A Real Blessing

It has been my privilege to serve the same church for the last 6+ years.  The church was planted in October 2002 with about 40-45 people and by the grace of the Lord, we have grown today to almost 170 people who would call our church their home.  Now I know that there is no such thing as a perfect church, but there are a couple of things that happened this week that reminded me that there is not a better congregation in the URC.  And both of them have something to do with food...

First, there were 3 ladies in our church who gave birth within a week of each other.  Typically, we try to line up meals for these families to ease the burden somewhat as they adjust to the newest member of their family.  Part of me wondered how possible it was going to be to get meals lined up for all of these families.  Silly me.  I never should have wondered.

For the first family (who gave birth on Tuesday of last week), we placed a sign-up sheet on the back table on Sunday and by the end of the day, all seven slots had been taken.

For the second family (who gave birth on Sunday), an email was sent out on Monday.  Within 3 hours, all the slots had been taken.

And for the third family (delivery via c-section last Thursday), an email was sent out late Monday night.  By Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. all the slots were taken.

And it was not only that all the slots were taken, but there were at least 5 ladies that I had to say "no" to because they wanted to take a meal on a day that was already signed up for.  What an incredible blessing...to have a congregation that is so willing to help one another!

But then there was the second thing:  Twice a month, on Wednesday nights, we have what's called "Family Night."  We start with a meal at 6:00 p.m., then followed by Boys' and Girls' clubs, as well as Elder/Deacon training (on the second Wednesday of the month).  A couple of things:  The ladies who put these meals together (headed up by one particular lady in our congregation) do such a wonderful job.  Two weeks ago, it was these incredible egg dishes.  Tonight, it was some fine Sloppy Joes and some really good potato casseroles.  And not only do they put this meal on for all of us, but they do it with joy.  What a great example of servanthood!

But that's not all.  As I was leaving tonight, one of the members in our church was carrying some tools with him.  When I asked him what he was doing, he said, "Well, I noticed that some of the church chairs are losing their little plastic feet.  I'm going to replace them."  Now no one asked him to do this.  He simply took the initiative because he had noticed something that needed fixing.And this is a man who has a full work schedule.

Those are just a few of the many examples that I could give of why I am so thankful to be able to serve this congregation!