The Cords that Bind Us Together

     My church is in the midst of a stewardship emphasis during which we've been asked to consider why First Baptist-Dalton is our church.  Today in his sermon, our pastor suggested that there are three main reasons someone/a family identifies with a particular church: help, hope and home, all of which I feel we have to offer.  My own experience includes a little of all three.
     First of all, I have a strong family affiliation with our church; both of my maternal grandparents' families have a history of membership dating back to the 1930's, and my parents were the last couple to be married in the old building before moving to our present location (they were supposed to be the first couple married in the current Sanctuary, but that's another story for another time!).  However, my dad's job necessitated relocating to Tennessee, and growing up United Methodist, he and Mom found/joined First United Methodist Church in Manchester, which is the church my older brother and I were born and raised in.  As mentioned in my last blog post, it was a long process for me to finally settle into a career; I needed help.  As it turns out, my mom was in Dalton checking on my grandmother, when she read about the Music Secretary position being open in her copy of the church newsletter, and called to tell me about it.  I sent in my resume the next day, and the rest I suppose is history!  I will always be grateful and pray I never take for granted that my church is also the source of my livelihood.
     Next, I have always appreciated that FBC-Dalton is very much a mission-minded congregation, and strives to be a source of God's hope in so many ways; from our Soul Food feeding program, to mission trips around the world, to our team that builds ramps for those with disabilities, we have many ways that a member can become involved with the outreach of our church.  It's just a matter of finding one (at least!) that's a good fit for you; you almost can't help but feel you've been invited to participate!
     As far as home goes, I mentioned earlier that I actually grew up United Methodist in Tennessee; however, my dad briefly left his job to come and work at my grandparents' rug plant, so we moved to Dalton (actually Leisure Lake in Cohutta) my junior year of high school, and joined/went to First UMC-Dalton while we were here, but eventually headed back to Tennessee when our house didn't sell.  Years later, when I first came to work at First Baptist, I had a decision to make about where I would attend.  I did go back and visit at FUMC a couple of Sundays early on, thinking that possibly there would be some members who might remember me from the year we lived here before, but quickly realizing that it would be somewhat awkward to join a different church from where I was working, especially in terms of feeling like I was making a complete commitment.  So, almost from the very beginning, FBC-Dalton has felt like home to me; my mom even says things have come full circle, carrying on the Edwards/Tatum family tradition!