Chance and Coincidence

Tonight I ran into a member of my church at the mall. My little one was at gymnastics and I was out of moisturizer. In theory, I could run over to the mall, get in and out quickly, and be back before she noticed I was not in the bleachers. Mission accomplished.

While making a mad dash past the perfume counter in Dillards (my eyes! my eyes!) I ran into a member of my church (we're everywhere). She was in my first Disciple class, started at COR-West with me, but I hadn't seen her or her kids in awhile. I had 10 minutes and we tried to do 9mos of catch up in that time. It was awesome and I miss her!

I told her I was batting about .250 for attendance this year. I'm struggling and my heart isn't in it. She informed me they started going back to main campus. She asked why I was struggling and I tried to sum it up succinct manner, which does not match my personality frankly! haha.

The short answer I gave her: The church seems to be going in so many directions, yet the sense of community I miss is even more evasive than 2 years ago when I first met her.

She replied, "yeah, if I was sick and in the hospital, you'll never have the phone tree calling on my behalf." Yet we both keep attending. When she asked why, I said... I have been going there for 10 years. I was 21 when I started. I walked the hymnals over from the old church. I have seen our church grow and struggle. To me, when I visit other churches, I feel like I'm cheating on my boyfriend and if I officially quit... I think it would hurt worse than a breakup.

We exchanged cell #s and promised to find each other on facebook. Not only is it nice to run into someone from church, but someone who understands my struggle and is sharing it for her and her family. Maybe community at COR isn't lost afterall.