Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

In high school, I had a friend who was a foreign exchange student from Germany.  She told me that church in Germany was only for the very young or the very old.  Many churches were empty, abandoned.  She even told me of a church that had been turned into a climbing center for fitness enthusiasts.  I couldn't believe it!  That sounded so unreal, and that was in the 1990's.  Sadly, this is becoming the norm for many churches in our part of the country.  So many churches are dying and closing their doors. During the summer just before our move, we visited one of the churches my husband went to ask a boy.  It was a tiny country church that his dad pastored when he was young.  Counting our family, I think there were 9 people in attendance.  I had never been to a church that had so few in the pews! After the service, we visited with my husband's old friends, and the wife of the couple pulled us aside.  Tearfully, she explained how...

The next step in my plan was to clean up the remaining two classrooms and make them ready for use.  Praying as I worked.  Praying for kids to fill the classrooms.  Praying for teachers to step up.  Praying for young families to come to the church.  Praying for my husband as the leader and shepherd of this new (to us) church.  Praying for the church members to be receptive to changes and additions.  Prayer for God to work in this community and in this church. To continue the story, we freed up the stairways to the classrooms.  Old furniture that clogged the stairs?  Gone (with my hubby's help, of course.  Some of that old church furniture is HEAVY!).  Couches that clogged up one classroom?  Tried to sell them on Craigslist.  No dice. I needed someone who wanted the couches and could haul them out by themselves.  Our people couldn't do it.  The town's youth center accepted the couches and picked t...