Yesterday was my hubby's birthday. I won't tell his age but he is experienced with celebrating. His day began with a loud Happy Birthday greeting from me, followed by the suggestion that he get up since it was going on 8 and there were photography sessions beginning at 9:30. Yes, this year he did have to work
:(, but only till noon.
We then came home and got ready to head to Evansville for church at Trinity Anglican, our new church home. Before leaving he did watch a bit of the Big 10 Tournament Illinois/Ohio State game, he tore himself away from watching and tuned into the radio during the drive. Alas Illinois lost, but there is "always next year"!
We arrived at our new church Trinity Anglican and went in. Mike was greeted by numerous "Happy Birthdays". Mind you we have only been attending this church since February but this most certainly is now our church family and the wishes were genuine! And they even brought out a beautiful birthday cake made by one of the parishoners during fellowship, what a neat surprise!
Our Church life has been in a state of upheaval since the middle of November, when the Stringtown Rd. church took yet another path of alignment, this time to Greek Orthodoxy, and we did not opt for a new path this time. It has been a very sad three and a half months for us, with this turn of events, and no real warning from the clergy & vestry, they just did it. We felt abandoned and it has hurt deeply, especially since we supported the Priest down many paths, searching for his ideal religious preference. Don't get me wrong, he is a great and gifted human being, but he has not found just where he wants to be yet, I wish him and his wonderful family much happiness. And for all the others that either followed or set out on a different path, we will miss them and are so thankful they were a part of our life for a while.
Our new church family is made up of really nice, new friends and some friends from the Stringtown Rd. church who had left at another time. We are happy to be with them again. The Holy Spirit is with them all and they are a loving church family group, wanting to share the Love of Christ with everyone.
Church is on Saturday evenings at this time and we really feel at home here. Father David is a wonderful, caring, giving priest; this church is blessed. They have opened their arms and hearts to us.
Mike is going to meet with two Bishops in a couple of weeks and we hope he is received as a Deacon in the Reformed Episcopal Church. Mike then can serve as a Deacon, assist Father David and Bishop Wes, to help the church grow and a goal is to establish new churches in the area.
So as Mike begins another year in his life, he is on a new path that God has guided him to and it is good. What a wonderful way to start this next year! We are so excited and no, this birthday was not "just another day", I believe it was a great birthday.
Happy Birthday Mike! It is going to be a grand year filled with the love of God and our new church family!