Back to my roots

Coming to the Island has a very profound sense of coming home to me.  Perhaps the most intriguing part of this homecoming has been in regards to church...

I confess that I was quite nervous about finding a church on the island.  I know so many beautiful people who attend many different churches, and the last thing I wanted to do was to try them out! ...do a round of church shopping, so to speak.  I prayed about it a lot and asked the Lord to send me the right connection and draw me to the place he'd like me to serve... I was desperately longing for that fellowship and sense of family I've been missing for some time now...  (I miss you, Truro family!!!)

My dear friend Laura Blinder became that connection!! :)  She mentioned to me that she has been attending First Baptist Church in Charlottetown.  As soon as I read the words in her message, I felt the quickening in my spirit and knew it was the place to start... I hadn't even considered it, but how perfect!  This was the place of my infant dedication, the church I attended as a young child, the church my parents were married in, the church in which I sang my first solo (in which I still remember forgetting the words for the first time...) The Lord seems to have very intentionally brought me right back to my roots, and I know it has contributed to the comfort and sense of healing I am now experiencing on the Island...

Laura invited me to join the Thursday night prayer group at the church, and I was excited to join right away!  I was so ready to fellowship with other believers and felt so comforted in the environment of my birth... It was as if the Lord was saying, I've got you.  I've had you all along, from day one and since the beginning of time.  All your days have been numbered before my eyes.  I see you and I know you and I know what I'm doing...

When I attended my first prayer meeting, I pictured a scattered group throughout the sanctuary, solemn prayer times, and possibly the freedom to slip in the back and leave early :)  This was not even close to an accurate description of the evening, however, with a small, intimate circle of chairs, communion shared every meeting, Sunny's eyes that peer deep into your soul drawing out whatever the Lord has invested into your heart..., worshipful fellowship with one another and in the Spirit..., vulnerability and brokenness, an incredibly pure openness and desire to see others healed and brought near.  There was no slipping in and out, that's for sure!!

I recognized the worship leader from Sunday morning and was quite certain my family would know her... I was only mildly surprised when she and her husband looked at me and said, Natasha, we've been waiting for you.  They knew my parents really well and apparently had a sweet conversation with Reg and Carol Austin (friends from our church in Truro!), in which the Spirit had stirred them to believe I would be coming...

I was welcomed by this group, by Pastor Dave and Wendy DuBois, in such a profound way that has ministered to my wounded soul.  I absolutely love being back in the place of my birth and feel the connections as strong as though I never left... I sit in the services and receive visions as the Holy Spirit stirs up within me.  My worship minister side gets stirred up and I think, Woah!  You are still in there...!? Stay down, I'm not ready for you yet!!! :)

There is such an intriguing sense of timing... Such a beautiful sense of hospitality and familiarity.  It feels like coming home...