There is never a convenient time to start giving. I began attending Trinity shortly after moving to Boston over a year ago, a drastic change from the only home I had known in the South. After 6 months of an "S.O.S." (Strictly On Sundays) relationship with the church, I began my first attempt to meet other parishioners by attending a Compass class. I quickly realized, in conversations with others and then later in my own practice, that the most meaningful relationships in Christian fellowship start with the shared experience of giving. Upon my search for the right ministry to support, it did not take me long to find a home with Hope in Action, a new Trinity service project. Even with a high-stress job and the modest finances of a recent graduate, I still managed to carve out time in my schedule and funds out of my paycheck to support Trinity. We all can find ways to throw personal barricades in front of the path to giving our precious time or hard earned-money: demanding jobs, low finances, families to which we must tend, and the list goes on. When you can time-out, breathe and simply have faith in your ability to give, you will find that there are, in fact, ways to fit stewardship into your life as well. It is true that there is never a convenient time to start giving but you will also find that there is always a convenient time to start receiving the love, support and true sense of belonging that is reciprocated. Take a leap of faith this stewardship season: challenge yourself to feel Christ and community through the act of giving.

—Laura Nichols