Its nice to WANT to go to church..

Well we just finished an awesome class in Sunday School..Let me start off by saying that I have been anti-Sunday School for the past 30 years.. I haven't went in forever. When I was growing up we just never really went to Sunday School, and I never really continued it as I got older either.. It took me forever to find my Church home when I moved to OKC..I tried unsuccessfully for 2 years before I finally found Crossings. I went to Crossings 3 years ago on Easter and fell in love with the Orchestra.. Then when Marty started to preach I thought "Yeah..thats what I was thinking".. Then I saw that there was a Wednesday night class by a teaching Pastor named Terry Feix about "The Last Days"...so I thought I'd go.. and man, once you go to Terry's class, you are just hooked on him as a teacher! Its like a good teacher you have in College when you want to just keep taking their classes because they are so good at what they do! He is so unbelievable smart that you can't help but learn stuff when you go.. He's also funny, which makes him entertaining and he 'dumbs it down' for me so I can actually understand it in normal people terms as opposed to bible speak.

When I walked into church last Sunday I thought "How nice it is to actually WANT to go to church".. As a child I went because my parents went and it was what we were supposed to do. I always enjoyed singing in church, but I never really connected with any of the classes. When I got to college I wanted to sleep in on  Sundays, so that stopped me from going all the time..even though I do feel like I've always had a good relationship with God. As I got more settled into my life I realized that relationship with God is just like a relationship with anyone else..The more you see them, the more time you spend, the more you put into it..the more you get out of it.. So when People say "I can have a relationship with God without going to church"..yes, I agree.. but just like with anything else..You get what you give, and the more you put in, the more you get back..So its really nice to like getting up on Sunday to go spend time in fellowship with the Lord.

My last 3 years at Crossings have been such a blessing. Every time I walk into that Church its like God tapping me on the shoulder saying "Remember when I tried to tell you about this?" Or "Hey KC, sound familiar:..etc..I've taken almost every class Terry has taught, and when I saw one Sunday that he was going to be teaching a Sunday school class at 10:45..I knew it was a God thing that I was supposed to be in it.. Up until that point I had avoided Sunday school because the classes started at 9:30 and that's when I went to regular church. Well when I saw that Terry's started AFTER church let out I was on board. Its a class called "Perspective" and its just been so eye-opening. At first we were studying the book of John and his relationship with Jesus..It was so fascinating to see the Lord through John's eyes..As a friend..as a prophet.. as a miracle..and as a father.. Awesome Study. Then we moved onto the book of Job..

I should say that at the time I joined the class I had just lost my job.. I felt like crap. I felt like a failure, I was confused, I was sad..and I was looking for some kind of direction..when in walks John..and then Job. Job was dealt a bad hand. For those of you who don't know the story basically Satan talks with the Lord and says "The only reason people even like you is for what you can do for them, or because they fear you".. and God says "No way..look at Job, take all his stuff away, watch him suffer, and I'll bet you he will still be loyal to me".. sure enough Job's life starts to really suck. He loses everything he owns..all his family die off, he has every sort of awful disease you can imagine..his friends abandon him..I mean really sucks to be Job at this point..You get the picture.. And even through all this..Even though he was a bit perturbed with God, He never quit trusting him, and he never quit believing in him. And for his loyalty he was blessed 7 times more with amazingness from the Lord..

This was a great lesson for me to hear because after losing my job I realized that for the last 13 years I've been asking God to bless MY plan, and grant MY Wishes.. Not one time did I ask him to put HIS plan for me into action. I've been down..I've felt awful..I've felt worthless.. I've lost friends..all the same crummy stuff, but I have learned to turn my eyes upon God and wait and see what He's got planned for me. I loved it when Oprah said that she prays each night for God to "Use her till he uses her up".. and now that's what I pray. I'm so grateful for all the amazing things in my life..the people..the dogs.. the places. I'm blessed, and I know that God has amazing things planned for me if I will just wait and see what they are..If I will wait for HIS plan.. because as cool as I thought my plan would be..I can't imagine how awesome the plan that God has for me will be.. Thanks Job & John for putting into into perspective.. Onward & Upward