So, we attend the coolest church known to man (we think so anyway…) We attend a church called Norman Community Church (NCC for short) we do things a little differently (okay a LOT differently) than every single church I have ever been a part of. This isnt a blog post about photography but about a really important part of my life- which is our community. We meet in house churches all across Norman and then all of the house churches meet together one Sunday a month for celebration. We concentrate on three aspects of the Christian life UP (our relationship with God), IN (our relationship with one another), and OUT (relationship with those who have not encountered the love and truth of Jesus.) We live a shared life of intimacy, grace, hospitality, generosity, and openness and we dont just talk about it, we live it out, every week, day to day.
The most intimate form of church life in our community is in discipleship group. We have discipleship groups that are basically 3 or 4 women that meet every week, and our husbands have a separate time to meet. Let me tell you, it is NOT easy sometimes because these girls KNOW me (and I them). They know the dark side of me that most people (luckily) do not get to see. They know my failures, they know my sin, they know my thoughts and you know what? They love me anyway (and I them). We then help each other see those dark areas in our lives come into light. We meet every week and we laugh, cry, pray, worship and get to KNOW each other very well. It is the most real thing. By all means it would be much easier to say no thanks to d-group or its just too much work, or I dont have the time, but I truly see the most beautiful form of community in our little groups and see our need for a savior. It is bigger than hanging out, shopping or going to dinner together it is truly KNOWING someone and BEING known. We of course play rock band and make cupcake balls and do other fun things but our goal for our discipleship groups are to meet Jesus in a real and literal way.
We are not a church of big numbers, huge buildings, or watered down theology. We are a church of community and sharing in the Fathers love. My husband and I were both raised in church- but we fully believe that we have seen the Lords work more plainly and vividly the last three years that we have been a part of NCC than in our entire lives. The way it basically works is we have house church leaders who basically lead the group in worship and in teaching and then leave it open for us to talk about what the Lord is doing in our lives or teaching us and how are we responding to it. Some weeks no one responds to that, some weeks every one does, every week I am encouraged and excited about what the Lord is doing in our community. It is based on the text in 2 Corinthians 14:26 (the message bible) “So here’s what I want you to do. When you gather for worship, each one of you be prepared with something that will be useful for all: Sing a hymn, teach a lesson, tell a story, lead a prayer, provide an insight. Take your turn, no one person taking over. Then each speaker gets a chance to say something special from God, and you all learn from each other. If you choose to speak, you’re also responsible for how and when you speak. When we worship the right way, God doesn’t stir us up into confusion; he brings us into harmony. This goes for all the churches—no exceptions.”
Something that we have learned is that we werent created to live alone. This was something that was really hard for Jace and I since we spent so many years traveling the professional baseball life. When we were home in the off seasons it was very easy for us to attend a mega church and sit in the back row and have little to no participation at all. The first day we attended house church three years ago- we were completely uncomfortable. These random strangers prayed, out loud, no squeezing the persons hand next to you if you wanted to skip out, they talked about homeless people and the mission of Jesus, we left thinking “that was really uncomfortable…. ” but I feel like Jesus wants us to be less comfortable in a lot of areas in our lives. We went back again the next Sunday and probably have missed only a handful of Sundays in three years. We have found that our happiness is not found in ourselves, our jobs, or our own selfish desires, it is finding true joy, true meaning, true fulfillment, through each other and doing the Lords work. This community is our home- our family- the most beautiful thing that we have ever known.
I actually started writing this post to show this picture…..

I was at my sons kindergarden valentines party on friday and spotted this bulletin board that said “What we are most thankful for”…. I could have cried for an hour after I saw what Jax wrote. We do not have a church building, a huge childrens program with lots of activities, or anything most typical churches have but it is still what he is most thankful for. I was so encouraged that out of all of his cool friends, toys, activities, and family – he chose his church.