It's good to be around believers

Patti Parks is a member of Riverbend Community Church a vibrant missional (go and do) church in Ormond Beach, in central Florida. She is part of the greater Daytona crew that regularly visits Romania during each summer. I’ve hooked up with her on Facebook  through mutual friends I met at History Makers.

Although Patti, I’m sure has never been to The Loft, she typifies LofterMax. She loves Jesus; says her religious views are “Bible believer” and political view is Philippians 3:20—But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there. Patti is single, she loves children and serving her local church and “has been saved by the Grace of God for almost 11 years. TeamLoft in Houston...do you agree that she is LofterMax?

Patti’s a great writer and encourages me; she writes a blog I read often. Oh yeah, she has Ductal Carcinomal cancer, a common form of breast cancer, but not for someone her age. Patti was diagnosed about six weeks ago.

                                      

Her blog is called The Gospel and Cancer: The Chronicle of Life. Straight forward and simply put (as our mutual friends testify about her life), she says she writes her blog because others ask her how she is doing and she wants to let friends know how she is. In her August 5^th blog, she says “the good news of Jesus outweighs the bad news; I pray that this cancer never becomes the focus of my life.” Her treatment plans call for finishing up chemo in Florida and then surgery at Sloan-Kettering in New York. In my professional career, I worked as a consultant in healthcare and I know how rare it is for Sloan to accept a patient as young as Patti.

Lofters, I wanted to share Patti’s story with you; I don’t know her personally, but she is a member of my Christian family connected through mutual friends (2^nd degree if you follow the theory of six degrees). Here’s the deal...we have all had loved ones, friends or acquaintances that have or have had cancer as part of their life. It’s simply amazing how most Jesus Followers I know respond in time of personal crisis---always more concerned with others than themselves. Do you find this to be the case also? I’d say most Lofters do.

Lofters worldwide; we are community; we support Patti in her journey as we do others in time of need for healing. In fact,  Lofter, Staci Brady, is in training now for the upcoming cancer walk in honor of her mom.

As Patti ends her post for August 25^th, “It’s good to be around believers.” AMEN...none of us have anything to add.

Do you want to be an encourager today? Visit Patti’s blog and drop her a line and tell her Lofters worldwide are praying for her.

Selah

Why I Greet

By Brett the Lofter......our teddy bear (aka John Goodman)

After my first two blog pieces for A Lofter’s Life and as we move into September Serve, I thought about one of the ways I serve. As I was writing some piece in my own blog www.leftofselfcenter.com, I thought about why I greet.                                    

It wasn’t too long ago, when I spent my Sunday mornings tiptoeing through minefields blindfolded. It didn’t take too long for something to blow up. I can’t say it was anyone’s fault in particular; Sunday mornings seemed to be the Devil’s playground. No matter what I did, something always seemed to go awry when trying to get to church. Fights avoided during the week erupted on Sunday. Kids obedient during the week, dug in their heels on Sunday. People, who woke up a 5 – 6 am all week, struggled to get to church by 9am or even 11am. We arrived at church late, only to find other problems awaiting us such as finding a parking spot or finding seats. Throwing up our hands in exasperation, we’d wander off to Denny’s as some sort of consolation prize. Sometimes, we got to the front door, decided we were too late, and went home.

When I found my relationship with God, greeters put me at ease and facilitated my going into the church. I have attended a lot of churches over the years and it really reflects on a church if you encounter welcoming people. Not just on the front door, but in the chairs and wherever you go. Being new and making the long walk into a church is hard enough but then you come up to an information desk where the people look at you and then look at one another as if saying, “You talk to them, it’s your turn now.”

So why do I greet? Maybe it was because I was a straggler. Maybe it was because I was the one who gave up on going to church because I thought I was too late. I can relate with everyone who has ever had a trying, challenging and even horrible Sunday morning. I have been that person.

I see you coming, holding the hand of your child who is half walking, half being dragged. Herding a gaggle of grumpy kids who were lucky to get on a shirt and drag a comb across their hair. I see the people who have been fighting in the car, sniping at one another for being late yet again. I see the frustrated people who had to trek almost a mile to get to church because they had to park out in the “back 40”.  These are the reasons I greet.  I think to myself, if I can be the smile that encourages, the one waiting on the straggler.  I notice that when I get a child to smile, the parent lights up too. I am there to help and assist in any way. I want to notice and welcome the new person and says “I’m glad you’re here; let’s help you find a place here.”  I try to know everyone’s name and know a bit about you. If you are like me you like to know that you are a part of the church. You want to know you are loved and important and missed. I just know that as greeters we set the tone for those entering the church. I want that to be a loving and reassuring tone.

I get asked “How are you today?” a lot. I usually reply, “We get paid in smiles, Thank you very much.” I really mean that. There is nothing more satisfying that the occasional hug I get from a little kid who is glad to see me. There is nothing more rewarding that helping one of our “rocking grandmas” to her seat because she can’t see in the dark very well. I jokingly call my greeting, my “straggler ministry”. I greet because once I was that person and those people need the encouragement and greeting the most. So when you see me still out there when Andy has begun to preach, it’s because I am waiting on you because you’re important.

Hey Lofters in Houston, give Brett a teddy bear hug when you see him!  Thank him for his straggler ministry.  Bob

If you have stories to share, let me know.  My contact information is available on the blog or through the TeamLoft web site.

Selah

GodTube.com - Search Engine

I just had to share this video with you from GodTube.com; it's so Lofter! Enjoy.

GodTube.com - Search Engine (Select video 1 - parody on the Mac/PC ads).


Sometimes, we just gotta have fun, don't we. This one is especially for Andy.

Selah