Sunday November 14th

Yesterday was a big day for our family. I have been married to my husband for 6 years. To say we started out backwards and upside down is an understatement. To add to the intensity of our marriage, a few years ago I went through a major Spiritual change in my life and really explored who I was, and who I want to be. The changes I have made have not been easy on my relationship because for my husband I had changed into someone completely different. In his words "boring". God knew what he was doing. I was fulfilled with enough confidence to continue on my journey of self discovery and to believe that some day in the future, all would work out. Two years ago I started attending church regularly. I grew up a Lutheran, have gone to a Lutheran church my whole life, but it was because I was "forced" (lack of better word) to go; not because I wanted to go. I would sit there in church, bored and looking at my clock to countdown to the end. Times have changed. I have gained such a beautiful relationship with church and with God and I truly deep down whole heartedly enjoy going each week. Acilia my daughter and I had a routine each Sunday. We would leave the house, go pick up my mom and the three of us would attend church together. We all enjoyed it and afterwards we went for lunch. It was great. But something was missing. Multiple times I would sit and survey the church attendees. Many different family dynamics but mostly there were families. Including the mother, father and children. I sat and envied those families. I wanted my husband with me at church. My husband grew up Catholic and at this point in our lives was not practicing religion on Sunday's. He was staying home with our son on Sundays. We were a split family and that didn't feel good. God agreed. As you may know at the end of the school year last year, we started seeking a new school for Acilia to attend. She was attending a Lutheran school in Wheaton. I asked my husband to join me on the journey of finding a new school for her. We looked at public schools and we looked at other private schools in the area. We visited a Lutheran school in Lombard which happens to be quite a drive from our house. We loved it at first impression though and I felt it was only right to try out the church there too. If Al liked it, we could possibly start attending as a family. Words can not describe our first experience at that church. It was a Spiritual fountain of happiness and goodness that we all felt as a family! We made the decision to start sending Acilia to the school come the beginning of a new school year and we had decided as a family to regularly attend the church through the summer. If Al thought it all felt right, we would take the New Members class that started in September and God Willing become members in November. Yesterday was the day we became members of the church. We became members of the church as a FAMILY. It means SO MUCH to me that God guided us. He never fails! Yesterday was my husband's birthday. On his birthday he was confirmed Lutheran with this bible verse: "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." John 8:12
What a blessed day for all of us! Here is a picture I took of Al as he was confirmed. It's awful quality; I only had my phone on me to snap pics!