I NEED TO BLARGH MOAR!!!! >:O
Sorry for the lack of updates everyone, for some reason my last blog says 4/12 but it was more like 4/28 I think, the former date was when I started writing it. But yeah to be honest I don't really have an excuse, things have happened. Better late than never!
When I was part of InterVarsity at UCLA, the staff members never really stressed the importance of finding a home church. So I was going to a different church almost every week; for me it was whichever group of friends that needed a ride to their respective church or me finding a carpool that had an extra spot. The community that was provided by IV was in a lot of ways enough, we had small groups, opportunities to serve, our weekly fellowship meeting, and tons and tons of retreats and conferences. But the one thing that it didn't provide for us was a community after we graduated. So a lot of the senior seminars were focused on teaching us how to find a home church when our time came to step out of the college bubble.
I've been searching for a church home since I came back from Taiwan. That was since November so about 7 months. In that time span I've attended the following:
http://www.ekkochurch.com/
http://www.lighthousesouthbay.org/
http://tnsa.net/
http://www.folcov.org/
http://www.exodus3.com/
http://www.rockharbor.org/
Of these churches, Lighthouse and Redemption Point stand out, all the other ones I attended for about less than a month or even as little as a week. I wasn't looking for much, just a community to hang out with.
It was then until I applied for the World Race, and I realized that I was going to need the support of a church to go, but I was only thinking in terms of finance then. I still wasn't looking for a home church for a while, because it seemed impractical, I would only be able to attend the church for x number of months before I'm off. And it would be the case that x < 11, so I figure it was something that I would worry about until after I'm back from the race. Prayer support wasn't something that I've thought much about when I first signed up because the $14,800 was the more apparent mountain I had to climb. But eventually I realized that intercession for my behalf was just as important if not more. And that's not to say that my individual donors wouldn't be praying for me, I could really use all the prayer I could get, but what I feel that its important that a close-knit community is continually interceding for me. A close group of friends, coworkers and colleagues, but most importantly a church.
I have recently stopped attending Lighthouse because its all the way in Torrance and I could no longer afford the luxury that would drive me there in spite of the dropping gas prices. I am very blessed to have the community there for the past six months and the individuals who have invested in my growth, but I feel that I have the responsibility to stop building up credit card debt. Redemption Point is the church family that I grew up in and am currently with. The 6pm service time is a blessing because it allows me to explore services in the morning and build relationships with some old friends. Going to two services can be draining sometimes but for the most part I think I've gotten use to the routine. Rockharbor is the other church which I started checking out(literally last week) and I managed to plug myself into a small group already, which happens to start today.
Sorry for the long post. Still practicing.
