I had never heard of Fall Break before moving here. Apparently, kids need a little time off after only 2 months of school, so Alyssa had Thursday and Fri off last week and no soccer game. Ethan thought it would be fun for us to take one last trip before Audrey comes so we went to Atlanta. It is about 4 hours from us and we enjoyed the Aquarium, Coca Cola Museum, the Zoo and Botanical Gardens. We also ate at The Varsity. The Downtown Atlanta location is on more than two acres and can accommodate 600 cars and over 800 people inside. On days when the Georgia Tech Yellowjackets are playing a home game, over 30,000 people visit The Varsity. It was worth the experience, but of course I felt so rushed and intimidated ordering that I had to get my hamburger fully loaded, so I didn’t quite enjoy it as much. Megan was a bit cranky after a full day and Alyssa was just climbing all over the window. However, Ethan quite enjoyed his “dirty” dog and made sure this experience was mentioned in the blog. It was a good “last” trip. Pics
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So, the other really cool thing about Atlanta was church. I am no expert on North Point, but it is a large church community in the area. The main campus has 2 auditoriums that can accommodate 5,000 worshipers at one time. About 5 years later, they opened an additional campus called Buckhead Church down the street from our hotel. The idea was “Atlanta does not need another church. What Atlanta does need is a safe environment where the unchurched can come and hear the life-changing truth that Jesus Christ cares for them and died for their sin.” Since Ethan and Ben work on church systems (video, audio, gear, lighting, etc…), he has been more interested in visiting different places. And there was a time in my life, when I just wasn’t interested in this. I like my church, I like my acapella music, I like my semi-conservative beliefs, I don’t want to go anywhere else – even to visit. I don’t know where that mindset came from, I will try not to blame my upbringing, but if you have not experienced God in any other place than your home church, you are missing out. I am amazed at how God can work. At how differently he can work in different areas, in different people. How church can adapt to bring others to know Christ and still be church. We have been to some rather large churches and not all of them move me. Like the one that served popcorn because the series was about God in the movies or something. And they literally watched long clips of Return to Neverland then discussed it. Great if that works for you, but that is not what I need to feel a connection with God. But this morning, I felt that conncection. Far away from home, even farther away from what I would consider a church I am comfortable with. It had nothing to do with watching others. It was about the setting, the words, the songs this morning. And for the first time in my 32 years, my arm (just one) left my side and raised to heaven in glory to God. I felt the tears roll down my face as I humbled myself before God and just let his power run through me. I just can’t describe it. I just want to encourage you that when you have the chance to go to church somewhere different, and I mean different, not the Church of Christ on the other corner, GO. Let God show you how he works. Experience Him in a different way.
