On January 27, 2008, God led us to the First Baptist Church of Davisburg (Now known as the Springview Community Church). We had been married just over a year, and living in the Waterford area for two months. We had tried several churches in the area, but none seemed to be the right fit for us. I could tell some interesting stories about some of the churches that we visited, but I won't.
The week prior to visiting First Baptist, we got ourselves ready and plugged in the address to a church building into our GPS. It led us to a house in a subdivision. No church met there. We were growing very weary and even concerned that we wouldn't find a church family that we could embrace and serve God alongside as we had done at our previous church, Cedar Street Church.
On the 26th of January, we were heading
home from a family event in Ohio and I was looking online at some of the
Southern Baptist churches in our area. First Baptist was listed, so we
decided we would visit the next morning. I remember before we left that
morning, we prayed aloud that God would have this to be the church that
we would join.
The
church family greeted us so warmly, that they had the familiarity of
Cedar Street to us, which we had missed so much. (And they had delicious coffee!!)
Here we were, a young married couple in a brand new area of the state,
not knowing a single person other than each other, yet there was a
common bond of believers and we felt at ease. The pastor and his family
were on vacation that day, so a missionary from Louisville, Ohio, was
the guest speaker. Louisville happened to be the next town over from
Alliance, Ohio, the city in which we lived right after we got married.
(I thought that was pretty cool!) Bob met with the pastor a couple days
later and it was confirmed, we would join in with this body of
believers. We were thrilled to finally be able to settle in and begin to
serve God alongside these people. We got involved in small groups,
worship band, and youth group. We went on a mission trip to Costa Rica
in 2009. That same year, Bob was asked to be a part of the leadership
team.
In
June of 2010, Bob's job situation had changed and we were prayerfully
considering moving back to Ohio. After several weeks of praying, we
never got a sense of peace from God about leaving our church family, so
he began to look for new employment in July of 2010.
In
August of 2010, our pastor informed the leadership team that he and his
family would be leaving the church. I remember when Bob came home from
the leadership meeting that night, we just sat on the couch and wondered
what God was up to. We knew that we had felt called to this church, at
this very specific time, and he had quit his steady job to be obedient
to God's direction for us. So, this was something that we didn't see
coming at all.
During
the 13 months that Springview was without a pastor, I saw relationships
with fellow believers really blossom. God had given us a fantastic
interim pastor and He began to heal the church family in so many ways.
It was so neat to watch God's hand at work in the lives of His people.
We saw people who hadn't been serving in areas prior, step up and
fulfill a need. A Women's ministry was started, a prayer group was
started, and there was unity amongst the body of believers. It was a
blessed time.
In
September of 2011, God sent us the new pastor that we had been praying
for. It's been a blessing to get to know his family. We've also met so
many wonderful people during our time there.
It's
just amazing to think about God's perfect timing and the ways in which
He so intimately works in our lives. It was part of His perfect plan for
us to belong to this church body.
Several
months ago, Bob and I started praying about moving our family back to
Lansing area. Now that we have children, it's very important to us for
them to grow up around their grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.
Five months to the day that we started praying, God answered our prayer
and provided Bob with a new job in Lansing. So, recently we started
staying in Lansing most days of the work week and have begun the
transition to moving there.
We
are so grateful that God allowed us to be a part of this church family
for nearly 5 years. We grew to love many people. We welcomed our two
children while a part of this family, and they were embraced and loved
and cared for so much that it will forever bless us.
So, tonight starts our goodbyes, as this will be our final weekend at Springview.
As
Philippians 1:3 says, "I thank my God upon every remembrance of you"
Springview Church family. We are so blessed by each of you. We know it
was by God's divine design that we landed in Davisburg at that exact
time in our lives. Thank you for touching our lives the way you have!
Thank you, men, for investing in my husband, thank you ladies for
teaching me how to be a better wife and mother, thank you teens for
being the coolest bunch of teens on earth, and kids for being so awesome
(and for loving my babies like you do!) Thank you worship band and
sound guys for always doing your best! Thank you small group for being
real with us. Thank you, Pastor for teaching us more about Jesus. We
love you all! (Oh, and somebody please make sure Charlie Oaks claps his
hands during a song once in awhile, since he likes to tease me about
it!)
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| Costa Rica Mission team |
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| Leading worship in Costa Rica |
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| Uncle Phil's Diner Cast |
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| Soul Rev Teens |
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| Small Group |
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