God is funny sometimes.  And by funny I mean patiently persistent, and a little obvious.

We’ve been on the search for a church in our new town.  There has been a couple of “no”‘s, a few “maybe”s, but previously no clear “yes”.  I think we’ve finally changed that.  I had been growing frustrated, and prayed that the search would end soon, and that it would be an obvious decision.

Today we felt at home.  We started with good coffee, delicious pastries, a welcoming nursery where K willingly played and napped with his new friends, AND sign ups for the Christmas choir in the lobby.  We continued in to an inviting sanctuary with a few familiar faces, great music, and a very present God.

I’m very excited about the atmosphere, the ministries they offer, and what seems like a great place for us to grow as Christians and help K learn about God.

The “funny” part, is that for the 6th time since we’ve been searching for a local church, we heard a sermon on giving and/or serving.  The pastor started by giving the preamble that this isn’t the normal topic, and that if you were a first time guest he hopefully wouldn’t scare you off…  A very similar intro to what the past 3 pastors have said.  J and I smiled about it, and opened to Malachi 3:10 again.

I’ve said “funny”, because you’ve probably already observed what took J and I weeks to hear.  God clearly wants more from us.  We’ve spent weeks looking for a church that would give us what we want.  But we hadn’t been thinking hard about where we could best give back to God.

Well, we heard today.  And we have agreed we can do more to give of our selves.  The financial part is easier.  It will be the non financial part that will require some introspection, and more sacrifice.  Nonetheless, it feels good to have the search for a church behind us.  Now we can move on to the search for what is within us.