Summer swirled us into a tornado....

We had a pretty relaxing summer. Little did we know what was brewing. The end of the summer required us to talk to one church attender, who we really felt had some mental issues. My dh talked to this woman, and as you'd expect, she didn't take it very well. We were pretty honest with her, though. Either she needed to get some professional help, or we just couldn't continue to have her in our church. She'd been regularly offending people - like yelling at them for something SHE felt they should've done. Some of these victims didn't even know what hit them over the head. So, we really needed that put to a stop, but we preferred that this woman get the help she needed - we were more afraid for her own children.

She told us she was leaving our church. We were really saddened, but felt we did what we needed to. Three days later, she emailed us and told us we were right, she was getting help, and no, they weren't leaving the church! Wow. We were very surprised. Sure enough, she did get some medicine, and is doing great!

The next month, nearly at the same time, two of our core team members told us they were considering leaving!! They told us that they were exhausted with all the work to set up for church, every Sunday. They needed a break, and maybe they wouldn't even come back!! One person emailed praise team members telling all of them that he was taking a break for a month, probably visiting other churches. A praise team member called it what it was. He emailed back "why don't you just admit that you are checking out other churches because you plan on leaving? Don't leave us hanging - be honest." At least, that was the gist of what he said. This kind of surprised that core team member, and he never did take the break. I don't know what caused our other core team family to halt their plans of leaving. But they never did leave.

At the end of that month, the husband of a good friend of mine (from church) stopped by our house. He told us that they were on the brink of divorce and he didn't know what to do. We had a long talk with him. I already knew half of the story. I'd been praying for my friend the entire summer!! She was out to destroy her marriage. I was watching her balance herself on the edge of a precipice and I couldn't get her to come back to safer ground. However, I think her husband visiting us made a change in her. I don't know why, but from that point on, she began talking "normal." She told us that she thinks she got to drinking too much during the summer, and perhaps that caused her imbalanced thinking. I have been greatly surprised at how much alcohol plays a role in messed up lives.

Not 2 weeks after that incident, a major leader/heavily involved family in our church called us and told us they were leaving the church! This was a complete shock to us. The woman was offended by something dh said to her in an email. There was nothing to be offended about. It turned out that the woman was battling severe depression (probably still is) and she thought she saw something in a comment that wasn't there. I had a long talk with this family. The woman is getting some medicine to help her with post-partum depression. They really didn't have any reasons for wanting to leave - just the one comment.

Through all of this, dh and I realized what spiritual warfare we were dealing with. We prayed harder, fasted, and prayed heavily for these different families. What was also interesting was during this time, our attendance dropped into the 70's. It was over 100 in the summer.

Dh came to the realization that we were just not going to focus on the next program, project, whatever to get people IN the doors of our church. We were going to focus on telling the blunt honest truth about what the Bible has to say about our lives.

I was a bit sad that Pastor Appreciation went by without notice. But, we were slowly recovering from all the crazy stuff that happened with all of those different families. There were more, but I shall not continue to list all of the problems that arose. December came, and everyone seemed more excited about what our church was all about. We started getting some new families in, who normally didn't attend church. Our December series was on Christ's second coming, and how we need to be prepared for it, just like we prepare for Christmas (His first coming). This seemed to really turn things around. From December to January, we've been averaging over 120. It's really strange to see that blip in our attendance!! In December, I have to be honest. I was a little hurt that very few people acknowledged us. One person gave us a cookie jar. However, I was very relieved that the general spirit about church was good. People were focusing on Jesus, and we were seeing baby Christians move a little further along in their growth.

In January, dh began a message series about being a bigger Christian. He's basing it on 1 Corinthians, where Paul tells the baby Christians to GROW UP! Our themes have been - God knows the exact sinful life you've led, He accepts that, but now, it's time to change! Meeting God means change will occur in your life. You can't be the same person once you've met Christ.

We're feeling a momentum. And what do you know? We can't go to church, Sunday! The school that we rent told us no activities are allowed there (probably they won't guarantee that the snow has been removed). So, I'm very disappointed about that. But, the last time we weren't allowed to meet at the church, we had a prayer walk around one particular neighborhood. The next year, more than 5 families attended our church from that neighborhood!! So, our plans this year is to serve our community. We're going to our local grocery store and passing out hot chocolate. We plan on helping people put their groceries away and return carts for them. There have been times that I've dashed to the grocery store right before service because I had to pick up supplies, and I was quite shocked at the number of people that go grocery shopping at 10:30 on Sunday morning!

Oh, and remember how disappointed I was that our church didn't seem to appreciate us? Well, they are having an appreciation dinner for us at the end of this month. :o) My heart is encouraged. I should not desire accolades and stuff like that - I know. We serve Jesus and that IS enough. But, I was just being real about my feelings. I hope you understand.