Before I start on my topic for the day, here’s the best photo of hummingbirds that I got from yesterday’s efforts.  About 50 photos to get 2 or 3 of interest is the average… thank God for digital "film" it’s a lot more affordable than the old ways!

All groups of people share some things in common, basically because people share things in common.  One of those things most of us share is the fear of new things and meeting new people.  Do you remember being the "new kid in school?"  Or perhaps coming into an organization where the ladies knew each other so well and were such good friends that you felt you’d never have a chance to break into their circle?

I’m sure each of you can think of a group, church or organization that you were a first time visitor to.  Did you feel welcomed or ignored?  What happened to produce either feeling?  Did someone greet you and notice that you were new?  Or did it seem like you were invisible?  Have you in turn learned from and then acted on what you learned from that experience?  In other words, if you were ignored when you first came, have you made an effort to notice new people and welcome them?

No group or person is perfect… often times a group is very, very friendly, but just missed the fact that you were there the first day.  Most ofen groups that are accused of being cliquish are really just good friends that forgot to keep looking outwards to welcome others.  In other words they don’t plan to exclude… they just forget to include.  Sometimes groups can get involved in their own internal dynamics that they completely lose the fact that there are new people in their midst.  This is the point where new people can be made to feel unwelcome or rejected.  That’s why it’s so important to develop the habit and take time every meeting to look for and welcome in new people.  

In reality, there aren’t really any welcoming organizations… there are welcoming people that make up welcoming organizations.  When you go to church each week are you excited to see and catch up with your friends?   That’s a really good thing… but remember to take a few minutes and look for a face you don’t recognize and make the first move to talk to them.  Maybe introduce yourself, ask some questions about him or her and then introduce them to someone else.  It takes so little to make someone feel comfortable and welcomed!

Now here’s the really, really important part… look for that person the next week or two.  If you see them, make sure you go talk to them again!  That’s about all the effort it takes to make someone feel comfortable and noticed!  I have to cheat… as my memory is notoriously bad for names and faces!  So I carry a journal with me and write down the information the minute I can sneak away to do it.  Knowing I’m going to write it down makes me think about their name more so I have a better chance at remembering it!  Then, once I’ve written it down,  I can flip back to it the next week or even a month later and refresh my memory! 

I’ve also at times taken names, addresses and phone #s and put it in there.  Once, we had a new couple come to church, Bonnie and Scot are their names.  When I finished talking with her I remembered where she said she had bought her home (she told me the street name and we’re a small community)  so I looked it up on our local real estate page and sent her a card.  It wasn’t really a big deal, but it was the start of our friendship, which continues to grow.

A great use for all the graphics many of you have collected on your computers is to make little "welcome" cards and maybe a great bag to put cookies in.  If you have a new neighbor or a new worker in your office or a new family in your church, send them a little welcome note (with or without the chocolate chip cookies!)  It’s amazing how welcome you can make someone feel with very little effort.  It’s a good habit to form!   If someone is new in the neighborhood and they have children, offer to sit for them as they run errands to get settled in.  Invite them over for a barbeque to get to know them… chances are your life will be made richer because you did!

We have some new neighbors about 4 properties over (about a 1/4 mile in our neighborhood!)  We also have tons of over-ripe bananas in our freezer that I’m going to convinve my daughter Jennifer to make up into her awesome banana bread and we’ll take it to them with a card.  Practice what you preach is my motto!!!

To any of you that are new readers in the last month or so… WELCOME!  I’m so delighted to have you and hope you’ll take a minute to write a comment introducing yourself.  If you do you’ll also be entering yourself in our Blog Contest to win some free graphics!  I draw on the 16th and the last day of the month.

THE PROVERB OF THE DAY: Prov 9:7-9  Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.  Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you.  Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning.
NIV
Audrey Jeanne Roberts