What in the world?

I did the unthinkable today.

I visited a new church based on the fact that a former Evangel grad and boys' former music teacher was the music director. After checking them out online, thought, "today is the day we will visit". The information I found online seemed to line up for what I am looking for in a church AND they are close by...only 10 miles one way vs. 20 miles one way to my old church.

The worship and music was great! This is VERY important to me because music is my outlet for worship. Even though I got a vibe the pastor was a little more charismatic than I like...I felt at home and comfortable here even as a visitor. The most amazing thing was the pastor's wife came and personally introduced herself and greeted my boys during the "welcome moment".

Then the bomb fell.

St. Charles River Church was an Assembly of God church. This is NOT what I was looking for at all. I struggled with my attention to the service not because of that fact, but because the service went for ONE HOUR AND 12 MINUTES!!

As I sat making my Pro/Con list, I discovered that if they cut out the 25 minutes of announcements and reading of the bulletin....lol...then we would have plenty of time for the pastor's 20 minute sermon and still only take 1 hour.

The boys did great but even I had difficulty that last half hour. We were hoping to say hello to their beloved Ms. P from school. But she went home after worship to take care of her sick baby.

However, I did meet the other lady who was part of the worship team and am quite glad I did. She sincerely invited us back and understood my hesitation regarding the A/G denomination affiliation, having grown up as an A/G pastor's daughter. She did tell me that she had alot more in common with me and would love to talk more sometime. She has also been divorced and a single mom, but remarried now, AND still in a leadership position. I was glad to learn that the pastor does not look down at those kinds of situations and had even performed her wedding to her new husband. Not only did I feel relief, but she gave me the church directory and her number and said to feel free to call anytime this week so we could talk more. I believe I will do just that.

Oh yeah, and I did listen to the sermon even though it wasn't on 7th Heaven...LOL! He was talking about moving from Rejection to Acceptance. He mentioned "you might even be here feeling rejected from your last church....we are here to love and accept you." He said as humans, our tendency is to push more distance between us and people after we have been hurt, but that is not how God designed us to be. He used the scripture that "it was not good for man to be alone"...clarifying that is for all people, not only in a husband/wife relationship.....and that your church family has the ultimate blood connection through Christ!

So I did the unthinkable today.

I actually enjoyed a service at an Assemblies of God church. Something I have avoided since college graduation.

I am still seeking God's direction on finding a place to land and a church home to call family. But I believe we may be closer than I want to think, since I am looking for more solid Biblical foundation for my children in combination with the contempory/ecclectic style of music to meet my worship needs.