There are some things that distinctly shape your life when you grow up in southern Oklahoma, your family, your friends, school, but most of all the church you attend when you are growing up and learning to navigate the difficulties of life. If you're like me then you have been in church since you were a very small child. Sometimes we don't realize how much one place can impact us as human beings until we are away for a while. The great thing about having a strong church family is that even after you move away to college and don't attend that particular church for nearly a year, some things never change.
I went back to my small church on the corner of a dusty country road to hear my former youth pastor give his last message there. He has been a steady constant in my life since I was thirteen years old and I have looked up to him for advice, and consider myself extremely lucky to have had him through the more difficult parts of my life growing up. I may have gone back to see him, and hear him give his message, but I was given so much more, here are some things that happen when you return to your childhood church:
1. You feel like you're 15 again.
Going back to a place that you attended weekly growing up is definitely nostalgic. Everyone in this place knows almost everything about you. They have seen you screw up and fix mistakes, they have been a part of some of the biggest accomplishments in your life and were probably just as proud of you as your actual family. The biggest reason you feel young again is everyone looks pretty much the same as when you were little, although that may be lack of attention to detail on your part, it does make you feel like maybe you're still the same kid you were five years ago, and it takes a minute to remember that you've grown, changed, and gained some worldly experience since then.
2. You remember why you loved this place so much.
Every memory of early Sunday school classes, making life long friends, and after church lunches comes right to the surface again. My best memories as a child come from the youth trips I took, attending those services with my family, going to my grandparent's house after church to eat lunch, and just having that be one thing that always stayed the same in my life.
3. You are reminded that you are loved and thought about daily.
Something about seeing people that you haven't interacted with in over a year makes you kind of nervous. That however didn't last long. You're hugged (a lot), you're smiled at (even more than a lot), and you're reminded that you're still part of this community and no amount of given time could change that. You are told, on more than one occasion, that someone has been praying for you. Something about someone praying for you makes you feel like you can get through anything life throws at you, and sometimes when you're in college life throws 90 mph fastballs at your head, so it means even more.
4. You miss your friends.
Just because I made it back for the occasion doesn't mean everyone did. My particular youth group had some amazingly driven and goal oriented people in it. These people went to college hundreds of miles away, or have full time jobs, or are volunteering their entire summer to a great cause, so they didn't have the opportunity to make an appearance. When you are there and your friends aren't, you start to realize how much you have been missing them and the support they have provided over the years.
5. You feel closer to God here.
There is no other place on the planet that I feel more connected to God than that church. I feel like my prayers are heard there before I even say them, and I know that I can get everything out while I'm there. That no matter what thing is going on in my life at that point, I will always have a place and always be listened to in that church. You can't put a price on that and you can't find it anywhere else.
