It was May of 2009 when we got the exciting news. We were on day 5 or 6 of vacation. 

It was a road trip that took us from Tennessee to Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina back when there was only like 2,000 people attending, and then we drove on to Myrtle Beach, where it was cold but we still managed to get burnt, and then we drove south and visited this crazy place called Tigers Wild Encounter, where we got to hold baby tigers, and then we drove to Savannah, Georgia which is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

And it was one morning in Savannah that my wife Samantha came out of a restroom holding what looked like a thermometer and told me we, “We’re going to have a baby.”

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

My job here is done…or so I thought.

Turns out there’s a lot more work that has to be done when you’re expecting a baby. A room has to be prepared. Furniture has to be bought. Walls have to be painted. Drawers and cabinets have to have those dumb locks put on them.

You gotta get car seats and strollers and clothes and diapers and pack and plays and swings and monitors, and how in the world are we going to pay for all of this when my wife is going to take 8 weeks off of work?

Yet miraculously you make it happen. You find the time and the money to make sure you’re ready for that baby to be brought home. Because the blessing of having a child far outweighs the cost.

I think all of us know this, and yet I walk into churches all the time who look like they’re not expecting anyone new to show up. 

They’re certainly not expecting anyone with kids to show up.

You know how I can tell? Because they haven’t done anything to prepare for them.

When you’re expecting guests, you prepare for them.

You clean the whole house. You make sure it smells good. You greet them at the door. You’ve likely prepared a meal for them or at least snacks. 

I show up to some churches and there’s no one in the parking lot to greet me, there’s no signs telling me where to go, there’s often no one at the main entrance, so I’m left to guess which door to go in.

And I’ve been going to churches for over 20 years now, imagine someone is trying out church for the very first time how awkward and intimidating that would be for them.

We expect our congregation to be inviting people to church, but we don’t prepare like we think anyone new is going to show up.

Almost every one of our churches would love to have young families showing up to their church every week, but they’re not prepared for them to come.

Most of them don’t have a nursery or a separate room for kids. If they do have a room it often looks like a storage closet from 1986. They don’t even have a diaper changing station.

So, if by chance a family does show up to your church, they’re probably not going to come back once they see that you weren’t expecting them.

There’s a little story in the book of 1 Samuel that I think we can learn from. In it, Jonathan and his armor bearer have gone to spy on the Philistine camp. 

“Let’s go across to the outpost of those pagans,” Jonathan said to his armor bearer. “Perhaps the Lord will help us, for nothing can hinder the Lord. He can win a battle whether he has many warriors or only a few!” – 1 Samuel 14:6

Perhaps the Lord will help us. The NKJV translates that verse,  it may be the Lord will help us.

Let’s try something and maybe the Lord will help us. 

And He does help them, and perhaps if we would prepare like we’re expecting guests to show up to our church the Lord would help us too.

It doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated, it just needs to be intentional. Do the best you can with the resources you have. If you’re not sure where to start, please reach out to me and I would love to help.

About the Author: Travis Stephens is the Vice President for Church Health for General Baptist Ministries. He’s been married to his wife, Samantha, for 16 years and they have two beautiful daughters, Layla and Presley.