Coping through life with God’s people

I really love my church! I love it because of the people there; the scripture from the Reverend and the involvement in the community add extra positivity in my life. The message in the scripture seems to come at me during the right time to help me cope with whatever I may be dealing with in my life, or whatever situation or obstacle derails my path. God’s word and his people give me a much brighter outlook on life situations, and obstacles that are in front of me. Proverbs 2:6 – “For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.”

One thing that I try to do is always keep positive people in my circle, because I feel as though keeping positive people in my circle keeps positive energy flowing, but negative people bring negative energy, which results in negative feelings and thoughts that I do not need. A man by the name of Norman Vincent Peale quoted “The person who sends out positive thoughts activates the world around him positively and draws back to himself positive results”. The church that I attend brings the right vibes and people in my life that I truly need. Whenever my semester is over with, or when I am free of studying and assignments, I volunteer at my church as well. Some of the volunteer opportunities include serving dinner at Sarah’s Circle, which is a women’s shelter; volunteering in the nursery or Sunday school; and coffee hour.

Many of these volunteer opportunities also give me the comfort feeling that I need too, such as volunteering in the nursery or Sunday school. Volunteering in both the nursery and Sunday school helps me cope with the reality of that I may not ever have a child in my life or be able to be that piece of a child’s life that my father was not. Both allow me to interact, teach, and sometimes play with children that are in-between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. For that, I thank you Edgewater Presbyterian Church, because this is a tough depression to deal with, but this gives me the opportunity to fill that missing part in my heart.

Volunteering at Sarah’s Circle gives me the chance to give back to the neighborhood community that I live in, and serve a population that really needs any support they can get. With, Edgewater Presbyterian Church, we not only get to cook the meals for these women, but we also get to serve them dinner as well, which is very heartwarming when the women greet us prior to entering and setting up, and the thank you from the women prior to leaving.  Isaiah 58:10 – “And if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:”

Volunteering during coffee hour gives me the opportunity to give back to these wonderful people in my life. One of the best things about coffee hour is that I can do it on the same days that I volunteer in the nursery or at Sunday school. Coffee hour also gives me the chance to get to know my fellow church members, and an opportunity for them to get to know me as well.

Possibly, in the next year, or at some point I will be finding myself moving to a new neighborhood in Chicago, or a different state. One other thing that my church has done was set the standard on what I will look for at my next church, and the opportunities that surround it. For all light that you have brought into my life, I thank you very much Edgewater Presbyterian Church.