My Happiest Place on Earth

We just returned from a pretty amazing trip to Disneyland.  Angela enjoyed many special moments, our kids were in awe, and I restrained myself to only eating four churos!  We experienced some magical moments alongside some very real meltdowns (a couple by me).  All in all, it was a great trip... one for the history books.  We were spoiled like crazy with VIP status throughout our entire stay which gave us access to the front of every line and reserved seating at all the big shows.  We were met at the airport and returned promptly by the Williams', Patti, and Kelly (our new and gracious SoCal friends).  On top of that, friends and family blessed us with gifts that allowed us to do the entire trip for free.  I'm normally a scrooge, but the purse strings were open on this trip.  We stayed in the premier hotel which allowed us to simply walk right into the park and easily return for naps and breaks.  We are still a bit overwhelmed with all of the love and perks we received!

All of that being said, what I am most looking forward to is our gathering this Sunday.  Call me crazy, but the happiest place on Earth for me takes place with our Church family every Sunday morning at 10:00am.  I struggle to find words to describe the joy and hope that fills my life when we gather together.  I love seeing familiar faces and meeting new ones. I love knowing what good things have happened in our lives during the week and then together raising our hands in worship and gratitude.  My faith is strengthened when I see a loved one going through a difficult time and then joining with their Church family to worship, pray, and support one another.  I love seeing the little kids running around before, after, and sometimes, during ;) our gathering.  I love that we get to sing songs of our faith, words of praise, and posture our lives with a heart of worship.  I love that we take time to catch-up, pray, cry, and laugh together.  I love the moment that we open God's Word together... this moment always humbles me as I think, "Wow! All of these people got up on a sunny Sunday morning to surrender to God through His Son, His Spirit, His Word, and His Church!  We could be sleeping in, going to the lake, cooking a big breakfast, or heading up the slopes, but God has our heart and He wants to speak to us today!"  I love the sense of family and community that is experienced.  I love the way that God works through us in the formal and informal ways of our gathering.  Sunday morning really is the highlight of my week.  I've missed the last two and I can't wait for this one!

The thing that has helped fill a bit of the void created by my absence from our Church family on Sundays has been facebook.  It sounds weird to say, but our Church facebook group has given me a connection through out the week to our Church family.  It has helped me stay up to date on the lives of our Church family, informed me of prayer requests, given me things to praise God for, strengthened my patience when Jim or Chris post six of the same things :),  and encouraged me through others sharing what God has been speaking to them.  I was really encouraged by Val's journey this week as shared in our facebook group.  I was also encouraged by a scripture that Elisa posted on her own wall.  Thank you to everyone who is a part of this group.  Thank you for patience when sometimes it feels like you're being spammed.  Thank you for supporting one another through out the week with your encouragement, input, and support.  Thank you for taking it from the virtual world and applying it in the real world through prayer, physical help, and face-to-face support (still very much needed in life).

I hope I get to see you this Sunday.  I am eagerly anticipating our gathering.