Tour of Churches: The Blessing of Many Churches
Part of the reason why I’ve been on this journey of a tour of churches is, well, I’ve been searching for something in my own life.
About this time last year I was finally blessed with a job that would allow me to consistently pay my bills, buy a car (well- get a car payment), and also get a house.
Perhaps it was the fact that they never offered me a full contract as was promised, but something told me it wouldn’t last. And it didn’t. They switched from paying me a regular salary to offering to pay me per article. That would not work.
I did quickly find a job, two in fact, but working two jobs has been stressful and not the financial situation I had hoped for.
So I’ve been put in a position of incredible stress, trying to figure out how to adjust my budget when I am now making less than half the amount of money than I did before. But I’ve been trying to remind myself that God provided right when I needed him to before, and it will happen as it’s supposed to again.
Part of my problem, I think, is that I’m always wanting to do BIG things. Be better. Do more. Hustle harder. To the point where I can’t accept anything less than always working my very hardest- and I have no patience for anything less than the same from others.
To that end, I’ve felt like my spiritual journey needed something big- something profound as well. Some great revelation from God that everything I think I need might not be that- that I will be given just what I need to fulfill me and perhaps a greater faith will take away my need for all of the other “things” I think I need for greatness.
Today, as I was in church at First Baptist Church of Christ- I did feel something profound. I got there and saw one of my sorority sisters from Mercer, Julie, who is one of the ministers (maybe I got that title wrong?) there. She’s someone who I have looked up to from the moment we met. She offered to let my kids walk down the aisle with the other kids with the palms for Palm Sunday. It made me nervous. The last time my kiddos went with me to visit a church and I let them out of my site my son wandered away from the Sunday School somehow- not unlike him the kid is fast and I don’t blame the church- and ended up popping up by the pulpit in front of the whole dang church. All the facepalms.
Julie assured me everything would be fine and they’ve had lots of kids there (oh they all say that- I thought to myself). But, my kids did fine and had a lot of fun and even behaved in children’s church. That alone was a miracle from God.
But while they were there and I was in church, I was taking notes for another blog post idea while listening. And I realized, as much as I am so focused on being “big”, the minister Scott was talking about being small. The miracle of the ordinary. How the world likely never even saw the wondrous thing that was Christ coming into our world and moving in it as he realized his ministry. It was exactly what I needed to hear.
And it was once I got home, after we had to leave the after church Easter Egg hunt early because my son had a meltdown over not getting the Golden Egg, that I thought about some things. My son is wired much like me. He had a fit over not getting the Golden Egg- getting “the big prize”. As much as I want my kids to reach their full potential, am I falling short in teaching them to also celebrate the small things?
I might not have reached to big profound lighting bolt moment from God, but in these explorations I have found that there are many churches in many and they all have welcoming congregations. Even in my Facebook threads everyone has been so excited about stretching their arms forth and offering me their opened doors. Everyone. And in that regard, I am so blessed.
Love to all y’all,
Molly
(photo is from FBCX’s Facebook cover photo)
