I gave my heart to the Lord and was baptized on Saturday, May 19, 2001, in my hometown of Keyes, OK. On Sunday, May 27th, 2001, I found my first true church home at Amarillo South Church. I learned what it was to KNOW the Lord and to really love His people there. I served at one time or another as a greeter, a ministry leader in the nursery (yikes!), an adult small group co-leader with my husband, a member of the women's ministry council, and as a small group leader in youth ministry.
But far and away my greatest joy was serving the women of my church (and community) as a Bible study leader. For many years I spent Tuesday nights with "my girls" breaking open the Word of God, usually with the help of Beth Moore, soaking up as much knowledge as I could from a Book that had become magical too me. I hadn't grown up in church, and so it was all brand new to me. Stories that most people heard as children were awesome new revelations for me! When God patiently wooed me and I blindly took that leap of faith with Him, I literally didn't know what the Holy Spirit was. How sweet and precious our Savior is to bless me and rescue me and redeem me when I didn't even understand! I can't even begin to imagine what my life would be like now without Him and subsequently, without Amarillo South.
But after a blessed 12 years at South, my husband and I have made the difficult decision to leave. I will not go into the reasons why, but please know that this was NOT an easy decision, and it was made after many prayers and many tears by me.
And so. . . where are we now? Many of you have asked where we have gone! After trying a few places (which I will add is a difficult, uncomfortable process), we have found a home at Family Life Church. There are so many things that we like about FLC, the first being the size. We have about 1,000 people each weekend (I think), and I really like that. It's not small but it's not super big either. The praise music is AWESOME! It's current and heartfelt. The senior minister is Dale Travis. He is a very friendly, approachable guy who calls me by name every single time he sees me, even after the very first visit. His messages are Bible-based, and even though he has a Master's Degree, they are easy to understand. The vision of the church is to reach unchurched people, and I love that. There are many, many wonderful churches in Amarillo (South being one of them), and so I love that they aren't interested in stealing people away from where they are. And neither am I. If you are happy where you are, STAY!!!!! But if you are looking as we were, I would love to see you come for a visit to Family Life Church and say hello. http://www.familylife.tv/
And I'll end with a sweet note about McKenna. They were having a little Christmas trivia game at school (gotta love living in the Bible belt!). Why were Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem? And our girl who has known nothing but going to church every Sunday has apparently been listening! She was the only one in her class who knew!!! Yay McKenna!!
Love and blessings to you all this CHRISTmas season!
Kelly
