Crossroads

“We had no knowledge that our lives had just changed. You seldom sit at a crossroads and know it's a crossroads. But from that point forward, my life was not going to be the same.” - Raffe

The name of our church in Connecticut was Crossroads Presbyterian church.  

 Today, we made our final trip to Connecticut to say goodbye to our church family and clean out the rest of our stuff from the old house.

 

 Saying good-bye to our church family we have had for the last three years was hard.  Really hard.  It is a small church, but a group of the most giving people you will ever meet.  

 

Three years ago, Mat and I found this little church on the internet and decided to give it a try.  We packed up the kids and took them to church on a sunny morning in August.  A lovely little lady named Shirley met us at the door.  She reminded me so much of my Grammy Appolonia.  She opened the door and said hello to us and welcomed us in.

Today it makes me giggle to think that it was no big deal to Shirley that 5 people she didn't know just showed up on the church steps.  I knew then we had found our church home.  Within a few weeks, it was like we had always been there.

 

And then, news of Finley's diagnosis hit our family.  One of the first people I told was Pastor Ann.  Word quickly spread through our little church and they were praying and helping us fundraise.  There was no doubt what their direction was for our family - they stood behind us and stood with us even though we were so new to them.  It didn't matter.

Today - Pastor Ann spoke kind words to our kids and gave them sweet presents.  And then she spoke kind words to Mat and I and gave us beautiful handmade prayer shawls that we will treasure forever.  Whenever I am missing my church family, I will pull out those prayer shawls and remember all of them and all the great time we had.

 

The hardest part was finding the words to thank all of them for what they have done for our family.  Their kindness, their generosity, their love for us has carried us over the last three years.  We will never forget what they have done for us, and always know they will be there for us no matter where we live.

I find the name of our little church in Connecticut a perfect fit for our family.  We came to a crossroads in our lives 2 years ago when we found out that Finley was going to go blind.  We had to decide to sit back and let nature take its course, or to pray and to fight.  Crossroads Presbyterian has helped us chose our path and has always made us feel we have made the right decision.

 

I am sure that there are going to be weekends when I am going to want to go back to Crossroads just to among the people we love so much.  They will be there to welcome us.  And for now - that gives me the comfort I need.

"I don't cry because it's over, I am happy because it happened"