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"Martha welcomed Him into her house"

Luke 10:38

A friend at church got engaged the other day.  At church.  Well, after church.  She's a wonderfully smart, sweet girl that I met accidentally.  I was sitting in a chair one day, next to where she'd left a book she was reading for college.  It had a very unusual title (that I can't even remember now) and when she came back to pick it up, I joked about it.  She joked back, and we got to talking.

But to be honest, I'm not sure it's quite accurate to call her a friend.  Yes, we're friends, in that we're not enemies.  And the dictionary says "mutual affection, exclusive of family relations" which is true of us.  I say hi to her every week, and most of the time we give each other a hug hello.  Every few weeks I ask her how school is going ~ she finishes up college in a couple months, and she's so excited about that! 

But in a way, I hesitate a little to call her my friend.  We don't have anything in common (that I know of) other than attending the same church, and we haven't done that for very long.  We share our faith, and that's a lot, but we've never gone out to lunch or for coffee.  I don't know when her birthday is, and I don't even know how to pronounce her last name.  And I didn't know she had a boyfriend, much less one who was getting ready to propose to her. 

He proposed out front of the church.  It's a fairly small church, so most of us were gathered outside, and through word-of-mouth we all knew what was going on by the time she came out of the church.  I couldn't hear anything he was saying, or even her response, but I could imagine, having seen dozens of proposals on TV and in movies.  Not to mention having participated in one myself...  And of course I could tell by their actions what her response was. 

It was very sweet to watch, and I was glad to have been there.  But the truth is, it wasn't important to the happy couple whether I was there or not.  Which I understand completely.  But I got to thinking about how often God might feel like just a witness in my life, as opposed to a participant.  He's always nearby, of course.  He knows what I'm saying and thinking and feeling.  But that's because of who He is, not because I'm that constantly communicative with Him. 

Because while He's God ~ all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful ~ He's also polite.  If you want to look at it that way.  He has given us free will, so while He can work anything out any way He wants to, it's not like we are the puppets and He is the hand.  He's not waiting for opportunities to butt into our lives, He's waiting for invitations to join us.  He loves us so much, and wants to be a part of our joys and sorrows, our decisions and frustrations, our planning and our surprises.  And I love Him so much ~ why don't I invite Him more often?

Knowing Him and being known by Him is the joy of having a relationship with Him.   Is He welcome?

~ "when they begin to stand outside 

and knock at the door, 

saying, 'Lord, Lord, open for us,' 

and He will answer and say to them, 

     'I do not know you...' " ~

Luke 13:25