Michelle: We went to church when I was very young, somewhat on a regular basis. And then, I have two older brothers and life just kind of got in the way. We stopped going to church on a regular basis. My grandparents - we would go to their house every Sunday for lunch - you know as a kid I remember thinking it was very important to them, but as far as my family growing up, it was important, but not near as important as it was for my grandparents.

A lot of times we'd be driving to Grandma and Grandpa's and we'd pull up at the catholic church and one of us would run in and grab a bulletin and bring it back in. And we'd just go to Grandma and Grandpa's like we went to church and we never did.

Sean: We were the folks that showed up on Christmas Eve and then we came to church on Easter and rinse and repeat every year.

Michelle: So this year, I thought, you know we drive by Door Creek, it's close to our house, let's just check out what it's like and go in there. And that's what we did. We got ready and went to church and we were absolutely amazed and it was probably the best part of that Christmas Eve for us. Kind of when it ended it was, I can't wait to go back next week.

Sean: It was a different sermon and I guess a different delivery of the sermon than I was used to. I don't remember sermons as I was growing up or even when we would go on Easter and Christmas Eve as adults that from the Bible and from the Word. We were able to tie in what the Bible and what the sermon was about to today.

We started going and one of the consistent themes that we heard was, you know, this is a big place and for you to really grow and learn you need to get involved in a small group and in a Life Group. At first we were like, "I don't know. I don't know what that's going to be like." Eventually as we got further into the year, we made the decision, well, God helped us - pointed us toward a Life Group. It's been amazing.

Michelle: We've always had Bibles in the house. We've never really opened them up or did much with them, they just kind of sat next to our bookshelf and they always were. For us it was very different at Door Creek and everyone brings their own Bible - there's obviously Bibles there for people to use as well, but it's exciting that we're actually reading the Bible and we talk about it and I've never done that before.

Our youngest, who's a kindergartener, one night said, "I want to start praying before bed." And we're like, "Ok!" and so that was honestly the first time I've ever prayed out loud in my entire life. And sometimes when we're not having a great night, that definitely helps put a good closure at the end of the night before bed. 

Sean: I'm in a different place. We're in a different place now - a better place than we were 10 months ago which seems really crazy but it's definitely true.