The Warmth of a Church

I was awakened this morning by my 5 year old homebody, sneaking into my room to announce that today would feel like Christmas. That is what she heard on her radio, so she was just wondering, would we be going to church today?? She didn't like my answer, which was "Of course we are!" She then left to get dressed, returning in a halter top! I sent her back for more clothes, as today would feel like Christmas, and around here we wear more than that on Christmas.

Sure enough, today was quite chilly compared to the past week in the 70's. It was a bit of a shock to the system. It reminded me of going to church as a child in Connecticut. Our little Baptist church was within walking distance, just one house away! We would bundle up in the winter, walk a short distance and right into the first door we came to, which led into the Parish Hall. I loved that room. It's where we had our children's program, where we had all our pot luck dinners, parties, Pioneer Girls and even where my parents had their wedding reception. What I really loved, though, was that in the winter, when you would open the doors to that room, a big gush of that oil heated air would rush out towards you. It always felt so good!

Even better than the gush of warmth were the warm hugs, smiles, the laughter and joy that I found in that small church. I have wonderful memories of that church while growing up and there is always a part of me that wishes for that same experience for my own children. But as we got ready to head to church, my thought was on whether or not I would feel warmth in our huge church. Sometimes it is difficult to heat a building that size, but that doesn't always bother me. My children - do they feel warmth at church?

As we arrived today, we jumped out of our car and were greeted by a man with a huge umbrella who helped us in, then met by 4 smiling faces at the door. I didn't know any of those people, neither did my children. We found a few familiar faces inside as we rushed to get to class on time. That's really where the warmth began. We dropped the girls off and went into worship. It occurred to me as I sang that so much of the warmth I felt as a child was a result of my parents and the relationships they had built at our church. They were well liked, honest, faithful, funny and dedicated to the work of God. So the real question is, are we creating a warm environment for our children at our church?

This idea really extends beyond church, to our lives, our neighbors, and our communities we are part of. We are never going to find a place that has warmth if we aren't generating some of it ourselves. I'm so thankful that my parents did that for me and I'm hopeful that I can recreate that for my own children. Maybe someday they will be able to say that they remember their church as a warm place because of the people they met there, the friends we all made and the love we shared for the world.