We're Home...

 

                This week has been fraught with stories about our church; thank you for reading along. I know it settles in my heart differently than yours, but I hope you can take the underlying thoughts of these days and apply them to your own life and story in some way.

                Tuesday I told you about the room that became a sanctuary for me over the last several months, yesterday I showed you a peek into the children writing on the framework of their new classroom area (which will be completed this year), and today I want to tell you about our first day back in our sanctuary.

                After our visit to the sanctuary last September, when it didn’t yet have drywall, I did not return to the building until after I was hired for my new role, which happened in December. The first time I walked in was my second day of work, when Jonathan and Julie took me on a tour, and I was overwhelmed in the best of ways with the changes to the room.

                Since that day, I’ve been through the new sanctuary many times, and because I had, I was unprepared for how moving and overwhelming the first day of worship in this space would become for my heart.

                Ryan was part of the worship team that day, so we had to be there early for practice. As soon as the music started, I started crying, and I am pretty sure I had tears in my eyes for the entire practice session. Seeing the room completed and seeing the room in use were two totally different experiences for me.

                I walked every row, touched every chair, and prayed over it while the team sang. I can’t even put into words the powerful presence of the Lord that washed over ALL of us in that room during that time.

                It was so much fun to watch people walk in. Some had purposefully stayed away from visiting ahead of that first Sunday back – and even tried to avoid seeing pictures online before that day – so they could be surprised with the “after” reveal. The room looks, in many ways, like before, but it is also refreshed and bigger and different in many other ways. I loved seeing all the reactions as I walked around and welcomed people.

                The band played ahead of the start of the service, and they seemed extra excited.

                My pictures aren’t the best quality, because of the lighting from where I sat, but I still love this photo of the worship team in their first song of the service. Ryan said the congregation all had big smiles and sang out, and it took his breath away as he helped lead.

                The staff led a responsive reading prayer of dedication, and I was relieved to get through my part without crying. (I wasn’t sure after that first hour!)

                I took pictures of everything EXCEPT the sermon, because I was so caught up in it, I forgot to take a picture! (Thank goodness for a video feed to save the scrapbook, right?)

                As I said earlier this week when I wrote about sanctuaries, that word signifies a sacred space, and God doesn’t need a fancy room to meet with His people. A gym works just fine and has worked just fine for the last six+ months. But oh, it was so good to be home. It was so good to be in a familiar place that also holds much meaning to my life and walk with Christ. It was so good to sit in the newness, with my friends and fellow worshippers, and enjoy this first service together.

                I look forward to so many more moments like this one.