Christian Women in Leadership

church in Glen Ellyn

Sunday I decided to entirely be Kate, and attend Kate's church (a church I attended for a while in undergrad) in addition to stay at her condo. God set me up though, b/c Stuart Ruch's sermon was entirely on hospitality, and he challenged Rez ers to step of their hospitality towards church newcomers.

He gave the illustration of a young man, Jonathan, who is staying at their house, on their sofa bed in the living room, and he was at work or an activity on Sat. night; Stuart mistakenly did not unlock the screen door for Jonathan that night, and he discovered him the next morning, his 6'2 frame huddled in the fetal position on a bench in the screen porch, with only a few pillows surrounding him for warmth. He had locked him out, after Jonathan had picked his family up (w/four kids) from O'Hare airport, cleaned their entire house and their car while they were on vacation in Florida for a the week. whew, talk about servant's heart.

When Stuart realized what he had done, he said, "Jonathan! Catherine must have locked the screen door." But then he said flashes of the apple, the garden of Eden, "the women you gave to me," went through his mind, and he admitted, "No, Jonathan, I'm sorry, it was me."

When he finished the sermon, my only thought; I'm not going to make it out alive, because suddenly, the Rez community was focused on new people, and there I was. I turned around to leave, and a couple behind me asked me where I was from, if I was visiting, etc. I said, to everyone who asked, "I'm a friend of Kate L.'s" and they said, "Oh, Kate." (Everyone knows who you are, Kate.)

During the sermon, I spotted a guy I knew from college who, I remembered, went to med school at UIC. After the sermon I tracked him down, so I could ask him q's about UIC's medical school, which up until recently, was where I wanted to go to med school. He asked me for my phone number. I was like, "I can give you my e-mail" but then I also wrote down my phone number, too, although I really prefer that he would e-mail me.

posted by the princess @ 8/19/2005 04:34:00 PM