you are true, you are true, even in my wandering

K and I started going to church five or six weeks ago and actually haven't missed a Sunday since we started. There's this church down the road from the Starbucks he works at and just about all the pastors are regulars. I actually remember most of them from when I was working at that store as well. They like to have meetings there or just stop and get drinks on the way to and from places. We decided to try their church first because of the way they all are at Starbucks. No one is perfect, and we certainly don't expect them to be. But all of them are nice. And genuine. Really, those two things go a long way. When you can see that someone is trying to do the right thing in a situation as small as getting coffee and pastries on a regular basis, over a series of years even, I think it says a lot.

So when we decided we were going to go to church as a family and there are probably literally thousands of churches in San Antonio, we just decided to try theirs first and see what it was like. We LOVE it. The music is loud and GOOD. The speakers have challenged us every week but also given us something practical we can do every week. K and I talk about the Bible verses or the message through the week. We've been checking S into one year old church and although that hasn't been something he's crazy about, I think it's good for all three of us. He gets to play with different toys, meet other kids, and know that if we drop him off, we're coming back to get him.

We usually pick S up and then go back to the auditorium and chat with whoever we see that we know. I really like that part of the day as well. Everyone loves S, which is kind of like loving me. I think it's funny that everyone remembers his name and is slightly unsure of mine. I don't find it offensive or anything, because I think it's great that my little guy already makes such great impressions on people. A couple of weeks ago, one of the guys we were talking to basically told us he wasn't trying to or planning on pressuring us but he was excited to see where and how we'd serve in the church. I had already been thinking about it and I had a few ideas. Whenever I think of new things to do though, I always get stuck on what to do with S. He's too big for me to just take with me and it not be cumbersome at all. He wants to run around and explore and touch things and take things apart and put them back together. He's too little for me to expect him to sit next to me or to sit in a particular area and keep himself entertained. There's nothing wrong with any of this, but it makes it difficult to think about volunteering somewhere.

Saturday, I got to go to a woman's ministry event called the Mom:Inar. I completely loved it. It was so nice to get encouragement and feel pampered and be able to go home and feel refreshed. I'm not the only mom who struggles to keep on top of laundry! I'm not the only mom who gets nervous about making a weekly commitment to something on top of everything I'm already doing! I'm not the only mom who wants to read to my baby on a regular basis but has no idea WHAT to actually read! They are about to launch a new program called Band of Mothers and I am really excited to have a small group that is all moms. I talked to the leader afterward because I know this is where I'm supposed to be. I can help in so many different ways! I can serve and be fed at the same time, and I totally don't have to worry about S because it's going to be doing stuff with other moms so they will either understand or we will have childcare available.

I'm really excited to be going to church as a family. I'm really excited to be going to THIS church as a family. I'm really excited to dig in and get my hands dirty and help do something for other moms.

It's a good feeling.