“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven”
I look forward to Sundays. I feel so blessed by the church body that our team has been partnered with for the year. Each morning when I arrive, I know that from the moment I walk through the door to the moment I leave, I am surrounded by family. Our church knows how to make someone feel welcome. There are greeters at pretty much any entrance you choose to come in. There is no “sneaking in and out of church” here.
Our pastor is full of energy and his family is one of my greatest joys here in Chicago. He and his wife have six, soon to be seven, amazing kids. Their family exemplifies Christ in a way that is contagious. You cannot help feeling full of joy in their presence and the life giving words that they speak to me on Sundays are always such a great encouragement. Often times I find myself, “traveling the world” or playing other imaginative games with their younger daughters, playing superheroes with one of their sons, or just sharing stories with their oldest daughters. The way that our pastor and his wife minister to their church is phenomenal and can be described as nothing short of a direct encounter with what God does with fully surrendered lives.
My favorite moment in church though is when I walk into the sanctuary and look out into the sea of faces and find “my spot”. There is a lady in our church who has captured my heart with her walk with Christ. Every morning I make my way to her side and together we take refuge in our “safe” place. She has weathered a life more challenging than any I have ever heard of and yet she has welcomed me as part of her family. With her I feel so free to be the broken, struggling disciple of Christ I really am. There is no pressure for that perfect face or spotless performance. With her, I feel like I have a place to be in communion with someone else in all the rawness of what being saved by grace in faith really is. We struggle together to understand that there is nothing we can do to “better deserve” the gift of salvation we have been given. She is a strong, persistent woman of God that has no idea how strong she really is. I look forward though to journeying together with her for the next six months and seeing where God brings both of us in our walk with Him.
Leave a Reply