Above The Fray Unity in Diversity

This is the first Sunday I have missed church in a long time. It is not something I want to repeat very often. It has been rough, but I know You are with me, Lord.
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I am struggling with being sick physically and feeling a bit confused about TJ. He had called Thursday and said he was hoping to talk to me. I called him back Thursday afternoon and he didn't really have anything to say. I'm not sure why he wanted to talk to me. He had already emailed and apologized for not forwarding the phones. It wasn't a big deal. Anyway, I also spoke with Peggy and Connor and Duncan Thursday afternoon. It has been a struggle for Peggy with Jordan being in Copestone. She has finally accepted that he needed to be where he could get some help. Jordan has been doing much better. I know You are here and working in our lives. Thank You, Lord.

The following comes from The Gift the New Testament for New Believers.

When you first come to Christ, it seems like a dream world. Everybody's so nice, so accepting, so quick to shake your hand and take an interest in your life. But the longer you hang around, and he more you discover about the people of God--even the ones who worship on the seat right next to you--you'll find that we have a lot of differences. Different backgrounds. Different callings. Different opinions and expectations. Getting all hose differences to mesh into one unified body can be a stretch on our relating skills.
Enter the Holy Spirit--whose powerful capacity to love can fill your heart with patience and grace, helping you give people the freedom to live within their own temperaments, to move at their own pace, to express their own reasons for holding their particular brand of beliefs.
C.S. Lewis wrote, "When all is said about the divisions of Christendom, there remains by Gods' mercy an enormous common ground."
And if you can learn to be happy with that, you'll be one happy person.

Don't be surprised if you can't see eye-to-eye with everybody at church or everybody who claims to know Christ.But surprise them by loving them anyway. You won't like every person you meet in this family, but with God's help, you can learn to get along.

"If then there is any encouragement in Christ, if any consolation of love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, fulfill my joy by thinking the same way, having the same love, sharing the same feelings, focusing on one goal. Do nothing out of rivalry or conceit, but in humility consider others as more important than ourselves. Everyone should look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others." Philippians 2:1-4