Category: Community

Yesterday in church, our pastor presented my daughter Caroline, who is about to graduate from high school, a gift from the Ladies’ Group. As he called her up, he said he had music to play for her and the song, “Sweet Caroline,” began to play. The gesture was so thoughtful as was the gift. This mama’s tender heart was moved to tears.

A few more announcements were made and then our pastor recognized a widow who was in attendance. She had just lost her husband the week before. The celebration service had been the day before. Her attendance, when she literally had a dozen reasons not to attend during her deep grief was remarkable.

Both recognitions drew applause from the congregation and I was once again, moved to tears. I held them both close to my heart and I thought about them hours after our church service.

We love to talk about how the Christian Church gets it wrong. The Church is made up of people and people are broken. People will sometimes gossip. People will do and say inappropriate things. People will hurt your feelings.

But, the Christian Church was always meant to be much more than the individual weak and broken people who make her up. The Christian Church was born at Pentecost, baptized and anointed by the Holy Spirit. Its purpose is to spread the love and truth of Jesus Christ. Its purpose is to offer hope to a dark world in dire need of it.

With people involved in that mission, we will inevitably mess it up from time to time. There are those who just cannot accept humanity’s failure and will write off the entire Church Universal, over words or behaviors of one or two people in particular churches.

But, the sad truth is that if we stop attending and participating in the community of church because of something that people did, we weren’t attending for the right reason anyway. When a Christian stops attending worship with other Christians, over hurt feelings and elects to stay at home, who wins?

It’s not God.

What would happen if those of us in strong church communities, chose to share what our churches do that is good?

Yesterday, I witnessed two Christians on very different legs of their journey. One was joyful and one was grieving. Our church reached out to and loved both. We got it right and as we did, I’ve no doubt Heaven rejoiced.

Jesus loves the Church and we are called to as well. A graduate and a widow reminded me. Perhaps you needed reminding too. Perhaps you need to share.

Have an awesome day!
Wendy 🙂

I recently had a bit of a health scare. After a yearly visit to my doctor, I got the dreaded call that I needed to come in for another mammogram and possibly an ultrasound. I got the news from the young doctor who replaced my doctor of over twenty years who just retired. She assured me that it was no big deal and encouraged me to wait for three weeks to get in with the group who already had my films, taken over the past ten years. I would know my results immediately.

I agreed. Did I mention that my mother is a breast cancer survivor? I should have known when I chose peace to be my one word to focus on this year, that I was in for a bumpy ride.

I Googled the few words I had from the report and learned that it was rarely cancer. Yet, I never throw much credence to percentages. At every turn with my mama’s cancer, we were told it was most likely nothing. Two failed lumpectomies and eventually a mastectomy, proved them all wrong.

Thankfully, Mama is well and feisty and doing just fine over ten years down the road. She’s happy and healthy and a light to all. God used her cancer for good and grew her faith immensely.

I kept all of that information along with my own diagnosis, mostly to myself for about two and a half weeks. I knew I would be okay either way. I didn’t really need to talk to anybody and I wasn’t going to bother anybody with a prayer request. There wasn’t even officially anything wrong.

But, the waiting wore me down and I hit a wall. The unknown became too much and I began to feel very anxious. I knew Jesus would walk with me whether I was sick or not. I didn’t have a crises of faith; I just couldn’t deal with the not knowing anymore and so I reached out to some select prayer warriors.

My hubby is a member of a men’s prayer group at our church and they prayed. My pastor pulled me aside on Sunday and he said a beautiful, comforting prayer with me. I could feel the Holy Spirit at work. When I got home, I sat on my porch in the sunshine and I texted an old friend and asked her for prayer just like she has asked me in the past. I messaged some of my prayer warriors from my mission trip.

I got immediate replies all around and I felt that peace that had been eluding me. The next day, I received several messages including a text from my pastor’s wife encouraging me and lifting  me up and I thanked God for all of them.

When I went for my mammogram, it all took less than an hour. All was well and when the technician used the same exact words that my pastor had prayed, “We looked and there was nothing there,” I knew the Holy Spirit had been busy and I learned a valuable faith lesson that I should have already known.

I don’t know why I resist asking others to pray for me when I am so willing to pray for them. The asking doesn’t make me weak; it makes me supernaturally strong. I feel grateful, blessed and humbled all at once. I am reminded that the strength in a faith community comes not from a few strong ones doing all of the praying, but from everyone sharing their burdens and lifting each other up.

May I never forget. Perhaps you needed reminding too.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

For the past few months, my church has been planning our very first Vacation Bible School in our new location. I am super passionate about that ministry and I spearheaded all of the planning. I put together a budget and I ordered a ton of stuff. I spoke to the congregation and they were on board.

I had all of these retired people, many who had never participated in VBS, but they volunteered and were ready to throw open the doors of our little church and use their hands and hearts to share the love of Christ.

I was excited. They were excited. Things seemed to be coming together.

But, then, we only had a few kids sign up and we had to cancel.

I was disappointed, but not discouraged. I’ve been walking with Jesus long enough to know that my plans, no matter how pure hearted and ready to serve they may be, don’t always line up with God’s.

Like the little tree in the, “Tale of Three Trees,” I really just want to stand tall and point to God, and like that little tree found, God’s plans sometimes look different from my own, but that’s okay. I’m not God. I’ve learned that it’s okay to not have the answers as long as I’m trusting in and walking with the One who does.

But, those sweet people in my church community were so concerned about me. I got e-mails and people pulled me aside to talk to me. My hubby was questioned by several members about how I was taking the news.

And that’s what community is supposed to be about. Isn’t it? We come together and support each other to glorify the God we serve. Then we reach out to each other and love one another when life doesn’t turn out like we planned.

My heart was just as moved by their enthusiastic willingness to serve in a ministry where they personally had no kids or grandkids, as it would have been if we would have actually had VBS. For me, it was a matter of the heart, the collective heart of our church community. It didn’t matter that we didn’t have VBS; it only mattered that they were willing to be the hands and feet of Christ to an unknown group of children.

It is true that I’m very passionate about VBS. But, I’m most passionate about pointing the way for others to see God in any way He sees fit. The fact that I’m part of a faith community willing to do the same, that’s an incredible blessing and maybe that was the faith lesson God intended for me to learn.

He’s always at work and as long as we are willing to follow His lead with open hearts, we never have to be discouraged, because we never really fail. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Last weekend, our church hosted an Easter egg hunt at our new church location. The church itself is fourteen years old, but has moved around from place to place until landing at our new permanent address. We moved less than ten miles from where we were, but we crossed a county line.

We went from our not very diverse, conservative community to an incredibly diverse college town. The entire congregation voted on it and it became very obvious through prayer, that God wanted us in our new place. So, we went, not knowing what to expect, but open to God’s call.

Several months ago, I pitched the idea of an Easter egg hunt and everyone was on board. We decided months ahead that we would do it the Saturday before Palm Sunday instead of the Saturday before Easter.

A couple of weeks before, my pastor’s wife, who is one of my favorite people on the planet, asked me at choir practice, what my backup rain plans were. I informed her that it would not rain and I asked her to pray for sunny weather. She said she would.

It was amazing to see my little church come together on the preparations. Somebody ordered the eggs. Somebody different ordered the candy and toys to go in the eggs. The ladies group stuffed the eggs. A different person bought cookies and prizes. Another lady made lemonade. A different crew hid the eggs.

All week long, the weather forecast looked terrible. At first it was going to be cold and rainy. Then it was going to be warm with thunderstorms. When I last looked, the storms were going to roll in at hunting time.

Anytime I was asked what needed to be done for the hunt, I replied prayers for nice weather. Saturday began cool and cloudy, but I wasn’t concerned.

I have learned through years of planning children’s ministry events, that when we are doing God’s work for kids, He intervenes. I reasoned that if the Maker of heaven and earth wanted to use our little outreach to plant some seeds, the weather would not be a problem.

Not surprisingly, the afternoon turned out to be truly stunning. There was a light breeze and the sun was out. Two hours before we started, a family pulled through the lot to ask us about the hunt. We told them and welcomed them to come back.

At start time, we had five families of multiple nationalities who we had never met before, along with a few others, as well as church members. There are few things more precious than laughing, excited children, hunting Easter eggs and I was reminded of the song from my childhood, “Jesus Loves the Little Children,” though politically incorrect now, I’m sure, the meaning behind it still rings true.

Jesus loves children of all colors and nationalities and when we make an effort to reach out to them and plant seeds, well, it’s always wise to expect Divine intervention. We invited them to church and to our summer Vacation Bible School.

I can’t wait to see what God will do with that ministry. One thing is for sure, as long as we continue to pray about it, we can expect to see big things.

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

I often give my neighbor a ride home from church. She always worries that she is a burden somehow. I just smile as I explain that I was raised in a tiny Baptist church, yet the church owned a school bus. Picking people up, especially for Vacation Bible School, was what we did. Lack of transportation was never a viable excuse for not attending our little church.

When my sister and I were growing up, my cousin and her hubby would come pick us up for Sunday school, and my mom would join us for church service. I truly believe they were happy to help.

When my daughter was younger, there was a little girl in our neighborhood, who we would swing by and take to church with us. On Wednesday nights, I would run to the neighborhood across the street, to pick up a couple of kids who wanted to come to our program.

I suppose it’s true that you learn what you live. I can’t imagine not being willing to give someone a ride. For years, I drove a minivan, that was full more often than not, of kids who needed transportation. My mama did the same.

I guess I consider transportation to be a gift. Not all people have it. If God were to ask me if I am using His gift to further His kingdom, what would my answer be?

A couple of weeks ago, as I was driving my sweet neighbor home, we were talking about her son, who passed away. She was really missing him. I can’t imagine the pain of burying a child. I’m sure it’s not anything you ever get over.

These conversations tend to make us squirm, don’t they? We never know what to say and we don’t like that. There is no magical Christian answer to heal a grieving heart. We can’t fix it and that makes us feel helpless, so we often just avoid the conversations or even the people who need us to be there and listen.

Giving someone a ride is easy. It requires no emotional or spiritual presence on our part. But, what if all of those years of giving rides to kids, was God’s way of preparing me for something deeper?

I listened to her and my heart went out to her. I promised to pray for her peace as she got out of my car. As I drove down the road, thinking about her pain, a song came on the radio, that seemed to have been written for her.

I thought of her and that song all day and wondered if it would speak to her as it spoke to me. Would she get it? Would it be helpful or hurtful? After wrestling all day, I sent her an e-mail and attached it. I prayed that it was the right gesture.

She sent me the sweetest reply and told me that was exactly what she needed to hear.

Looking back, of course it was. There I sat not knowing what to say, and praying for her peace, and God sent me the answer in a song. Why did I doubt?

There are times when we desperately want to help, but just don’t know how. These are never the times to do nothing. These are the times to go to God in prayer and ask for guidance. We are trying to do His work of loving others. We don’t have to know the right answers, but He does. He will send them.

We just have to have our eyes wide open, or in this case our ears, and not be afraid to act when nudged. Perhaps you needed reminding today.

Have an awesome day!

Wendy 🙂

Here’s the song; if you would like to hear it.