From Our Worship Ministry Associate, Jenny Skarke:

This past Sunday was my first in-person worship service since October 24th, 2021. I can’t tell you how amazing it felt to worship with everyone in person again. I would have never thought that when I left for my lunch break on October 27th that I wouldn’t be back until now. While our Livestream was a huge blessing during my stint on bedrest, there is nothing like seeing the faces of our congregation together in corporate worship. I am VERY MUCH looking forward to officially returning back in full swing on the 28th of this month!
Our baby girl, Clarke Ann, came home from the NICU on January 13th. It has been quite the rollercoaster since she has been home! She had an amazing first week with minimal issues, but then she gave us a couple scares the next week that put us back in the hospital a few times. She is doing much better now, and we are quickly learning how to navigate her health issues without having to call the surgeon every night. (Needless to say, they know us VERY well at this point… Ha!) She is such a blessing, and we love her more than we ever thought we could love someone.
Although it was a scary time for our family, God’s presence in our lives was stronger than ever throughout this journey. I kept telling Michael that I couldn’t even imagine going through something like this without our faith. How could we have had strength and peace through it all without the love of Christ? When I messaged John after Clarke was born about how much we loved Clarke, he reminded me that the love we have for our children doesn’t even begin to compare to the amount of love God has for us. That’s A LOT of love, and we sure felt it!
We are so grateful for all of your thoughts, prayers, love, and support over the past few months. It has been an enormous uphill climb; but now that Clarke is here and we have begun to feel a tiny bit more accustomed to parental life, we have had time to reflect on the amazing support system we are blessed to have. We believe every prayer counts, and we felt yours even on the hardest of days.