“I’m literally always here. If you don’t know where to find me, I’m probably at church.”
I came here through VBC the summer after my 1st grade year, and I remember feeling kind of intimidated when I first walked in. It was a new place, a new experience, because I hadn’t really ever been to church before, and I didn’t know what to expect. But as soon as I walked in, I felt welcomed. After the week of VBC was over, I was beyond excited that I got to come back that Sunday to sing in worship. Later my parents will say that as soon as they walked in they knew it was going to be their church home. But I was just a little kid excited to sing the songs that I had been working on all week. So we kept coming back every Sunday. We would go to subway and get lunch after church, and then go home and eat, and it was my favorite part of the week.
We moved away in the middle of my 3rd grade year, and it was rough. I didn’t want to leave my school, my friends, my church, or my house. I was perfectly happy where I was and I didn’t understand why we had to move. We were gone for two years, and honestly I blocked most of it out of my memory, but the parts that I do remember seem like a dream. I do know that we never really found a church home, not like we did here at Grace Avenue. I missed everything. I missed everyone at church and at school and in Frisco, but mainly at church. I remember the utter joy I felt whenever I found out that we were moving back. While now I can look back and see how that experiences in another state made me a better person today, at the time I just couldn’t wait to leave- to come back home, to come back to Grace Avenue.
Whenever we did get back, it was like we never left. It was truly amazing to be welcomed back like we were missed, like we actually mattered and were on the hearts and minds of everyone there.
One of the first things I did when I got back was go to VBC, which is funny because it kind of all came full circle. I was in Way Cool, and that’s where I met Christopher and some of my other friends that I still have today. I got involved in the youth program, went on mission and mystery trips, grew so close to so many people, and have experienced so many landmarks in my faith journey at this church.
I’m literally always here. If you don’t know where to find me, I’m probably at church. All my friends joke about it too cause I spend so much of my time here. And I wouldn’t rather spend it anywhere else.
Grace Avenue has impacted my life in a way I never really thought was possible, so I just want to say thank you to everyone here that made it the way it is today, and for making me feel so loved and welcomed all the time. I love you all.