About a year ago, my work had me answer a bunch of questions to assess what my strengths are. My top one was “belief”, which didn’t surprise me. The other top answers didn’t surprise me either, which were “connected”, “consistency”, “context” and “responsibility”.  While they all describe me, the word “connection” jumps out at me often. Feeling connected to others is important to most, if not all people, but it’s especially important to me. The downside to my strength is when I don’t feel that connection to others is when I struggle the most. In a church setting, connection to one another is part of the foundation, in my opinion. The first time Jeff and I attended Central, we felt the initial connection with a few people. My personal struggle with lack of connection occurred during COVID, when we couldn’t gather as much. Even though I was still at church helping with the YouTube videos, I missed seeing and hugging many friends. It felt not quite right to give my Elder meditations to a video camera. I was so glad when we were able to re-connect and share our joys, but equally important to support one another in the struggles.

This past snowy Sunday, I wasn’t sure we were gathering. I got so upset (admittedly super dramatic) if I wasn’t going to be able to go. I felt like I HAD TO BE IN CHURCH! Not that I was needed to be in church, but I needed to be in God’s house. To Worship. To Fellowship. To hear a Word from God through the sermon. What if we approached every Sunday like that? That it wasn’t just something on our checklist every Sunday, but that WE HAVE TO BE IN CHURCH. And what if we approached being connected to fellow believers as something we desire? To find out how someone is truly doing, not just asking the standard, “how are you doing?” And finding a way to support them in their struggles by praying, by offering a hug, by checking in on them during the week. Ways to be more connected. Could I have made it through the day by staying home and watching a preacher’s sermon on TV? Yes. But it’s the connection to others, like Scripture encourages us to keep doing. That’s where we can show God’s love within the walls and able to take it outside the walls. The connection is where we show WE ARE THE CHURCH!