LESSON LEARNED???

A funny thing happened at church yesterday! We went in and sat about half way up on a side asile. Just before service started we could hear a lady makeing her way up towards the front saying, "Hello, Hi, Hello, Hello,..." in a chipper voice. Then, she got to us! She turned toward us and said, "Hhh..." then she got a funny look on her face, turned away and headed to her seat. Tim and I looked at each other, but didn't notice anything stranger than usual. :)
We visit churches all across the US. We have been to mega churches (HUGE congregations), medium-sized and very small churches. We have also been to churches of many different denominations.
It is a very different experience to ALWAYS be the visitors. When we first started looking for churches to visit we had the idea to find very large churches so we could blend in. We quickly found out that it is almost impossible to "blend" in at a large church. We are almost immediately singled out and treated almost like celebreties! You would be amazed at how many people in these churches have invited for coffee or meals. Some have even invited us to spend the night in their homes!
On the other hand, in most of the small churches we are barely even acknowleged. WE definately have not received any invitations into THEIR homes!
It has really made me think about how I have acted in the past when visitors came to my church. I have to admit there are times I was too wrapped up in my own little world to pay much attention to them, much less invite them to my "less than perfect" house.
Needless to say, we have made a note of the churches that made us feel welcome so we can go to them again if we're in the area. Kind of makes you think...I hope some day someone will remember coming to my church because of the kindness and hospitlity I have shown and NOT because it was such a cold, lonely experience.

PS IF you made it to the end of this...THANKS for reading my ramblings! Tim says it's too wordy! :)