One highlight from my stay in Gastonia arrived in the shy smile of a young girl from the neighborhood surrounding 1st ARP. She took my hand as I agreed to "adopt" 3 neighborhood girls for the evening. I guided the beautiful, pre-schooler, 1st grader, and 4th grader into the line, helped them get dinner, find a table, get drinks, and settle down to eat. Amid playful teasing, encouraging the children to eat their veggies, and attempting to find that shy smile again, I took a second to see the big picture: the fellowship hall was full of children's voices, adults helping and taking care of the least of these, and I got to be a part of our church showing the love of Jesus to our community. What an honor!
After dinner the children have a class and the adults either participate in electives or go to choir, which is where I went. Just as dinner had been a highlight, so too, choir was an example of our church loving and caring for those around us. The first half hour was Unity Choir, where the 4th and 5th graders joined the adults for singing and a game. The little girl whose hand had been in mine at the beginning of dinner found her way to the seat next to me. After we sang, we played a game to get to know each other: find someone with a similar name and talk about the things you have in common. This little girl's name had several letters in common with mine, though we didn't have the same initial letter, or final letter. She explained that since we both had a, i, and h in common, we really did have similar names. As we talked, we discovered a shared interest in jewelry, the color pink, and our baby brothers. At the time for sharing with the whole group, this sweet girl announced that we both had beautiful smiles. What a joy it was to meet her and love her as she loved me. What an encouragement to see my church reach out to those nearest to them with the good news of God's love!