WOW! It sure has been a very long time since I've been here. So much has gone on...but that is for another day.
We've been attending our church for well over 2 years. In such a large church it is sometimes hard to connect with people. So Mark and I have been trying to connect, but each Sunday we sat by ourselves. Sometimes others were in our row, but no one we connected with. Until recently.
Within the last year we've invited some teens to sit with us. Simple as that. Mark and I are not the cool kids. We have never pretended to be the cool kids. We put ourselves out there and began to invite more people to sit with us. Non-teen type people. Our row grew...sometimes we filled a row. Sometimes it was all teens and us, sometimes adults who had spouses serving in other areas, sometimes single grandmas, but always there a mix of ages and backgrounds. Our row was less lonely. It was filling up with people who need to be feel part of the body at 10 am.
Not until recently, did I even realize I was doing anything important. We were gone for a week for vacation. When we returned, it was as if we had gone to Timbuktu for months. They were truly happy we were back. We were missed.
I couldn't believe that inviting the teens to sit with us was so important to them. But what a wonderful thing to be able to speak into their lives. We ask them about their week. We spend just a few minutes loving on them. Just a few minutes a week. God is blessing those minutes and blessing us too.
Again God surprises me. It shouldn't surprise me how God would use an empty pew to bless so many lives. What a beautiful thing to be apart of God's big picture in such a small way.
So our row, our orphan row, has become a community. A community of orphans. A community of those being used by Jesus to make an impact on the lives of others. A community.
We've been attending our church for well over 2 years. In such a large church it is sometimes hard to connect with people. So Mark and I have been trying to connect, but each Sunday we sat by ourselves. Sometimes others were in our row, but no one we connected with. Until recently.
Within the last year we've invited some teens to sit with us. Simple as that. Mark and I are not the cool kids. We have never pretended to be the cool kids. We put ourselves out there and began to invite more people to sit with us. Non-teen type people. Our row grew...sometimes we filled a row. Sometimes it was all teens and us, sometimes adults who had spouses serving in other areas, sometimes single grandmas, but always there a mix of ages and backgrounds. Our row was less lonely. It was filling up with people who need to be feel part of the body at 10 am.
Not until recently, did I even realize I was doing anything important. We were gone for a week for vacation. When we returned, it was as if we had gone to Timbuktu for months. They were truly happy we were back. We were missed.
I couldn't believe that inviting the teens to sit with us was so important to them. But what a wonderful thing to be able to speak into their lives. We ask them about their week. We spend just a few minutes loving on them. Just a few minutes a week. God is blessing those minutes and blessing us too.
Again God surprises me. It shouldn't surprise me how God would use an empty pew to bless so many lives. What a beautiful thing to be apart of God's big picture in such a small way.
So our row, our orphan row, has become a community. A community of orphans. A community of those being used by Jesus to make an impact on the lives of others. A community.
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