Change is in the Air

Last week, my 13-year old daughter went to a Christian camp with 8 of her best friends. Most of them had been going since they were very young, but this was Caitlyn’s first year.

When I filled out the registration forms for camp, it asked which church we attended. I was embarrassed and ashamed as I filled in the blank with the word “NONE.” That word seemed so dark, so cold, so meaningless.

I sat there and wondered what people would think when they saw that form, and I wondered how many other parents filled out the form with a feeling of guilt that their kids were closer to God than they were. I have always thought our lives were just fine without going to church anymore, because after all– nothing bad has been happening to us– what do we need church for? While we always enjoyed going to church, it became a chore every week as we tired of the Pastor (who has since left). We also moved farther away, making it more difficult to get to Sunday service each week.

The days while she was at camp last week were followed by random comments by the rest of us in the house:

“We really should find a church to go to again.”

“Someday we need to start going back to church.”

But we all knew it was just small talk. We had been away from church for a good two years, and other things occupied our time on the weekends. Church was not a priority to us.

When my daughter came back from camp last Friday, I could tell right away something had changed in her. She had stirred up something deep within herself, and I knew right then– at that very moment– our family was going to have to follow her direction. Her Facebook status went from random blurbs about what she was doing every day to this:

“feels way different now that I am back from camp. It all seems different, everyone….its amazing! God really got to me this past week, and now i have changed to make everyones lives better!”

After reading that and thinking about it these last few days, this whole church thing has really been weighing heavy on my heart. I know we need to find a church, one that is much closer than our old church. While we loved that church, it was too far of a drive, and we couldn’t commit to participating in all of the activities that we needed to be in to get the full experience.

In addition to her Facebook status changing, I noticed her switching the radio station in the car to 107.1 instead of 107.5. She has traded the Top 40 music for the Christian station. When we had a couple hours to kill Sunday afternoon while my youngest was at a birthday party, she asked to go to the Christian bookstore instead of the mall. I noticed her sitting on the couch in the living room reading the Bible later that day, and making notes in the margins next to passages she really liked.

This morning when I got to work, I turned on the radio. While it is normally tuned in to FM 92.5 (country station), I noticed a funny thing. Today, when all of this church business has been on my mind, the radio is on a different station. Whether I bumped it yesterday when I shut it off, or if the cleaning lady bumped it, who knows? I know that the old radio has been here for years, and it has such poor reception that very few stations come in static-free.

But this morning, a Christian radio station (K-LOVE 90.5) comes in LOUD and CLEAR.

Things are changing, and it took the teenager of the house to lead the way.