Settling in: CCC's New Home

We enjoyed a 4 day stretch of activity in CCC's new building the first week of December.  I spent Thursday evening with the Worship Team practicing & getting used to the new sound system.  Friday evening, our family along with some others met Erik & Jen, our Children's Ministry directors to clean, unpack & set up the children's area. All of this was fun but fell more on the "work" side of things : )

Saturday morning, we, the ladies of CCC participated in the very first official event in the chapel: The Annual Ladies Christmas Tea.  It was such a relaxing morning for me since I was a lady without little ones in tow.  It was like a date for me & Jenny!  Here are some photos of our time....

Heidi & Ashley getting people checked in

Trinity sporting the festive wear : )

Edie & her absolutely adorable granddaughter Quincy

Emily & her daughter Olivia.  This lovely woman is who has been watching our girls this fall.

The focus of the brunch was on the true gift of Christmas, Jesus Christ. Sadee did all of the coordinating, Amanda did the cooking & Melanie did the speaking.  It was all spectacular!

Melanie

Sadee



Me & my Jenny Girl

 I had to include the picture below.  This is my sweet friend Cathy with her girls Anna & Clara, aren't they beautiful? We met the Ziel family about 5 months after moving to Orlando.  Cathy was very pregnant with her son, Alex & the girls were only 3 & 5 years old.  She & her husband Don are on staff with Cru, previously known as Campus Crusade for Christ.  We immediately hit it off with them & ended up being in a Life Group together over the following year & a half.  Don is an elder with Rob & they have much in common & enjoy their time together. Cathy has been a good friend & is officially my go to mama for questions about parenting.  She is a wise woman who loves the Lord & does an incredible job exemplyfying Christ in the way she cares for her home, husband & children.  She LOVES being a mom, I love that about her.  We have had many a lunch date at her house with her 3 plus my 1 or 2.  These dates usually consist of lots of  three minute conversations cut off by responding to the needs of someone under 4 ft. tall.  They also frequently consist of turkey & cheese quesadillas....yummy. In all of the busy-ness, I learn more about loving your children than she could ever express in words directed at me as I witness her caring for, correcting & encouraging those little hearts that have been entrusted to her. We met one morning at Dunkin Donuts while our children were with our husbands.  We were amazed at how we actually finished conversations & were caught up on each others recent happenings in such a short amount of time! I am thankful for this woman.

Sunday morning came quickly & we were there early so I could do a final run through with the Worship Team.  Rob was able to assist with some last minute things while Uncle Steve supervised the mini (and many) Valentine ladies in the nursery. 

Before the service began, everyone gathered at the entrance of the chapel for a ribbon cutting.  Gregg spoke for a moment & then he along with Chris, Paul, Dave & Travis made the cut...or cuts if you will while the elders stood nearby.

The Valentine Ladies, what you can't see is my arms shaking from holding so much weight ; )




The Chapel filling up for the very first time.



The first service was wonderful.  It was an honor to participate in leading worship with Luke & the rest of the team.  We definitely had a full house with around 300 people! We are looking forward to seeing how the Lord uses this building to bring more people to know Him.

One simple & special part of the day was after the service was over & we headed to pick up the kids.  Picture this, preciously in the High School, the nursery was in a theater dressing room & the older kids met in hallways.  We were thankful to have a space to meet but it was definitely not ideal.  This week, we walked over to the education building & there were kids running outside playing "Red light, Green light" in our grassy area.  We picked up the girls and sat down outside between the chapel & administration building and just relaxed while kids ran ALL over.  It brought a smile to my face to see all of the kids enjoying the great outdoors & the adults interacting in such a comfortable environment where we weren't rushed to get out so they could lock up. Eloise's favorite part, she got to spend a few moments with Clara who totally adores her : )

All in all, it was a beautiful day or days getting settled into our new home.  Praise God for his provision in allowing each and every thing to fall into place, such a blessing!