Homesick

Hubby and I are currently "between churches." We found a wonderful church family shortly after moving out here, and we really felt at home there. Everything felt so familiar about worship services there, and being strangers in a strange land, it was good to have something familiar out here to connect with.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, we no longer feel that we can be comfortable as a part of that congregation. The choice had nothing to do with any problem with the congregation on any level. We'll just call it a matter of personal histories and leave it at that.

The point is, Hubby and I are in the market for a new church home. And after perusing this helpful website, we chose one of the closer congregations and decided to visit this morning.

For the first time in my life, I stayed just long enough to partake of communion and left before the sermon. Suffice it to say, this congregation was not a good fit for us. Now personally, I don't think it's necessarily a sin for a congregation to have a praise team. And I don't think your soul is doomed to an eternity of torment if you choose to clap during songs of praise. Neither of those things are really my cup of tea, but I'll not condemn others who feel moved to do so. But when those things are accompanied by a pervasive sense of defiance about the whole ordeal, something's not right. And that's what I sensed this morning. The entire experience made me so homesick for the Bible Belt that I cried the whole half-hour drive home.

Surely the congregation we are leaving behind isn't the only one nearby that feels like home. There has to be another family nearby that we can be comfortable worshipping with.