cross mountain church

a few weeks ago, after a trip out to see the progress on our house, michael drove by a church. after all of the visits to the large churches, we decided that a smaller church might be the thing for us.

this past sunday, we walked in to cross mountain church. it is a growing, but still not huge, non-denominational church. the church has two services on sundays and runs around 300 people. we were greeted as we walked in and handed a bulletin that reminded me of the ones my mom prints at saf. my heart immediately began to feel lighter.

we walked in and were thankfully not ushered to the front by a smiling, nodding man holding two fingers in the air. whew! :) we sat on the back row and watched as people filled in the chairs ahead of us. michael was startled by friendly hands on his shoulders. the pastor greeted us warmly and thanked us for coming. he told us to feel free to hang around after service if we had any questions about the church. then the music began to play. the first song, we knew. the second song, we knew. in fact, we knew every song during that worship service and surely felt the presence of God. it was such a wonderful feeling. time was set aside for 6 children/youth baptisms. there was a "turn around and shake someone's hand" time and then the preaching began. there was an outline for filling in the blanks (although i was a little confused because the words that fit in the blanks didn't all start with the same letter...hmm), a projector that showed the verses and a pastor who taught, not only read from his notes. the service ended with a call for salvation, rededication, or prayer needs. we left with a handshake from the pastor and a visitor's gift, including a nifty little coffee cup.

in the bulletin was an announcement for a ladies get together on monday night. i wanted to go but was so nervous to call the day after our first visit to the church. i have to admit, it felt a little desperate to me. however, after some prompting from michael and jenny, i called the number in the bulletin and asked about the evening. i was invited warmly and told the girl that i would be coming. most everyone there was in their late twenties-early thirties and was already a mom. most of the babies were under four years of age. they treated me like an old friend. several of the ladies mentioned how brave i was for coming after one visit and i joked that i was just desperate. they all laughed and i prayed they would never know i was serious! ;) i left there with hugs and hopeful "i guess we'll see you...sunday?!"s it felt pretty good. i think that if we do continue to go to cmc, and none of these ladies become my close friends, we will at the very least, hang out once a month at these girl's night out and enjoy each other's company. i do hope, though, that it becomes more than that.

michael is thinking of playing in a golf outing with the church on saturday. i'm sure it will be so difficult for him. :) we'll try cmc again this sunday and see how it goes. i'm just thankful for a place where God is felt and honored. thank you, Jesus.