One of the cool parts of the service today was the "open mic." segment when people could share what the church has meant to them. I kind of wanted to share, although I've been going through a stage where I don't jump up in front of crowds so much as I did in my youth, so I figured I could at least give a shout-out to Gateway on my blog. It was really neat to both me and Brooklynne to hear how the first planning sessions for the church began 2 or 3 years before Gateway opened. Brooklynne and I did not have a good church home in Montana, and as fond of Bozeman as we have become, we would not enjoy living there for the simple reason that we never became part of a church family (Our very fun GCF Bible study was good, but no substitute for a fulfledged church body). So when it became clear that we would eventually leave Montana together, we began praying off and on for a church home that we would really love and feel comfortable with. I don't know this for sure, but it seems like we probably began praying for this about the same time that the first planning meetings for Gateway were getting underway.

I don't think God established this church just for us because we prayed for it, but it is really cool to see how faithful God is and how God's plans can accomplish so many different purposes for so many differnet people. When it is time for us to move on, we won't miss Nova like we miss Montana, but Gateway will always have a special place in our hearts.