Finding Beauty in Unexpected Places: Realizing You're Home

In a business park off Highway 965 in North Liberty, there is a small church - Holy Trinity Lutheran. It has been a mission church, but tomorrow they are officially organizing as a parish. A lot of this process is lost on me; there's been nothing like it in my faith background. But Holy Trinity is a place that makes me happy, and I am happy for them on this occasion.

We started going to Holy Trinity about a year ago. They have a Saturday night service that Ben and I could attend together. And then it just snowballed...they have a softball team, so Ben joined; they needed another Saturday night cantor, so Ben sang; they have a quilt group that does service projects like the ones my mom does with Project Linus, so I joined that; somewhere along the way we started being fellowship hosts and greeters; then I started cantoring; they needed volunteers for a readers' theatre on Palm Sunday, so I volunteered; they wanted a few younger people on the worship committee, so now I'm serving on that...somewhere along the way this church became a vital part of our lives as a couple. A few weeks ago, when I rattled off all we had to do at church that night to my mom laughed and asked, "Does anyone else go to your church?" (That same weekend, as we rattled that list off to ourselves, Ben ended it with, "And Sully will be giving the sermon.")

I feel like I've been looking for a "church home" for a very long time. I'm not going into it all here. Anyone who wants the details of my faith journey needs to have a couple hours and a batch of margaritas. In many ways, my initial visit to Holy Trinity was a fluke. I didn't know what I was looking for at that point or if I was looking for a new church. But over time, I realized that Holy Trinity had much of what I had been searching for all along:

An intergenerational community....check
Good music...check
Inspirational sermons...check
A place that marries Ben and my traditions...check
Respect for liturgical traditions and an eye toward the scope of church history...check
A place where I can contribute...check
An eye toward social justice...check (with wonderful opportunities for growth in this area)

There's lots of extras too, like a pastor who trades CDs and books with me and quilt group and music friends who inspire and challenge me. But the thing that sealed my life at Holy Trinity was this past Christmas. Before the evening service, the pastor's wife and I were chatting. I made a reference to part of my spiritual journey, and she said to me, "Well, we're so glad you're here." Ridiculous, right? But it's the first time I've felt anyone knew, let alone was glad, I was a part of their church community. It meant everything to me.

Yesterday, I stopped by church to trade some fabric with one of my quilting friends. It was suppose to be a quick stop, but they wanted to show me the quilt they made for the celebration this weekend. Then I was helping hang said quilt. And like most things at Holy Trinity, it snowballed until I spent 2 1/2 hours at church working on getting things ready for tomorrow. (Of course it helped that the pastor's wife, who teaches at Mount Mercy, and I were both avoiding end-of-the-semester grading.) At one point I looked at those of us there working - a few women in their 60's, the pastor's wife who is about the age of my oldest sister, myself, and the pastor's 13-year-old daughter. There were times when I could predict what the older women would say before they said it, just because they remind me so much of my mom. The pastor's wife and I vented our academic stress, relating to each other in some of the ways I can relate to my sisters. And at one point I heard the pastor's young daughter say, "I know, right?," a phrase which is well-worn in my niece's vocabulary.

About that time, I was putting sticky-tack on a postcard for Holy Trinity so I could hang it on the visual timeline we were making on the wall. It asked something along the lines of, "Are you looking for a place that feels like home?" I looked up at the section of the timeline I was working on. It document the past year, our time in this community. Ben and I are both in photos on this wall. We attended or helped with most of the events featured. I looked at the familiar faces in the photographs and listened to the women chatting in the background. A place that feels like home, indeed.