Change
Read Ecclesiastes (especially Chapter 3)
I went to church looking for inspiration. Charlie needed devotions. Not too long into the service, I realized that I am inspired every time I go. I almost missed out on it though.
It seemed like it would be easy to choose a new church. Nashville is loaded with United Methodist churches. In our area though, the choice is either small or jumbo, so we tried them both. (Just to give you a feeling for what each of those sizes means… The small church probably holds about 100 – it looks to be about 1/2 to 2/3 the size of our old sanctuary with no balcony. The choir has about 10 people with room for maybe one or two more. Jumbo church’s seat count is past my estimating skills, but the adult choir has about 75 members, the high school choir has about 80, and the middle school choir has about 70. Jumbo church also just announced the final pledge count at 5.7 million dollars!) So where do we fit?
The small church was amazingly welcoming. Visitors kind of stick out there. One of the high school girls even came and found Kayla and invited her to go to Sunday school with her. Lots of people introduced themselves. The minister was wandering through the sanctuary chatting with everyone and greeting new people before the service started. The choir was small. The kids’ classes were small. It felt like a church that would need me. That was familiar.
The jumbo church had greeters, and we all stood for a ritual of friendship. There were smiling faces, but there probably wasn’t a single person there who would have known that we were new. Wow, the senior pastor was terrific. The music was impressive. The service was familiar, and Communion was more familiar there too. But it was so big. It felt more like being a spectator that a participant. How could I find my place?
I know exactly when I figured it out. We went to Jumbo church on the first Sunday of the month for Communion. During the prayer of intercession, the minister lifted up people in need of prayer and she mentioned me. Not by name. She didn’t even know me, but she was most definitely praying for me. I think I even gasped a little. I know I didn’t hear the rest of the prayer because I was so awed by the feeling of hundreds of people lifting me up in their prayers. I thanked God immediately for all the prayers and for directing me to that church on that day. I realized that I was being stubborn and unwilling to change. When change is thrust upon us, it is not so easy to embrace. I have always been someone who thrived on change, but most of the time the change was my idea.
Just because something is familiar though, doesn’t make it better. Just because something is different doesn’t make it worse. My change is obvious. We moved.
We had to start completely over. There are so many other changes in everyone’s lives that aren’t so obvious. Especially now. These are scary times. That alone is a change, but there are so many changes that come with that. Change may be scary, and change may be uncomfortable, but change means growth. Hiding from it doesn’t stop it. We need to accept and embrace where we are, and make the best of it. Now that I have embraced my jumbo church, I am getting more out of it than I imagined.
I am inspired.
Thought for the day: Just because something isn’t the same as it used to be, doesn’t mean that it isn’t good.
Prayer: Dear God, Please give us the strength and wisdom to make the best of any situation. Help us to show compassion and understanding toward those who are struggling, as we would hope for their compassion in our own struggles. We are grateful that no matter what we are going through, You are there with us to guide us and comfort us. Amen
Jacki Rumpp
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