Yeah, I keep getting it more and more God...
This is what life is all about...I know it in my head, I know it in my heart, but I'm human and it has to be re-enforced from time to time...
So, this morning, I'm sitting in Connections Cafe at LCBC waiting for the doors to the auditorium to open. Every Sunday morning, I arrive early to check in for The Wheelhouse and kill the remaining minutes by meditating, taking my 9:00 meds, people watching, or going around and finding other people to talk to who may happen to be there early (and not running around getting things set up)! There's never a dull moment. There's always someone to talk to or something to see.
This morning was kind of unusual. I was sitting at a table and it was particularly slow and I was extra tired. I had just put away my empty container of meds, and just decided I'd stay there and see who would walk through the doors that I knew and wanted to talk to. I had missed last Sunday so it was really important for me to catch up on the social aspect of everyone's lives. After all, a lot can happen in two weeks!
Instead of catching up on what my friends had been up to, I had an experience I never expected to have when I got up this morning. As I was sitting in the cafe, a man had just finished getting a muffin and some coffee and he looked at me. I waved and said "hi," knowing I had never seen him before, yet he seemed to know me. He asked if he could sit with me, to which I responded "of course!" I moved my stuff to make sure he had room.
After the basic introductions, he said "My first Sunday here was the day you got baptized." I wasn't sure how to respond to that right away because I wasn't exactly sure where he was headed. But he went on and it became clear to me that he needed someone he knew was a believer to talk to. He started to tell me that he had been through a pretty tough time in recent years and had only recently started to come back to church. He stated that he had been church hopping "some," but all the churches he had tried were so traditional and he just wasn't comfortable in the environment. He lost his job two years ago, and had spent the past two years working in a job that was killing him -literally- as he had been working with dangerous chemicals. He knew he couldn't stay there for long and was seeking better employment. I nodded my head in acknowledgment that he had my attention, and I just continued to listen as he shared his story.
He started to talk about how he he was sitting with his son one night a few months ago, apparently drinking and watching sports, and said to himself "there's got to be more to it than this." He was frustrated with his employment and his life felt unfulfilled. He was seeking something, but he wasn't quite sure what. He had applied for five jobs and not yet heard from any of them. He was frustrated, and although he had his health, he knew he was not in a good situation with his job and not satisfied with the direction his life was headed.
He stopped briefly to ask me if I wanted anything from the cafe before the doors opened and then he continued with his story. He described how that night when he realized something was missing in his life, he decided to banter with God. He told God that He wasn't ready to move full-force into this faith thing, but He would meet God halfway. I'm not personally sure how I feel about "negotiating" with God, but I just listened...after all, this was HIS story. He told me that when he talked to God that night he said if God would show Him something, that somehow there's more to this, He would at least start going back to church.
Over the next few weeks or so he was turned down for four of the five jobs he had applied to. He wasn't expecting much, but his final application was in at the Army Depot in Mechanicsburg. Finally, Good Friday arrived. He made sure to emphasize the fact that it was Good Friday several times as he shared. He stated that around 10 that morning the phone rang. It was the Army Depot and they were asking him if he was available to come in for an interview. His eyes lit up as he stated, again, that "it just so happened to be Good Friday!" and that he was off work that day! He went on to describe how he had an interview at noon, and was called and offered the job by 3. Then, once again he said "and it just so happened to be Good Friday!" He said he knew then that there was something...he wasn't sure what, but that he knew it was not something that just happened. There was more behind it.
In spite of that, it took him a couple of weeks to "meet his end of the bargain," as he put it. I had told him earlier when we were introducing ourselves that I started attending LCBC Manheim in 2006 and had attended the Harrisburg campus since it was launched in Linglestown Middle school in 2007. He noted that he had never heard of LCBC until he saw the signs when we moved in last January, and that he only lived a couple of miles away. When he realized that what had happened to him when he prayed that night negotiating with God, and believed that the events that happened to him on Good Friday were not simply coincidental, he decided to check out LCBC. He admitted that he was a little disappointed when he walked in the doors that first Sunday and realized it was a baptismal service rather than a typical gathering with a sermon, but that in the end it was the perfect one to be at. The stories were inspirational and he loved to hear how the lives of others have been changed by Christ too. He concluded by stating that he only wished he could get his family there, but that his wife had begun to watch some TV ministries similar to LCBC and he was encouraged by that.
At that time, the atrium was beginning to empty out and people started to enter the auditorium. He said "well, I guess it's about time for things to get started." I said "yeah, it looks like it. Nice to meet you! Cool Story. I LOVE cool stories like that! See you around!" I proceeded to pack up my stuff and headed to the auditorium to find my friend, Jeff, as he gathered up his muffin and coffee trash to throw out. Again, God had another learning moment in store for me. As much as I enjoyed my chat time with him and was fascinated with his story and his willingness to be so open with me, I still had friends I needed to catch up with...I mean, again...it HAD been two, LONG weeks! :)
As I was catching up with Jeff on football, his love of snow, my love of the sun, his new job, his new hours, his plans for the day, and my Jeep, I saw someone walk to my right and sit down. It was the same man whom I had just spent at least 15 minutes chatting with taking a seat by himself two seats down. It hit me then that I should have stepped out of my comfort zone and invited him to sit with me rather than assume he had someone to sit with, or assume that he wouldn't want to sit with a 32 yo with a tube in her nose! And what was more important? Reaching out to someone who is still seeking and coming to church without family, or making sure I was up to speed on everyone else and making up for what I missed last week?
Over the next few minutes I knew what I needed to do to. As we sat there, listening to Pastor Mike ramble on about the importance of filling out the "Keeping in Touch" forms, I pulled out one of my business cards and handwrote my name and personal e-mail address on the back and handed it to him. I said "just in case you need to talk" and gave him two thumbs up. He said "thank you" and put it away. He thanked me again after the service for giving him my contact info as I said "it was nice to meet you...thanks for sharing your story."
I don't know if he'll write me at all, but I'm sure I'll run into him again. I'm glad that he felt comfortable coming to sit with me and sharing his story before the service, and that after I botched my first opportunity to invite him to sit with me, that he came and sat by me anyway.
I struggled for a long time over whether to get baptized again in March since I did it as a child, but after a lot of prayer I decided to do it because I felt like as a child I didn't fully understand the significance of it and my life has changed tremendously since...something I wanted to share with my new church family and public. I prayed that my story would somehow have an impact on the life of someone, but did not expect to actually hear or experience any outcome from it. Ironically, today was also baptism Sunday where more stories of lives changed by Christ were shared.
This is what it's about. This is what baptism is about. It can be hard to swallow your pride and admit that you need to take that step, especially when you have grown up in a Christian environment your whole life and everyone always assumed you were a Christian. It isn't the most comfortable thing to do to have your very personal, often painful, story shared with so many publicly. It's a little scary to look down into a pool of water and realize that your head is about to go down there and putting your trust in Pastor Mike not to drop you (or drown you as a Steelers fan!). But it's not about pride or discomfort. Jesus humbled himself and suffered great discomfort to reach out to others. He very publicly proclaimed His faith in the Father through baptism in a river in front of thousands of people. It doesn't stop there though. Baptism may be following in obedience what God proclaimed to be importance following the acceptance of Jesus as the Savior, but your life must also follow your proclamation.
I knew that some people who heard my story on March 23 would not have known the details behind my decision or why and how I came to Christ and decided to be baptized. I didn't expect it to lead to anything substantial. After all, I was one of 12 who was baptized that day. But apparently something hit this man in particular. Something big enough that he felt comfortable coming up to a complete stranger and talking about his struggles. That's what it's about.
I'm glad I chose to attend the first service this morning. I'm thankful for the clarity of mind God gave me and the fact that it was an unusually slow morning. It wasn't a coincidence that I was sitting there, tired and quiet, when he came up. Usually by then I would have jetted off somewhere and found someone to laugh it up with, playfully punch, or at least talk to about the events of the past or upcoming weeks. I hope that our interaction this morning was a start of something in his life that will lead to much greater things. After all, that's what it's all about. It's crucial to interact with other believers, study the Bible and worship every week together. It's important to serve in any capacity to ensure the ministry continues. But it's important to stop once and a while and think about those around you who may be there seeking something more, something new or different, and to be one who has shown an example that your life has been changed by Christ and is willing to share it.
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