As is the case with everyone, our “normal” has been totally rearranged this past week. On Sunday morning we woke up to cloudy skies and truthfully, unsettled hearts. My husband, ever the creature of habit, called the six of us to the living room, still in our pajamas, to gather and ready ourselves for Church. It just seemed so different and surreal. Our 10-year-old son and I were the first to climb on our Ikea sectional. He looked at me with mad, and even, teary eyes and said “I don’t want to do church online! I want to go and see my teachers and friends!” I simply replied with “I know buddy, me too.”

We, as a family, love church. We love the campus, the donuts, the music, the teaching, the gathering and most of all the people. It’s a safe space, our happy place, and we absolutely love the opportunities in community we get at Fullerton Free. So on Sunday, just like my son, we were all a little frustrated and out of sorts. Then we turned on our television and tuned into the live stream service and God showed us how big He is and how special is the body of Christ. Listening to our church shepherds brought such comfort. We all sang with the worship team and, you know what? The presence of the Lord was felt in our home just as powerfully as we have felt it in the Church building on a typical Sunday! We worshiped together. We listened together. We prayed together. We were comforted — together!

After live-streaming the church service we went to the email sent to the families by Nikki Bridgeford on behalf of Kids Ministries. I wish you could have seen the way my kids’ faces melted when Mr. Matt and Miss Nikki came on. They saw people who are faithful and consistently there every week still there just on the other side of the screen sharing a message of encouragement and love. We all danced in our living room to the songs provided and moods changed and hearts were lifted! Our Sunday looked different this past week and may still look different for a few weeks to come, but our God is so good. He is faithful and has given us such a gift in this church we call home. We realized that God is always in the business of joining hearts together for His glory and whether we gather online or side by side in the Worship Center He is still actively making us a congregation. Praise the Lord! No matter what — HE IS GOOD!

– Emily Nelson