A Church Home for the Parishes.

January has been a very busy month for our family. Elijah began Gymboree and swim classes which has been awesome. On his first day in Gymboree, he was moved to the next level of 10-16 months since he is walking now (up to 10-15 steps at a time sometimes!).  I love taking him to swim class at the YMCA and he has a ball in the water, as he always has.  As I have always said, he is a little water baby and that love of water extends to all sea creatures. Coincidentally he did try his first taste of meat the other night and it was tilapia. He confirmed what I already knew....we are not "there" yet.

This month the Parish family has also made an important decision. Chip and I have been "shopping" for a church home for about three years. Granted, we haven't always been actively looking but lately we have more diligent. We have, on several occasions over the past couple of years, attended Spring Baptist Church with Chip's parents and felt a real connection there. However we thought it would be best to find something that was closer to our home, in our immediate community. We had actually decided on a place that we felt pretty good about, though not perfect it seemed to have what we were looking for in a house of worship, though I think we will be agree that it did not fill our hearts the way a service at Spring Baptist does. The choice had been all but made.  Then Chip's mom told me about a Time Out For Moms group that was being held at the church. She knew that although I had attended several Moms groups, I had not really found one that clicked. So I tried it out. Halfway through the gathering, I texted Chip that this is where we needed to be. I felt so at home with these people. The childcare was AWESOME which is so important and Elijah seems to really enjoy his time there. I just felt this closeness with these ladies that I had just met and it is the same kindred spirit I felt with everyone I had ever encountered from that church.  That evening, the choice was made and Chip and I decided to surrender to what we had both known all along.....that we were mean to be there. That was a little over a week ago. We attended services on Sunday and checked out one of the Sunday school classes. We are going to try a few out and choose one to commit to by February. I attended my first choir practice last night (something I had really been wanting to do since we started looking for a church) and I have to say I am feeling so fulfilled and happy.....like this has been what we really needed, wanted and it is a relief to know that we now have a church and it is the one we wanted all along.  It is also such a bonus that Chip's parents call this their home as well. Last night during choir, Elijah got a little fussy in the nursery and Chip's mom had just finished up a bible study and was able to go spend time with him while I finished up. It just feels right and I am thrilled with our decision.

Times we have spent at Spring Baptist over the last year and a half

June 2011: This was our first father's day outside SBC when I was pregnant wit our first baby who was lost to us the following day.

April 2012: Happier times.  Almost 37 weeks pregnant on Easter which also happened to fall on my birthday.

May 2012: My first mother's day spent with four generations of Parishes beginning the day with services at SBC

 

June 2012: Chip and Elijah's first father's day together with Granddad. (That tree is outside SBC is a favorite spot for us Parishes to take family photos!)

 

December 2012: We enjoyed the SBC Christmas pageant and watching Granddad and our family friend, Rick, play Santa Clause!

December 2012: Christmas Eve services.....

We have already had so many memorable experiences at Spring Baptist and I look forward to see what the new year will bring for us, not only as a family of three (for now...) but also as part of this great community of Believers.