Searching, still . . .

Yesterday was Sunday . . . and of course Jessie and I got dressed and went out in search of a church . . .

We went to Calvary Chapel. As far as I know, this is the church my friend Kendra and her family go to, but we did not see her there when we went. (I think, from what I remember her telling me is that she and her family have been going on Saturday nights instead of Sunday mornings)

When we walked in the door on the lower level of the church, we were amazed at how bright all the colors were . . . . and how friendly everyone was! So far we were really liking it . . . they had a little coffee shop on this level and everyone seemed to be pretty happy about being there. We liked that too.

Right away, we got a "Welcome packet" it had some cd's in it and a bunch of other information about the church. Jessie and I were going through it and this man walks up and introduces him self. His name was Ed. We just chit chatted for a couple minutes and he was super friendly.

When the band started we were excited because the music was nice . . . not like last weeks loud obnoxious music that we didn't know, and it seemed more like the singers were sing for "Their" glory, rather than the glory of God. (I still didn't know the songs, but they were a lot easier to sing a long with even though I didn't know them.)

There were lots of "simple prayers" (let me define what I am calling a simple prayer . . . it's more like they just start talking and all of a sudden they are praying, and you didn't even really know that it was a prayer . . . it just kind of happens) and lots of music at the beginning. And then Ed got up to speak . . . we didn't even know he was the pastor!!! He was just a nice man who was welcoming us to the church, everyone there was super welcoming!

What I liked about this church was that they did NOT pass the collection plate!! They had donation boxes all over, but no one was staring at you while you were NOT putting money in the kitty . . . I liked that a lot.

The other thing I really liked about this church was that Ed encouraged you to use your bible, he actually preached from the bible, we were reading Acts 15 . . . and he was taking what was said in the chapter and deciphering it for us . . . I actually remembered to bring my bible yesterday. I have the NIV bible, and they were using the NKJV (I think that's right ~ the new King James version) but they had bibles there for us to use if we didn't have our own. So I had both bibles open on my lap . . . comparing what they both said . . . some of the wording was different in both, but ultimately the meaning was the same, (I haven't done it with Acts 15 yet, but I ran in to a lot of problems when I was first thinking about churches, and reading a book my BFF Gennae gave me and looking up scriptures, all I had was my Jehovah's Witness bible and Tim's catholic bible, and I got all freaked out that nothing made sense, and that the wording would change the meaning of the scripture.) and Ed really made it easy to understand what was going on and how the words from way back then still apply in today's day . . . I liked that. I liked that I could read from the bible, it wasn't just some random dude up there talking about random stuff, I had biblical basis for what he was saying.

And another thing that happened at this church, is they did communion. I have never done communion before. Growing up Jehovah's witness, they teach that communion is only for the 144,000 that are going to heaven . . . and so when they do the passover, where they pass the bread and the wine, no one drinks it . . . they just pass it (Unless you are one of the 144,000 then you are supposed to eat the bread and drink the wine). So for me to actually get to partake was a big deal . . . I had to throw away all the things from my past, and start fresh in my head with what I'm trying to come to grips with now. (That's a lot of years of "Brainwashing" to get over . . . but I'm seeing more and more, that a lot of the things that I learned growing up, don't make a lot of sense now . . . that it's hard things to come to grips with.) After we had the communion and the songs and the prayers, I leaned over to Jessie and told her, "this was my very first communion ever!" and she was excited for me. I like that! She's so sweet!

Ed, said some where in his sermon, if you had questions~ you could come to him and he would give you a bible and together he would help you find the answers in the bible . . . Well, I'm on this Bible quest . . . I have my pretty pink NIV bible, and I have my Jehovah's Witness bible and I even have Tim's Catholic bible (Did you know that they have extra books in their bible? that kind of freaks me out . . . why do they get extra books, and who wrote those books???) and then yesterday, I stole a bible from the church we went to . . . Ed said at some point that he would give me (Not really me, but people in general) a bible if they had questions, and they had extras in stacks in the corner of the room . . . so I'm assuming that they were free for the taking . . . if not, I'm a bible thief! If we go back to this church, I'll bring that bible back with me . . . Its not like I'm not going to use it.

Jessie and I both really liked this church . . . but we are not done yet . . . we want to continue to look at more churches, maybe 3 more . . . and then we can make a decision . . . (And maybe I can steal some more bibles!) But this church is definitely a contender! This was the best of the three churches we have been to . . . the first was ok, the second sucked, and this one was really cool!

I'm really enjoying my church quest . . . I'm loving the fact that I have some sort of spiritual guidance to start my week off. I'm feeling a little more centered. I'm still mad at God for taking my Thomas . . . but I'm feeling a little better about it . . . Not much, don't get me wrong . . . I'm still mad, and hurt and angry . . . but . . . I'm not as mad, and hurt and angry . . .