Being Bold About Our Faith

            It is so funny how God works sometimes. It is either after a Saturday night sermon or before a Saturday night sermon that God always gives me something to relate the sermon to. Last night's sermon was one that made me look back at the past week and at one particular day. I have been fighting a lot with myself about this friendship that I am trying to make right and not get to involved in if those two things can happen at the same time. Yet the sermon last night was all about growing deeper and reaching higher. It was about the vision for the church but yet so many things were going through my mind last night during it. Things like my own life, my friend's ministry, this little girl that I have in my group and so on.
           Things just kept piling up on me. God was working last night and in the past week. I can't stay much on here but when you have a family or friend that is so bold about their faith like one that I know, you don't want to let them go and you shouldn't let them go. They will challenge you to the ends of the earth without knowing what they are doing. I have this little girl and I have talked about her on here before and she just got to me this past week. Her family and her go to a different church then I do and it was the grand opening of their church. It was so cute, if that is the right word, to see what this little girl would do. She had fliers at school about their church's grand opening.
           This little girl had no problem passing them out. It was the sweetest thing I have seen in awhile but it got me thinking too. Got me thinking that is who she is and that is who the family is too. I mean the whole family, not just her intimate family but her extended family too. They are all so passionate about growing and sharing the news about God that it isn't even funny. It is all about how they all live. This little girl was let down a time or two but she would just move right on to the next friend and asked them and they would take it. She was and is so bold for a 2nd grader. That moment I just took in and realized if anything said her last name, it was that moment right there. That moment of sharing and inviting her friends to church.
            It was no surprise to me because I have dealt with some of that family and I even go to church with some of the extended family but it was just the way she reminded me about how we should be when we share our faith with others. It was just how she reminded me that I love being challenged in that way. That is why I love the family that I do. I know that sounds strange but hopefully you get the point I am trying to get across. Sometimes, as adults, we get to caught up in the business of this world that we don't take the time to share our stories or even just simply invite people to church just because. It doesn't have to be for a grand opening or a holiday but just because. We just need to take the time to sit down and share our stories.
            It is funny too because while God was showing me this this past week, I had no idea that the sermon was going to be about growing deeper and reaching higher but it was exactly what this little girl was doing for her church in a way. It is exactly what other part of her family wants to do with their businesses/ministries too. It is all about winning people for Christ and I haven't seen a whole family, and when I say whole I mean extended too, trying to win people over for Christ. I don't know why I am just know seeing this or what God wants me to do with this vision just yet. I mean I have a whole school year with this little girl so anything can happen and I am excited. Yet I just can't believe that God would show me this in my life right now. He does want me to be a part of something bigger and with this family it is big. It never slows down.
          Strangely enough, though, I am ready for it. It might not be overseas like I thought I had planned out long ago. Might not be to foreign people here in the states. Might not be to all kinds of people. Might not be in a church setting or near a church. Might not look anything like a church. No matter where it is or how it is, it will be for the Glory of God. That's for sure! Like my pastor said last night, we have to change with the times and maybe that is what God is teaching me now. Maybe now, it needs to be outside the church and show through something we love to do. Just a thought. God not done with me and He isn't done with my friendships for sure. In fact, in a way, I feel like they are just getting started again in a new way. Out with the old and in with the new.