As I’ve mentioned before, Dutch loves books. He would be happy sitting next to me on the couch, all day long, reading and re-reading his favorite books. One of his favorites is called Welcome is a Wonderful Word. It’s about a little girl named Jenny and her friends Nicholas and Sam and dog Shags, who love to dress up and play pretend. When a new family moves into their neighborhood, they want to make friends with the little girl Mei Sue. But Mei Sue is too shy to open the door, so they put together a grand “welcome wagon” full of all sorts of dress-up treasures–hats and shoes, a baseball glove and fishing pole…their very best and favorite things. Mei Sue is so overjoyed they all become friends and have a cookie and lemonade party. The last page (which I have memorized because we’ve read it so many times) reads:
Mei Sue said, “I was sad when I had to move away from my old home, but you have made me feel welcome!”
“Welcome,” Jenny said, “is a wonderful word, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” Nicholas agreed.
“The best,” Sam said. And Shags let out a loud and happy bark.
I must say I agree with Jenny. Welcome is a wonderful word. The last six weeks have been a series of beautiful examples to me of just how wonderful welcome can be. For those of you who’ve read The Road to Santa Clara, you know about our welcome down in sunny California…or lack thereof. It’s funny how I distinctly remember thinking, “Maybe they’ll bake us some cookies or something.” How without saying it in so many words, I longed to be welcomed. And I think that (among plenty of other things) was what stung the most when we arrived. Not only did the pastor not remember we were coming, no one else had a clue, the random bachelors still lived in our apartment, and not a single person in the church had any idea we were even arriving. Then the whole firing-us-before-we-even-started thing wasn’t exactly welcoming either :-). But that whole experience gave me a taste of how painful it is to feel distinctly unwelcome. Since then I must say I’ve had a few other unwelcoming experiences. Not so blatant, but subtle messages that conveyed the very clear reality–watch out, you’re not welcome here.
I could never have even fathomed the welcome we would receive here at WCC. I hate to even write this, but some people have the impression that people in West Linn are snobby. I have never met a less-snobby group of people in my life, hands down. From the very first day Jeff and I set foot there, we have been nothing but welcomed, even before we were hired. So it’s not just because Jeff is the associate pastor, we were welcomed while we were “nobodies”. Does that make sense?
And since being hired, I cannot even convey how amazingly loved we have felt. From the incredibly personalized, generous compensation, to notes and welcome hugs from all the staff, to a Meet and Greet party with all the staff, to a “Get to Know the Pattersons” party for all the young couples to gather together so we could get to know people (thrown by an elder and his wife who have absolutely nothing to gain from it–just selflessly extending love and hospitality), to just the amazing respect and honor that has been shown to Jeff. God has used this experience to heal deep wounds in my heart. I could never have imagined feeling this welcomed and loved. And we think welcoming is such a small thing. We think that job of Greeter at church is not a big deal. It is a huge deal. How we welcome each other conveys the love of Christ in profound ways.
And isn’t this what we’re exhorted to do in Scripture? I’ve been amazed recently realizing how many times Paul exhorts his churches to receive so-and-so, or greet or welcome or honor someone bearing a letter or visiting the church. Jesus tells us to greet not just those in high position, but everyone, for in doing so we minister to Christ Himself. I have probably been accused of being too exuberant sometimes, or of using too many exclamation points in my writing (!!!!!!–there!), but I just have to say that our welcome here at WCC has been one with many exclamation points following it. It was been a “Welcome!!!!!!”
So now when I read Dutch his book, it touches me in a different way. When I see Jenny and her friends preparing a welcome wagon for Mei Sue, I can’t help but reflect on the welcome wagon we have received, and how honoring it is to God when we give our very best toys to create a welcome wagon just for someone else. Oh how we minister to one another in this way. Welcome is a wonderful word indeed.