Christie McKee: Connecting People
by Keith Brenton
05/09/2008 - Hello Wineskins, My personal story of discipling ...
My husband would call it nosiness. That "Do you know so-and-so?" syndrome. I call it trying to help people connect.
A woman my age (40 something) had grown up at the church my family attends. Tracy was married and had one preteen son. In the almost 20 years I had seen her, I would not have recognized her husband because of the few times he came in those years. Their son came every Sunday with her, but did not stay for Bible class or get involved in any youth activities. She helped in the nursery, sort of hiding because she did not want to go to classes full of couples. She had met her husband in college and they had returned to her hometown and home church.
One Sunday I saw in the bulletin that she and her family were moving to a neighboring state, to the town where my brother and his family had moved the year before. I had kept up with the story of my brother’s family becoming involved in a new, growing and exciting church there. I saw Tracy's address and phone number in that new state and thought about how hard it must be for her to leave her hometown and her aging mother. I put the bulletin aside and forgot it. A few weeks later, I was shuffling paperwork in the kitchen and saw her new address and phone number again. On a whim, I called the new number and left her a message about my brother and the church he loved and was such a part of growing. Once again, I forgot about the situation. A few weeks passed. One Sunday at church, Tracy’s mother ran up and hugged me, almost knocking the breath out of me! She thanked me repeatedly for inviting Tracy to visit at the new church. Apparently, Tracy and her husband had been visiting congregations they found in the phone book, but none was a good fit for them. Her husband had told her that because of the age of their son, he would go with them to church if they found the “right place.”
Another few weeks passed and I saw my brother at a family dinner. My sister-in-law exclaimed to me how much she loved Tracy and Ben! It took me a minute to realize whom she meant! I asked her about them. They had visited the new church and loved it, had never tried anywhere else. Ben attended with Tracy and their son every Sunday and was even asking to help with the sound system at church, having been in a teenage band. My brother was shocked to learn that Ben had not been a part of our church in all the years they lived here. Their son was also now involved in the youth group with my nephews, never missing an event.
About a month later, at another family gathering, my sister-in-law told me Ben had been baptized! He had asked to study with a small group and made his commitment to Christ. He was heavily involved in worship services, and was the official meat griller at church functions! I had to leave the room, the emotion of having helped someone know our Savior was overwhelming, and especially someone I didn’t even know. The next Sunday, Ben’s mother-in-law came up to me at church with tears in her eyes. She said she had given up hope of Tracy ever experiencing the true Christian marriage her parents had enjoyed. She hugged me and told me it was that one little phone call months before that had started this wonderful Domino effect! I told her my husband hated it when I try to help people meet other people who might know other people, etc.! She grinned and said, “Honey, you just keep up that ministry of “who knows who.” That ministry is the reason my son-in-law is going to heaven and taking his family with him!”
Needless to say, I no longer hesitate to make calls or talk to people in the “who knows who” ministry! I guess God made me nosy for a very good reason!
Christie Chaney McKee
Madison, AL
(Names in story were changed for privacy.)
My husband would call it nosiness. That "Do you know so-and-so?" syndrome. I call it trying to help people connect.
A woman my age (40 something) had grown up at the church my family attends. Tracy was married and had one preteen son. In the almost 20 years I had seen her, I would not have recognized her husband because of the few times he came in those years. Their son came every Sunday with her, but did not stay for Bible class or get involved in any youth activities. She helped in the nursery, sort of hiding because she did not want to go to classes full of couples. She had met her husband in college and they had returned to her hometown and home church.
One Sunday I saw in the bulletin that she and her family were moving to a neighboring state, to the town where my brother and his family had moved the year before. I had kept up with the story of my brother’s family becoming involved in a new, growing and exciting church there. I saw Tracy's address and phone number in that new state and thought about how hard it must be for her to leave her hometown and her aging mother. I put the bulletin aside and forgot it. A few weeks later, I was shuffling paperwork in the kitchen and saw her new address and phone number again. On a whim, I called the new number and left her a message about my brother and the church he loved and was such a part of growing. Once again, I forgot about the situation. A few weeks passed. One Sunday at church, Tracy’s mother ran up and hugged me, almost knocking the breath out of me! She thanked me repeatedly for inviting Tracy to visit at the new church. Apparently, Tracy and her husband had been visiting congregations they found in the phone book, but none was a good fit for them. Her husband had told her that because of the age of their son, he would go with them to church if they found the “right place.”
Another few weeks passed and I saw my brother at a family dinner. My sister-in-law exclaimed to me how much she loved Tracy and Ben! It took me a minute to realize whom she meant! I asked her about them. They had visited the new church and loved it, had never tried anywhere else. Ben attended with Tracy and their son every Sunday and was even asking to help with the sound system at church, having been in a teenage band. My brother was shocked to learn that Ben had not been a part of our church in all the years they lived here. Their son was also now involved in the youth group with my nephews, never missing an event.
About a month later, at another family gathering, my sister-in-law told me Ben had been baptized! He had asked to study with a small group and made his commitment to Christ. He was heavily involved in worship services, and was the official meat griller at church functions! I had to leave the room, the emotion of having helped someone know our Savior was overwhelming, and especially someone I didn’t even know. The next Sunday, Ben’s mother-in-law came up to me at church with tears in her eyes. She said she had given up hope of Tracy ever experiencing the true Christian marriage her parents had enjoyed. She hugged me and told me it was that one little phone call months before that had started this wonderful Domino effect! I told her my husband hated it when I try to help people meet other people who might know other people, etc.! She grinned and said, “Honey, you just keep up that ministry of “who knows who.” That ministry is the reason my son-in-law is going to heaven and taking his family with him!”
Needless to say, I no longer hesitate to make calls or talk to people in the “who knows who” ministry! I guess God made me nosy for a very good reason!
Christie Chaney McKee
Madison, AL
(Names in story were changed for privacy.)
posted at 5:19 AM
1 Comments:
God bless you Christie. The world needs more women like you. Don't ever be afraid to act on what the Holy Spirit gives you. One day I found a note on cross cards with a scripture verse and I kept sensing that I should send it along to my nephew who just graduated college. My flesh kept thinking it was foolish and he would think I'm a nosy or kooky Aunt. But a week later he wrote me back an e-mail expressing his thanks for those words, that he couldn't tell me in person because he would have gotten all teary-eyed. He received the scripture as an ecouragement from God for moving forward in his life. He had been sensing God wanting him to press on, forgetting what lies behind and trust Him....the scripture was as God's whisper to him to do just that. So, you keep on sister....because you never know!
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