Okay, so if you've read my first post, you'll know that we've been doing some soul-searching about our current church. Things have not improved since the day I wrote that post, and we've more or less decided that it's time to move on. It's not a fun proposition, starting over... and yet it seems to be the right thing to do.

Well, it SEEMED to be the right thing to do... until I started looking around for somewhere else to worship! We're in a bit of a unique situation; we hope to move within the next few years to be closer to the school our children will attend. Because of that, we don't want to get strongly attached to a church that we'll have to leave in a few years. So ideally, we'd like to be led to the right church for the indefinite future. If that makes sense.

We really wanted to stay in our current denomination, but there aren't any of those churches within a feasible distance from the school. So that leads us to other... disciplines, I suppose? I hate to use the word "denomination" again, but I don't want to use the word "faith" or anything like that. We're not becoming apostates; we're just trying to figure out where to go since our first choice is a no-go.

And this is where all my headaches of the past two days have originated. I've been online for HOURS, searching for churches that still hold to the same basic truths that we believe. But apparently I've got too many eggs in my basket. If I want to go to the one that shares our convictions about baptism, I get a different church government than I like, or a different stance on women being ordained. If I pick the one with the right kind of programming for our children, I get a different belief on divine healing. What's with these people? Can't they just give me everything I want?

And what I want is the church I grew up in. The creeds I cling to, the reformed faith, the children's programs, the small groups for marrieds... Apparently I CAN have it all, I just have to get my husband to move 600 miles to the left, and we'll be set.

I've been trying to make a list of "negotiables" and "non-negotiables," doing my best to skim off any fluff, but it just doesn't seem to be helping. It's ALL important! If it weren't important, it wouldn't be on my list!