Welcome Aboard
WELCOME ABOARD!
These are the words a little boy said to Robin and me, seemingly out of the blue. We had just boarded the plane were already seated, in our own pre-takeoff, get-ready-for-a-three-hour-flight mode. As this boy and his mom were walking on the plane, he stopped at our row and welcomed us.
Just us.
Without missing a beat, he looked up at his mom for approval and smiled. I don’t know if he’d been told to be nice or this was just his normal approach to being around strangers. The not-so-surprised look on his mom’s face hinted that this was not the first time her little boy had done such a thing.
Perhaps there was more to his story. Perhaps he was learning how to navigate a big world full of strangers. Or perhaps he didn’t even realize yet how wonderfully different that moment was.
All I know is how it left me.
It’s hard to explain how shocking it was. It was as if God spoke to my heart through that little boy.
I had just been welcomed aboard.
“Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.” Romans 15:7
That simple greeting got me thinking…How many times could I be the person who enters a room with a different attitude? How many times could my words and actions be wonderfully different?
To fill the air with soft words?
To gently surprise another with a kind gesture?
To turn the volume of this world down just a notch?
To welcome someone?
The honest answer is that it could happen all the time. Every day. This should be the rhythm of my life.
You see, next time it could be me that welcomes someone new and it could be me that turns to sense the nodding approval of my Heavenly Father who saw it all. But the truth is, that isn’t always my first reaction. Not nearly enough, not yet.
And thanks to those two words, I now had the rest of the flight to think and pray about that.
How Awesome Greg! And what a great reminder
Great thoughts for us all to consider Greg. Thank you for sharing with us!
As happens many times to me since I started attending The Crossing some 10 years ago I receive words that are just what I needed. I lost a very good friend to illness today and I wonder if I welcomed him each time I saw him. I’ll think about that as I strive to make sure I welcome all of those I encounter each day.
Just what I needed today!
It’s been 8 months since Len and I have left The Crossing community and the network of friends we dearly loved. While we have adjusted to our new location, we have not yet found a church and friends with which to laugh. God is near and His presence always felt. In our town, there are many lonely or isolated people choosing to keep to themselves. This is a perfect mission field as the verse from Romans proclaims. I cannot help myself as I go about town. I am not saving souls, but the Christ, who is in me, cannot be contained, I must share my joy through a caring voice or a listening ear.
Mary Matheson
Enough said….
Thank you for sharing this moment with us. What a great reminder to be kind to others and how far a simple two words can change one’s day.
That description of genuine open heart acceptance is a reflection of Christ within a body. It’s making my day just visualizing your experience. Thank you, Greg.
So thought-provoking! We miss so many perfect opportunities to do something special that could be just what the person on the receiving end of the action needed at that moment!
I do greet and do collection. Now that I’m in a little of a health issue, I really feel that we do make a difference to those that walk through our doors. Even the young children love it when you say a special welcome to them. I have made an awful lot if friends, because they recognize me from greeting at church, while I’m at my job. God is good!
Greg, thank you for the story, we need to live our life in such a way realizing that we may be the only Bible someone ever sees.!
Thanks Greg. A wonderful, refreshing reminder to make a difference!
I like how God inspires you to inspire us from a simple gesture! (And how cute was that little boy!)