During a recent worship service, Jeanna Leauma shared how God added her family to the Ambassador family.
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As many of you know I am a special education teacher here at Penny Road Elementary School. The first time I had ever heard of Ambassador Presbyterian Church was the day my assistant principal and friend came to my classroom with an offer. She said, “Jeanna, I know you guys have been looking for a church… There’s a church that is going to start renting our building on Sunday’s and someone needs to be in charge of unlocking and locking up the building each week.” The first thing I thought was, “Will we have to do this EVERY SUNDAY?!” Right then and there God began working on my heart. You see, we had only been living in the area for about a year. During that time I was praying to find a church that we would fit into. To be honest, we hadn’t been to church in months. So I went home that day and discussed it with my husband Brian. We both agreed we needed to find a church, we both agreed we needed extra money, and we agreed that we wanted our son Silas to know and love God. After much thought, we said yes and agreed to make the commitment to the “job” as a family. What came after, I couldn’t even have imagined then.
Walking into the gym that first Sunday, I had doubts about how I could possibly worship the Lord in the same room that hosted a week’s worth of PE classes, a school carnival, and 5th grade graduation. How was I going to leave the stress of the work week behind to focus on His Word, when that stress was literally right in front of my face? As it turned out, it wasn’t a problem at all. Somehow I came to learn and understand that the building in which we worship is irrelevant.
Right around that same time, the next set of doubt began to creep in. I doubted myself. Everyone in the church seemed nice and happy and good. I couldn’t imagine that they would accept me into their church anyway. I didn’t even read the Bible, let alone quote scripture. And I knew no matter how hard I tried, I was a sinner.
Well, God kept a good hold on my heart and kept that key to the building in my hand. I couldn’t run away from this. And week by week, we began to form relationships. Through the messages and by opening myself up to others, I discovered that I have more in common with you all than I would have expected.
The opportunity to share my story, my thoughts, and my love for Jesus with you, is a huge honor to me. Each and every one of you has touched our lives in some way. The significance of your words, prayers, actions and LOVE, is felt daily, as we live out our lives. It comes in the form of being a better person, a better wife, a better mother and friend. To the youth of this church, I stand in awe of you. You remind me each day that it’s possible to raise my own son to have the courage to love the Lord, when everything about the world tells you not to.
Now, 2 ½ years later, I’m standing in front of you and the Lord, sharing with you how this church has changed our life. Today it’s very clear to me. A church is not a building, but a group of people, dedicated to same purpose, loving and living, to the best of our abilities, in His image. In only a few more weeks, just as our new building is ready, I too will be ready– to return that key. We are no longer committed to this “job.” We are committed to God and to you. God prepared us; God gave us this gift of a church family. I know we are ready, because on Saturday evenings, Brian, Silas and I get excited when we say, “We get to go to OUR Church EVERY Sunday.” —Jeanna Leauma
