Home Again, Home Again

In January, 2007, we made the move to our current church home. After spending over nine solid years at the first church Don and I attended together, it was time to move on to a new place. It was strange and scary to contemplate going into an unfamiliar church. We had the opportunity to navigate all the newcomers' obstacles in a place that was reminiscent of the place we had called "home" for so long while being wholly different.
Don plays bass with a different worship team. Evan jumps at every middle school student opportunity, and serves in the technical arts. Katie is involved in a transitional class for fifth graders to confront the issues that swirl around "children" who are becoming "youth" by equipping the kids with scripture and strong personal investment in them by the children's pastor. Katie serves in the nursery. Erin is not yet a Christian, but she is growing and loves to sing in the children's choir.
Our household was chugging along with everyone plugged in as 2008 dawned. Everyone except me. I was doing a bit of administrative this and that for a friend from our small group, but really not tapping any particular skills. I was effectively a pew sitter. (That does not mean I was asleep at the wheel. Ministry happens without specific tasks any time a believer ministers to someone.) I wanted to find a place to formally serve within our church home because, while the newness has worn off after a year, I still felt like a visitor as I walked the halls many Sundays.
Don and I headed to the church for a Worship Arts ministry general meeting Thursday night. We entered the sanctuary of the church to be greeted with several off-hand waves--- not the full-throttle welcome given to guests or visitors, but the casual acknowledgement of greeting for those who are well-known. We wandered amongst the gathering group and talked with friends--- not acquaintances. I sat watching people enter while mentally running through the "What's New with Whom List" in my head: the couple who live down the street, and like us, are getting a new roof, the team recently returned from a mission trip to Thailand, the couple who just learned their third child is another daughter when their eldest child was really hoping for a brother, and the couple whispering to end a private spat while in a public place.
After the formal meeting is concluded, I find myself sitting with a couple of ladies. We talk about the details of our lives since we last saw one another. The couple expecting daughter number three approaches, and we get to hear their little one's name for the first time. I excitedly tell the group that support-raising for the Poland trip is finally underway, but one of the ladies is a step ahead already. They have been trying to plan a fundraiser, but sonograms, sick kids, and jobs have kept them from moving forward this week. I vaguely hear Don's bass from the stage as the band commences rehearsal for weekend service. This is it. I recognize this feeling: belonging. We are home.