Community

I walked away from church yesterday with a box of clothes for myself, a bag of clothes for my kids (I am NOT scared of a hand-me-down!), enough lunches to last my kids 2 weeks, and a gallon of milk.

Did I dress like a homeless person for some pre-Halloween festivity to garner such a response?

Nope. It was just church. I came dressed as myself.

Our big small group launch started yesterday which seems to resonate as the heartbeat of our church. Getting people into community. Providing opportunities for people to become closer to Christ while building friendships, and in some instances, building family. The turnout was awesome. I loved watching people clamoring around to sign-up for a small group.

There is something in the water at our church because people are having babies left and right. For 2 that were recently born, I threw out the word about getting a dinner rotation and you would have thought I was handing out free cars. The response was incredible. People came through the woodwork to provide a meal to these families with newborns. There was a need. They showed up.

In a conversation with a friend of mine, she was telling me about a time when she and her friend saw me in the Wally World parking lot (a weekly given). She honked as I was strolling my scream-o kids in a buggy full-o-grocery back to the car. When I saw her, I gave a semi-obnoxious dance-like greeting back (shocking, I know). Her friend said to her, "That must be a friend from The Chapel." When she asked her why she would think that, she said "Because people at The Chapel seem to be really fun" [and notably obnoxious]. Her friend was not a church-goer.

This is what church is all about.

People living in community. Seeing needs, filling needs. Cooking dinner. Hosting small groups. Living a life that exemplifies Jesus.

Giving leftover food to a mom with 2 kids.

Thinking of another family as you pack up clothes that you or your kids have outgrown.

The community, my community, did not go unnoticed.