Saturday, February 03, 2007

Greenhouse While waiting on a table at Charley's Crab, Brandon was approached by a co-worker that mentioned that a table they were waiting on thought they may know Brandon. Brandon approached the table and realized it was his old roommates brother, Brad Emerson. Brandon and Brad began to talk. Brad mentioned that he was involved with a church called Greenhouse Ministries in Eastown, Grand Rapids. Brad invited our family to attend. The following Sunday we decided to be visitors at Greenhouse. The service began at 6pm, so we arrived early enough to check Payton into the nursery. The worship leader and co-pastors wife Shelly welcomed us and watched Payton during the service. Brandon and I just had this overwhelming feeling that this would be our new church home. Everyone was friendly and introduced themselves. After church we talked with Shelly when we picked Payton up. She again was extremely friendly and made us feel welcome. Is this not what the church should be? We attended the next Sunday and enjoyed the service even more than the first time. We knew this was it! At the end of the service we talked with both of the pastors. We expressed our excitement about getting involved and becoming part of their church family. Just two days later we began looking at homes around Greenhouse. This is a close knit church and many of the attendees live within blocks of the church. Brandon and I had this crazy feeling that we may want to look into buying a home within blocks of the church. We found a potential home which was only 2 blocks from the church. We took a look and made an offer. This home just happened to be one block behind Josh and Shelly Buck's. Josh is the co-pastor and worship leader at church. Brandon and Josh connected and were looking forward to meeting for lunch together. Brandon shared with Josh that we were looking to live in the area and asked him a few questions about his house and the neighborhood. That same day, I met at Josh's house for a moms bible study group. This is something that I had been looking at getting involved with since Payton was born. I had been unsuccessful so far at finding one. I was certain that I was going to love this new group of Mom's that I was beginning to get to know. During bible study we read the bible, prayed, and talked about mom stuff. One of our prayers was for Josh, Shelly, Brad, and Sarah. All four were leaving in two days for a much needed getaway to Cancun. We prayed for safety during their travels. Two days later we received a call from Pastor Jason. He was inviting us to his home to have dinner and play games. Jason's wife Holly was also a part of the mom's bible study I had gone to. Brandon and I were extremely excited about getting to know them. Later that evening, we received a phone call that we will never forget. Jason was calling to cancel our dinner plans, Josh had gotten into a swimming accident and was being transported to Miami for medical treatment. Brandon shared the news with me. He then left the room. I immediately knew what Brandon was doing. He was going to the computer to book a flight. This was not a long, extensive friendship that we had with Josh. In fact, I had just met him 2 weeks prior. With the two times that we visited Greenhouse, we knew that we were already a part of their family. We will walk with them through these trials. We know that God has huge plans for Greenhouse and Josh. We continue to pray for complete healing of Josh's body. Please pray for Josh and his family. They have two young children and one on the way. For updates please visit Greenhouseministries.org

0 comments:

Blog Archive