Sunshine and Rainbows??

If you have followed along at all, you know that I am no longer a church hopper.  I have made Pine Hills my home church. When I started this whole journey back in April I never realized how much it would change me, but it has.  A lot!!  I knew I wanted more, I knew I craved more, I knew I wasn't completely happy.  Sure it was easy to say I was happy, even pretend to be happy, but deep down I wasn't.  I looked for happiness in everything and everyone other then where I should have been looking for it in the first place.  I knew I needed more God and I'd often heard about how God was able to bring happiness to those who would seek Him, but until I took that plunge I never realized just how much.  I was raised going to church. I first became a Christian when I was a teenager, but until this year if you were to ask me if I was a Christian I would struggle to answer that question.  I would avoid this question whenever I could.  I remember talking to a friend years ago about Christianity. We were in the one place where I swore I would never talk about God and Christianity...a bar!  Somehow though, we got on this subject. I remember telling her that if I were to get in a wreck and die on my way home that night, that I wouldn't go to heaven. I may have become a Christian as a teen and I've always been a good person, but I knew enough to know that it takes more then that. I never forgot that conversation and the feeling of knowing that if I were to die, that heaven wouldn't be my final destination. As sad as that made me feel, I still wasn't ready to do anything about it. I've been getting that "pull" more and more in the last few years.  This is it. It's a done deal and there will be no going back to the way I once was. I've never been so in love with God and I have never felt so at peace before.

We (aka: Pine Hills Church) moved into our new building a couple of weeks ago.  It's beautiful, but even more then that is the beauty I have found in the people inside of that building.  I've already thrown myself in the mix and started getting involved.  I'm going to the 9am service so that I can take a 10 week class about, 'How to study the Bible' during the 11am service. I'm really enjoying the class and really enjoying getting to know the others in the class.  This past week I surprised myself by saying more then I planned on saying.  Sometimes I just open my mouth and all these words come falling out. I teared up a couple of times.  Some while listening to others stories and other times because I felt moved. I smiled the whole way home though.  I'm also attending a class on Wed nights about Bible Foundations, but even better then that is my daughter is going to youth group on Wed nights.  Two weeks ago was the first Wed for both of us. As we were walking out I asked her if she had fun.  She says, "Surprisingly, yes!...and I even sang."  I was so excited.  The whole way home we talked about God, Jesus and the Bible.  Since I grew up going to church (many times a week) I take for granted some of things that I know.  I assume because I know these things that everyone does.  It really surprised me to hear that my own daughter knows so little. Guilt started to set in, but I pushed it away.  I can't change the past, but I can change the now.  I answered her questions the best that I could and then told her that there are somethings that we may end up learning together.  To say the least, I was stoked!!  I couldn't wait to get home and call my parents with the good news. 

Not everything is sunshine and rainbows.  I had someone this past week open up some old wounds. I was already in a melancholy mood that day, so when this all happened, it affected me in a way that I don't think it would have on any other day. I became upset, depressed, moody...  I put my iPod on to play nothing but Christian songs while I was working to try and help my mood. It did help, but several times I had to fight back tears. Finally the day was over, my boss dropped me off to my car.  I got in and immediately started bawling.  I cried and I cried and I cried, the whole time praying.  I was almost home and my phone rang.  I looked at the caller ID, it said, Pine Hills.  I cleared my throat, wiped away my tears, put on a smile and answered the phone.  I was expecting it to be about the India mission trip, so when it wasn't it took me a minute to figure out what it was about. Oh yeah...I had signed up to help with projects that needed done, mainly outdoor projects, at the church.  So he was calling to touch base about that.  You want to know the weird thing? After getting off the phone with him I was in a much better mood. I was smiling, my depressed mood had totally lifted.  It felt good to be a part of something and know that I could use my abilities to serve God. I immediately thanked God for leading me to Pine Hills Church. I had to laugh at myself.  I went from being depressed, moody and crying, to smiling and laughing in a 30 minute drive. God is so good !! He knew what I needed to lift my spirits.  

Mission trip...30 days away and counting.  :) 

Till next time...Be Great...Be YOUtiful...Enjoy the beautiful fall season God has given us.

P.S. I now don't care where I am when I talk about God and my faith. 

Psalms 30:2 (NKJV) O LORD my God, I cried out to You, And You healed me. 

Psalms 147:3 (NKJV) He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds.