Cold Austin, New Life

The last week in Austin has been cold. Wait, actually, FREEZING. The temps have gone down into the teens with windchills below zero. That is just something that isn't doable for people whose bodies are acclimated to 105 degrees for 4 months straight each year. Once you get used to that, your body can't just switch over to "oh ok, it's so cold that if you stay outside for more than an hour without a coat, hat, and gloves, you'll DIE." So, it's been a tough week, but with cold comes something every kid should have at least one of each year...a SNOW DAY! School was out and it couldn't have been timed better...on a Friday, to make for a nice 3-day weekend. What's even better is that we got the snow, the kids played in it, then by noon it was melted and gone and now today it will be in the 50's and tomorrow....sweet 60's and sunshine. Ahhh....now I can live with that.

So back to the snow day...though the ground only had about an inch, our trampoline collected about 3 inches, so the kids had a blast jumping around in the powdery snow.

One thing I totally forgot about from growing up in TN, where we got about 2 good, four inch snows a year, is the MESS. Suddenly, I had kids standing on my hardwood living room floors dripping, soaking wet, and crying because they were so cold. Oh, yeah, snow MELTS, and then the clothes get wet, and then you REALLY get cold. So, I rushed to get the kids out of their wet cold clothes and into some warm dry clothes and under blankets. Then I wiped up the wet floor and all was good. Then an hour later, the kids wanted to do it all over again. WHAT? Then my 5-year-old brain kicked in...that's right, you go out until you get so cold and wet that you cry, then you warm up inside, get bored, and forget about the pain you just experienced 60 minutes before. Sigh. Ok, so we went through the whole routine again, and I was prepared for the mess and it was a fun time.

This morning I woke up with some slightly overused, yet true (or else why would they be so overused?) prophetic thoughts about the change of seasons - the cold freezes the ground, kills the bugs, only to prepare for the coming life of Spring. And I realized what a neat time this is for me to be shedding something old and starting something new. God has made it clear in every way possible, in every little detail of the circumstances that have come about in the last few months, that He has prepared the way for us to move on, to leave not just my job at the church, but the whole experience of HCBC, and begin a new chapter of our lives with our new church family, and most importantly, together as a family.

My years at HCBC were God ordained, I have no doubt about that. He worked on me and Scott during these last six years in ways that we could have never imagined, using the ministries of HCBC to help us along on our journey.

During this season, Scott and I were always growing at different levels, and most of the time, were totally frustrated with each other. We, individually, grew from separate experiences at HCBC in ways we needed to grow that ultimately brought us together spiritually. And in the last few months since we finally came together and are in tune with each other spiritually, one thing became blaringly obvious...that we wanted to go to church together as a family, and that neither of us had ever been comfortable with the Sunday morning experience at HCBC. And come to find out, neither did our kids. Unlike going to the small classes on Monday nights at HCBC during CR, on Sunday mornings, our kids never felt comfortable in their kid classes - Holloway finally told me that he didn't really like it because it was too loud and there were too many kids and it stressed him out. Bren reluctantly went on Sunday mornings, but couldn't wait for her Monday night class where there were only a few kids and she got lots of love and attention for the sweet married couple who always cares for her. Not that her Sunday morning teachers weren't caring, but with so many kids, the situation couldn't help but be chaotic.

For me and Scott, we just never felt at home on Sunday mornings. We never liked the stadium seating, the huge stage, the 15-piece worship band, the overly dramatic prayers, the huge tv screens doing close-ups on the overly dramatic praying people with microphones...the list could go on. Overall, it was just too BIG and there were just too many people for two little introverts like us. Once we would finally get through the agonizing process of getting our kids' security tags from the kiosks, then shuffling through the crowds and navigating our way through the 3 story stairwell to get them to their different classes, we would get into the worship center, and hunt for a somewhat comfortable spot only to have to climb over 10 people and sit elbow to elbow with no personal space or leg room whatsoever. And then the music would start. I won't go into that...our friends know what we think and understand where we are coming from. For those of us who don't know us so well, I'll just say, it's just not for us. I appreciate the fact that some people get a great worshipful experience out of that kind of music and setting, but we don't. That's all there is to it.

So in the last few months, God has showered us with blessings that are allowing us to not be financially dependent on my job at HCBC, thus allowing me to quit and do the in-home childcare again, thus eliminating the requirement that we be members of HCBC. Subsequently, we quickly realized that we REALLY wanted to go to church together, and actually enjoy our Sunday morning experience. And we quickly knew exactly where we wanted to be...with our sweet friends in their small home church. We gather in living rooms, sing from hymnals, read scripture together, pray for each other, and study His word about how we can become more Christ-like and love and serve others. Then we eat lunch together and enjoy the fellowship of our church family. We've been for 3 weeks now, and I will never forget the relief I felt that first week that we went. I felt at home, I felt at peace, and I felt like a part of a spiritual family.

HCBC provided exactly what our family has needed for the last 6 years, and we will still be a part of CR and AWANA, and other ministries where we can serve and help others through the amazing resources that they have been blessed with. I'm so thankful to be able to do that, and now to also be able to worship in a way that's meaningful for us on Sunday mornings.

If there's one thing I learned in the last year, it's that when you totally surrender to God, and totally let him be the director of your life, He comes up with stuff that's way better than our little fleshy brains can conjure up. I'll let Him lead me anytime.