S.M.I.L.E. It’s an acronym about life.

S – Sing a new song to the Lord

M – Mind what you think, see, say, hear, and do

I – Invite others; godly community is key (Romans 15:7)

I told you that I had my moment with God during a CRU worship service (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ), but my life was still a mess! I ended up moving to Florida with my parents and within two years, found a church to start building community. To a girl from Wisconsin, the church was unique: there were a bunch of retirees (common in Florida) and young families, but no one in between. Brad and I never saw anyone else our age. It wasn’t bad, but we wanted a place to “fit”. The youth director suggested we start something for our age group. The church even bought 10 pizzas for the event…but just one person came.

Though it wasn’t the large group we were hoping for, that one person became a good friend. And over the next two years, Brad and I started to connect with others in our age group at church and at work. Together, we started to meet and have Bible studies. And that’s how I met Erika.

Erika taught me a lot about hospitality and godly community. Erika was a shift manager at KMART. She didn’t make much money, but she loved to invite people over, make them feel welcome, feed them chicken wings – her chicken wings were SO GOOD – and then feed them the Word of God. Erika loved God a lot and she loved to bring others along for the journey with Jesus. Erika’s time wasn’t long in my story, but her impact was great and never forgotten.

I is a reminder that I must Invite others. It might only result in a single response. But as Jesus says, there is more rejoicing in the one who is brought back into the fold than the 99 who were already part of the community, (Matthew 18:12-13). And who knows the extent of the Kingdom impact that the one will have – only God knows.

Let love of your fellow believers continue. Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. ~ Hebrews 13:1-2 AMP

The girl who came to our young adult gathering became a good friend. Later, when we were looking for a new church home (when our other church stepped away from Biblical teaching), she invited us to her new church, which opened the door for Brad and I to not only grow in our faith, but to be surrounded by a church family who have continued to walk with us, beyond the 11 years that we attended that church.

Therefore, [continue to] accept and welcome one another, just as Christ has accepted and welcomed us to the glory of [our great] God. ~ Romans 15:7 AMP

The outcome is for God. The invitation is for us.