I love the small church where I grew up in Dougherty, Oklahoma! It was there that my first touch with a children's ministry (even though they didn't call it that back then) changed my life forever.

I'm grateful for the small congregation that loved me, taught me, and prayed for me. I'm grateful for the little ragamuffin choir that would assemble by the songleader telling us to just come up front. And I'm grateful for the ways this church embraced me when I came back from college as an onfire Christian who ministered to our youth group from ages 3 to 16!

I guess I'm thinking about this because I just read an article from the May/June issue about Small Church Challenges from Rick Chromey (on newstands in mid-April). And I'm thinking how grateful I am that my small church met all those challenges--and more!

If you're part of a small church and sometimes get discouraged that you're not Big Church on the corner, I hope you'll be encouraged today. Someone--like me--will sing your praises throughout eternity because of your faithful love and service.

What you do matters--in big ways!