We didn’t get the blizzard that our friends and neighbors in the northern part of the state hosted on this Lord’s Day. We didn’t get the multiple vehicle wrecks and slide-offs, the electrical outages, a foot of horizontal snow or the double digits below zero wind chill. We didn’t get the four- and five-foot deep drifts, the wide area road closings or the strandings in strange territories.

We did get some mighty stiff gusts of wind, a modicum of snow and sleet, and enough of a wind chill to make you grateful for warm socks and good shoes. It was certainly raw enough on Sunday morning that you could pretty easily convince yourself that the good Lord might not get too mad about you skipping church.

And so, I was expecting a rather light crowd at our community church in South Haven, Kansas, Sunday morning. And, at about three minutes before start time it sure looked like I was right. At that point, there were about fifteen, maybe twenty of us. “Doc,” one of the others said, “looks like it’s gonna be a pretty small group today.”

“Yep,” I nodded and grinned wryly, “kind of looks that way.”

And then, I looked out the hallway toward the parking lot and saw a whole group of folks coming in. In just a couple of minutes, our number more than doubled!

Whether you’re having church, getting things started for the annual town picnic or hosting a family get together, it’s always downright encouraging when other folks show up. Just knowing that other folks care enough to get there, even when it’s not all that easy or comfortable, is like a real sincere slap on the back or pat on the shoulder. It’s a completely visible and tangible way of saying, “Hey, we’re all in this together and we’re going to do what we can to help make it work.”

Sometimes, when you’re wondering whether or not your part is worth doing, remember that just showing up means a lot more than you may ever know. Especially on a raw winter day when even the preacher might be thinking about just staying home…

H. Arnett
11/28/18