Just got back from the New Member Dessert party for Northaven. It’s always such a great event. About ten or so church leaders, and ten or so new members gather for a little dessert, and some conversation about the church.

I always love seeing the careful concern our church leaders show in describing the church, and all the many ways folks can get involved at Northaven.

But my favorite part is hearing our new members describe what the church means to them. Almost always, it involves stories of painful rejection elsewhere….somebody rejected by their parents, or by their former church…somebody who felt that their intellectual curiosity hadn’t been respected elsewhere.

The good news is, they found Northaven. The bad news, it means horrible rejection elsewhere and memories that will likely never fade.

Everytime I go to one of these, I am deeply grateful that Northaven exists, and that so many people continue to find a spiritual home there.

(During this year, my goal is to find something new to be thankful for every single day, and to add that thanksgiving as a blog entry, under the title “My Daily Gratitude.” I started this kick back around Thanksgiving, and it’s already resulted in a favorite new song of mine. The goal of this ongoing spiritual exercise is to see if doing such a thing might inspire even more gratitude within me, and to foster general awareness of life on a deeper level.)