help keep it going in a good direction while were on the road, you know. And your name came up.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Chloe thinks pretty highly of you, Kim.”
We parted ways then, but all morning long I kept thinking how cool it was that they would consider me to be on their board. That means a lot.
Allie caught up with me again on the way to lunch. “I forgot to tell you,” she said. “We kind of want to keep it under wraps that Redemption is the new owner of the Paradiso.”
“No problem.” I didn’t mention that I’m pretty good at keeping secrets.
“I mean, we know that word will leak out, but we just don’t want to make a big deal of it. We want everyone to feel comfortable coming there—not like they’re going to church, you know?”
“I totally get that,” I told her as we got in the lunch line. “I remember how I felt before I gave my heart to the Lord. I wouldn’t have been comfortable in a place that felt dominated by Christians.” As I picked up a tray, I remembered how Natalie used to preach at me, how she used to try to get me to her church, how she wanted me to be “saved” and what a turnoff that was.
Hopefully we can protect the Paradiso from becoming like that. Funny how I’m already thinking “we” when it comes to this little business venture. You’d thinkI was investing my own money. But maybe it’s because I’m investing my heart.
Saturday, October 28
Laura came to youth group with Chloe and Allie tonight. And together, the three of them made the announcement about the Paradiso. They also made it clear that they wanted to keep this news as quiet as possible.
“It’s not like people should care who owns it,” Laura pointed out. “But it’d be cool if it didn’t turn into the focus.”
“And,” continued Chloe, “we decided that although we want the youth group in Faith Fellowship involved, we need to make it open to other churches too. So we don’t look exclusive. Although we do plan to keep a tight control over what can and cannot happen there.”
“Yeah,” said Allie. “We don’t want kids showing up trying to get other kids saved. I mean, that’s our goal, of course, but we don’t want that attitude like I’ve got to get this kid saved so I can put another notch on my belt,’ you know?”
“That’s right,” said Chloe. “It’s more about making friends, loving people right where they are, showing them that Jesus accepts us as is. And that He’s the one who does the changing.” She looked at Caitlin now. “The way my sister-in-law reached out to me a long time ago.”
Caitlin laughed. “Hey, I didn’t even know what I was doing back then, Chloe.”
“Well, God did, and that’s how we want to treat others. Just by being their friend.”
After that, Josh did a great study about the way Jesus reached out to sinners while they were still sinning. I was really glad I’d brought a notebook and was taking notes. I have a feeling it’s something I’ll be reviewing from time to time.
“So you see,” he said in conclusion, “Jesus didn’t tell those sinners to clean up their act and to call Him when they had it all together. Instead, Jesus in essence said, ‘Let Me get to know you, and you get to know Me, and then let’s see what happens next.’ And, of course, all kinds of miracles happened after that.”
Now as I sit here, writing in my diary, I’m thinking that being a Christian is really pretty exciting. I can’t wait to see what God does next!
Tuesday, October 31
Tonight was the grand reopening of the Paradiso. Of course, no announcement about new ownership was made. But Redemption did run an ad in the paper announcing that they would be doing a few songs there on Halloween and also that there would be some special tricks and treats involved for anyone who came in costume.
And it was a totally cool night. The place was packed,and Redemption’s performance was really awesome. For the most part, they did songs with a
“Really?”
“Yeah. Chloe thinks pretty highly of you, Kim.”
We parted ways then, but all morning long I kept thinking how cool it was that they would consider me to be on their board. That means a lot.
Allie caught up with me again on the way to lunch. “I forgot to tell you,” she said. “We kind of want to keep it under wraps that Redemption is the new owner of the Paradiso.”
“No problem.” I didn’t mention that I’m pretty good at keeping secrets.
“I mean, we know that word will leak out, but we just don’t want to make a big deal of it. We want everyone to feel comfortable coming there—not like they’re going to church, you know?”
“I totally get that,” I told her as we got in the lunch line. “I remember how I felt before I gave my heart to the Lord. I wouldn’t have been comfortable in a place that felt dominated by Christians.” As I picked up a tray, I remembered how Natalie used to preach at me, how she used to try to get me to her church, how she wanted me to be “saved” and what a turnoff that was.
Hopefully we can protect the Paradiso from becoming like that. Funny how I’m already thinking “we” when it comes to this little business venture. You’d thinkI was investing my own money. But maybe it’s because I’m investing my heart.
Saturday, October 28
Laura came to youth group with Chloe and Allie tonight. And together, the three of them made the announcement about the Paradiso. They also made it clear that they wanted to keep this news as quiet as possible.
“It’s not like people should care who owns it,” Laura pointed out. “But it’d be cool if it didn’t turn into the focus.”
“And,” continued Chloe, “we decided that although we want the youth group in Faith Fellowship involved, we need to make it open to other churches too. So we don’t look exclusive. Although we do plan to keep a tight control over what can and cannot happen there.”
“Yeah,” said Allie. “We don’t want kids showing up trying to get other kids saved. I mean, that’s our goal, of course, but we don’t want that attitude like I’ve got to get this kid saved so I can put another notch on my belt,’ you know?”
“That’s right,” said Chloe. “It’s more about making friends, loving people right where they are, showing them that Jesus accepts us as is. And that He’s the one who does the changing.” She looked at Caitlin now. “The way my sister-in-law reached out to me a long time ago.”
Caitlin laughed. “Hey, I didn’t even know what I was doing back then, Chloe.”
“Well, God did, and that’s how we want to treat others. Just by being their friend.”
After that, Josh did a great study about the way Jesus reached out to sinners while they were still sinning. I was really glad I’d brought a notebook and was taking notes. I have a feeling it’s something I’ll be reviewing from time to time.
“So you see,” he said in conclusion, “Jesus didn’t tell those sinners to clean up their act and to call Him when they had it all together. Instead, Jesus in essence said, ‘Let Me get to know you, and you get to know Me, and then let’s see what happens next.’ And, of course, all kinds of miracles happened after that.”
Now as I sit here, writing in my diary, I’m thinking that being a Christian is really pretty exciting. I can’t wait to see what God does next!
Tuesday, October 31
Tonight was the grand reopening of the Paradiso. Of course, no announcement about new ownership was made. But Redemption did run an ad in the paper announcing that they would be doing a few songs there on Halloween and also that there would be some special tricks and treats involved for anyone who came in costume.
And it was a totally cool night. The place was packed,and Redemption’s performance was really awesome. For the most part, they did songs with a
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