Faith and french fries

Faith and french fries
The journey to Northland Church

by
Chaplain Kathie

The church back home in Massachusetts was my home. I was baptized there as an infant, attended Sunday school then taught it, sang in the choir, volunteered for just about everything going on ending up serving on a board, got married there twice and then had my daughter baptized there, watched her go to Sunday school until she graduated and never once really thought about leaving. I belonged there. I knew just about everyone.

When it came time to move to Florida, the last thing on my "to do list" was finding a church. I managed to find a Greek Orthodox church not too far from home, but in central Florida, there really aren't that many. I went most Sundays but never felt like I belonged there. Soon I became a CEO. The same kind of people I used to complain about attending church during Christmas and Easter Only, became me. I didn't lose my faith but I was no longer filled.

Then I was hire by a Presbyterian church as Administrator of Christian Education. The youth Pastor was a darling woman. Her face lit up when she sang or delivered the children's message with the kids surrounding her. I loved my job. I got to sing and dance twice a week with the pre-school kids during chapel. I got to tell the kids about what Christ had done for me and shared the love I felt. It was a wonderful job but since I had two services on Sunday, attending my church was not possible. When I lost my job, I tried to go back to the Greek Church but there was something missing. I reverted back to being a CEO.

Working with the veterans and their families is very spiritually rewarding but draining at times. I need to be filled but I also have a need to find a church where they want to get involved in taking care of veterans. Last year I visited over 20 churches trying to get them involved but only heard back from one of them. The pastor who called me was a chaplain and understood what I wanted to do but he was going to a different church out of state. I decided to stop waiting for a newspaper report to cover a local story of a church getting involved and started to visit churches to see what their services were. At least this way I figured I could maybe find a place where I felt I belonged.

Today I picked Northland Church in Longwood FL. It's one of those mega size churches. I heard a lot about Northland because of their involvement in the community. So this morning as a famous Florida thunderstorm decided to open up, I headed to church for the 11:00 service. I came close to the intersection near the church and saw cars lined up to pull into the parking lot. That was impressive in itself because it was really pouring out.

Sitting in line I was watching several cars try to cut in line and other people just let them do it. No honking horns or fingers flying up in the air. They just let them do it. There were people in rain slickers directing traffic, which was a unique experience for me considering I had not been to a service that size before.

There was someone there to great me, handed me a newspaper size bulletin and I was welcomed. I found a seat not too far from the stage where I could get a good view of not just the band, singers and pastor, but could get a view of the congregation as well. It was a blend of young and old. At first I thought I was attending a rock concert with Christ tossed in but people responded wonderfully. Then after a prayer, Pastor Joel took to the stage and after listening to his preaching, there was no more wondering why he is so highly regarded.

He delivered a powerful message of being a Christian for the sake of Christ and not for ourselves. That Christ didn't come just to get us into Heaven, but to get Heaven into the earth and He was doing that through all of us. Pastor Joel talked about how important it was when we talked to others and how we should do it with love. Then came the message I wanted to shout out "Amen" to. That we could change the world and we were doing it everyday.

My family always said I wanted to change the world and I always wondered what was wrong with that. What's wrong with wanting to change what you believe is wrong when it is to help someone else? The rest of his sermon was wonderful. I have a feeling I'll be going back there again.

On the drive home, my stomach was growling, so I stopped by McDonalds and ordered a number one (Big Mac and fries) I knew I'd be hungry enough to eat most of it. The smell of the fries got to me and while I was driving, I reached into the bag and started stuffing my mouth with them. They were hot and fresh. You can always tell when they are right out of the fryer instead of sitting under the heat lamp. Delicious! Then I thought about the message I heard less than fifteen minutes before. Changing the world and doing it with love.

My faith had gotten stale. While it was still made up of the same ingredients, it was just sitting there in a heat lamp instead of being fresh out of the fryer full of texture, life and flavor. Instead of warming my tongue it started to just lay there while I tried to chew what I had bitten off. Fresh fries make me want to savor the flavor as long as possible and even after they are gone there is an aroma in the air reminding me of something I enjoy.

Doing what I do and tracking all these depressing stories of suffering, there comes a story that renews my hope and my strength comes back. I need them like a drug to give me a rush of "good" again. Yet even with those stories, bad tends to outweigh the good and I come crashing into a world of sadness wondering what the hell I'm doing here if no one is listening and not much changes.

I've been in such a dark place spiritually and financially that I haven't been able to make any videos lately except for the Memorial Day one I made for some friends to play at their church. My ministry continued but there was something missing inside of me. I lost my flavor for it. It doesn't matter how much faith any of us have if we stop feeding it. I was starving my soul and needed to be fed again. I did end up eating all of my lunch and felt filled up again but now I wonder if it was more about what I left Northland with and not what I left McDonalds with?