oh, how I love Church

I love how God uses His community of believers in this world. God's love and light and hope radiate through the body of Christ! The past few days, I experienced three encounters with the beauty of this-

On Sunday, I sat with a group of ladies who are covenanting together as a Circle of Friends to build a network of prayer and friendship around a young single mom who has just gotten out of jail. This mom's heart has been touched by Christ, and she's wanting to grow in faith and to develop a whole new set of friends in her life. How beautiful is it to see a group of moms desire to reach out and build a network of encouragement and support for this young woman's life and faith.

Yesterday morning, I went early to the Catholic Worker House and interviewed two men as a part of a national hunger study that our local food bank is helping to conduct. It was a humbling experience to spend 15 minutes with each of these men asking personal questions about income, family life, work, food, housing. Some questions asked about whether they've skipped meals or gone a day without eating due to lack of money for food, some asked about whether they've had to choose between paying rent and buying food, paying for medicine and paying for food. Other questions asked about how often they've received meals through shelters, food pantries, and soup kitchens, and how often they've stayed at shelters like the Catholic Worker Shelter. I looked around at the Catholic Worker; I looked at Fran, and her husband,Mike, who live there and help supervise the house, and I was thankful to God for the shelter and food offered there, but even more thankful for the respect given the guests, for the mercy and care offered there. I know that we talk about how these mercy ministries don't address the deeper issues, aren't often relational, and don't really help a person step out of poverty. That's true, but there is something about meeting felt needs. About offering the love of Christ very tangibly to a person. And in this often harsh world, for a person to come in off the street and find a smile and a warm meal, to be greeted with respect and dignity, that's a really big deal. Hopefully, a guest will gain a sense of God's goodness and kindness, of his provision and care, thanks to the followers of Christ who work so faithfully to serve and love, to feed people and offer shelter at the Catholic Worker.

Yesterday, I attended a Bible Study with a friend of mine who has been walking the hard road of recovery from meth. She shared about how the life she's lived is all she's ever known...and how it can be so scary to know how much change is needed and how unfamiliar it is to be someone different. One by one, other friends who are strong in their recovery, gathered around this friend to pray for her and offered her their encouragement and hope. It was an amazing and powerful experience of a faith community. People who are overcomers and victoriously living in Christ with people who are just discovering a new life in Christ.

Our triune God is working to transform the world with His lifechanging love and power. How? Through His Church! You and me, baby! What a grand adventure!