I Got People

As you saw in my last post, I struggle sometimes with insecurities. And it is a struggle. I think I post my struggles more than anything else. Why is that?

I don't struggle with it like I used to... I don't hate myself. I guess I'm beginning to see myself thru the eyes of the Gospel and I like what I see. I can accept myself because Christ has accepted me. I can love myself because Christ has loved me. And then He gives me family...

I hate to even clarify "church family" because I feel like some might dismiss it. Because my church family is unlike anything I have experienced this side of heaven. I know that to some, church people are nice folks who bring you food when someone dies or maybe say Hi in the grocery store. But mine is very different. My church family includes people in California, Georgia, Mississippi, London. Let's call them my 'people'. Like that tax commercial. "I got people." They are deeper than friends but have no actual blood relation. There is a mystical connection.

And we're not family because we have so much in common. We are, in fact, quite diverse. I have people who are very trendy and some who are anything but. I have people who are loud and witty and some who are shy and reserved. Very different. But they are my people. They belong to me and I to them. I have people in their 80s and people barely in their teens. And I talk and connect with them all. I guess that what I'm talking about is unity. Huh. Unity.

We had a potluck dinner after church today to say good-bye to the Carters, one of our own who have moved. Jon and Betty, Joanna and Emma. (Betty is a writer. Lovely books. You can find them on Amazon I think... Betty Smartt-Carter.) Anyways.... they are leaving us but only in geography.

As I looked around today, I was struck again at the beauty of the love of Christ. I could go sit at any and every table and be accepted and loved. They all know my faults and sins and struggles but as they have faults and sins and struggles of their own, they accept me as I am. They know that God is bigger than our pain and problems and they let love cover a multitude of sin.


For those who want a visual... I looked around at one point and this is what I saw:
Steve and Laura dancing while the Foushee's and Carter's looked on, laughing.
Jordan giving Brody a piece of chocolate cake.
Adam and Ms. Merrell deep in conversation.
Jessica and Connie eating together.
KimHill and Chris eating and laughing.
About a million kids at the other end of the gym, running and playing.
Jennifer Jensen and Laura Barnett walking towards me to talk.
I heard rather than saw Burt laughing.

Altogether, a shining moment of Shalom... the way things ought to be.