"I had never really considered that the people are the church..."

I was raised in the Lutheran Church. I attended Sunday School, Vacation Bible School and Confirmation classes. My parents were Sunday school teachers, my mom served on various church committees. Sadly, none of this really seemed to sink into my thick skull. By the time I graduated high school, I wasn't really sure who or what God was. I didn't understand why, or even if there really was, a God that cared about me and what I did with my life. The one thing I did know, was that I had somehow caught the eye of a young woman that would eventually become my wife.
Upon entering college, I put God out of my mind. I tucked him into a little box and only occasionally looked into it. If I attended church, it was with LaVonne's family around holidays. I did little soul-searching during my college years. I read books on Buddhism, new-age philosophies, and very little about Jesus Christ and his plans for you and I. It was quite easy to have this mind-set in college. Religion of any type didn't seem welcome on campus. The message I got was that it isn't right for thinking people to believe in God and all the crazy stuff his Son supposedly did for us when we have science to explain it all away. LaVonne and I were married in college between our sophomore and junior years.
Upon graduation, we both got jobs in the Minneapolis area, but we didn't really put down roots here. We tried attending a church... once, but we didn't like it, so we stopped looking. During this time, we decided we wanted to try and start a family. Shortly after making this decision, LaVonne announced she thought she was pregnant. Needless to say, we were excited and we told everyone our good news. Six short weeks into the pregnancy, LaVonne called me at work to tell me she was bleeding. I went into autopilot mode. I remember driving to the hospital with her lying in the back seat of our car. I prayed hard as we drove that the baby would be saved... that God would save our unborn child. That prayer was not answered. We lost the baby. We were devastated and I felt truly powerless. We had no church community, no friends, and no family nearby to help us out. We were alone and I was angry that God allowed this to happen.
Around the same time, my employer asked me to transfer to Sioux City, Iowa. We had nothing tying us to the area, so we packed up and moved. It felt good to leave this place and start over somewhere else. Not long after moving to Sioux City, I began to have some health issues. I underwent round after round of medical testing: MRIs, spinal tap, blood work, more MRIs, CAT scans. Nothing was found. They were able to treat the symptoms, but could not tell me why I was experiencing any of this. During all of this, we found a church home. I tried to get into it, but I just couldn't' see past the medical issues I was going through. LaVonne was now pregnant with our first child, and I was slipping into depression, due to how I physically felt. I grew further and further from my wife with each passing month. By the end our stay in Sioux City, I was attending church sparingly and had become rather cynical about church in any form. I still prayed to God that I would be healed, but I didn't follow his son. I wasn't sure how.
So, in 2003 I got an offer to come back to the Twin Cities and work for a great company. I jumped at the opportunity to move again and landed here in Maple Grove. We were a family of four by this time and loved the new community we found ourselves in. LaVonne could finally stay home with the kids and I had a job I loved. At this time, LaVonne informed me that it was time for us to find a new church home. I really didn't want any part of a church, so I told her to go ahead and find something by herself. I was still feeling the effects of my health issues at this time, so I was rather self-absorbed. She tried to find a church, but had little luck finding something that seemed to 'fit'. In frustration, she asked me to help her find something. I fought at first, but eventually caved to her request. So, I fired up Google and began to look. I didn't look for a church we would like... I looked for a church I thought we wouldn't like. I thought if I just totally messed this up, she'd stop bothering me for at least a short while about this church thing. The church I picked was called Northwood Community Church. It was unlike any church I had attended. It was 'modern' (I never really like modern worship music... I always thought it was cheesy), didn't have a building to call its own, and was small. I knew I wouldn't like it and was sure Von wouldn't like it either.
Well, we were warmly greeted at the door, showed around, and introduced to several families and made to feel truly welcome. The people were wonderful, which really means the church was wonderful. I had it in my head that a church was a collection of buildings, doctrines, and rituals... I never really considered that the people are the church... I was unprepared for what Northwood offered.
This coming January, we will have been attending for four years. In those four years, my life has been truly transformed. I have been involved in any way possible. I ushered, I joined the setup team, taught Sunday school, and joined a small group. The small group setting gave me an opportunity to grow my faith while wrestling with the questions I had been carrying through the years. In our small group, we learned, laughed, cried, prayed and grew together. The biggest point is this. Because of this church, I finally recognized that there was a Christ shaped hole in my heart and made the decision to follow Christ.
I was baptized in October of 2005 and have felt the transforming power of Christ continue to grow in me. I feel a purpose to my life that has not always been there. My church home has given me a chance to grow and flourish. The past four years are filled with events that are too numerous to list: My wife and I lead our own small group now, we traveled to Mexico this past summer for a short term mission trip, my two oldest kids accepted Christ into their hearts during VBS, and I now get to hang out with the youth group as youth leader. Jesus Christ has made me into a new person. The person that walked through the doors of Northwood Church 4 years ago is no longer here. As I have grown in Christ, my health problems have withered away. 2 years ago, my doctor said I no longer needed medication. Today, I am almost healed, but I know my soul has been fully repaired. And, my wife and I are closer now than we have ever been.
I feel called to do more with this life I have been given. I will follow Christ where he bids me to go and as I go, I hope to reflect a little bit of the love Christ back into the world.