Saying Goodbye to Norway Baptist Church

Our departure from the north woods of Wisconsin was abrupt to say the least. One of the hardest things about leaving so quickly was saying goodbye to our church family at Norway Baptist Church in Norway, MI.

We started going to Norway right after we got married, summer 2005. Almost right away we started getting involved by running Junior Church every Sunday morning. It was a great way to get to know all the different families! A little while later, the youth group at Norway was officially 'formed' and we jumped in to help out! Our youth group was meeting during Sunday School, so we decided we needed to make a choice between Youth Group and Junior Church since we were missing out on being under pastor's preaching on Sundays completely! God was already working things out, though, and had someone else to take over Junior Church so we could work with the Youth Group, which we continued to do for the rest of the time that we were there.

As I think back over the last 3 years at Norway, there are so many memories...so many friendships...so many lessons learned and experiences gained. We were very blessed to have been a part of the family at Norway Baptist Church!

On our last Wednesday night at Norway, the teens threw a farewell party for us after church. They invited all the church family, but the teens themselves took care of all the decorations, set-up, and food. It was amazing!! We were blown away with all the work that they went to in order to plan the evening out and make it so special! It was nice to have an opportunity to say goodbye to everyone in such a relaxed setting, too. Here are a few pictures from the event:

Jordan and I with the cake (and no, I did not intentionally dress to match the black-and-white cake; I'm just classy like that! Haha!)

Here's a close-up view of the cake. One of the girls who will be moving up into the teen group this summer has a hobby of decorating cakes, and she made this one. She and her older sister (Natasha) are both so creative and artistic!

Allissa and I enjoying some punch and a little of Ana's beautiful and scrumptious cake.
Allissa became a part of our youth group a little more recently than the other girls, and she has been so much fun to get to know! I think the first time we really got to spend some time together was at the teen campout last summer. She is a very caring person who likes to have fun. I have really enjoyed my friendship with her! Doesn't she have a beautiful smile? I miss her!

Jordan doing what he does best...telling stories! ;)

Fellowshipping

Talking with Mrs. Markham (our pastor's wife)

Left to Right: Natasha, Emily, Jessica, and me
Because we really liked the way our first self-portrait turned out, we decided to go for another one! After taking probably 10 pictures, we finally got one where we were all looking at the camera, no one had their eyes closed, and no one was laughing (although, it looks like Em might have been struggling to keep her composure even in this picture)!

It's been such an amazing privilege to get to know these young people and to be a part of their lives as they grew and matured. We definitely will not be losing touch with them because they weren't just our 'youth group,' they were and always will be our friends!