"There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us."--1 Corinthians 12:4-6 (NLT)
The example given in our devotional is that of a basketball team, and how many people are involved in the successful running of a basketball game (the team, the cheerleaders, the coach, the refs, the janitors, the manager, the parents, the commentators, etc). Each person or group has a different gift, a different calling they are to carry out, but they all work together for one common goal.
Like a team, a church should also be a family. Sometimes there is drama--"I do not want to sing beside that Betty, she is way too out of key and is taking the amazing out of my Amazing Grace!" Sometimes there is hardship (the loss of a beloved elder, the need for a ministry we don't have funding for, disagreeing viewpoints on what should or shouldn't be preached the Sunday before Christmas.....) Sometimes there is debt--and yes, debt sucks basically, but like a family without the managing of that debt there are no funds for "vacation" (vacation being funding for new ministries, building touch ups, paying for more missionaries. building a new campus ministry student center, and so much more!) The wonderful thing about this kind of family is that we have the best Father imaginable leading us.
There are times, like with our blood family, things are not so fun. I have been experiencing some growing pangs within my church since about January of this year. It finally manifested itself into the feeling of having nowhere to belong there. Sure, I am involved in several ministries all of which I love so much and hold dearly in my heart. But there has not been anywhere really for people like me, my age, in my stage of life, to go and to fellowship with one another as well as getting super fed. We can only go out and love and feed others out of our overflow if we are over flowing...but sometimes we are just running on empty. And that is what I have felt like too much over this past year. It had gotten to the point that if I was not scheduled to sing on the praise team on Sunday mornings I just didn't want to go. Does that make sense? Like if I wasn't active on a ministry team I serve on I didn't feel comfortable enough to go and just be with my family, maybe because I still didn't feel like part of the family.
All of that changed tonight. I am not airing out my congregational dirty laundry, but instead, sharing a victory I feel my FAMILY had tonight. Learning. Growing. and Loving. So after church tonight I found out that a group of people got together on the behalf of myself and some other "singles" who felt they had nowhere else to belong, and out of the conversation got us a classroom and teachers and people to support us--all starting Sunday morning! I cried tears of joy all the way home, because this is SUCH an answered prayer and a blessing to my life as well as many others who have been floating around church looking for a place to go. This has been a long time coming, and people who love me and are passionate about this ministry stood up and fought for me.
If you know anything about my past you know I carry scars from times in my life where I was not fought for. After my mother left, my dad married an alcoholic, so lost and so manipulated by satan that it destroyed our entire family. Those who looked in from the outside never came to rescue us (my sister and I), never fought to make things better, just...let it happen. Now, I have definitely had my FAIR share of amazing angels in my life who HAVE fought on my behalf--but the wounds of those who never did, speak volumes about the way my heart is programmed today. So imagine me, feeling voiceless and worthless in my FAMILY (church) all of a sudden getting a call that changed everything...I am wanted, I am valued, I have a voice, I am LOVED! And it is so NICE!
So the devotional I read this morning about being a team and a family and celebrating our differences in order to glorify God's bigger vision for us, played out in my own life tonight. I love my family. I love my church. And I know now that even if I don't see it immediately, there are people there fighting for the good of people like me. Imagine going to a Thanksgiving dinner with your family where you felt a little awkward, a little out of place, or a bit uncomfortable....then imagine getting to go to that same dinner where you feel wanted, loved, exactly where you belong! This will be a wonderful Sunday at Southwest church for me....Thank you to all of my family who have made this happen, and thank you to those praying for this to happen.
In HIM,
Meg
