church – Growing Up in the Lord

The Untaken Picture

Angela — Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:55:43 +0000

This summer, my congregation held a Bible Circus-themed Vacation Bible School. Lessons included Deborah, the Not Bearded Lady; Samson, the Strongest Man; and Daniel, the Lion Tamer. For many years, I’ve taught the memory verse and application session. This year, the two youngest groups were not only the largest classes, but the largest we’d ever had. Imagine teaching a dozen 4-5-year-olds a memory verse each day. Even though this group was a circus of its own, their joy and excitement outweighed the chaos.

In every class I teach, no matter how many students or their age, each person gets an opportunity to share. Even if I can’t understand them, I look them in the eye and listen as they speak. I use each person’s name and meet them where they are. No one leaves my class without being seen, heard, and loved.

A few days after VBS, my kids left for church camp, and I was alone much of the day. I spent my extra time helping children and teens create bulletin boards and door signs for the new Bible class year. I planned about four hours for the first group, but we finished in less than two—including taking down the old boards and cutting letters and large shapes. I expected the second group to take about two hours, but it took a little more than four.

The two groups differed greatly in personality, organization, and efficiency, but I enjoyed each person for all their individual talents and quirks.

I rarely remember to take before pictures. I occasionally remember to take pictures in the middle. I always remember to capture the finished bulletin boards.

Interestingly, the finished bulletin boards are visible reminders of something much greater.

It’s not about the “mess” of creating the bulletin boards. It’s about the conversations with the kids, the joking and laughter, and sometimes the quiet moments that remind me why being present matters. I’ve built this trust over years, simply by being present and listening. For some, that began when they were babbling toddlers and preschoolers.

Some moments are simply more important to experience than to photograph.

In both a room full of excited preschoolers during Vacation Bible School and an afternoon with a handful of older kids creating bulletin boards around a table, the lesson is the same.

God is often working in the unseen moments between life’s milestones. Those moments rarely make it into the photo album, yet they’re the ones that shape our hearts.

Be A Somebody

Angela — Sat, 31 Jan 2026 18:50:37 +0000

Since my week in the hospital, much of my recovery has depended on other people. Friends noticed needs and stepped in without hesitation. One coordinated hospital visits, so I was never alone when my husband had to work. Another stepped into my role as education coordinator, making sure every Bible class had a teacher and setting up a meal train. Others brought meals, sent gift cards, prayed, and stopped by once I was home.

My community showed up for us and served without question.

Usually, I am among the first to notice a need and act. That has been part of how God has shaped me for years. Right now, God has placed me in a different season. I am resting more. I am doing less. I am learning to pay closer attention to what truly belongs to me and what does not.

While my physical sight was diminished, my vision gained clarity and focus.

When we see a need and can meet it, responsibility follows. Sometimes we wait for someone else to do what God has placed directly in front of us.

An Acappella song has played repeatedly in my mind during long, wakeful nights as I wait for healing and allow God to refine my purpose. Everybody Said delivers its message with humor, but also with conviction. Everybody assumes somebody else will do the work. Anybody is capable. Too often, nobody acts.

Scripture names that tension clearly.

“If anyone, then, knows the good he ought to do and does not do it, he sins.” (James 4:17)

James is not describing ignorance. He is describing awareness without action. Knowing creates responsibility. Clarity calls for a response.

Seeing a need is not an accident. God often allows us to notice because He has already equipped us to respond. Scripture reminds us of this truth:

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance as our way of life.” (Ephesians 2:10, BSB)

Obedience does not require attention or applause. Faithful action often happens quietly, in ordinary moments, by people who choose not to look away.

Do not wait for somebody else to take action.
Everybody needs to be somebody.

An Awkward Fit

Angela — Wed, 31 Dec 2025 19:14:45 +0000

Some nights, getting comfortable takes longer than others. Many nights when I lie down to go to sleep, my arms get in the way. They feel cold when the rest of me is warm. They seem to be in the way and out of place. I shift and adjust, yet my arms become obstacles to rest. This problem seems a little silly, but one night I realized how this discomfort resembles life in the body of Christ. Scripture tells us we are one body with many parts. Each part is necessary, with a designated purpose. Every member has been placed with intention, yet many believers quietly live with a sense of awkwardness, like they never quite fit. No matter how they shift, they cannot find their place. What if that awkwardness exists because we are striving to fit into a place that was never shaped for us? Our discomfort is not always a sign of rebellion or reluctance. It may be a sign of misalignment. The apostle Paul describes the church as a collection of parts, a living body shaped by intentional diversity. The placement of each part matters for purpose and function. “For just as the body is one and has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also is Christ…. If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, according to His will.” 1 Corinthians 12:12, 17–18 God Himself arranged the body this way. Each part matters, but each part also has limits. These limits are not weaknesses. Just as an ear cannot see or a foot cannot hear, we each have a purpose that fits our God-given abilities. Effort alone does not change design. Good intentions can blur an important distinction. Willingness does not mean every role belongs to us. My grandfather once said that God’s church is perfect, even though its people are not. The more I learn and grow, the more I see the wisdom in that statement. We bring our fears, insecurities, blind spots, and unmet longings with us into every relationship and situation, even into the body of Christ. We desire to matter, to be seen, and to fit. None of this surprises God, but it does shape how we relate to one another. The problem isn’t always the body. It may be where we’re trying to fit. Saying no can feel unfaithful, especially when we are asked to fill a specific need. Yet Scripture teaches us to serve with wisdom. Faithfulness does not mean personally responding to every need in the congregation. Even during His earthly ministry, Jesus did not respond to every demand. He withdrew to pray and sometimes left crowds behind, following the Father’s direction rather than every expectation around Him. If Jesus did not allow every demand to determine His direction, we cannot expect to do so either. Saying no is not necessarily a refusal to serve. It can be a decision to serve where we are actually equipped. Healthy bodies do not require every part to be loud or visible. They require honesty, discernment, and faithfulness. The goal is not for each member to prove their value, but to live faithfully within the Designer’s purpose. Maybe the goal isn’t to make ourselves fit wherever there is an empty space. Maybe it is to discover where God has equipped us to serve. The most faithful thing we can do may be to stop trying to be a part we were never meant to be.

Marriage is more than a Wedding

Angela — Tue, 20 Jun 2023 21:45:10 +0000

Last weekend, we attended a wedding. Actually, my husband handled the sound for the wedding, so we attended both the rehearsal and the event. I couldn’t help but have memories of my own wedding day. As the mothers of the bride and groom were escorted down the aisle by their grandsons, I teared up, remembering my brother walking my grandmother to her place of honor at my wedding. As the bride and her father walked down the aisle, I flashed both backward and forward, remembering my own wedding but imagining my daughter’s (many years in the future).

During the ceremony, I remembered my grandfather’s words to us, not just on that day, but throughout the years.
What do you remember about your wedding day? How much time and planning went into your celebration? Our wedding day had some hiccups (including a flood, a health scare, and a bumped flight), and our marriage isn’t perfect, but my husband and I focus on building our relationship. Communication, connection, and intimacy are foundational to any relationship.

My husband likes to tell the following joke: “Marriage is a three-ring circus. Engagement ring. Wedding ring. Suffer-ing.” This gets him some laughs and a few eye-rolls as well. All joking aside, weddings are a beautiful thing. However, many people spend a small (or large) fortune on one day and do not invest in their marriage. Marriage also gives us a powerful picture of God’s relationship with His people throughout Scripture.

In the Old Testament, God uses marriage to describe His covenant relationship with Israel. He speaks of loving and providing for her, while Israel’s repeated unfaithfulness is described as adultery. Even in judgment, God calls His people to return to Him and promises restoration.

In the New Testament, the marriage imagery continues with Christ and the church. Christ loved the church and gave Himself for her (Ephesians 5:25), and Revelation looks forward to the wedding of the Lamb, when His bride has made herself ready (Revelation 19:7).

As Christians, we wait for the return of our Bridegroom and the wedding of the Lamb. How do we behave in the waiting? Do we make preparations so that we are ready for the day? Are we faithfully living out the relationship we claim to have with Him? Be committed to studying His Word, a love letter that reminds us who God is and how deeply He loves us. Talk to Him throughout your day, about everything! As we spend time in His Word and in prayer, we grow in our knowledge of Him and learn to live faithfully while we wait.