A couple of months ago, I joined the YMCA downtown. I had been a member of the Y when we lived in Athens, but I simply dragged my feet and didn’t join here until this year. I’m glad I did, not only because I enjoy the exercise, but also because I experienced again what it is like to be a newbie.

I wanted to start out visiting some of the different kinds of workout classes that are available. I went to one that meets at 6 am called “Afterburn.” I went to a spin class one evening. I went to a yoga class another night. Each time, I arrived early, because I was a complete and total newbie and had no idea what I was doing.

When I arrived in the area called “The Pit” for the “Afterburn” class, there were all these folks gathering all these weights and mats, like they all knew what they were doing. I, of course, did not. Thankfully, one guy walked in whom I had met, Joan Barnes’ son Mike. I reintroduced myself to him and told him I was new and didn’t know what I was doing. He was glad to see me there and invited me just to follow along with him and do what he did.

Likewise, when I arrived for the spin class, I was readily identified as the newbie in the room. But there were some very friendly folks there who welcomed me and helped me get acclimated to the bike and made sure I understood the instructor during the class. When it was over, they all invited me to come back.

While I had been to spin and workout classes before at the previous Y, I’d never been to a yoga class. So again, I got there early. While some of us were waiting for the room to become available, I told this complete stranger who had a kind face that I was a newbie and had never been to a yoga class before. She was so helpful. She told me I would need to get a mat and some blocks from the cubbies, and she suggested I set up my station in the back and just do what everyone else did. It was so relaxing. It was just what I needed!

I’m grateful for this experience of being a newbie at the Y, because sometimes I forget what it can be like for folks who visit the church for their first time. They often arrive early. They don’t always know what to do, where things are, how things go. Maybe there aren’t any familiar faces they can approach to ask.

There are often a lot of newcomers and guests during the Advent and Christmas season. I’ll try to keep an eye out for them here at church, like I am doing now at the Y, and extend a warm welcome to them, and I hope you will as well. It can be as simple as saying, “I’m so glad you’re here! I don’t believe we’ve met; my name is ___.” It can make a big difference!

This Advent—and always—let us all resolve to “welcome one another, therefore, just as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God” (Romans 15:7).