To grow in generosity, we become perceivers of opportunities and possibilities beyond our inward gaze. We exercise atrophied muscles for turning outward and being engaged with new people, programs and possibilities.

I recently returned from a deep winter flight, a road weary traveler. I emerged from the process of waking before dawn, returning a rental car, enduring a flight, racing for a shuttle bus, then climbing mountains to board an AirTran. I dreaded the often long wait for a hotel shuttle to then reclaim my car from being parked at the hotel, to then gear up to drive two hours to a Presbytery meeting.

When I limply emerged from the AirTran resigned to a freezing cold wait for the shuttle, the van — my hotel shuttle van — amazingly, among so many others, was sitting alone at the curb waiting. My heart was glad. I greeted the driver with the spontaneous question: “How did you know I was coming?” He said: “I was waiting for you.” My weary heart sang.

Later in the trip, my new Christ-filled sibling said that when he sees the AirTran, he waits because there may be someone who needs the shuttle. I was humbled. This is what it means to live alive to opportunities and possibilities, to be alive every moment through the renewing power of the Holy Spirit. On the short drive to the hotel, we shared our lives together, finding so many threads in common. It was a moment of engagement and gratitude we both treasure. On all my returns to that place, I will be looking for my sibling in Christ.

Then, just yesterday, in search of my new coffee addiction, I went through a coffee house drive-through window and discovered an astonishing sign on the outside. It says: “Welcome! Join us in creating a joyful and inclusive space where we can uplift one another over coffee. Thank you for being a part of our community. YOU BELONG HERE,” followed by a little heart. I held up the line taking pictures of the sign.

Turn the WELCOME to love and community outside.  Proclaim Joy, Belonging, Inclusion in advance! So many of us in our churches want this to happen, but struggle with how to get there.

In our work, we often recommend the book Sailboat Church by former GA moderator Joan Gray. (It is newly out on Audible and bears listening to as well as reading!) Concepts of changed attitude to following the Holy Spirit, and 40 days of prayer make this book a change agent; reading and living it can be a bridge to the “how” of this outward focused and engaged transformation.

In a former congregation I served, we declared the month of January a season of seeking God’s will and waiting on the Lord. We had an hour of prayer in the sanctuary every one of the 31 nights. I wasn’t always there as pastor but the leaders of prayer in the congregation and the officers stepped up. The doors were open and the candles lit every night. Somehow that hour of prayer made all the difference to how we greeted the year and the opportunities we embraced.

What will we do this year to turn outward and proclaim YOU BELONG HERE boldly as we live into our life with Jesus Christ? Call on your Ministry Relations Officers for support. We are waiting at the curb expectantly.