a day filled with great joy! The second was sadness. But both confirmed that God has blessed us with a tremendous support system in our church family.

April 22, 2005
Some day I'll write more about this day because it was a day worth WAY more than one blog entry. . . It started off at the courthouse in Columbia, MO. Bryndyn, Caelleb and I were there to finalize Caelleb's adoption. Along with many of our family who had traveled all the way from CA was our church family. I think I counted about 30-40 people in total who piled into the courtroom to witness the joyous occasion. You could not wipe the smile off my face! Later that evening the church threw us an adoption party at the building. I was amazed at the amount of people that came to celebrate with us. It was heartwarming. One thing about the night that I will NEVER forget is when our Minister blessed us. Bryndyn, Caelleb and I were sitting down on chairs in the front and he asked everyone to gather around us as he read a beautiful poem/blessing that he had written (i'll post that one of these days) and then prayed for us. What an encouraging moment to realize that all of these people were there for us, to share in our joy!

Fast forward 19 and a half months. . .

December 10, 2006
I had been strong all weekend--enjoying and cherishing the time we had left. But on Sunday I just couldn't find the strength, knowing that Tia was moving out the following day. Maybe it was all of the emotions I had been holding back all weekend. Or maybe it was knowing that everyone in our church family loved & adored Tia so much, that made me think about the situation more. Regardless of the reason I asked Eric (our minister) to let everyone know what was going on so that people could say goodbye to her and keep all of us in their prayers. He called us up front after he explained to the congregation what was going on so that he could pray for us. He asked that people who wanted to offer their support come up to the front with us. I was thankful because I had already started to get emotional and I figured the more people who came up the less everyone else would be able to see my tears. So again, just like April 22, 2005, Bryndyn, Caelleb and I found ourselves surrounded by the comfort of our church family. This time the emotions were much different. As I held on tightly to Bryndyn's hand and closed my tearful eyes for the prayer I thought about how strange but good it was to share our grief in front of all these people. When the prayer was over and I opened my eyes I realized how many people had come up to the front to support us and I wasn't the only one crying. I'm not sure there was a dry eye in the auditorium. Despite the deep sadness, I felt a sense of peace.

Thank you to my church family for not only proclaiming to be a family but for showing us through your actions that you will be there for us through both the joys and sorrows of life. We are so grateful!