God Speaks

Last weekend I volunteered in the nursery at church. And that means that I go to the first service and meet Joe and Silas before the second. I usually sit out in the centrum area at a table in between services and have some doctored up coffee and people watch.

Silas feel asleep shortly before Joe would've had to leave for church, so he just let the baby sleep since he had gone to the Saturday night service with a friend. So, with that, I hung out at a table for the full thirty minutes between services.

About ten minutes into my 'hanging' Tom asked if he could sit next to me. Tom is 43, attends AA and on Dec 28 he will be celebrating one year smoke free! Very nice guy and a little rough around the edges. Within the first few minutes of our conversation I already knew we had very little in common.

Right away I was a little hesitant to dive into a conversation with this man. I was by myself and Tom was really opening up to me, you know, as if we were good friends. I would smile and nod, and then look down.

Not long after Tom sat down, Ricardo joined the table. Ricardo is a familiar face at Woodland Hills Church. He walks slow and is very shaky, wears the same clothes each week with his infamous POLICE stocking hat and looks as though he hasn't bathed in days. From what I gathered Tom and Ricardo know one another.

There I am, sandwiched in between Tom and Ricardo knowing full well that Joe will not be coming to the service and feeling quite uncomfortable. Then, I heard a small voice in my head saying, "Angel this is what you've been praying for. You said you wanted to love what society may call the unlovable...well, here you go!" Immediately my uneasiness lifted from me and I relaxed. I was blessed to get to know Tom and Ricardo. We talked about our Christmas plans, where we live and how we got to know about Woodland Hills.

It was a beautiful scene.

I was reminded that Jesus came to brake down the barriers.....to rid judgement and stereotypes....to create ONE church of believers. He tells us to LOVE. Everyone. Even if they are different than I am. And that is something I love about our church....there are all sorts of races and ages. There are single people and married people. There are sophisticated professionals and tattooed teens. And although I love the atmosphere, it wasn't until last week that I actually utilized my surroundings and investigated time in people that are NOT like me. Amazing.

I made two friends at church last week and I cannot wait to see them again!