An Interesting Weekend
I have had one of the most interesting weekends this week, and I am just blown away with how the universe arranges things so that you will be in the right place, at exactly the right moment. I'm so encouraged and blessed tonight, as opposed to how I have felt for at least two weeks prior. I want to warn any of my Christian friends who read this, that I am going to rant, just a little bit about evangelical churches. This is not aimed at anyone that I know online but it is something I need to express -- it's about churches not individual people. K?
It all started on Saturday when I went to visit my kids and see their new house which they moved into a couple of weeks ago now. It was wonderful to catch up with the girls (James was in Melbourne). I went shopping for new clothes and found I have dropped another dress size! Yay! So that was a really good start! Sandra and I had lunch with Kaylah at Chermside and it was a treat to see how much my 'baby' has matured in the short time since turning 18. I was proud of her, listening to her hopes, plans and dreams for her future. Sometimes I think she gets a bit of a hard time about things, but I believe she will get where she wants to be, if she just has confidence and steps up. The afternoon was spent catching up with Hannah, playing nurse and taking each other's blood pressure and so forth. That was fun. I was pleased to know I still remember how to take a BP!
On Sunday night, I was supposed to go back to the AOG church on the hill above a nearby town, which I had attended for the two weeks before, but when it came down to it, and I remembered how discouraging it had been, I decided I didn't need that negativity in my week and I didn't go.
Instead, I spent the evening at home with Sandra, watched Australian Idol, worked on my new website, did a little bit of writing and when I looked up, it was past 4am and I hurried to bed!
And then, on Monday I was blown away by the message preached from an AOG church in Melbourne by a man named Ps. Rob Buckingham. What a beautiful contrast this was to the messages I had heard coming from the church I visited. His message was titled "Real Christianity is Accepting" I still have a smile a mile wide when I think of it I downloaded a copy of it to keep so I can listen to it again. The message will only be available at the above link until next Sunday. I urge everyone to go listen. Even if you wouldn't normally have anything to do with Christian stuff! It is a wonderfully encouraging word.
Monday night, I set off to the Spiritualist Church I've been attending throughout this year. What a joy to go where I am just accepted and valued as myself without having to clean up my act or change who I am to be acceptable.
[soapbox moment]I'm sorry to any of my Christian friends reading this--but it is a sad sad fact, that often the people the "church" brands as satanic and unrighteous do a better job of modeling Christ to the outcasts than the evangelical churches do. If that offends you, then maybe you will become an agent of change in YOUR church, rather than railing and ranting at me because I go to a cultish, new age spiritualist church. When you're hungry, you'll go where there's bread, right? [/soapbox moment]
My pastor at the spiritualist church hugged me in greeting and remarked that I looked happy! I told him I was happy and he was pleased to hear it.
A few other people remarked throughout the evening that I seemed to be 'glowing' that I had a lovely 'energy' around me. I guess that's what a little ray of hope can do, huh?
Tuesday night was my discussion night with some of the ladies from my church (Spiritualists again oh noes!) ;)
I shared with them about my experiences at the local AOG and one of them looked at me and said:
"Maybe you had that experience to show you that you don't need a Church in order to know and love God. You can know and love him just as well--better--in here." She tapped her chest.
She's right.
All the churches could close tomorrow and I wouldn't have to feel lost, or confused or alone. God is not the church, and the church is not God. God is in the heart.
So that's my weekend...
Life's good!