Hey There, How's It Going?

How do you greet your friends? The apostle Paul was sending a greeting to his friends in Galatia and this was how he started. So this might be his equivalent of Dear Susie, if we were writing a letter. Okay so we don't even write letters anymore. We email, we text, we call. But what about in person, how do you greet a friend?

I was recently listing to a podcast in which Dr. Meg Meeker gave one of her pet peeves--a greeting that says, "Hi, you're looking good. Have you lost weight?" As if looking good is what is most important. And losing weight, what did you think I needed to lose weight? Hmmm, I wonder what I looked like before if I'm looking good now. LOL.

So when I came across this greeting as I was reading my Bible I started thinking about how I greet people. Maybe this is a bigger deal to me because I spend my days greeting people at work. My boss recently challenged us to use the word "welcome" in our greeting. At first it was uncomfortable for me. It's just not a word I normally use. But the more I tried it on for size the more I thought about it and decided I liked what it was saying. I want my greeting to welcome my clients in. I want them to feel welcome to come in and see me.

I also had a business co-worker come in one morning and as he was passing me by he asked what I had for breakfast. What? So, I answered him and then I asked why. He said he was trying to be more present in his interactions. He is someone I admire because he really cares about people and is always trying to add value to others and their lives.

So, back to my contemplating a greeting--what do I want to say? I love what Paul said to his friends, Grace and peace from God. He was bestowing a blessing on them. He was conferring on them two great gifts--grace and peace. I want that for my friends, for my family. I want them to be blessed by grace. I want them to live a life of peace.

You might not hear me greeting you with "Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ," but you might hear me changing it up a bit from the usual, "Hi, how are you?"