Lasting Impressions of Spokane

 I've posted twice about my impressions of Spokane.

But this post is the one that touches my heart the most. 

Yes, we will miss the mountains and the climate, the river and Green Bluff, and the constant availability of good coffee. 

But what we will both miss most is the people of Christ the King Anglican Church. 

When we were planning our move, we made lots of lists. One our top priorities was to find a church home as quickly as possible. We thought we were only going to be in Spokane one year, so finding a church quickly was a must. Ed did some research and had a list of three that he wanted to visit. The first on the list was CTK.

It wasn't the first place we visited, though.

A customer at my Starbucks in Michigan has a niece that lives in Spokane and gave her my contact info. She emailed me right away and invited us to her church and to dinner at her house. She and her husband went to a mega church on the west side of town. Everyone was very nice, but it wasn't our style. We had a great time at dinner, had some salmon steaks on the grill and tomatoes from their garden. We even played a little Catan. They were expecting their first child in September and we were thinking of starting a family, too. It was a great day and I regret that I did not stay in contact with them.

But the second church we visited was Christ the King. We went on a Sunday that the priest was out of town, so we heard Father Jeff speak instead. It was a lovely service and there was lots of chatting before and after. We determined to return to hear the head priest. 

We then visited the other two churches on Ed's list. Both had very friendly people, but weren't just right. We returned to CTK and they have been family ever since. The above pictures are of the two youngest members (not including Milli). Ketziah was just a baby when we first visited. She is 3 now. These pictures were all taken on Easter Sunday, 2012. I didn't tend to take my camera to church with me, so these will have to do. The little girl in white is Epiphany. She was born in March of 2011, so we got to see her mom becoming more pregnant and all of her little life up through June 2012, when her family moved to Boise. Their exodus was just a few weeks before ours and the church lost both its babies.

 The Brown family were very active in the life of the church. Chad was the office manager and Keisha the music director. Their family was one of the ones we became closest to. Although, in a church as small as CTK, it is easy to get fairly close to everyone. Keisha is one of the sweetest people I know and her daughters are just beautiful. 

I wish I had a few more pictures of Malia. She looks so much like a young Summer Glau! That was one of the first things Ed and I noticed. We saw her walking from Sunday school and said, "Hey! That's a little River Tam!" Yes, we are very holy.

I will also note that it is very rare to have such a wonderful musician in a small church. Keisha plays the accordion, harp, and piano as well as writes beautiful music. I cherish the two CTK recordings as well as the various other CDs she has made for me.

 This is only three fifths of another family that touched our lives. Rachel Capezza has the camera and is Epiphany's mother. Her oldest, Kyrie, is also pictured. Kyrie is one of the most beautiful and contemplative children I know. She doesn't smile often, but is constantly thinking. 

Rachel is a bit of a crunchy mom, like me. She gave birth to Epiphany at the Birth Center of Spokane. At her baby shower, we began a discussion of natural birth and people became suspicious of my knowledge and interest. Someone asked me if I was pregnant and that was the first time I announced it to anyone. My mother didn't even know yet! Because of that and subsequent talks with Rachel, Milli was born at the same Birth Center and assisted by the same midwife. I love having that connection. The Capezzas also lived in Louisiana and used an East Texas midwife. If we have another baby, I will have to look her up!

Here is the rest of her family. Rick, above, and Antonio, left.

 

Epiphany and Milli became special friends. Piph is like her older sister and does not smile often. She is a watcher and she shows what she likes by being interested. She was very interested in Milli! Every Sunday you would find them together. 

Rachel's parents and several of her sibs also attend CTK. All but one of them were gone on Easter, so I only have Matthew's picture and this hand knit sweater by Alissa to show. I love all of them dearly.

This was a very common scene at church... actually, everywhere.

 Father Jerry has an interesting spiritual journey that includes a decade in the Evangelical Free Church, the same denomination that Edward and I were raised and met in. We liked his style, even though it was much different than Father Jeff's. They were a fabulous combination. We miss Father Jeff dearly, as he died of cancer the month before Milli was born. It was a sad time, but we know we will see him again. Jerry has had to carry on alone, so if you know any good Anglican priests, sent them to Spokane. Or Texas.

 These are Father Jeff's daughters- the one in the middle is also Father Jerry's wife. Took us a few weeks to realize that the assistant priest was the father in law of the head priest. There was a nice unity in that. So much of CTK was family by blood and Blood. The love was thick and rich.

I could go on and on about all the families, but it hurts my heart a little bit, so I will just show pictures again.

I will say one thing. When we were in Michigan for Christmas last year, we visited our church in Allendale. We hadn't been there since we moved and I was surprised at how much I loved being there that day. I was reminded of how much I had loved them. CTK was so wonderful that they made me forget how much I loved Allendale Wesleyan (now Lifestream). Our prayer is that we will find a church in Texas that does the same thing.

 

I will close with another picture of the two friends. Milli will not remember her first friend. Neither will Epiphany, for that matter. But we mothers and all the rest of CTK will remember how sweet these babies were together. I know they miss us and I hope they all know that we miss them.

We never know where God will take us in life or what He has in store here. But we do know that He has adopted us and made us his children. We are brothers and sisters, a beautiful and unbreakable bond. And we will live forever in his house. I look forward to the day when I no longer have to miss any of my family. 

But for now, my heart aches and I pray.