Welcome means to accept somebody into your life, your home, etc with open arms. I grew up as a child who only went to church on major holidays. I called myself a Christian but wasn't a very faithful believer. I went to a very large, very affluent church as a child and young adult. Being from a single-parent household, we never had a lot so I never felt like I fit in at my church. My insecurities kept me from feeling welcome in the house of God. As a newly married woman, church was never high on priority list. Then my children came along and that changed. My family and I found a church in the town where we live and we love it. I have always felt a sense of belonging there. Like I was finally welcome. What always strikes me as wonderful is that when we take communion every Sunday, our pastor says everyone is welcome at God's table. And I know he's talking to me. God wants to welcome me to the feast. And for that, I am truly thankful.
Stop!
Here's the scoop on Five Minute Friday from Lisa Jo herself:
We write for five minutes flat. All on the same prompt that I post here at 1 minute past midnight EST ever Friday. And we connect on Twitter with the hashtag#FiveMinuteFriday
No extreme editing; no worrying about perfect grammar, font, or punctuation.
Unscripted. Unedited. Real.
It started because I’d been thinking about writing and how often our perfectionism gets in the way of our words. And I figured, why not take 5 minutes and see what comes out: not a perfect post, not a profound post, just five minutes of focused writing.
So now on Fridays a group of people who love to throw caution to the wind and just write without worrying if it’s just right gather to share what five minutes buys them. Just five minutes.
It's so wonderful that you found a place you feel you belong. It is so important. Our pastor says something similar for communion.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, i think a lot of us can identify with feelings of not fitting in.
Blessings!
It's so wonderful that you found a place you feel you belong. It is so important. Our pastor says something similar for communion.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing, i think a lot of us can identify with feelings of not fitting in.
Blessings!
Having a church home where you feel welcome is essential to being able to lead a Christian life. I'm so glad you had the opportunity to find one.
ReplyDeleteYour experience isn't odd in the least. You're surrounded by people with similar journeys. Now if only we could figure out the importance of connecting young people with church on their own terms rather than because their parents made them go...
ReplyDelete