If you have a church that feels like family, you get it. You get how it works and what the Church is supposed to be.
Leaving LakePointe Church behind was by far one of the hardest parts of this move. We'd been there for almost 20 years. We gave and we received. We served others, and we partook of other's service to and care for us. We sat under and learned immensely under wise leaders, teachers, pastors, and counselors. We met weekly for large groups, small groups, and even smaller accountability groups. Our church was our family when our own family wasn't in close proximity. In fact, that's the way God designed the Church to be. And the way we love our Church family, our brothers and sisters in Christ, that's our greatest testimony to a watching world. It's where authentic Christian love is lived out. John 13:35 says that "by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
David and I were reminded of this first hand very recently when he had his mountain-biking accident that put us both in great need of support. Our church family showed up immediately to offer their presence and to take care of our physical needs, and they just kept pouring into us in the days and weeks to follow.
So in moving to Indiana, despite all of our other challenges in the move, we dove right in to finding a new church home. When my coworker told me about what she found in Terrace Lake Church, I sensed something inside me telling me that sounded a lot like the church I'd left behind. And as soon as we walked inside the sanctuary, we felt right at home. Afterward the service, a greeting team of two women talked with us about different ministries in the church, mission partners and mission trips, etc., and sent us home with a gift bag and new t-shirts. Those two women continue to inspire me and grace me with their friendships every time I see them. In fact, they are both leading a mission trip to Colombia this fall that I really wish I could be a part of (but it's during the school year, so that would be too much of a burden for my team at New Song for me to try to go.)
Since then, Mike participated in a campus care day and met the husband of one of the women, who serves as the worship pastor of the church and also connects well with Mike's "handy-man" side. I've been in two women's Bible studies, and we've connected with a Community Group that meets every other month. Through connections in that group, I've developed new friendships and prayer partners, as well as been able to pursue training opportunities in Biblical counseling, a new passion God put on my heart a few years ago.
At the first of the year, one of the elders (and founders of the church) preached a four week series on prayer. In his first one, he talked about how he wrestled with God twenty years ago to leave Dallas, Texas and move to Columbus, IN to plant a church with four other families. (Okay, God, I'm listening....) Come to find out, that very man and his wife used to go to church in Texas with two very, very close friends of mine. When she found out where I was going to church, she said we were with some really good people. Such sweet confirmation from someone back "home" in Texas.
Well, this last week, we officially became members of Terrace Lake Church and look forward to becoming part of this new family.
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