When we get there, we are greeted like at most churches, by smiling faces and one of the elders even came and talked to us. They taught expository, which was both a surprise and what we like. The music was no showy at all and very purposeful. We were very pleased with our first choice of church to go to.
After service is when I really felt God played His hand. A really nice couple with 4 kids, 3 girls and a boy, came up and introduced themselves almost like they could tell we were new and sought us out. He leads a fellowship group on Tuesdays so he invited us out for that.
On Tuesday, we met some other really great couples with young kids and some older couples. We had a really heartfelt study and some great prayer time. We walked away feeling blessed that God had put us exactly where we needed to be. We had new friends who loved Jesus and my heart was full!
Sunday number two came around and we sat down next to a young couple with a two month old baby girl. Addison is so interested in babies so she helped spark an introduction. They are from South Carolina and have been here for 3 years while he attends the seminary attached to the church. After service, they invited to lunch at their friends house, which we accepted. The pastor and his wife came over and introduced themselves as well.
Funny side note: the pastors wife asked if we were related to the couple we just met. She asked because there is a strong Philippino culture here and two Caucasian couples sitting next to each other is a rarity. lol
We had lunch with the couple and their friends, who are from Michigan. I felt like we were old friends already. Addison played with the big black lab and we all had a great time getting to know each other. They had planned to go to a pumpkin patch and invited us to come along, so we did. Well, it was either that or go home to the trailer and do nothing... kind of a no brainer! The pumpkin patch was so fun and the guys talked while us girls played with Addison in a giant corn "sandbox".
Even though we have only been to this church twice, they have shown me something that is missing in a lot of ministries today. I think we have a tendency to get stuck in our ways and not want to take that extra step past the "greeting" part of church. We have all seen a new face and either given a smile or introduced ourselves but nothing more. This is a large church and for people to not only introduce themselves but invite us to be a part of their social life, both times, speaks volumes to me. I know I will try harder to seek out those in the body, both new and established, that God is putting in my path.
Here are some pics from our trip to the pumpkin patch!