Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Bad news and a test

Sad is the feeling of the day....

The baby kitty died last night. It went to sleep around 4 after a feeding and potty, then around 6 Suz noticed it wasn't moving or mewling for food so she reached into it's box and it had passed. She and Justin had already grown quite attached to the little fellow so its' was a sad night for them. Thanks to Marianne who was so very supportive not only with advice but willing to help foster the little one... Is there a kitty heaven? I've been wondering since Shelby died last summer what happens to animals... Not really sure I want an answer I guess I'm just hoping she will be waiting for me in heaven and hopefully hasn't ruined any of the rugs before I get there.

But the there's another sad thing on the horizon....


See the very first church we went to, North Redondo Chapel (NRC) was a wonderful church. We had gone to visit on an invitation from my brother who attended there. We loved it when we walked through the door. The pastor Greg was a brilliant speaker and I really liked him. To make a long story short... he went a little bonkers and over 90% of the church membership left in a mass exodus. One pastor down.....

We spent a few short months at a church called Community Baptists Church (CBC) with fellow NCR refugees as we affectionately referred to ourselves. They were very welcoming but it didn't make a good fit for us. We visited many churches and ended up at Oceanside Christian Fellowship (OCF) where we found a pastor that spoke right to our hearts. We decided after a few months that OCF was to be our new church home. We were just getting ready to commit to membership and the Pastor decided to step down because of personal issues with his wife and the need to focus on his family. That made two.....

I spent many years out of the church. Not apart from God but tired of feeling like every time we found a church home something crazy happened with the pastor. Occasionally over this 5 year period we visited different churches but nothing stuck.

A little over a year ago, my sister who live in CO called to say she had just heard a visiting pastor speak and met his wife and they were so nice! His name is Eric Bain and his church is somewhere in Sacramento... "do you know where Natomas is?". I thought "Natomas". I'm so not hauling my cookies all the way to Natomas every Sunday. But we did and that was a year ago. We have found many new firends and gotten very close to many. Eric is a great pastor, gifted teacher/speaker and just this month we finished the process for membership... Can you guess what happens next? That's right folks Eric has been offerred a postion as pastor in Colorado. That makes 3, seeing the pattern yet?

This is awesome for our pastor Eric Bain and his family but really sucks for me. I don't feel like "looking at the bright side" of the situation... I feel like being selfishly sad and disrupted. I'm wondering if this is a new test from God. A good friend told me as I complained and whinned about change.... that "church" isn't about the Pastor, it's about God. God is still at Sanctuary.

This doesn't make me any less sad to say goodbye to the Bain Family and I really am happy for them!

3 comments:

Katie Scott said...

Paige--I understand your sadness! We will all have to stick together through this transition...

Jennifer Herring said...

I understand too. Your friend's right though... Church isn't about the messenger, but the message, the fellowship, and God's presence. While it is sad to see the Bains go, God isn't going anywhere. :-)

Amy, Steve, Molly, Paige and Garrett said...

Now that is a SMART friend. And I bet she's sexy, kind and dynamic too! (tee hee) ;) I just know that God is SOOOO much bigger than this. I watched the hurt and confusion from when our last pastor left and saw the amazement from people when they saw God's blessings when Eric arrived. And I know God is already setting things up to bless our church again! Because He's in charge of our church... not Eric! Eric is fabulous... but God is SOOOOOOO much better!
Amy