Sean and Brenda O'Brien: An (un)Common Family

For what reason did the O'Brien family start attending Commons Church and why did they decide to become members?   Well, I'd be lying if I didn't give proper credit to the bounce house, doughnuts and casual attire that are offered to Commons children on Sunday mornings!!!  After all, they were definitely the initial reasons that our son, Brody, was the first of our family members to attend Commons Church with his friends (Rob, Steve & Abby Haxel).  After attending worship at the Bezner's house on (2) occasions, Brody inspired Sean, Erin & I to join him for the "fun".


The fact that our children finally found church to be "fun" was an answered prayer!  After several years of attending another church in our area, the kids lost interest in putting on what they called their "fancy church clothes" to attend worship on Sundays.  And while Brody enjoyed attending his children's bible class those mornings, Erin wouldn't leave my side and sat next to me during the adult worship every Sunday morning ... sometimes coloring, sometimes sleeping, sometimes making me "shush" her for being disruptive.  


After a while, the challenge of trying to get the kids dressed in "fancy" clothes on Sunday mornings, combined with the fact that I was focusing my adult worship time on keeping Erin's behavior in tact, became too stressful for me to want to deal with every week.  So, we slowly fell off the wagon with our regular Sunday worship schedule.  Our attendance went from being at church every Sunday, to every other Sunday, to maybe one Sunday a month ... inevitably, to no longer attending at all.


We attended a dive-in movie at the Hulen Heights pool last summer and ran into some people that we knew from our current church ... Thomas & Kimberly Law.  However, they were now donning "Commons Church" t-shirts which prompted me to ask them if they still went to the church in which we had both been affiliated.  They explained their new vision in Commons Church and that was the spark that initially got me thinking about possibly attending service there.  Our neighbors and dear friends, the Haxels, started attending Commons Church and within a few months, Brody went with them.


Fast forward 6 months and here we are ... Commons Church members, supporters and family.  In this short time, we have witnessed such unbelievable changes in our family and household ... and we credit our Heavenly Father and new church family and for these blessings.  Our kids can't get dressed (in their t-shirts, shorts & flip flops!) FAST ENOUGH to go to church on Sunday mornings and have recently started participating in singing during worship as well as actually whole-heartedly listening to Steve's sermons.  As parents, our hearts are full ... and as a husband and wife, our union is stronger than ever!    


We look forward to an exciting and prosperous future with Commons Church!