Thursday, January 30, 2014

Let me tell you a little something about Grace

Grace Churh that is! Finding a church is not always easy. Fred and I found this to be be true when we moved to Texas in 2009 right after getting married. We had been visiting churches seeking fellowship, the gospel and solid expository bible teaching which was hard to come by in a bible belt state. We had to cross off many churches after reading their about me section online and so we kept searching.

Fred was working at Outback Steakhouse at the time when a kind family he wasn't even serving randomly invited him to church, Grace Church! They didn't even know that he had been looking for a church either! We thought, there must be something good going on there if their members are inviting complete strangers! So we visited!

At that time they were meeting in the cafeteria of an elementary school. It was kind of a culture shock at first having come from a mega church and what was more shocking was the love and welcome we received. Strangers introduced themselves, the pastor, Craig Cabaniss, who we didn't know yet was the main pastor came to say hi.

We learned that this was church plant that began in 2005. Families had faithfully left their home state and moved to Frisco to start this church. We met people from all different sates, even California! We weren't the only In-N-Out, beach and mountain lovers in town!

That day we heard truth. We heard the word of God being taught straightforward. No sugar coats, just plain gospel truth! We saw people that were faithful to the Lords calling and had also left their friends behind to start this church.

We visited another church or two but the love and community of Grace had truly captivated us so we came back and decided to stay. Having left behind all our close friends in California we were desiring to build new friendships so we quickly plugged into a care group.

This was probably the best decision we made as newlyweds in a new state plugging in with a group of believers. We joined the Mayfield care group, they and the others in the group were such a blessing in our lives! Being the first out of our group of friends from California to get married we didn't have married friends nevertheless friends with children!

I learned in this group what godly marriages looked like, what women submitting to their husbands meant and how moms are supposed to love their children.

To this day I am thankful for that time of transition in our lives. What we thought was a move to Texas for better job opportunities we now know the Lord had something special for Fred and I here. We had a community of believers carrying for us and I truly believe the Lord was teaching me how to to be a mom even back then as I got to see how these faithful women cared and loved their children, it was all new to me and it made me look forward to it! Fred and I experienced a spiritual growth there and the Lord used Grace church for that.

He continues to use Grace church in our lives now after being there more than 4 years.

Not too long ago Fred and I had a really bad month financially. That was the month we had no insurance and Luke fractured his leg and we had to pay for his medical bills out of pocket. We were to the point where we were going to have to use our credit card to make it through the month. As we sat in despair of our finances we decided to take a walk to get our minds off things. We checked the mailbox and in it was a benevolence check from Grace church that not only covered Luke's medical bills but also was exactly the amount we needed to help us get through the month!

I had never experienced that kind of grace.

It was one of the biggest miraculous in our lives. We never asked for it but the Lord knew we desperately needed it and used Grace church to bless us. Tears and tears poured down from our eyes on that walk as we felt so loved and taken care of by the Lord and our church.

There are truly special miraculous things happening at Grace. The Lord is truly at work there, He has great plans for it too!

There was land DONATED to Grace in the center of Frisco Square in one of the fastest growing cities in Dallas. The groundbreaking for the building has just begun. I'm so blessed to be a part of this church and see how the Lord is working through it to preach the gospel, to bless marriages, and bring believers together.

My children are now being blessed there. I'm already seeing God at work in Luke's life. The other day we told him "lets pray" and he clasped his little hands together, we didn't teach him that, usually we hold hands to pray and although it's a little thing it was so wonderful to see that he is already being taught by the wonderful volunteers that are there faithfully serving and teaching. I'm excited to see both my boys grow and learn about God at Grace and one day soon move to this beautiful building God is providing!

gracechurchfrisco.org



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2 comments:

  1. Hey! What an encouraging post to read. We love you guys so much and remember that season with much fondness and affection. Y'all jumped right in and wee such a blessing to us all!

    Now Holly and I are just sad that we're not right there with y'all seeing you around the corner...

    Much love to y'all!!

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  2. Aaron please tell Holly that I am so thankful I got to experience and see what an amazing mom she is! I just knew that that was the kind of mommy i wanted to be someday, I can still remember her sweet voice towards your boys I never saw her be angry or mean to them and she was always so encouraging! Love you guys!

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