Lately, my life has been filled with Holy moments. These sacred moments shape my life as a person of faith, and remind me of my desired to seek, serve, and grow in my faith. A couple weeks ago I had the opportunity to serve communion at my home church in Wichita. This particular Sunday, communion was taken by intinction (partly dipping the bread into the “wine”), so I had the job of holding the cup. On my side of the sanctuary, the pastor held the bread, and people took from that before coming to me. The whole thing was such a humbling experience! Here I was, standing beside the pastor serving this community of faith that has watched me grow from a newborn into this young woman of faith who is considering a call to pastoral ministry. It was such a humbling experience to serve communion to the adults I think of as my “other mothers and fathers.” These are the adults who I have I looked up to and greatly respected for my entire life. Now I was serving them, on Holy ground.
There is an older woman in our congregation (one of our few seniors) who cannot stand for long periods of time, so she couldn’t walk to the front to take communion. Once our line had dwindled, I turned to Pastor Brett to ask if we should go to serve her at her seat. As I turned to Pastor Brett, he was turning toward me, and I knew he was about to say the exact same thing. I smiled and nodded, and we walked down the aisle together to serve her at her seat. I knew as we served her, we were standing on Holy ground.
The other holy moment I want to share about is one that reminds me of the beauty of Christian diversity. I have a very dear friend we’ll call Jack. Jack is a very devote Catholic who lives down the street from me. He’s blind and wears hearing aids. He’s 24, and still lives at home. Right now he’s on the adventure of his life, attending an Institute for the Blind in a state far away. There he will work on daily living skills, work skills, and some general academic skills. I am excited about the possibilities this experience will open up for him, but I know this adjustment to being away from home and family will be rough for him…and for his mom. Two days before he left, we went out for supper together, and as we sat in the car talking afterward, I knew we were standing on holy ground. Jack is so sweet, when he knew I was having a rough week and worried about observations during my student teaching, Jack called me almost every evening when he knew I’d be home from school just to ask how my day had gone, and to remind me that God is with me always. As we sat in the car, he offered to pray for me. Even though he was embarking on the adventure of his life, he was focused on seeking God’s presence on my behalf. He earnestly asked God to be near to me, to give me peace through the stress of wedding planning and student teaching, and to guide both my and my fiancé as we plan our life together. Jack was not thinking of himself, rather seeking God on behalf of his friend. Listening to him, I knew that God was there, listening to the requests of his precious son. We were on Holy ground.
Here’s an old picture of me and Jack. It’s from my high school graduation in 2007.