Faith Blooms Here
By Pastor Rachel White, Pastor of Alpha & LifeGroups
I look up to my Mum (Mom for all you Americans!). She is creative, hard-working, cares deeply for her family, and has been a steady rock for our family. In my teen years she was a single Mum and it was in that time that I saw her rise up to be the spiritual leader for our family, calling us to pray, encouraging us to deepen our connection to church community, continuing to teach us fierce loyalty to one another; holding us together. She didn’t hide her struggles, and yet she taught us always to see the silver lining, keep pressing on, and keep trusting in the Lord. She has a quiet, kind, steady kind of love. A love that overcomes the miles, the challenges, and keeps on loving even when I haven’t been the easiest to love.
On this Mother’s Day weekend, I’m thinking not only about my own role as a Mom (yes, I use the American spelling these days!), but about how grateful I am for the example my Mum set for me.
I came across this picture of us both recently and it brought a smile to my face thinking of our shared memories, passions and connection. It’s a picture of me and Mum in my Gran’s front garden, filled with Spring daffodils. One thing my Mum has always been really good at has been gardening, and my Gran before her. I was always terrible at it, killing every plant my Mum ever bought me, but I have grown a lot in this area the last couple of years, to the point where I now have my own flower garden. I published a devotional book earlier this year all about how the Lord teaches us lessons through the garden, and I was so touched when my Mum sent me a photo of my Gran reading it. Despite the distance, the garden has been a new-found place of connection through the generations of my family. I’m excited to think about how my Gran might discover the hope of the gospel as she reads the pages of this book in her language – flowers!
Finding points of connection is a gift within our families, and it’s also a great way to have spiritual conversations with people outside of the church. You wouldn’t believe the number of times talking about flowers has given me a chance to share Jesus’ love with someone else! What would you say has been the most common launch point for your conversations and connections with people outside the church? I’d love to know. I’ve found a wonderful way to meet people outside of church is to invest in a common interest.
Next week we launch ever wonder?…a three-week course for conversations around faith. If you have been having spiritual conversations with anyone in your life, whether they be family, friend, co-worker, neighbor or stranger, can I encourage you to invite them to join you at ever wonder? You can find out more and register at gigharboralpha.com. We are meeting at Cutters Point Flagship (5500 Olympic Drive, Gig Harbor, WA 98335) starting this Wednesday, May 14, at 6:30 pm. I hope to see you there!
Rachel