Coming to Terms with Church

Okay so I am going to be very open, honest, and blunt in this post.
 So you have been forwarned hahaha!

All of my life I have been in Church.  As a child it was consistent...Sunday Morning, Sunday night, Wednesday Night. It was something I really enjoyed and i don't recall hardly ever asking..."do we HAVE TO go to church today?" unless I was sick. As I got older, mainly in my late teens those chuch attendances dwindled down to just Sundays and stayed that way through my mid twenties.  However in the past few years I have been in and out...we'd go to to church very regular and then have a span of months were we didn't attend at all.
And in the past year we havent been at all either.

This makes me very sad. I know it's my fault. I have every bit of control over myself and am capable of doing everything there is to do to get us in that door, but I don't....
I want my family in church. We discuss God at home and we pray and read bible stories, but I want more for my children, my husband, and myself. I want the relationship with God that I once had. And I want every member of our family to have a special relationship with him too.  It's a emotional and spiritual bond like no other.

I know many people say "you don't have to go to church to love God and be a Christian"...and I completely "get" what they are saying. But attending church is like paying your respects. It's like a public display of affection to our Lord. And not to mention its a fellowship time with others who share the same love and devotion to Our Savior.

I was born and raised in the Church of Christ. I know many people have heard horrible things about our denomination, but contrary to popular belief I was never taught that we were the only ones going to heaven or that our beliefs were the only beliefs that were biblically correct.  I do wish they allowed instrumental music, as not everyone is accustomed or even good at singing 4 part harmony...LOL, but i do credit my keen ear for harmony to the fact that it is all I ever heard  or sang growing up in Church...haha!

So, Mike and I, along with our kids are currently looking for a new church family.  It's nothing against my home church. Mike was born and raised a southern Baptist and has his views and beliefs as well...but together we have decided we want to be a part of a church that is full of love and devotion to serving the Lord, as well as has a desire to teach our littlest children about HIM and to encourage and help them fulfill their goals as being Christian leaders and servants as they grow. We don't want to feel "pressured" into going anywhere in particular or ridculed because of our choice either.  We just want to find a place where we can love the Lord as if we were shouting it from the mountain tops...he has blessed us with too much to just sit in a pew and bow my head then head to lunch.  I have no shame in saying that. I want to be surrounded by his people and his glory....I want my kids to exprience his love and feel his presence each and everyday.

I WANT MY CHILDREN TO LOVE THE LORD! I WANT MY FAMILY TO BE NEARER TO HIM! I WANT TO GIVE HIM GLORY FOR ALL HE HAS BLESSED US WITH!

I have put it aside for too long.  Time is short...and we are not guarenteed tomorrow, this has proven true to so many here recently and it has made me realize that I am a very ungrateful and selfish child of God. So, I am asking for your prayers and Christian guidance as my family does some much needed sole searching and tries to see which church family best fits our wants and needs as a "starting over" Chrisitian family. 
Any suggestions or expriences or comments or more than welcome!!!!

MJY