The love of Christian strangers

I am deeply touched. Today we joined a new church because we want Lily to feel connected to a Christian community, which sadly she wasn't at our previous church. I won't go into that here except to say that Paul and I were very much connected to that church and left it with much reluctance after over 20 years.

I could tell you many things that are very welcoming about our new church and our growing excitement at the church's work in the community and elsewhere. But that's not what I want to tell you about today.

At lunch we asked Lily what happened in Sunday school. She answered, "The teachers told us that we would sometimes make mistakes or find ourselves in places we didn't want to be or maybe get ourselves in trouble as we got older. They said that if there was ever any reason we couldn't find or call our parents, to call them. They gave us their phone numbers and told us to put them on Speed Dial on our cell phones. They said that any time, day or night, we needed them to help us or come get us or needed anything else, to please call. That they cared about us and are always there."

I don't know these teachers yet. But I am deeply touched. Anybody who offers to come rescue my daughter at any time of the day or night is more than I ever could hope for. Thank you, God, for this Christian community.

I'm beginning to feel like we are in the right place.

Comments

[Lori]

I remember how pleased (and impressed) I was when our teenaged children knew, by heart, the cell phone number of their school chaplain who also served as their CYO sponsor at church. I called Fr. Steve to tell him how much he was obviously doing right!

[Anne]

That is wonderful! Did they ever call him? (You don't have to tell.)

I think any extra "line of defense" our children have can only help.

I'd never heard of this before, but maybe it's standard procedure in some churches. If not, maybe it should be.

I have one friend who's set up a network of trusted friends that her daughters can call upon if they ever need to talk about something and don't want to tell their mother (my friend). I think this started because her own mother died when she was young and she needed somebody to talk to. I think it's a good idea but wonder if most girls would have the nerve to call if they have a problem. Most likely they will just seek bad advice from peers.

Thanks for stopping by! And have fun this week.

[lori]

yeah they called him -- that's how they knew his number -- but there were numerous reasons to talk with him on scheduling and activities....