Church in the Barn

Before we tell you about our great time Sunday morning, it's podcast Tuesday, so we have a whole smattering of stories picked out for you!

Listen here!

One of the churches where I get to speak a couple of times a year invited us to attend their annual "church in the barn" service. They had invited us last year, but we couldn't go, and I wonder now if it fell on the same Sunday as our nephew's baby dedication. But they asked again this year, and we said YES!

It "just so happened" that this event fell the day after our football game, so it was kind of an extra little blessing for us. It didn't start until 11:00, so we got to sleep in a little and have a leisurely morning, instead of rushing to get to church while still guzzling coffee.

It started raining just as we left home, but it was a nice gentle rain, not a nasty storm, so it was a nearly perfect morning! The barn is at the home of one of the couples in the church, and they have such a gift of hospitality. They welcomed us (and everyone) so warmly!

The barn is old and back in the long-ago day, it was actually a hog barn! (It's a small building...not the kind of hog barn you might be thinking of today. I think it only held a dozen hogs, max.) A few years ago, they reached the point where the barn either needed to be updated or demolished, so they fixed it up and used it as one of the buildings for their daughter's wedding! It is still quite beautiful. (I told Ryan if we lived there, it would be my writing studio. He reminded me it didn't have insulation, heat, or air. I so easily overlook these details on a perfect-temperature day.

They had all kinds of fall touches in there, and it was just wonderful. I took a few pictures, but I tried not to be over-the-top about it, since we were mid-service.

They opened with some Scripture and hymns, and then people had the opportunity to share some stories from their own lives before the pastor gave a really thought-provoking message.

 I really enjoyed hearing him speak. He's a great speaker, for one thing, but I never get to hear him, because anytime we go to their church, it's because he's gone and I'm filling in for him! So this was a special treat for us.

After church, I had to get a picture of the pond that sat beyond the front doors:

(I think that cement area was where they had the tent for the wedding, if I remember right. And the other building in the distance was the pond house, where we all had a potluck meal together after church.

Isn't it so pretty?

Ryan and I sat in our lawn chairs at the table. We felt like part of Munchkinville from the Wizard of Oz. The good news was we could shovel the food right off our plates into our mouths! Ha!

We both thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were so thankful to be included in the morning!