Are 'ya new here?

Photo by Stuart Miles

"Are you new here?" As the words left my mouth I could feel the heat rise from my neck to my face. In my excitement to be helpful, I let the words escape without thinking. "Um, yes" was the hesitant response.

God has been working on me to open my eyes and really see. I know He wants me to look at the things around me instead of keeping my eyes on the sidewalk while life goes whirring past. I have been making an effort to do that, but I seem to be tripping over this new task ... just call me Grace.

We attend a VERY large church. It can be intimidating to walk in the door. I can remember the first time we attended, I felt like we had entered a maze. Nothing looked familiar, no faces stood out, I didn't have any "land" marks to tell me I was going in the right direction. The greeters and ushers were very helpful and were more than gracious to get us where we needed to go. Since then, I have tried to direct others if I sense they are new or lost.

So, as Dan and I sat in our seats one morning waiting for worship to begin, I couldn't help but overhear  the conversation that was going on directly behind us {a.k.a- eavesdropping}. The little boy was asking his parents, "where are all the kids?" I'm sure his parents were just happy to be in their seats after successfully conquering the parking lot and finding the auditorium, they had not noticed the absence of anyone under the age of 13. The family began wondering, out loud, where all the kids were. This is the point in the story where I decided to be "helpful" and stick my nose in.

I eagerly turned around, happy to help and said, "Are 'ya new here?" My tone was less than helpful and the phrase is something I say to my kids when they forget one of our set-in-stone rules. Not the best impression for a new family. I tried to recover, telling them about the great children's programs and how safe it is. They were kind and said thank you.

I turned to face forward in my seat and replayed the conversation in my head. Ugh! Nice choice of words. Nice lead in. I should have offered to walk them out to the child check-in area.

Excuse me, I think my mismatched socks are showing.

Thank you Lord that You are a God of second and third and fourth chances. This isn't easy! Please help me to be kind and welcoming. Please open my eyes to see what is happening around me. Teach me how to reach out to others with grace and mercy. Remind me to slow down and depend on your wisdom, not my own. Amen.