We All Represent Something

Since FireMan & I knew we were going to be gone all day Sunday, we attended Saturday night church services at a local church (not our normal church). We had been there on occasion before, and in fact FireMan at one point had been a member of said church.
I really wanted to keep FireGirl with us thru the entire service, and we weren't even sure if they had nursery for Saturday night.
She made it fine thru the song service. Being a contemporary worship service, her squeals & claps went unnoticed.
Just before the message started, a woman approached me and said "you know, we have a nursery you can take her to", referring to FireGirl. Innocent enough statement, it seems. But something in her tone just rubbed me the wrong way. I felt like she was saying "we don't want your kid in the service, please take her to nursery". I can't shake it.
Well, a few minutes into service FireGirl got restless and started wriggling around and babbling, so I got up to take her to nursery. Although I would prefer to have her in service, and in fact get a blessing out of having my daughter with me during church, I also understand that she can be a distraction for other parishioners.
Anyway, back to this lady. I keep going back to it. I just really got the impression that FireGirl was not welcome in the service. That really bothers me.

And today it hit me. That one lady. That one seemingly innocent, even helpful comment, the tone in which she said it, all left me with an impression of the church as a whole. In a matter of seconds, my experience at that church went from great, to blah. Whether she realized it or not, to me, she represented the church.

We all represent something. We all have the power to influence how others see that which we represent.

Whether it be our church, an organization we belong to, our workplace, our family, our God.... our words & actions effect how others view it.

There is power in that. There is also responsibility. Think about your words & actions this past week? Were they representative for all that you stand for?

We all mess up from time to time, but I think, especially as Christians, it's important for us to remember that others are watching us, whether we realize it at the moment or not.