A Moment of Church

I don’t attend church often, but I think about it and miss being a part of one. The church community is important, but it’s not an easy place to fit in.

I walk in wearing jeans and a t-shirt and they’re good quality, but some glare at me like I’m a heathen, while others wish they would’ve wore the same thing. In this month’s newsletter I’m talking about fitting in, or the lack thereof, and I’m grateful to be at the age where fitting in isn’t a concern anymore.

I start my day by listening to cello music and my favorite celloist is The Wong Janice. Honestly, I just love that she put the word ‘the’ before her name and it makes me want to mess with people’s minds when introducing myself by saying, ‘The Holmes Barb’, instead of simply Barb, but there’s a reason she calls herself that. Her name is Janice Wong, but that name was already taken on social media, so she got creative.

Janice Wong wasn’t concerned about fitting in and she wasn’t going to let someone with the same name stop her from sharing her gift, but using that play on words has made her name even more memorable. She stepped into the space God had for her.

This morning I walked down to the local coffee house and it’s not so much about coming home with a cup of cold brew as it is about loving on the people in the building. A church is a familiar looking building, but I believe we can step into any building and have the best parts of church. Every now and then I’ll start talking to someone and discover they’re a God follower and we talk about what God did in our lives and continues to do.

This young woman has waited on me many times at the coffee house, but it wasn’t until today that we exchanged names. The building was empty except for us and in case you’re wondering, I didn’t put the word ‘the’ before my name, even though the thought crossed my mind. She asked if I wanted cream in my cold brew and I told her, “No thank you, it’s for my meeting at 11:00, so it’ll go into my fridge when I get home.”

She thought it was a business meeting because she knows I work from home, but I was honest with her and said, “No, it’s not for work but it’s personal for sanity purposes.” She pushed farther wanting to know what kind of meeting keeps me sane, so I shared “It’s my weekly AA meeting.” Her face beamed as she screamed, “My Dad goes to those meetings and he’s 4 years sober!”, as we stepped onto common ground.

That invisible shield we carry with us out in public fell away as she shared how over the years God had removed addiction from her life and she’d seen Him do the same for her boyfriend. Here was this 20 something year old girl, standing behind the bar of a local pub giving all the praise and glory to God. I can’t even describe how this made my heart swell and told her, “Now I know why you have this light shining through your eyes”, and she shared that she felt a good vibe coming from me as well.

I could feel someone standing behind me, so our conversation came to a close. I exited the coffee house and began my walk toward home, but was wrapped in this unexpected feeling that I had just experienced a moment of church.

Feature Photo by Kendall Scott on Unsplash