Jewells of Thought

When I first left Fellowship Grandpa Freddy had been gone for two years. No matter where I went in the Church I could see him and tears would consume me for no other reason but the fact I was still mourning.

It would take years maybe even an entire decade for me to stop getting teary-eyed not seeing his head in the third row from the back on the left side of the congregation sitting up in the choir loft. Actually Sunday I heard his favorite song and instead of crying I was able to listen to it and remember him softly in my heart and mind.

Once I got the blessing from both of my parents I went back to Bethel Baptist to visit and then I went to First Baptist. Something fit at that second church, maybe the fact my high school music teacher was the preacher’s wife. For a college student needing to make a change and find out what I needed It found me there.

The Lord surrounded me with a new bunch of friends that I still have in my life. A Sunday School with friends closer to my age and woman I thought of as sisters in a way. We had girls nights which I hadn’t really had before like this and it was comforting. I learned and grew in maturity and grace knowing these couples and I continued to teach.

Then a shift happened for me. I was no longer at the church by myself. My Grandma and my Uncles Tony and Mike followed me over. Turns out I wasn’t the only one who needed to breathe a bit, it was nice having my own entourage and yet I liked having my independence. I tend to roll with the punches and anyway it was something I got used to except the Church people tended to get confused.

Questions popped up that I didn’t expect. My Grandma and Uncle Tony were often called my mom and dad. Sometimes it was a bit comical, but they didn’t know. Although I always said Grandma and my Uncles, and my parents’ Church were phrases I said on a normal basis.

There are so many names of people so crucial in my life at that Church at that time in my life to mention. I was so happy to get to know my teacher’s daughter. She became like a sister to me we loved music and it was so much fun doing duets with her. We both talked about missing the challenges of being in a collegiate choir. We truly grew up knowing that the choir was the support system for the preacher.

I still very firmly believe this: Choir is the support system for the preacher!

I loved going to the Dairy Queen knowing the owner and eventually having them as my Sunday School teachers. The Mitchels also employed at least a couple of my cousins over the years. There was a Girls Night Out in Bloomington that ended up finishing at the DQ one Friday night. It was so awesome knowing the owners. Becky sang at my Uncle Mike’s funeral. Then before I knew it her funeral was happening.

By that time I had made a decision and told the quartet while crying that I felt God telling me something. Things had been changing at Fellowship, but I also missed being with my parents. My dad and I used to sing together and I missed our family specials with mom playing. Selena even hopped up with us a time or two.

Knowing that my Grandma Betty has stayed at the same church pretty much her entire life is amazing. There are times I wish I could do that. When God is tugging at me though, or something feels off at the church I’m attending something has to change. Nothing was wrong at the church, but God was working in my heart; I needed to do some soul searching.

Plus Fellowship is the one church I have created and have a database of a three inch file folder of Veterans. I was also being asked to put my Veterans Powerpoint together for the new preacher. Something I could not pass up on, due to how much it means to me. I still remember Mom and Dad telling me that Steve Armstrong wanted to ask me a question and I can’t do something like this halfway. My Church Veterans are Special and Grandpa made sure I got to know them as he did in such a short time that affected both of us.