Open letter to ACF from Miriam Stone; a great encouragement.
To Aberdeen Christian Fellowship.
So the time has come when I, we, leave ACF. As many have come and gone, and many will continue to come and go.
I am sad to be leaving my church family because that really is what you all have become to me. Before I came to ACF I was still living through my most recent tragedy, the loss of my lovely mum. It wasn’t just her death, but the fact I had to watch her fade, and there wasn’t a thing I could do to save her or myself from it. I found a diary entry that said: ‘I feel like a leaf blowing in the wind, going any direction it takes me.’ The picture i saw still springs to mind. It was an autumn leaf, the type that has lost its green and has now faded to brown. It was no longer plump and flexible, but crisp and brittle. It had holes in it and it just floated, from here to there, from there to here.
I really just wanted to encourage you all, those that teach, lead worship, go to house group, mainly music, womens group, prayer meeting, those I’ve chatted with often and those I’ve chatted with occasionally, you all showed me Jesus. You showed me his love, kindness, gentleness, his truth, his guidance, his word. I gradually felt like I had come home. That I belonged not just to my immediate family which felt so fragile, but to the whole church family. I really just want to thank you, and encourage you to keep bringing people in, keep loving them, keep serving. I was floating around lost, but know I’m rooted back where I always belonged, on the vine with you and with Jesus.
I hope that those who are here and yet to come will also experience the healing that I found here and I just wanted you to know I leave a different person. That through you God was able to work in my life and things look more green everyday.
Minnie x