In trying to rejuvenate my writing habits, I wanted to start by sharing the story of why we moved our family 20 miles across town. First, it all starts from back in 2006, when my job moved me and the fam from Phoenix, AZ to Atlanta, GA.
I knew that we had to soon find a place to go on Sunday’s, because well that was the thing to do, and as a Pastor’s Kid I knew it would click sooner or later why we did this “ritual” on Sundays. Perhaps it would seep into the rest of the family and hey, maybe we’ll even join a “bible study” on a Wednesday night or something. Who knows.
After hopping from one church to the next, we finally called a Pastor from back in Phoenix and asked if they had any recommendations as to which church we should try next. Without hesitation, they told us of one church they were trying to model there’s after because of different “environments” and methods of making big seem small through these things called “community groups” or something weird and crazy like that.
So, we tried it out and almost immediately we knew that we found “our place.”
The drive there and back, for about 3 years became exhausting. 45 minutes there, 45 minutes back. To hear a message that might stick with us for a few days, but hey at least we get to talk about it on the way home… those 45 minutes home, but we knew we needed to stay committed since this is where we were growing.
As a man, and a woman.
As a couple.
As a family.
Welcome to North Point Community Church.
Our children love the environments in their respective age groups, and for our children to actually be excited to “go to church” was something that was foreign to me as a child unless it was pot luck day. I really wanted to ride this for as long as we could, but I knew it would be more difficult to do so if we didn’t find a church closer to our home. Yet after searching around for a few months, we kept coming back to one that just seemed to fit perfectly for our family.
Then something struck a chord within us. We needed to be more involved, in helping and in serving where our church needed the most help. So I started volunteering with some 4th graders while Kim helped out in the infant/toddler environments.
Yet there was still something in me, actually something in both Kim and Me that yearned to belong to something. To experience community in a way that was not fake or on the surface. To be able to participate in a community of fellow Christians that didn’t live 45 minutes away and who knew what it was like to hear the same message on Sunday or serve in the same children’s environment.
On top of that, we wanted our children to grow up and have a circle of friends they would see on Sunday… as well as Monday-Friday, and want to hang out on Saturdays, all of which whom have heard the same message on Sunday and applied the same truths throughout the week. Kids who will walk through life through the most challenging parts of childhood, as well as a couple of adults outside of their own parents but who are speaking the same truths from the same Book about the same God.
So…
We moved closer. In fact, 3 miles away closer.
Almost immediately things started to change. Kim and I got into an adult small group, our kids were placed in groups according to their schools, and now 3 years later they have leaders and friends that I am sure will be with them through graduation, if not further.
The risk we took as a family to move was not a huge risk, but the reward has been immeasurable. All because we took that step of faith to move.
Closer.
