Connecting.

The past two weeks have been filled with disappointments, hurts, anger, sadness, and other feelings that throw us off the right path. The truth is, many of these things are not directly involving me. They involve my sisters and brothers in Christ, my Spiritual "family." My heart just breaks when I know one of my friends has been hurt, or the enemy has just hit them with something terrible (unexpected or not). What we all need in times like this is CONNECTING. The bible says in Hebrews 10:25, "Don’t stop meeting together with other believers, which some people have gotten into the habit of doing. Instead, encourage each other, especially as you see the day drawing near." We were meant to be God's family, brothers and sisters who go through life together. We should try to be and stay connected to others during our hard times. Unfortunately, we all know we have times when we just need to deal with things alone and process the situation for a while, but after that, we should connect with our "family" of God again. So how does someone get connected if they aren't already? Step one would be to find a church home or a Christian friend. I say both of these because I realize many people have been hurt by the church, or have spent years thinking they have to "clean themselves up first" before coming to church. If that sounds like you, then work on finding one friend who is a true follower of Christ, who lives what he or she says. If you have friends that you already know you would like to learn from, or you would like the hope and joy you see them living out, then find a church home. Find a place that's non-judgmental, that welcomes people to bring their questions, and to just blend in until they're ready. Once you found a friend, or a church (which usually leads to a friend or two), then get connected by getting involved. It could be a baby step like having coffee with a new friend. Or if you're willing, you could attend a bible study or a home small group study with someone you know. If you're really brave and need to connect, you could always try out a new study or group even if you don't know anyone, but I understand that's not most people. Once you find a group of people to do life with, to learn from, to share experiences with, then you can start to connect in new ways. Maybe some of you will work on an outreach program together. Maybe your group could attend a larger event together. You could even have a night where your group meets with another group, either inside or outside the church (could be with another church group). At that point, you'd be pretty connected. If you're too shy, or don't live close enough to a church you can call home, would you be willing to talk with a neighbor about meeting together? Or having a friend introduce you to some of his/her friends seeking to help you connect? There's lots of ways to connect but the important part is that you DO connect. We were designed to live out our faith together, not alone. There are many brothers and sisters in Christ who would be happy to connect with you. Just take the first baby step and reach out. May you be blessed for your efforts.