Finding a new church

Can't really start looking until we actually know where we are going to live and we can't do that till we get a job and we can't do that until we get down to TN/KY, and we won't do that until we sell our house, and we can't sell our house till we get it ready.
So it seems a little premature to be curious about churches and places of worship. But finding a new church home can be just as important as finding a house. It is your connection with other believers, it is a source of fellowship, service, and community. A place to call home, to have a pastor, to learn and grow in an environment that encourages it. A place to return to from outreach missions and to share what God is doing with other believers.
And looking for churches down there has depressed me. They just aren't MY church. I've grown up with ChangePoint. We got here in '98 and have been going ever since, so although we weren't there from the beginning, we have been there for a long time. I have the fondest memories from the old Sentry campus, when it was called Grace Community, and the fun the youth group had there. Our auditorium was a basketball court. It was great.And then we moved to the current campus (with a couple years in transition at Dimond High), and that was great, too. We grew and grew and the fellowship grew and it is great. Our teaching pastors are gifted and have raised me on a firm foundation of theologically solid gospel.The ministries are amazing, and the people my family. I love being able to go to any of the four services and see tons of people I know. To say hi, catch up, and encourage each other.
I love that I see them as family, and Sunday morning is a privilege and exciting part of my day. Our worship team rocks and they help me enter into a sublime time of worship every Sunday. I love that we will have the most contemporary songs and then an old hymn or two mixed in. It's great. It's not just contemporary or just hymns.
It's big, it has problems, and the people there aren't perfect so I fit right in. I know that at any time I could approach almost any of the leaders there with a problem and they'd pray with me right then and there. I love that there is an atmosphere of community and that people of all ages, race, sex, and social status attend. I LOVE the diversity.
It is my home.
And now I am moving. Under God's direction, yes, but moving all the same. I will miss my church family more than I will miss my house. They are my beloved brothers and sisters in Christ.
So my comfortable atmosphere, my little bubble of fellowship is about to expand, change, and the idea of different traditions, different theology, different worship, teaching, people that speak in southern accents...it's a bit unnerving. I'm not upset about it, or worried, but there is a period of mourning I have to go through. It is a loss of sorts. It just is.
And so I don't mean to focus on the negative aspects of it because I know about all the positive and am DEFINITELY excited about the cool things coming, but there is a mourning.

I'm going to cry on the drive out. I know it...but right now, it's like it's finally hitting me; how much I'm leaving. How much I'm going to miss. And I want to cry now.


--MovingGirl