Plugged in.....

In the middle of my 8th grade year, my family moved from Maize, Kansas to Winfield, Kansas.  My Dad had the opportunity to buy or work his way into part ownership in a grocery store.  Some dear friends of ours owned the grocery store and Dad was really excited to be a part of it.  I was excited because I loved Winfield and my best friend, Susan lived there.

Even though we were Lutheran and attended the Lutheran Church in Winfield, for some reason that I cannot recall, we decided to go to church with my friend Susan and her family at the Methodist Church.  On our way back home from church that morning, I told my friend Susan "I wish we went to your church, I know more people and have more friends there than our church."  We got dropped off at our house, said our good-byes and then my Mom turned to me and said "WE DON'T GO TO CHURCH TO MAKE FRIENDS!"  Well, I was dumbfounded.  I didn't know what to say or what to think.  I went to my room to change my clothes for the day and the only thing I could think about doing was singing "What a friend we have in Jesus", with the emphasis heavily played on the word friend.  You know, I was a snot nosed 14 year old and I didn't understand what my Mom was trying to tell me.

It wasn't until much later in life when I realized what she actually meant.  We go to church to be plugged in to God.  To be plugged in to the worship and the music.  To be plugged in to His word.  To be plugged in to who He is calling us to be and to be plugged in to His direction of witnessing to others.  We don't go to church to make friends, but we go to church to make friends in Christ.  There is a purpose that they are put into our lives, whether it be to help guide us in our faith walk or to just be the influence that we need the most.  Sometimes it is to comfort us in our time of need when we lose a loved one or when we feel nothing but despair and wonder how we will ever get through it.  Christ puts these friends in our lives.  If we go to church, just because we want to make some friends, we are missing the bigger picture.

I am currently searching for a church home and am having difficulty in doing so.  Born and raised Lutheran-Missouri Synod, I want to stay in this denomination, but am not finding a church that makes me feel like I really belong there.  Melissa Taylor's Online Bible Study has filled a void that I was missing these last few months.  I have made some wonderful friends in Christ within our small facebook group and am looking forward to many more friends in Christ.  For now, I remain plugged in and open to the door that God will reveal to me in due time.