3:13 PM
Katie Schmidt
As I sit here at the park and watch my son play, I think back to the events over the past year. I think of how far I have come and how much I have grown as a person. Most All of my growth can be attributed to finding a church.
I grew up in the church my whole life. It was a small country church at the end of the streeet where I lived until I was 18. Moving to another city made it hard to find another church because I knew nothing about any of the local churches. As a result, I went infrequently to the church where my aunt and uncle attended. Luckily, it ended up being my "home" in a way almost 10 years later.
Roughly a year ago, I entered a church that was an extension of a church I had attended in another town. The minute I walked in, I felt welcome. Everyone accepted my son and me with open arms. I KNEW at that moment I wanted to be a part of that body of believers. That was an amazing feeling because at that time in our lives, we had been through one of the worst events that we could have possibly experienced. My son's father and I were in the process of a divorce. I won't get into the details, but it was a rather messy horrific time in all of our lives.
I was a struggling single mom with no family in our town. The closest family we had (location wise) lived about 30-45 minutes away. This is not to say we had none of the family around because my mom was at our house almost every weekend to help with anything that I needed.
Back to the matter - it's so important for everyone to plug into a church. It gives you another family and it allows you to learn many ways to serve others. Without our church, I would have no clue how to serve my community. I would have no way to study and grow as a Christian. They are literally family.
I know many people have to visit several churches before finding that "right" place. We were lucky. The minute I walked into our church, I knew that this was our home. If it takes visiting twenty churches before you get that "home" feeling, then VISIT TWENTY CHURCHES! Don't give up because there is a church out there for everyone. And always remember - your church family is like your real family - they aren't always going to tell you what you want to hear!
If you are local to the area check out this site for some amazing podcasts of past sermons!Come by and visit us one Sunday as well.
I grew up in the church my whole life. It was a small country church at the end of the streeet where I lived until I was 18. Moving to another city made it hard to find another church because I knew nothing about any of the local churches. As a result, I went infrequently to the church where my aunt and uncle attended. Luckily, it ended up being my "home" in a way almost 10 years later.
Roughly a year ago, I entered a church that was an extension of a church I had attended in another town. The minute I walked in, I felt welcome. Everyone accepted my son and me with open arms. I KNEW at that moment I wanted to be a part of that body of believers. That was an amazing feeling because at that time in our lives, we had been through one of the worst events that we could have possibly experienced. My son's father and I were in the process of a divorce. I won't get into the details, but it was a rather messy horrific time in all of our lives.
I was a struggling single mom with no family in our town. The closest family we had (location wise) lived about 30-45 minutes away. This is not to say we had none of the family around because my mom was at our house almost every weekend to help with anything that I needed.
Back to the matter - it's so important for everyone to plug into a church. It gives you another family and it allows you to learn many ways to serve others. Without our church, I would have no clue how to serve my community. I would have no way to study and grow as a Christian. They are literally family.
I know many people have to visit several churches before finding that "right" place. We were lucky. The minute I walked into our church, I knew that this was our home. If it takes visiting twenty churches before you get that "home" feeling, then VISIT TWENTY CHURCHES! Don't give up because there is a church out there for everyone. And always remember - your church family is like your real family - they aren't always going to tell you what you want to hear!
If you are local to the area check out this site for some amazing podcasts of past sermons!Come by and visit us one Sunday as well.
Posted in
Ashland Avenue Baptist Church
,
Ashland in Madison County
,
church
,
God
,
I Heart MC
,
religion
