JASON AND MELINDA BOTTICELLI
How did you find Foothills?
Jason: Basically, we moved out of San Diego. We were planning on coming back due to our financial situation. We started praying probably a year, maybe even a year and a half before we were coming back to San Diego, like, “Lord, we want to find a church. We don’t know where to go.” And Brandon told us Foothills. But we also had criteria because we’ve been to church. We’ve been going to church for the last four or five years. And we had two kids which we didn’t have prior. We were really looking for a community. We were looking for an actual, thriving body because living up north, we went to a lot of churches and we ran into a lot of places that were like, 'man, this is going to be a really hard transition because we're looking to be spiritually fed,' right? And there’s something to be said about a church that is just healthy and alive. So, we were looking for that and we were looking for something that would just really invest into our kids because we know as godly parents that going to a church, if it’s alive and thriving, that our kids need to be invested into and that they could come alongside of us to assist in that journey. Because it’s a total journey raising kids. So, those were our specific things, I think. We were looking for a healthy church and somewhere that would invest into our kids.
What did you find at Foothills?
Melinda: What we found right away [was] that it was okay to be in need at this church and that we were going to find help, we were going to find encouragement, we were going to find the Father’s heart. And we did.
What would you say to someone thinking about visiting church?
Jason: Typically, the only thing I would say that holds you back from going to church is the fear of the unknown. But in reality, everything you do on a daily basis, that’s what church is—it’s just hanging out with people, loving people, and building community.