I put church in quotes because it truly showed me the meaning of what the bible says church should be. A group of people gathered together to worship, share in the Word, and glorify God. A little more about what we found...it's called Hot Rod Church for Sinners (www.hotrodchurch.com), located in Mission Viejo, CA. They meet on Sunday mornings at Santoras, a pizza place/bar. Their worship style is Rock-a-billy Gospel (similar to 2-step with a lot of upright base).
I wasn't sure what to expect, but Richy was very excited about going, and that's important...when your husband is excited about going to church, you go with it...and I was a little nervous about what we'd find because it wasn't just our family that was going to be exposed to something different, we had LaTosha with us...
Needless to say, it was an awesome experience. These folks come together at a pizza place/bar to fellowship and worship. They show up in their old cars and dress in attire that matches the music they play. The music was lively and the people were incredibly friendly. When church was over, we went to lunch with some of the folks from the church and that's where our journey began. Brian Bent, the leader in Mission Viejo, told Richy to start one on his own...he needed someone to bring the Word and a band to play music...
God had put into my husband's heart and soul that he needed to follow a ministry like this to attract people who love old cars and old music to attend a church service.
In February, we visited our friends and Genna's godparents, James and Geneva, in Forest Grove, OR. I had been saying for a long time that I missed the Portland area and would someday like to move back. Over the course of that 3-day visit, we made a decision to start looking into moving. 2 months later, we went back to Portland to explore housing options. By the end of the weekend, we had found a house and put a deposit on it. When Genna got out of school in June, we were going to move.
Come to July 15th...we have completed all of our commitments in Yreka, Genna is done with school, the house is packed into a moving truck...and we are leaving at 6am to drive to our new house. What an adventure that is just starting...
We have now been in West Linn (a small suburb of Portland on the SE side) for about 6 weeks. The kids are adjusting and making friends and we are meeting other people in our neighborhood. We have attended a couple of different churches and are excited to be participating at New Life Church in West Linn. Mars Hill is also starting a church in Portland and we have been to a couple of those events too (http://portland.marshill.com).
Today is our 2nd biggest milestone - GENNA'S FIRST DAY IN HER NEW SCHOOL...
Genna is in 1st grade at Cedaroak Park Primary school. She was such a trooper this morning going into the gym for the morning meeting (the entire school meets together for the 1st 10 minutes of the day before going off to their classrooms). She was a little nervous, but did very well. I can't wait to hear all about it when I get her this afternoon.
We have done all of this in God's strength and leading... The hardest part of it all was telling my family that we were uprooting the kids and moving 300 miles away. Without God, none of this would have ever been a consideration. He gave Richy the inspiration, He found us a house, and He continues to give us strength when things get tough.
And we're so glad you're here!
ReplyDelete