It all started with a simple invitation. My kids and I took part in an event hosted at G3 church. At the end of that event, I was asked if I would like to attend service the next day. My kids and I did go to G3 that Sunday. I signed them up in the kids room, and they took off. I was warmly greeted by a few vaguely familiar faces of the strangers I had seen the day before. I sat alone that day, and listened. I like what I heard and my children loved their classes.
It took a little while for G3 to really feel like home to me. I had been isolating myself from the world for quite a while, and my family were about the only interaction I had. I had been an outgoing person once. Our world had become a rollercoaster with more downs than ups. I was stressed all the time. I basically stopped seeing anyone I wasn’t related to. Going to church was one of the few exceptions. I could feel myself slowly relaxing, especially with a few particular people. Everyone had always been very nice and inclusive, but I needed the time to adjust. I guess the turning point really came when my kids were asked to join “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown”. I had been opening myself more, interacting more, but this play had me fully involved, and I loved it. There are so many reasons G3 is home to me, but I really believe it became home when that shell around me fully dissolved. Every person took a little time and chipped it away.
G3 has done more than giving me my self confidence and life back. I love that everyone is so invested in taking care of the community. That attracted me into taking a much larger part in the church. It was the little things I noticed at first. Did my family need some food that week? That’s when I noticed G3 had bags packed full of canned goods for anyone in the community that needed that extra help. I had written down that I sew one time on a connection card. I was asked to do some sewing work, and I made some money from it. Those were the small things that made a difference in my life. When my vehicle broke down, I asked for a referral to a charity to see if I could get them to help. Without help, we could never get it fixed, and it was our main vehicle. Only a few people knew what was happening. As far as I know, a few other members overheard a conversation, and took it upon themselves to help my family out. I still to this day do not know who all helped my family, but because of you, and your generosity so close to Christmas, it has really changed my family’s and my life. I want you to know how thankful I am.
G3 church has done so many things for my family and for me, but the biggest thing they have done is to bring Jesus back into my life, and to introduce him into my kid’s lives. I have always had my faith, but I felt unheard, and dare I say it, unloved. In just one year (the year before I joined G3) so many things happened to bring us down. I prayed and prayed and still never felt any relief. It broke me. It’s what sent me into my self-imposed isolation. It wasn’t until I started to renew my relationship with God and Jesus that I knew. My prayers were heard. I was answered. Everything my family had gone through led us on the path back to Jesus. I was led to G3 where I would find my home, my community. It hit home last July when my boys asked to be baptized. I had been so busy renewing my relationship with Christ that I didn’t notice they were taking their first steps in starting a relationship with him. I burst with pride. They felt His love and wanted to be a bigger part of it. My 3 year old daughter loves church, and loves Jesus and God. She cries because she can’t go to church every day. She brings Jesus into a lot of conversations. I will be forever grateful to G3 church. They are our family!