It all started when...

On Wednesday, September 8th, I ended my time at Feather Sound Community Church. I'm not gonna lie, it was a difficult decision, leaving behind everything I had known and grown up with. I literally spent my life in that place. But God was calling me elsewhere, so I went.

It wasn't but shortly after I had even pondered the decision to leave that Jason and Kristin approached me and talked to me about what God was calling them to do - plant a church - and what they wanted me to be a part of. We talked about it over Subway (because contrary to popular opinion, I like to eat fresh) and I told them I would be in prayer about it. Over the next few days/weeks I prayed about where it is God wanted me to go and was reading through the Old Testament in my devo time. Every part of Scripture I read, every message I heard was about being obedient to God and what He is commanding you to do in your life. I took that as a "Go!" from God. So I started attending the Movement Church; the church Jason and Kristin were planting.

I remember my first service there which was a week or two after my birthday: I had just gotten off work around 7:30 pm and I was able to sneak in for the last part of the service, still in my work clothes. Jason and Kristin were obviously there, along with Ben West and John & Gina Pask. What blew me away however was that as soon as church ended, people I didn't know just started coming over and introducing themselves to me. I'd never experienced that at church before. They genuinely cared that I was there and wanted to get to know me. There were a few people that stuck out to me, people that I had no idea were going to become amazing friends of mine in the near future.

Afterwards, people from the Movement were going to Chipotle for some food and invited me to join them. Initially, I declined. I was short on cash, and no one I knew was going to be there, so the introvert in me didn't want to have any part of that. I said my goodbyes and nice-to-meet-yous and went on my way back home. However, there was something inside me saying I needed to turn around. I started to make a U-turn, but then hesitated. "Kaeli, you don't have anything better to do. You're going," I convinced myself. So I ended up turning around and going to Chipotle. As soon as I walked in, people seemed to be excited about the fact that I decided to go and hang out with a bunch of strangers. And to be honest, I was too.

We sat outside and talked about anything and everything. Hair, tattoos, clothes, church, backgrounds, and cockroaches. I had a really good time. There was just something about them, something that made me want to come back. Maybe it was their lovingkindness, or their ability to include anyone into their family. Maybe it was their genuine and absolutely real love for Jesus Christ. Little did I know how much God would teach me through them and my leaving Feather Sound.

peace, love, and movement.

kaeli