So Thankful for my Church

Yesterday, I had one of those weird moments where you feel like you're walking through a flashback in a movie or tv show. I was at my church getting ready for our dance recital and I had to go in a different entrance as they were doing some exterior work at the main one. I was walking down the long hallway and all of these memories flooded my head.

I set foot in that church for the first time to attend the funeral of my teammate and friend Lacey. She had decided that the world was more than she could handle and had ended her own life my freshman year of high school.

I didn't start seriously attending services there until my junior year. From that point forward, God began great things for my life that were, well, life-altering. My journey on this earth took a drastic turn from where I thought it would be going.

I graduated from high school and decided to stay home and attend school here, met a guy who would be instrumental in involving me in children's ministry and introduce me to my mentor, Julie. Walking down that long hallway, I remembered walking into offices and getting schedules and tasks, helping out and learning new things about ministry. The walls were a different color and the break room for the janitors was filled with faces, some who still work there, others who have moved on in jobs or from this world, and I half expect one of them to come around the corner.

I would move on from children's ministry to youth ministry. There is a special group of girls that hold their place in my life when I felt so alive and really loved what I did. They're all in college now, taking on their own journeys. Julie would introduce me (in a most embarrassing way) to my husband. I became an assistant after directing the sports ministry and learning that being in charge is NOT my thing. Being an assistant was hard, but I was so appreciated by my bosses and loved what I did that it made it worth it. Now, I'm just a volunteer and love doing what I can to help out and teaching dance to four sweet girls.

As I pushed Jacob down that hallway, I just connected all those dots and got a little sentimental. Of course, it was God's plan all along, but my life is what it is in part because of all of those memories and circumstances that the hundred year old building holds. I am who I am because God used them for my good and His glory. There are some rough spots and some spots that weren't very fun, but I'm so thankful for each of them. I'm thankful to be on this journey with my Lord, and it makes me excited for what's down the road: the good and the bad, but all beautifully orchestrated.