life: by brandonjb

I can’t sleep.

It’s dark. It’s 6:15. I’m wide awake.

I’ll try to sleep. I guess.

Finally…………………..

I’m finally done with the new version of iheartmyself.tk!!!!!!!

Whew. It took a while but I’m glad I finally found a way to house everything I wanted.

Why are you still reading? Go to the site! AND DONT FORGET TO BOOKMARK IT!

You know you want to.

I came home yesterday and got some home cooking. Well, not really. We had pizza yesterday but I am home. AND BOY AM I GLAD.

I went to church earlier and it made me feel great. Everything about the service made me smile more and more. It was exactly what I needed.

For a little while now the church hasn’t been the same. Since early 2006 things got a little shaken up. It seemed as if general interest was dying: slowly fading away from what it had once been. This is especially true with the under 25 demographic; and it didn’t help that many of us had different agendas that we had to fulfill (i.e. college/life). Many of us had to leave the church and live. This hurt because while we off doing our own thing, the church was spiraling downward. It seemed as if it didn’t have a path to work toward.

    Attendance was low, we were without a Pastor, and the conference didn’t seem to care. After going through month after month with trials, I began hearing quit in peoples voices: leaders voices. When I saw that I knew that it was at it’s lowest point. There was no will to go: no will to overcome. In the midst of all of this I was leaving going away to school, leaving my family behind. It hurt.

I remember coming back for break the first time later that year. I didn’t find anything. Everyone had left. We didn’t find a Pastor yet. I didn’t even find the same church that used to be there. This was a real problem for me because of my feelings about the church. This was my first church. The one that introduced me to the Lord. The one that brought me my best friends in the world. The one that the people I considered my family went to.

After going through month after month with trials, I began hearing quit in peoples voices: leaders voices. When I saw that I knew that it was at it’s lowest point. There was no will to go: no will to overcome. In the midst of all of this I was leaving going away to school, leaving my family behind. It hurt. I sat in an empty pew and brainstormed what we could do. I prayed and prayed. I did not want to see the church go down like that. Luckily, there were others praying too. There were efforts from the lead elder and other dedicated members to bring it back. For a while, it didn’t seem to be working, but they stayed with it.

Then, I came home in 2007, almost exactly a year from when it began and I learn that we finally have a Pastor. I didn’t know much about him; he had preached there before but nothing enough to really know him. I saw his demeanor and his actions. It impressed me. He wanted a better church. With his leadership along with the backing of the dedicated members of the church, there could actually be change. But, it didn’t instantly solve our problems. No one wanted to be there. What could happen to change the state of the church?

Fast forward to March 1st, 2008. I walked in late and snuck into a seat. The sun was shining. It made the room warm and bright. It made me feel comfortable. I noticed a few different songs; a few people I didn’t know. Everyone was smiling. The sermon was amazing. It was capped off by about ten people going up for the alter call. Oddly enough, most of the people standing up for God were young. Whenever anyone makes a decision like that I applaud them. Especially people I’m close to. I was overwhelmed with happiness. I’ve also been noticing the young people getting closer and closer. Not only together but with God. I was deathly frightened that many of us would drift away: never returning to the church because we didn’t love it anymore. I saw people openly deciding to do wrong last year but now they’ve decided to do better. Peoples attitudes are changing. I wanted the best for them and now they’re getting it. I love it.

It’s funny how God works things out. Maybe we needed this whole trial to see where our faith was. To see what we needed. The church still isn’t perfect, (when is it ever perfect?) but I can definitely see it’s getting better.

The story isn’t over though. I’m excited to see where it’s going. Excited to see how many lives will be saved, miracles worked, and eventually, I’m excited to see my church family when we all get to heaven.