Jewells of Thought

Yesterday morning after I was dressed and ready for church I finally looked at my phone. Every other Sunday throughout the year we get my niece, but she has had multiple reasons to not come with either me or my parents to church.

Her father was raised in church. He now seems to think Sunday mornings are to do his work with his wood business or to sleep in. Since I came back to Fellowship a few months ago… I don’t even have to ask the question anymore.

My niece for a couple of years now has texted me about where am I or what am I doing strangely anytime from 8:30 to up to 11:00 on Sundays. It is a somewhat constant question I get since the 3 of us have asked so many times over the last few years.

Fellowship is the first church she remembers being at as a little munchkin. I think that is shining through recently. She’s not fighting me as much instead I haven’t even mentioned a word to her about church lately. She just knows what time it is when the others in her house are still asleep and she does know we aren’t asleep.

Yesterday that feeling of God working in her heart and answering prayers filled my heart. Knowing she had a friend with her, this has happened before, she doesn’t want to go, but she even asked her friend and they got ready to come with me. The last time this little girl had been to Fellowship was when my brother and his wife were married.

I believe it was this little girl that also was in our house after my horrifying snake encounters. That fact also scared me that she was in the house after that happened not knowing if another one was still hiding or not.

Our family continues to pray for my brother’s family returning to church. Hopefully, Selena’s revitalization is not just encouraging to us, but also to my brother’s sense of needing church himself. We will continue to pray about this among ourselves.

Even at my recent church she was coming with me, but it was before more kids were coming. Here she knows the people better and we have lots of cousins here. Everyone remembers her and I do think it’s a special church for her because it’s her first. Same as me Faith Community was where I was saved and it was my home church. Being here at Fellowship having various couples and people who also went to Faith Community coming here now with me makes me feel like I am among older family with my somewhat newer family.

That may seem funny, but people at Faith Community back when John Booker was the preacher are my first church family. So I feel blessed having people from that church here with me now when I don’t have my parents or my grandparents or even my uncles here with me now.

Life has given me some amazing answers to prayer before I knew I would need them. I need to take stock of more of the prayers in my life that have been answered. Sometimes that encouragement is needed to continue to pray and take risks on people in your life.

Thank goodness for iphones since they have helped my niece to get back into church. Even though she acts like she doesn’t know what I am doing at 9am on a Sunday morning. She knows us well enough to already know the answer… but it has been fun to watch her turn the tables on me and actually in her way say uh are you going to pick me up for church. All without me asking!