Farewell, New Faces & Cooling Off

This weekend was full of farewells and meeting new people.

Saturday night we went to our home church to say good-bye. Because of the changes that are happening in our church and God calling Jeremy & I in a different direction, I submitted my letter of resignation as a board member earlier last week. Then on Saturday during the service, my resignation (along with another board member's) was announced. There was a prayer time and blessing for us (and the other family) as it was also our last time attending our home church. There were tears and sadness of having to let go and laughter of good times over the past years. Even though we aren't physically moving away, there is still a sense of loss. We won't see these friends on a weekly basis anymore; I don't think I've actually grasped that concept yet. For 12 years, the people in our church have been our friends and family, as both mine & Jeremy's families live a fair distance away. They have supported and cried with us during our hard times and laughed and celebrated with us during our happy times. I thank God for the years we had with these wonderful friends.

Jeremy & I have been in limbo with church for several months now, waiting for something "official" to happen. Now that we had closure on Saturday night, we decided to attend a church Sunday morning that we had heard about. We enjoyed it and met a lot of friendly new people. I'm glad it was a good experience, but it was still difficult. I found myself critiquing things, being more observant than I usually am. I've only ever had two church families in my life, the one I grew up in and the one we just said good-bye to. I found myself comparing this new church with the one I love. But we are trusting God in this process, so I know that as we continue to search for a new church family, God will direct us and bless us. Boy, for someone who doesn't like change, I'm sure learning to be flexible!

After church we did a bit of grocery shopping, came home, had lunch and got ready for an afternoon with friends. One of the families in our church (the one we just said good-bye to - I'm still used to calling it our church!) has a large pool. They are moving in August so they wanted to take advantage of the hot weather we're in the midst of (almost 40/100 yesterday!) and have people over for swimming. So we packed up our snacks swimsuits and headed out. We have gone swimming at their pool for several years now and will sure miss it next summer!

It was a wonderful time cooling off in the water and visiting with lots of friends. I tried my best to stay in the shade as the sun bothers me. Over the past few years, the effects of the sun on my skin have been getting worse and worse. Now, if the sun is on my face, arms or chest then I get itchy little bumps and welts (the welts are more on my face). It's not very pleasant! Sunblock seems to be helping but it's not perfect.

After swimming we had a BBQ for supper and everyone shared their food. I love potlucks! We had a great time relaxing, visiting, and enjoying a beautiful summer day. The kids were tired and sweaty when we got home so we refreshed them with a bath and tucked them into bed! We watched a great adventure movie on TV after the kids were in bed, ending a great weekend!