I'm a little strange because it is unusual for someone to be born into a specific denomination or affiliation of the church and to stay there through adulthood. And I'm also a little strange because there are not a whole lot of people who are born right into the Evangelical Free Church. But, hey, that's me :) I raise my hand because all of the above applies.
My own father wasn't a pastor but he also wasn't in the picture for most of my life. My grandpa, on the other hand, if you will remember, was a pastor of an Ev Free Church, and he was very influential in raising me. So, I'm kind of an indirect PK, I guess. So, I grew up in the Ev Free Church that is here in Cheyenne until I left when I was in the 4th grade because my family moved to good ole TN (<--please note sarcasm).
I just moved back to Cheyenne in August for college, and it was a pretty natural decision to go to the Free Church that I grew up in. To be honest, I didn't even consider going anywhere else. But, since I was a child when I attended church here before, I was not considered a member, even though my parents and grandparents were, because you have to be a certain age to make that commitment/decision.
Well, I was raised to recognize the importance of belonging to a church family and making that commitment through membership. SO, I am becoming a member now! I'm taking a class for it (which isn't nearly as greuling as it sounds), and then it'll be official. And I have to say I am very excited about this. Before I moved back out here for school, I had people in my family tell me that they were afraid it wouldn't be all I expected it to be because you can't ever really come back "home" and have it be the way it was before.
And they are right. It is nothing like it was before, because I am older and doing different things in my life, not everything is the same, and I'm pretty much out here by myself. But that doesn't mean that it hasn't been wonderful, because it has. I love being back here, and it's not "home" like it was when I was a little girl, but it is home in a whole new way, and the place I have felt the most accepted and welcomed is at the church. Which is how it should be if you are where God wants you to be. So, I am ready to officially become a part of this church family of my own free will, and I am definitely excited for it.
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| It isn't much, but it's home to me :) |
"The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."
Romans 8:16-17
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved."
Ephesians 1:3-6
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