I grew up in the Baptist church. And I mean that. Grew up there. If the doors were open, we were there. It was my safe haven. I felt loved unconditionally. It was my home. Ironically, it’s called South Haven. I’ve loved it my whole life with my whole heart.
I credit the good people of South Haven with raising me in part, with saving my life (eternally and otherwise), with the best parts of me. I was 6 when I declared publicly my belief in and love for Jesus. At that same altar I’ve witnessed the funerals of my mother, grandfather, grandmother, and too many fellow, beloved Baptists. I was married there, and so were my parents. My children came to know Christ there. I have laughed, wept, performed, lived there.
And I’ve been forgiven there. That’s no small feat. Nance has her flaws. They are many. And when I faced that sanctuary again in the wake of many mistakes and at the end of said marriage, I wasn’t sure if the love of South Haven would be as unconditional as I’d always believed. But it was. It is.
Today I returned after a couple months away. Between traveling baseball and other distractions, I had been absent from the church house for the longest time in my entire life. All I felt back inside the walls of this home was love. My people are still my people. They were happy to see me, and I them. Happy is an understatement. There is really nothing like how it felt to be home.
Christians get a bad rap these days, and sometimes rightfully so. I struggle with some of the doctrine, some of the cognitive dissonance between love and, well, a seeming lack thereof. I’m a Baptist Democrat, for heaven’s sake. We aren’t a dime a dozen! But what I felt today back in that pew and in the halls I’ve walked for four decades was the purest, kindest love. No degree of political disagreements, sinful interference (mine!), lack of understanding can take that away. It is real, and it is the foundation of the choice I made these many years ago to believe in a Jesus I’ve never seen. But I felt Him then and I feel Him now.
On this Sunday, when a hurricane rages and so many differences and difficulties challenge us one and all, I want to thank the dear lifelong friends who made me feel like the belle of the ball when I came home today. I’m reminded of my favorite verse in all the Bible. It is from the Book of Ruth, chapter 1, verse 16: “And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God.”
Thank you, my people.
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