The New Church

Our year long church search is finally over. This morning all four of us joined Cumming Baptist Church. Actually, the kids had jokingly told us that if Rocky and I didn't join this week then they would walk down without us. We have been attending for awhile now not so regularly, but enough to know that this was to be our new church home.
I haven't always been sure. The first week we went I came home and googled the sermon outline. The sermon seemed almost too well laid out to me. I was sure that the preacher had to have been using a box sermon. (I'm not the most trusting of people) After searching I gave up and conceded that maybe Pastor Crocker was just a good preacher. The church had past the first test.
My parents came to visit, which I was sure would be the end of this church for us. There were some weird things that went on that first week. The strangest of which was a clip from Flip Wilson being played during the sermon illustrating the point of view that "the devil made me do it". The funny thing was, it worked. The sermon was excellent, the people were very friendly and welcoming, and although it certainly was a goofy week, we all still had a good feeling about the place. And so, the second test was passed. In case you are wondering, this is the preacher that referenced The Princess Bride one week.
 The third step for us was in seeing if all 4 of us could find Sunday School classes. The kids were a piece of cake. As it turned out, it was pretty easy for us as well. We found a group that has children the same age as ours, they've all been married about as long as we have, and they are just nice people to spend a hour with. Now we are 3 for 3.
As I'm sure you understand, there was a lot more that went into this decision, not the least of which was prayer. We've been there on down weeks where the crowd was small and the preacher took the opportunity to step on toes and make us all think about the direction we were heading in. We've been there when the place was packed, and even on a week with a guest speaker. We have witnessed the church working together, and we are excited to be able to be a part of that now.
It has been a long year, and it hasn't been an easy one. I'm glad the search is over. It has been a year of wandering, and it is a relief to finally be settled once again.
When we went done front and the pastor was introducing us JD stood next to him and boldly said, "I'm JD" just to make sure he had it right. The pastor got so tickled that he gave JD his on special introduction and now everyone at the church remembers JD. We are members 5 minutes and I'm already "JD's mom".