Family...

Today was a good day.

At church, we talked about family...what it looks like and why.  We also spoke about the "church family" and what that looks like and why. (I should note that Pastor Seth didn't talk about "family" in his sermon,
per se, but my conversations with many people during the morning did reflect on families, in general).

Our church has been on a journey of finding out who it is and where it is going...kind of like a person who has finished high school and now must venture out into the world to find out where she belongs and who he is in the scheme of things.  I find it fascinating because it shows us that our church history isn't the only thing that is indicative as to who we are now.  Our past is only a very small part of what we have become because the church is always changing into a new thing...at least it should be.  So there are tiny fragments of the past that pop up now and then...good AND bad fragments.  It's up to us, of course, what we do with those little snippets of our past.  We can judge, condemn, point fingers, keep our minds where they were 30 years ago...OR we can remember them, thank God that we have moved beyond them and continue on TODAY.
I know of folks that simply love to relive past things...good AND not so good! AND not only old folks either!!! (Truth be told, I'm probably one of those types at one time or another!)

So, as we gather up our past into a big ball and sift out the wheat from the chaff, we can choose to bring only the things that can make us better people..."choose" being the operative word.

I believe God sees the best in us.  Unfortunately, at times we see the worst in each other and ourselves.  Pity.  It could be so much better, so much easier, so much more positive and creative.

I digress.

The family...our Gateway church family...consists of so many varying combinations of people....single moms, widows, married retired couples, working couples with kids, single dads, singles, grandparents and infants...so much diversity.  Then we look at our faces....we have First Nations folks, Swedes, Congolese, Poles, Scots, Brits, French, Norwegians, Ukrainians and who knows how many other ethnic  groups.  We look different from one another.  We act differently.  We have different opinions...and express those opinions.

WE ARE DIVERSE.

But as we learned today, we are ONE FAMILY.  We need to find a common thread amongst us and use that common thread to encourage one another, to gather ourselves together and go on to better and more productive lifestyles within and outside of our church walls.  Being a family takes a lot of work, too!!!

That is where we are as a church at this moment in history.  We are finding ourselves.  We are finding our way.  We are depending on God and thereby, each other to learn where it is that we need to be and what it is that we need to be doing.

Not saying we aren't doing anything.  We are....and doing it well.  But we have a sense that MORE will be required of us.  We just need to decide if we are willing to go further and become that "more" to the community and each other.

On May 25th, the Vitality Committee of Gateway (of which I am a part) will host a conversation for a few hours to talk together about these very things.  We're wanting Gateway to go forward but we need the church family to decide where they feel this direction will be.  It should be good. We trust in the Spirit to direct us.

Oh....and I want to welcome Spring to our family.  She certainly has brightened things up and has given us a new outlook on life.  I hope she stays around and not go hopping elsewhere.  Perhaps if we all get out our rakes and gardening tools, she'll know we mean business!

Sleep well....but go outside first and enjoy those +20 temps!!!