For A Season and A Reason

Yesterday I had the privilege of returning to "old church" as Ethan fondly calls our previous church home, Reunion.  It was an extremely emotional day as the church celebrated and ended almost ten years of bringing the unchurched to church and being a revolutionary movement of sorts.  I was invited to this church in 2004 by some friends who were attending Reunion and who thought that I could benefit from the uniqueness of it's style of worship and unbeknownest to me at the time, thought I could benefit from meeting a great guy that attended church there.  I started attending when the church was meeting at a high school in Orland Park and I was drawn to the people there who were so genuine and inviting.  It took me awhile to feel like I fit in but I slowly started meeting more people and even formed a women's group along with two of my new friends. 

I started hanging out with a great group of people who were accepting of me and who were pretty darn fun to spend time with.  One wintry day at the beginning of 2005 I ventured downtown with that group of friends to help celebrate my friend Ann's birthday.  This guy Jimm came with us and he was really good friends with Ann and her husband Kevin.  We sat by each other at the restaurant and found that we had quite a bit in common, including that our birthdays were only two days apart.  But I wasn't really thinking about him in any other capacity than a friend because well, one of my other friends was interested in him. Hello, drama!  And then some doors starting opening and closing.....  My friend tells me on a trip to the bathroom (yes, us women travel in packs) that she doesn't know if she's really interested in Jimm and maybe she was just because he's single and she's single.  I soak in this information and store it for future use. :-) As the night goes on I observe this guy in a different light and then on the way home he rides with my friend Marlana and I back home.  You might say...big deal.  However, did I mention it was the snow storm of the winter? It took us 2 hours or more to get home and we had that entire time to get to know each other.  We discovered our mutual fondness for the rap artist, Eminem.  We discovered that we were raised in very similar families with similar values. We discovered that we had the same sarcastic humor.  It was a great ride home.

Fast forward....well not that much because we started dating February 5, 2005, were engaged March 5, 2005 and we were married September 9, 2005.  Yep, happened pretty quickly.

But almost the entire Reunion congregation was there at our wedding to help us celebrate.  They were there throughout the beginning of our relationship and supported us as we became a newly married couple trying to adjust to married life.

Reunion was also there for us as we triumphed through the most difficult part of our lives: in May of 2007.  At eight months pregnant with Ethan I was diagnosed with breast cancer.  I will never forget that Friday afternoon when Jimm called Chuck to tell him the news and he was at our house within a 1/2 hour to pray with us.  He and the other people at Reunion joined us in prayers,  and provided us with emotional and physical support.  They brought us meals for many weeks, came to the hospital for visits and were there for us every step of the way.

I could not help while sitting at Reunion yesterday as it's last service was being held, to look down at my babies and weep.  If there was any doubt in anyone's mind as to why Reunion existed or what part it played...please just look at me and my family.  We would not be together and I would not have my beautiful kids if it was never formed.  The church has impacted so many people and families....friendships and relationships.  God was served in a beautiful and unique way at Reunion Church.  It will be missed.