Do you know what I find amazing? Let me share...

Sometimes at school I go to the bathroom (although I really do try not to) and there will be a few girls in there, one is crying because her boyfriend just broke up with her or she had a fight with her mum. The rest are comforting her, telling her that she's beautiful and loved and generally being very girlie. Most people laugh and go "oh, stupid teenagers" but I realised something today... at least that girl will know that someone cares enough even about the superficial things (although I dare say it is not superficial in that girls life). But I look at our church (as in the full body of Christ) and we see much worse things like addiction, divorce, depression, rejection and a whole host of other problems and we don't even look sideways to see people who are hurting? How is it that a 13 year old girl can be loved for weeks by her friends and yet the child of a couple who recently divorced gets ignored by his/her church family? I think it is pretty sad to be honest. Guess what, church is not about lovey dovey nice things, it's about getting on our hands and knees and doing the work. It's about caring, loving each other for what we are and telling everyone the good news. I know personally what it is like to feel ignored by my church and I have seen just in a few years how it can completely damage a person's life, health and spiritual relationship!

I don't want to be in that group who didn't do anything. I want to know when people are hurting, not because I'm a sticky beak, but so I can offer my prayers and support to them. Give up on gossip and do something!!! If you whisper a comment to one person, but they begin to whisper to everyone else, eventually the whispering becomes so loud that it is more like screaming! And the last thing a hurting person needs is to be screamed at. Nobody even comes close to perfection and in actual fact, to stand by and let a person stay in need is even less perfect than to step up and help!

How beautiful would the body of Christ be if we weren't taken over by disease? And finally, don't become hurt or wounded if your love and support are rejected or abused, rather pray about it and forgive, as forgiveness is not about letting the offender off the hook, instead, it is about freeing your life of heavy weights!

I nearly left my church at one stage because people couldn't give me what I needed and I had the feeling that I was far too much work for people to deal with. I've seen other's leave for the same reason and it really really upsets me. So just imagine how upset God must be? But hey, I'm gunna stick around because now I believe that I can make a difference in a positive way, if I will allow God to use me. As Bec always says, "you can only change yourself" I'm learning the truth in this, but you know what, it's kinda not true because if you change for the better, you can allow people to see the difference and inspire them to change as well!!!