Speaking is highly overrated...we should just write our thoughts to each other.

Yesterday, a friend told me that she is a Christian and has known about WCCN and CCM for over a year, however she has been reluctant to take part in any Christian community here because she was afraid that she would not be accepted. I have so much compassion for this person and I can empathize with her loneliness and confusion.

In talking to her, it made me stop to think about all the churches and all the communities that are not always loving and not always welcoming. It made me stop to think about the times in my teenage years that I have turned away from families of believers feeling despondent, hopeless and feeling that I could never belong. And then, I thought about my experiences over the last year with WCCN and Worcester Baptist Church... and realized how blessed I am that everyone in this "family" has always made me feel welcomed and loved and that my friend had absolutely nothing to fear about joining this community of people.

It is intriguing that although we may be a "family" in our churches and in our network, we really do not know much about each other. We do not always know what each others families are like, what our political beliefs are, what we struggle with, who our friends are, what we do in our spare time, or what our dreams are...but we do know that we are sinners that love and accept Jesus. In the end, our differences are irrelevant. We all need a little love, a little kindness, a little patience and a lot of grace.

I decided to spread the love and invited my friend to church and to Ignite and she plans to invite some of her other Christian friends, who have struggled with the same fears. I do not know if she will ever come, but at least she knows that she has a place to go when she feels alone and in desperate need of community.

P.S. Thank you all for your dedication, hospitality and sincere desire to follow Christ.