Roots and Wings

One Sunday, I visited a church.

Wow.

Just wow.

Breathtaking.

Incredible.

The minute I stepped foot on the church grounds, I was in awe. The church itself was so beautiful. The atmosphere was amazing. The people were so welcoming. I felt like I belonged. I didn’t feel like an outsider. I didn’t get evil looks for sitting in someone’s unassigned assigned seat. The music was impeccable. The sermon was short and sweet.

One Sunday, I visited a church.

The church is about the youth and keeping the youth involved which I was definitely a fan of. I related to the sermon so much, I took my phone out and started a voice memo. The pastor was definitely preaching to me and I heard him loud and clear. I wasn’t bored at all in church. I never lost my focus which is a first.

One Sunday, I visited a church.

In the sermon, he talked about kids that happen to fall asleep during service. Instead of rebuking the child in the name of Jesus and telling his family to “slap him in the back of his head” to wake him up, he appreciated the child and his family. I loved the metaphor about sleeping in church that he used while preaching. It was something about sleeping on a cloud of witnesses (I can't fully remember but it was pretty darn clever). Also, he didn’t make the child feel bad because he stated “all of us have slept in church at least one time in our lives” and I know I have. Let me tell ya, when I was a little girl, I had the best sleep of my life sitting in church service; but most definitely during New Year’s Eve service, because back when I was young girl, New Year’s Eve service started at 10pm. That was way past my bed time for a young squirt like me.

He also hinted that he knew all of us wouldn’t be at the New Year’s Eve Watch Night Service and joked about it. He knew that most of the young adults will be "partaking" in different activities and he was okay with that. He even knew some Baby Boomers and Generation X's will be partaking in those activities as well. We felt no shame and he didn’t shame us. That was a very different feel from what I’m used to.

One Sunday, I visited a church.

Getting out of your comfort zone is hard sometimes, but it’s needed. You need to get out of your comfort zone in order to grow. Visiting this particular church, was an experience beyond belief. Just sitting in their place of worship for the first time and hearing the invitation, I so wanted to tell my feet to start walking towards the preacher to become a member but something else told me I wasn’t ready, but I know I will become ready. I need God to fully prepare my mind and prepare my heart. But I know I am close.

So with that being said, I will definitely go back and worship alongside the lovely members I met that Sunday.

Church should feel like home. I felt at home. For once, I'm excited to attend church service. I had close to a 2 hour conversation with the Pastor of the church, (which will remain private, because it meant that much to me). But it made me so much more incredibly grateful for that man. He is a true man of God.

One Sunday, I visited a church.