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“A room full of women is not my thing,” used to be one of my favorite sayings. By participating in events at my new church, I am finding more and more rooms, filled with the women who have welcomed me into their church family. What surprises me the most is the enjoyment I have experienced in the company of this new group. It started with a Bible study. That I have now completed three, something tells me that I must becoming acclimated to this new environment, and I am amazed to be enjoying it. The fellowship has been a much-needed tonic for this once hardened heart. Where solitude once reigned, community is creeping into those quite times where I once refused to share myself with others.
Bible studies and other things I’ve been reading lately have been speaking to my heart. It tells me that God calls me to be apart of His community. This has been difficult for me because it is much easier to stay at home and do what I want. I am feeling God’s nudging to break out of my comfort zone and embrace these women whose group I have infiltrated.
The latest elbow in the rib has been a “Secret Heart Sister” group. In forty-six years, I have never had or been a secret sister. I had resisted invitations issued in two church bulletins. I had seen the plates of cookies and gift bags left on the table by the front door and told myself I did not need the calories or the knick-knacks that others found to be “so cute”. Then I found myself holding out for a word encouragement from any one of the women. I figured if one person asked, I would break down and join, if no one cared enough to mention it to me, I would use that as my excuse to God for refusing to obey that annoying pain in my side.
The Sunday before the meeting, one woman who had embraced me warmly when I started attending church there last year, after my first Bible study, asked if I was going to join them. That did it; another one of my walls started to crumble. No hesitation, I responded with a solid, “yes.”
The more I considered what it meant to be a secret sister; thoughts of self turned to considerations for another. I actually prayed to God asking for the sister he wanted me to have. Having someone to add to my prayer list was an enlightening thought. Making another’s day by sending a card made my heart jump. This was a better reason to bake cookies. Not a single negative connotation came to mind as I turned myself over to this direct order.
The evening approached, I was getting excited and not even thinking of the promised dessert that was sure to be wonderful. I was anxious to find out who my secret sister was going to be. I was looking forward to getting to know one of these women better.
The evening started with a word of prayer, scripture reading and a definition of the word encouragement. I learned that to encourage someone is to come along side of him or her and to strengthen them.
An air of subdued excitement filled the church basement. Yes, there was a table covered with pretty packages of all shapes and sizes and each woman knew one of the beribboned packages was for them, but that was not the reason. I could tell that each of those ladies was looking forward to revealing themselves. One gal couldn’t wait to tell a story about the time she almost gave her secret away. There was a funny story about a plate that had made its way amongst a couple of the sisters. One had to tell how much her husband liked a particular plate of cookies and requested the recipe. Tears flowed when the moderator received her gift. A couple years ago, a group of women had attended a retreat together and a particular scripture had become important to both this pair. The gift was a hand-embroidered version of this verse, there wasn’t a single dry eye.
My heart was touched and I’m grateful for the bruising of my ribs, otherwise, I’d be a much poorer person for not having shared the blessings of what a sister in Christ can do for another. I’m looking forward to a year filled with blessings, as giver and as receiver.
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