Getting Plugged In

I never realized how important being plugged into your church community was. Growing up, we went to church on most Sundays, I went to VBS in the summers and when we moved I started going to a youth program at a local church. However, it never went deeper than that for me as far as church involvement was concerned. I was a kid so that was probably a huge part of it, but being really plugged in to my church family was not a priority. 

Enter early adulthood I rarely went to church. I knew I loved my Savior Jesus Christ but it just was not my top priority again. I am not saying it is bad not to go to church, there are many avenues now that you can be plugged in if you can't physically be there and I think that is so awesome! However, in recent months I've learned the importance of the church community and those amazing God given relationships. 

When we had the boys, church felt impossible. We had chosen to hold off on vaccines for a bit, so I wasn't going to put them in the nursery. When we did attempt to go, we tried the mother's room. Husbands are typically not allowed but the mother who was in there nursing her baby saw that we had two babies and I needed a hand...it was so hard and we ended up leaving because we couldn't hear the message. My anxiety spiked much during those first few years of the boys' lives and it wasn't until recently I started feeling like myself again. 

Sometimes I just smile at the amazing why God works. I was feeling extremely secluded when I had the boys. Their entrance into the world was traumatizing for me, add having TWO babies to cart every where and it was just too much. I didn't do much for the first 2.5 years of the boys' lives. I never took them to the park if I was by myself, they didn't experience many things I saw my friends experiencing with their singletons. With that said, a friend of mine who I had talked to on and off over the years told me about Mother of Multiples at a local church. I so badly needed those connections, those friends who knew exactly how I was feeling, I was craving it. I can say that was the first thing that I involved myself in after the boys that really helped me get out. It gave me an excuse to leave the house and it fed a part of me that was hungry. I am so so so grateful for these women. It has been so amazing for my boys too, I just love it! As MOPs was feeding my faith I knew that I needed to start attending church more. I was feeling better but my heart was still missing something. 

Six months ago a close friend of mine told me that the pastor who performed our wedding ceremony moved to a new location...right by our house. I was ecstatic! We started attending and on the second day I was there I signed us up for a community group based on marriage. It has been a gift for us to be involved and more plugged in. My relationship with the Lord feels stronger than it has in a long time. We still have Sundays we can't go or choose not to because my husband works 6 days a week and they only family day we get is Sunday. However, being plugged into the group has been great for our spiritual walk together. It bums me out when we can't make it to our group meet ups, like today. One of our littles is sick...again. This has been the worst cold/ flu season EVER! Sick kids are part of life, busy schedules are part of life, tiredness is part of life, you have to put forth an effort to improve yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually. That is why being plugged in is important! It gives you more opportunities to stay on course than fall back. We might not get to church as often as we should or could, but we are trying. We are working to grow in our spiritual walk which looks different for each person. The important thing is the sense of community, the accountability and the growth. 

So get plugged in friends! In a way that will help you grow in the Lord! Just like everything else, change takes time, but you'll notice a huge sense of love and spiritual growth when you make these connections. I am so thankful I fought through those hard days and that the Lord put friends in my life to help me find my way back.