Giving Thanks To God For My Church!

During church tonight the pastor asked us to be prepared on Wednesday night to name the stuff we're thankful for. For me, this season of Thanksgiving - like every Thanksgiving before - I certainly am thankful for my family, my precious son and my health but this year there's so much more for which I need to give thanks. And I figured I wouldn't have the whole hour to myself on Wednesday night to shout to the Lord for all my blessings I decided to take it to my blog and exclaim that I am incredibly thankful for my NEW CHURCH!

On the table in front of the pulpit at my church there's a Bible that's opened somewhere around the middle. I'm afraid I don't know where exactly but given it's location I'm thinking maybe the Psalms. It's a beautiful Bible, big with the gold edges on the pages. The thing I love the most about that Bible is the red ribbon hanging down the middle - I look at it often while I'm listening to the sermon. It reminds me of the blood of Jesus. That blood, the price paid for my salvation I'm most certainly thankful for and I'm grateful to be visually reminded every time I walk through the doors! The carpeting in the sanctuary is the color of cranberry, and plush under foot. The aisle is so inviting - sometimes I imagine springing out of my seat and running down to the front, throwing myself facedown at the altar and thanking Him for allowing a wretch like me the opportunity to sit in His beautiful house. The stained glass windows are big and bright, lined with the most brilliant red, colored glass. Each one is different and each one dedicated to a church member from days past. I imagine the light shining through one of those windows may have meaning beyond compare to those who's family member is remembered with the dedication of each giant, colorful piece of craftsmanship.

The whole sanctuary is comfortable and inviting, but most importantly the pews are filled with the body of Christ. My first Sunday as a visitor, this group of people who collectively make up "the Church" reached out to me and to my son and made me feel that I'd finally found my way home. As lovely a building as I find my church to be, there's nothing more beautiful there than the people in it. Young and old, together they are the heart that give the little church its soul. I think the people there are what love looks like and I'm thankful I've gotten to see it for myself. I'm grateful for my friend who thought Matthew and I may benefit from being invited to her church. I doubt she knows the full impact of her invitation.

I'm thankful for the music that wraps me in its arms and comforts me. It's gentle notes envelope me, it's words whisper to me to come as you are and invites me into it's melody. There my heart swells and I cry. My tears flow, I can't help it, and it's right there that I realized I'm loved. I'm thankful for the children's choir that has given my son the opportunity to sing songs of praise and raise his hands towards Heaven with worship. I had no idea that watching my son praise God would be so beautiful! Seeing that is a blessing. And what a blessing that little children's choir has been! It was Matthew singing a song he learned in vacation Bible school that led me to that precious little church and for that I am so thankful!

In the short time I've been a student in my Sunday school class I've learned so much about the awesome Word of God and I have even fallen in love with the people in the class. I love those people like my family (some of them ARE my family) and I really get the feeling they love me too! Before I found my church, well, before God placed me in my church, I was so incredibly lonely and I prayed for people. I needed people. I needed to see people, talk to people, listen to people - so God sent me to some people! Isolation is a dangerous thing and I'm so thankful that I'm isolated no more. I cannot thank God enough for leading me to this precious group of friends. They each offer something to me so special they may never know but I cherish them and what I've gained just from hearing them speak. And then there's my beautiful Sunday school teacher. If ever a person opened their arms and truly welcomed me it was her. She's a gift from God to me, a true gift! She listens to me when I say something and she prays for me. And I feel it when she prays!

And then there's my pastor. The first sermon I ever heard from him, he called Jesus' disciples "some dudes". And it wasn't disrespectfully - it was passionately and I knew right then that I was going to love this church! Vocally he has good tone and the right inflection which is important for any speaker. He uses personal anecdotes to tell stories and he's mixes in just the right amount of humor with a bit of history and a great deal of knowledge. He smiles when he speaks and he's excited about what he's doing - that's obvious in his delivery - he's youthful with boyish charm and a hairstyle that makes newspaper writers want to do stories about him. But besides any of that...God uses him to speak directly into my soul. I stop hearing "the pastor speaking" and I start to receive into my heart the precious Word of the Almighty God. It washes over me and I absorb it like a sponge, I lose my breath and I break out in chills when I feel the presence of the Holy Spirit surrounding me. He leads me into prayer - my personal conversation with my savior and he's guided me closer to God. I thank God for the vessel that carries His message and I shed tears of joy for the abundance of love that He showers on me through the voice of a man.

So this year I give thanks to God for all my blessings but especially I thank Him for Tuckaseege Baptist Church and all that makes it. May the Lord continue to bless it, it's people and it's ministry.