I had basically grown up going to church, but I don’t know if I ever really understood what I was being taught. By the time I was 16 or so and could decide if I wanted to attend church my faith was so jumbled up and disjointed that only answer was to sleep-in and go play on Sundays. Over the next dozen years, I went to church a handful of times for various reasons, then I met my wife, Jessi. Going to church was important to Jessi, and I agreed to go with her and raise our children in church. So we shopped around, sometimes going but most times not for the next 7 years.
We were invited to The Journey by our neighbors. First impressions were good. The kids programs were impressive, Liam, our oldest boy, was retelling Bible stories following our first Sunday. Jessi and I both had connections with old friends from high school and Chris made learning enjoyable. Jessi was excited that we found a church we could both be happy with; really I could simply be content with.
While Jessi deepened her relationship and love of Jesus, made friends, and connected with a community group in those first four or five months, I was more of a tag along who really would rather not have been there. You see, going to church was a deal I’d made; one that had to be kept. When Jessi and the boys left for community group on Thursday nights that time was all about me. Though, I could see Jesus working in my wife and all the amazing changes in her. Through her, Jesus was making my life better.
Everyone at the Journey was always nice and polite, even though I hadn’t made the time to really get to know anyone. I was never pushed into anything, invited, but not pushed (pushing would not have been a good idea). So for me the transition from tag along to participant felt easy, not forced. While my first impression of The Journey was that there were a lot of well put together, good looking people, as we continued to attend I came to realize that the people we were going to church with were really just like Jessi and me, broken and messed up but full of love. I came to understand that we weren’t joining a church but a growing family, who happened to go to church together. This past fall, I started attending community group with Jessi and the boys, and that time has truly become a time for us to learn and grow.
With the love, support, encouragement, shared wisdom and friendship of those at Journey Church, I came to know Christ as my Savior. It’s a daily journey that I know I won’t be perfect in, the best at or even particularly good at, but it’s a journey I’m grateful to be finally taking with my family.
