Church?

Well, today’s Sunday.  Having worked in churches for the past 15 years or so…well, it was rather strange not going to church.  There was something really nice about not feeling rushed in the morning.  No one needed to get ready.  I still haven’t washed or combed my hair… actually, I still haven’t even changed clothes.

As a family, we did “church.”  Seems everyone has a different meaning for the word “church” these days.  I started our time by talking about the different meanings for this word, but I stressed that it’s really just believers gathered together. 

We had a short worship time.  Elliott got his toy guitar out as soon as he saw Kelly’s guitar.  We encouraged him to move to a different instrument because the guitar kept playing pre-recorded tracks that were making me crazy.  It doesn’t take much these days.  He found his drums, and he went to town.  Of course, the drum sticks are lost, but he improvised with some type of Moroccan rattle in one hand and in the other hand was a strange drum that Mr. Miyagi carries with him in Karate Kid 2.  In the midst of worship wars, I’m not sure what language to use to describe it.  Everyone seems to cling to certain labels… i.e., contemporary, blended, modern, etc…  We’ll just say that our worship was fun.

Kel and I shared about Abraham and Sarah.  It was a lesson on hope. 
We need hope, and we long to share hope.  Their hope encourages us.  Although they made mistakes along the way (laughing at God, Hagar and Ishmael), when God makes a promise, He’s the one responsible for making it happen.  As good as it was for my heart, I’ll honestly say that the attention level of my kids was laughable in hindsight.  Frustrating is probably the word I would have used in the midst of it.

God laid on Kelly’s heart a name for our house, “A House of Hope.”  Not really knowing what I was doing, but being okay with that… I anointed the house with oil and asked God to make this a house of hope.  Protect it from the evil one.  Let this place be a place where hope is restored and strengthened. 

We actually mounted a mezuzah to the front door frame.  No, we’re not Jewish, but I love the visual reminder that this house is the Lord’s.  We are His.  He is one.  Inside it we placed the traditional verse from Deuteronomy 6:4, but we also put a verse from Hebrews 10:24.  It says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”  The ESV says, “let us hold fast without wavering…”  Both are good for my heart. 

Very awkward day.  Again, no church to attend.  No church to call home other than my physical home.  Life is awkward.  Will be emptying out my office this week.  I think it’s more awkward for other people at the church to see me than it is for me to see them.  Seems there’s something within our human nature that wants us to avoid the awkward.  Something within us that wants to be able to fix people and fix situations.  I’m through with “fixing.”  I really want to enter into deeper places in the midst of the awkward messiness.

On a positive note I have received so many powerful life words in the last week or two.  From conversations with friends to emails to texts… I have received some of the richest blessings of my life through words. My life will truly be different because of the love spoken into me by these friends.