The church has left the building
Someday I'll get into the whole story of finding my new birth sister, and all of that. It's still pretty raw, and new, and freaky, and glorious.
It's coming up on 40 years ago that our birth mom gave one of us to a family to raise because she did not want her baby to live as a "bastard" (quote). The other one of us was born a couple of years later to a young couple struggling in a marriage. But her dad walked out on her and she never knew him.
One of us got the parents - intact. One of us got a broken family.
Both of us have the same Father.
One of us knew about Him her whole life - had a church upbringing, but didn't KNOW Him. One of us lived in a home (sometimes a commune, even, for real) where He was feared and loved, but where there was hiding because of sin and shame, and not feeling "welcome" in church.
We both found the Real Father.
It's funny, that when I met my new sister, she was disappointed that I was already a believer. (I think that's really funny).
She planned to convert me if I ever found her.
She might get her dream. She's a new believer. On fire. Passionate. In love with Jesus. And at peace with her life ... her mom's short life ... and her dad's choices.
I've shoved a lot of this to the back burner recently. Too much. But she's back. Our congregation had an event this week, that wasn't even dubbed an "outreach" ... it was just fun kayaking/picnic on the lake. But it was church out there in that park and on that lake. It reminded me of my sister's awesome church where they wear tshirts that say "the church has left the building" when they go out and serve.
This post was intended to gush about our fun Father's Day at the lake with pictures and everything. How this came out, I don't know. But I let it flow!
And now, I'm turning down the burner to let those flavors meld some more. (I first used simmer instead of meld, but that sounds angry. Melding is better.)
Posted in: on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 at at 8:40 AM
