Divine Intervention

Sometimes we all need a little divine intervention, don't you think?

When my husband & I were in Rhode Island, there was a cute little church about 5 blocks from us that we would walk to (on nice days, at least - we weren't adventurous enough to trek through snow or rain and would often drive ourselves in such weather). We submitted a "we're interested in joining your church" card but never heard a SINGLE THING back from them. No e-mail. No call. No newsletter. Nothing. So, we stopped going. I should clarify and say that we didn't stop going just because they didn't contact us, but we didn't feel like the community was welcoming. Plus, in the backs of our minds, I think we knew that where we were living wasn't where we were going to stay, so it seemed a little silly to become full emersed in a community that we might, sooner rather than later, leave.

When we came back to NY, Sean & I had a long talk about our personal beliefs and faith. Without going into too much detail, we decided to start attending a different denomination and did some online searches for local churches. We soon found a website for a nearby church community that seemed to have a number of opportunities for involvement. We started to attend services in October and fell in love with it right away. The people were overwhelmingly kind and welcoming - they even gave us nametags so parishoners could greet us by name! - and we instantly felt like part of the community. The next things we knew, though, Sundays were coming and going and we were making an extra hour of sleep more of a priority than an hour of worship. We weren't enforcing any kind of Sunday routine and it was really bothering me. I have no excuses and I am ashamed of the fact that God seemingly wasn't taking priority. 

But this week, we received a beautiful e-mail message from a parishoner who is on the "Welcome Team" and asked us if we'd want to be formally introduced by the pastor next Sunday. He'll ask us a couple of questions, she said, and briefly introduce us to the congregation. Then, we'll stand at the back of church so parishoners can greet us as they leave. My heart felt so full when I read the e-mail out loud to Sean and we agreed that this was the divine intervention that we needed. A swift kick in the you-know-what to make our faith an important part of Sunday every day.