362 days without hugging our family and friends, without continuous in-person school, without our church community. The number our family tracked. Just shy of one year. A year that at times seemed to drag on and yet go by so fast. A year that was only supposed to be ‘two weeks.’ I remember in those first few weeks, trying to balance work, schooling from home and just the unknown. Boy was my patience and faith running on empty. Every time I was about to snap, I looked at my elementary-aged boys and saw hope, I saw faith. They had faith that we’d figure it out, that we’d be safe, that we’d be ok, that we would thrive. They had faith in me, even though I didn’t have faith in myself.

About two months into our ‘stay at home,’ something changed – in me. I heard myself complaining, but never did I hear my kids complain. Instead, I saw them embrace being home, embrace being with Mom and Dad, and embrace this new way of life. I thought to myself, boy could we learn a lot by seeing life through our children’s eyes. While I sat and complained about all the Zoom calls, or why their school laptop wouldn’t work, or why I was cooking dinner once again (just give me one night of take-out) – they looked at the positive – the whole family was at home, eating dinner together. They trusted that all would be fine, and for the most part, it has been.

As Christians, we have a choice each day – to have faith in God, or not. When I apply this to Our Church, I am amazed how awesome our faith has been this last year. Our Church Leadership had to have faith. We had to have faith that online worship would work, that the support of our congregation would continue, that we could still reach our Community in these pandemic times. We had to relinquish control to God that he would lead us in the right way. That it would all ‘be alright.’

And boy what a year!  

We’ve grown as a church through the pandemic. We’ve learned to worship in different ways. We’ve learned to connect in new ways. We’ve expanded our outreach. We’ve started new programs and expanded others. We’ve reached more people and now we are expanding our physical footprint on our South campus. We have had faith. Faith in God and faith in each other.    

Just like it says in Matthew 17:20 … if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.  

Such a great reminder for all of us – nothing is impossible, if our faith is strong, and God is at the center, we can move mountains. Oh boy what a year it has been – I can’t wait to see what the future holds for our church!