Blog

We are continuing our series on getting to know your church leaders a little bit better. Read along to learn more about Chris Willadsen, who has rejoined our Elder Council. 

Where were you born, and do you still consider that home, or somewhere else?

I was born at Merritt Hospital in Oakland, California. I grew up in Alameda and Oakland which was home. I now consider the East Mountains, after 45 years, to be home.

What did you want to be when you grew up – and is that still a dream

When I was kid, I wanted to be healthy, wealthy and wise.

What or who was your earliest spiritual influence?

When I was very young, Nanue, my maternal grandmother was my caretaker, as my parents both worked. She was a godly woman, who taught me to love the Lord as she did.

How and when did Christ call you to Himself?

My parents taught me to want to follow Jesus, and I felt called to commit myself to follow Christ in my senior year of high school. I was baptized as a believer that year.

What is a scripture you often read or share with others?

I often share with others the verse 1 John 1:9, as it encourages me to recognize God’s faithfulness and perfect justice, as I acknowledge my total unworthiness be cleansed and made fit for heaven with my Lord for eternity.

What is a special answered prayer you’ve received from the Lord?

My most special answer to prayer is how God has preserved our lives through hardship to be married for 57 years. I’ll never get over his grace in our lives together.

What will be a blessing and what a challenge you see as serving on the Elder Council? 

I believe a blessing will be to interact with our church elders. A challenge will be to know our congregational body.

What are your hobbies and how did you get into them?

I enjoy music, having played my clarinet for 70 years now. Practically, I don’t have hobbies anymore, though I do like playing Wordle, competing with my daughter every day.

What is your favorite family tradition?

My favorite family tradition these days is to celebrate birthdays with everyone.

How do you enjoy spending a day off?

I enjoy puttering on my day off, which is most every day. I’m retired!

What is the perfect meal?

My favorite/ perfect meal is at our kitchen table together.

Who or what never fails to make you laugh?

I laugh at old slap-stick movies.

We asked Kay the following questions: 

What is your favorite trait of Chris?

I so appreciate his faithfulness and perseverance. I thank God every day I'm able to count on Chris, and for his determination to ask the Lord for guidance, strength, resources and to obey His calling. He often searches scripture for answers to his questions. I thank God for his faithfulness to me and our girls, especially in the 55 years I have dealt with MS. This has meant more and more as my "job description" has been given to him. Chris now knows how to wash clothes and windows, vacuum, grocery shop, etc. He pretty much does everything but making the grocery list and the cooking.

What does Chris do that can always make you smile? 

Chris is pretty good with his "dad" jokes, although I've heard most of them many times. (Like "insanity is hereditary. You get it from your kids.") I often call Chris "Puddleglum", from the C.S. Lewis book, The Silver Chair. He may start out gloomily declaring all the reasons why he can't do something, but he ends up as a loyal servant, doing it anyway. He does it, and it makes me smile.

We are continuing our series on getting to know your church leaders a little bit better. Read along to learn more about Brittany Wendland, our new church Administrative Assistant. 

Where were you born, and do you still consider that home, or somewhere else?

I was born in Sacramento, CA, but I consider San Luis Obispo, CA where my parents live home now.

What did you want to be when you grew up – and is that still a dream?

I had many dreams, from horse veterinarian to lawyer. Now I mostly want to be a hobbit and enjoy my garden.

What or who was your earliest spiritual influence?

My parents were my first spiritual influence, and they still provide wonderful godly guidance in my life.

How and when did Christ call you to Himself?

I was 5 when I knew that I wasn’t cutting it and needed Jesus to help me. My Mom was the person I told, and she explained salvation to me.

What is a scripture you often read or share with others?

Mark 9:14-29. The father’s cry of “Lord I believe, help my unbelief” to be very comforting when my heart and brain don’t quite sync up.

What is a special answered prayer you’ve received from the Lord?

When Mitchel and I were first married, money was very tight. In a time of particular need, I found some gift cards from the wedding gifts after I thought all had been spent.

What will be a blessing and what a challenge you see as serving as church secretary?

Getting to know my church family and serve them better will be a huge blessing. I just need to remember not to spend my whole day chatting.

What are your hobbies and how did you get into them?

I love cooking, gardening and canning. My grandmother was very into them so she taught me to love them too.

What is your favorite family tradition?

The day after Thanksgiving, Mitchel and I go into the Manzano mountains to cut down a Christmas tree. We listen to Christmas music and watch Christmas movies while we decorate it that evening.

How do you enjoy spending a day off?

Getting coffee with friends or going to brunch with Mitchel.

What is the perfect meal?

A ribeye steak cooked medium rare with a baked potato and grilled artichokes as sides. Preferably from The Hitching Post in Casmalia, CA.

Who or what never fails to make you laugh?

My nieces. Those girls say the craziest things.

We asked Mitchel the following questions: 

What is your favorite trait of Brittany?

I really appreciate the heart she has for studying God's word and wanting to understand it better.

What does Brittany do that can always make you smile? 

Brittany always gives me a hug when I get home from work and that always makes me smile. 

Danial was baptized last Sunday. Here is how he shared about his trust in Christ, and how the Lord brought him to faith…

I was raised in a secular home, with my church experiences so limited they could be counted on one hand. In my youth, I sinned in countless ways and broke most of God's commandments, living far from the path He intended. 

The summer after high school graduation, I had a front-row seat to two tragedies that shook me to the core.  My best friend Dustin drowned during a camping trip, and less than a month later, my friend Matt suffered a devastating fall that left him comatose for the next 20 years. 

These events forced me to ponder the deeper questions of existence and gave me an intimate view of how Christians respond in crisis. I watched Matt's family pray, their unwavering love for the Lord shining through.

I saw their community rally together providing them with a superhuman strength that defied explanation.

Throughout my life, the Lord has strategically placed people around me to guide and influence me toward Him. Looking back, I can clearly see His hand at work in those moments. 

When my family moved to the East Mountains, it was my wife who insisted we find a church home. By then, I considered myself a Christian, though my knowledge was shallow—mostly from courses I'd taken at university. As we joined Mountain Christian Church, I experienced the body of Christ firsthand, surrounded by a supportive family of believers. 

As I continue to grow in my faith and surround myself with Godly men, I witness the Lord actively at work in my life. I still battle with sin, but through His strength, I've found the power to overcome what once seemed impossible. Five years ago, I walked away from drinking, and this past fall, I gave up gambling. In the past, I knew these were vices I needed to eliminate, but now, with the Lord's help and the encouragement of this community of believers, I've broken several chains that once held me captive. 

Only through the power of Christ can I find peace. 

I am a great sinner, but He is an even greater Savior.

Praise be to God.

“Can any of you add one moment to his life span by worrying? … Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” Matthew 6:27, 34

I can’t ever recall a time when in the middle of a stressful season I said to a friend, “I feel so much better this morning; thank goodness I was up worrying all night.” I’m not sure why we often default to worrying when we know it can’t achieve a single thing. I suppose worrying makes us feel like we’re getting ahead of a possible pain, fallout, or loss we fear is coming down the pike. We know getting out in front won’t stop whatever we’re worrying about from hitting us, but at least we won’t be ambushed by it. At best, worry is a lousy form of preparation and usually a terrible waste of energy since half the time the stuff we worry about never happens anyway.

This is what Jesus is detailing for us in these verses. Worrying can’t lengthen our lives by even a moment (or add an inch to our height, which I could have used while playing basketball in high school). And there’s no need for us to stew about what troubles might come tomorrow because we have enough to concern ourselves with today. Worrying about what may or may not happen in the future only snatches the precious moments we have right now, the only moments we’re assured of. If we prayerfully and responsibly deal with today’s troubles, instead of squandering the time fretting about tomorrow’s, we might actually be able to keep certain ones from snowballing into yet another day.

Jesus is offering us valuable, commonsense truths that stand on their own, but how much more meaningful when we remember who it is speaking them! That the Son of God Himself is the One relieving us of worry transforms His words from mere wisdom statements to life-changing kingdom of heaven realities because of His presence in our lives. We all know that living a life flooded with worry is awful and fruitless, but much of the time we can’t help it. What we need is to be rescued from it. That rescue is what so much of Jesus’s Sermon is about. Because the presence of Christ has infiltrated our world, He not only teaches us how but also empowers us to live free of debilitating anxiety.

What is keeping you up at night? Where have your resources fallen short of what you need? Who is threatening your possessions? I could tell you, Don’t worry because that’s inadequate and not very smart, but that wouldn’t help you. What is needed are Jesus’s anchoring truths about how the hurting are the flourishing ones because the kingdom of heaven belongs to them and how your heavenly Father knows what you need and is not caught off guard by your concerns. You don’t have to get out in front of what might happen because He’s already there.

Worry doesn’t get to have a bedroom in the Father’s house where daily bread is provided and needs tended. Worry is an outsider in a world where God’s people are infinitely more looked after than birds who can’t meal-plan yet are fed, where flowers that can’t slip into dresses or tuxedos are adorned in glory. And at the bottom of all this, we need not worry because Jesus is present among us. He is with us. He is with you. And the inexhaustible riches of His glory are present to meet your needs.

Heavenly Father, you feed the birds and clothe the flowers, and still I am much more valuable to You. Relieve me from worrying, not only because it’s tiresome and fruitless but because it’s needless in Your presence. Supply me with Your provision, help me remember You are eager to meet my needs, and generously give me Yourself. Let me go throughout my day, not oblivious to my real concerns but anxious to place them in Your care.

The Weakness of Worry. Kelly Minter. March 26, 2026.

https://kellyminter.com/2026/03/26/the-weakness-of-worry/

“How many children do you have?” is a question I am often asked. No matter how many times I have heard it, it can still raise my heart rate and make me flustered. Sometimes I still hesitate. Should I just say, “three,” since that is how many I have on earth? What if they ask their ages? Then I will have to explain that my daughter died. But laying aside someone else’s potential discomfort, there is only one answer that sits right with me: “Four. I have four children.” My mother’s heart cannot leave out my second child. I am her mother.

Recently I took my three-year-old to the children’s hospital ER. After about three hours of waiting, a nurse came out and called for the next child in a loud voice: “Leila!” Instinctively I thought she was calling us; she was calling my daughter’s name. Within a second or two reality set in, as I watched a different little girl with her mother walk toward the nurse. But hearing that name made my heart leap—my daughter! I am her mother.

One of the hardest things about the death of a baby is that you have nothing to show for your motherhood. After saying goodbye to Leila, we came home from the hospital, and I folded up all the baby clothes I had washed and put them away. Then I gave away the newborn diapers and baby wipes I had bought. One of the most agonizing experiences was having my milk come in a few days after her stillbirth. My body was still providing for my baby, responding to the hormonal triggers following labor, urging me to feed a newborn who was not there and who did not need my milk. Almost as hard as the milk coming was the milk drying up. And yet everything in me still yearned for my baby. I am her mother.

DEATH CANNOT SEVER

A live birth or a surviving child is not what makes you a mother. Since your child’s life began at conception, so too did your motherhood. The death of your child does not undo that reality. We see this beautifully displayed in Luke’s gospel. In a town called Nain, Jesus witnesses the funeral procession of a young man:

I love the language Luke uses. The man is dead, but he is still “the only son of his mother.” Death didn’t sever the mother-son relationship. Luke continues:

In life and in death, this woman is his mother. And in resurrection life, Jesus gives her back her son.

We see this again with Jairus’s twelve-year-old daughter. Jesus and his disciples have just been told that the little girl has died:

This little girl’s parents are as much her father and mother beside her deathbed as they are when she wakes up and needs food. In both examples, the expression of parenthood is different, but the reality of the parent-child relationship does not change—even in death.

MOTHERHOOD WITHOUT THEM

So what does motherhood look like for us bereaved moms when there’s no baby to rock, and settle and feed—when there is no child to raise? Of course, it will look very different for each of us. I have come to appreciate that there is a particular complexity to grief that comes with a miscarriage before a baby’s gender can be known. But one thing we have in common is that we all carry around our child in our hearts, our memories, and our longings. In The Kitchen Congregation, Nora Seton captures it poignantly when she writes: “The death of a baby is a melody played softly through its mother’s life like an intimate dirge, and you have to have died a little yourself to hear the music.”

You and I carry that sad melody—the intimate dirge—around with us, and very few ever hear the music. So it can be helpful to find ways to express our motherly love for our children. For me, it means that when asked, I include Leila in the number of children I have. I am more able now to push past the awkward- ness of the other person when I tell them I have a baby in heaven. We often remind Zac and Hannah that they have a big sister, and we try to help Ben remember when he met and held his little sister. Jonny does a little catechism with the kids on the Lord’s Day that reminds them we’re about to go to church and join Leila and the angels in worship. We have Leila’s hand and foot- print on display on our mantelpiece and her photo on top of the piano. Every Christmas we hang ornaments on the tree with her name on it. And when we get the opportunity, we love to visit her grave in Cambridge, England. Some of our parental love for her is expressed in caring for that little plot of land—cleaning her head- stone, sowing grass seed, and planting daffodil bulbs. And every year on March 17, now called Saint Leila’s Day in our home, we go out as a family and enjoy a meal in remembrance of her. Then we return home and let off yellow helium balloons into the sky, our gaze lifted heavenward, longing for that sweet reunion.

I don’t get to watch Leila play sports, braid her hair, or take her out for mommy-daughter dates. How I wish I could do all those things! But I won’t forget her, and I won’t stop talking about her. The world may forget you are a mother to your child. Even those close to you may forget—unintentionally, they may not mention your baby’s name or include him or her in a birth order. But God will not forget them. He blessed you with a baby whom he knitted together in your womb. In life, and in death, he views you as your child’s mother. You are still a mother.

New Growth Press. I Am Still Her Mother. Jackie Gibson. May 5, 2025.

https://blog.newgrowthpress.com/i-am-still-her-mother/?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&_kx=E5pFpYTAmS7QVLXbr2Z-vjV0LDBCvlpyqcRrC-h0TtY.WwnVif