How Beautiful is The Body of Christ

We really enjoyed our time at church this past Sunday. As overseas missionaries, we feel truly blessed to find a church where we can relax, feel encouraged and challenged. It can be very difficult to find a church group where you belong, where you can not only give but receive as well. It hasn’t been easy. Not that we’ve always seen the great need to go to church. This is a tough stage of life. Having young kids makes going to church particularly difficult. It’s easy to say, “I’m so tired, the kids are grumpy, and it’s just so much work to get everybody ready to go.” Plus, I spend the majority of my time taking care of the kids…doesn’t really seem worth it! I will admit there have been a few seasons in my life when I thought that church was a conspiracy to gather all the believers and kill the joy and passion for God. A place where judgmental hypocrites came together, sang a few songs, gossiped about each other’s clothes, their houses and kids and then invited one another over to tea, where God was relegated to a place far away and out of reach. One certainly didn’t talk about Him outside of church. There were times that I felt like my relationship with God only needed to be fueled by quiet time with Him, and then if I found time to be with other Christians, great, but if not, I didn’t lose too much sleep over it.
But things have changed. I am beginning to see even more clearly the need to come together with other believers, to worship with them, to hear another’s perspective on God’s word and to pray with and be prayed for. What about alone time with God? It is a definite must. God wants a relationship, a personal relationship, with each and every one of us. Not 1 hour on Sunday, not 1 hour at small group. A relationship. And a relationship takes time. Nothing can replace that. However, there is also something quite special, uplifting and encouraging about being with other believers. When we were worshipping and singing this past Sunday, there were moments that I felt I was standing at the throne room of heaven…my spirit was so filled with His presence. Hearing the pastor talk about Jesus as the true vine and remaining in Him, it was a good reminder to me, to not lose heart, to not just “do the minimum”, but to stay connected with Him. And when a young lady came and prayed for me…the encouragement I felt is something I cannot get sitting in a room by myself.
Is going to church hard? I will be honest, yes. It has been a hard journey. It is hard to walk into a church where you know nobody, everything is strange and the language is different. I probably only hear about 10% of the entire 2 hour worship and sermon. The rest of my time is spent watching the kids, keeping them in their chairs, helping them go to the bathroom and nursing Sebastian. But God has really blessed me with those few precious moments…15 minutes out of 2 hours seems like enough. And there is such an amazing spirit, standing in a room full of believers, all singing their hearts out to God. I dare say the angels look down in awe.
I’d like to share a particularly meaningful song that brings me to heaven in an instant.

Yo te busco, yo te busco
Con fuego en mi Corazón
Yo te busco, yo te busco
Recibe mi adoración
Te anhelo, te necesito
Te amo más que a mi ser

I look for You, I look for You
With fire in my heart
I look for you, I look for you
Receive my adoration
I long for you, I need you
I love you, more than I love myself