Wednesday, March 29, 2017

A Safe Landing

I have no big words to share. No big points to make. Just thoughts that sit on my heart and in my mind. I'm a church girl. Have been since the day I got saved. Of course at the beginning it was all because I was "supposed" to be at church because the doors were opened. Now it's because I truly love to go and learn and worship. I love to learn so that I can take it out into the world and share it with others around me. So, basically I love a good, practical sermon.

Here is what I do not love about church (this is not at all intended to be negative or ranty, it's just things that I am seeing from others around me). I do not love that we all feel like we have to be perfect when we walk in. I do not love that even in small groups we don't have freedom to be ourselves because of fear of how others around us will react. I do not love that it feels like we have to keep it ALL together ALL of the time. Living that kind of life is exhausting.

When we began doing things at ReBUILD my husband and I had this plan and this vision for how things would go. Want to know how many of "our" things have happened....ZERO! Want to know Who's plan we are following now? God's! I want to share the things I am seeing Him do. One of my plans was to connect "church" people with people we were ministering to. Those who some would see as the least reached of our city. You know the messy ones that are hard to get involved with. OH, PLEASE.....we are all messy and hard to be involved with (if you aren't, please share your secret). Want to know what God has done with my plans and ideas? He's shown me that there's no difference in any of us. We all need help! We all need a safe place! We all need safe people! So, while I thought that we would be doing this mentoring thing....you know matching up people and watching them form relationships and it just being all beautiful.

Here's the beautiful God has done. He HAS brought "church" people to ReBUILD.....He's brought them because they are all jacked up and a mess too! But most of them don't have a safe place to land. To come in and be welcomed-problems and all. I'm watching us all gather around the table-from the greatest to the least-and share our burdens. Share our problems. Or sometimes just sit in silence. All the while knowing that they are in:

-a place of safety
-a place of rest
-a place where weary souls can be refreshed.

I don't know what God has planned next at ReBUILD and that's scary because I like to know it all and have it planned out. But what I do know is that ALL-church people, non-church people, Christ followers, non-Christ followers-ALL are welcome to come and be nourished: physically, spiritually and mentally.