The Cloud

I gave thanks for my daughter’s upcoming birthday in church yesterday during our congregational prayer time. Everyone in the congregation applauded.

I was sitting in the choir pews on the platform. My daughter was sitting in front of me.

With our former pastor’s daughter gone, my daughter is often the youngest person in the congregation by a decade and a half. She is our lone acolyte. An audience of one each Sunday with the Children’s Church leader, she’s gotten used to speaking and singing in front of the congregation. She’s everyone’s daughter and granddaughter.

I am sure we will have to think about where to connect her to peer faith groups as she ages.

Right now, I marvel at the grace she receives every week from a group of people who have known her mama and grandpa for most of their lives.

To sit surrounded by that cloud of witnesses each Sunday gives me a tangible picture of what it means to be part of God’s family. The fact that it’s my daughter receiving it takes my breath away.