Doing Church

Every Sunday our family attends church together. Not only is it part of the rhythm of our week, it sets the rhythm for our week. It is one of the ways we get focus and direction for the life we live. Church is an active part of our lives. We attend, we discuss, we participate, and we serve. With the head of our household gone I find it more difficult to joyfully attend each week. Everyone needs to get ready and out the door and that can be a fiasco in and of itself. After the service I am now lacking my discussion buddy. Unless I write down every verse to discuss later, much of the service and intent is lost in translation. Yet I continue to attend with the kids because I know it is vital to my survival without my husband present. I need corporate praise to our God. I need instruction from the pastor. I need fellowship with other people who support me in this journey of life. Yet this morning as I woke with a cramped up stomach and thunderstorms outside, I felt compelled to stay home and have my own worship service with the kids. Mentally I compiled a plan of how it would look. Each kid picked out a song we would sing. I printed out the words. They brought their Bibles and study materials to the family room. Just as we were beginning I thought about my husband so far away with no church to attend and no companions to share God’s word with. I turned on Skype. Although he was not online I sent him a message inviting him to join us if he got online. We turned itunes onto our first song. With the volume cranked way up we began singing our praise to God. As we began song two my husband tuned in via Skype. I think he was a bit amused at seeing us belting out songs but we quickly slipped into a familiar comfort of knowing one another and the intent of each of our hearts in our praise to God. Rather than preach to the kids from a passage in scripture, I chose to have each person share what they were learning about God in their personal reading time. As I sat and listened to my kids share, I began to see how God was intertwining each of our individual journeys together with a shared theme of prayer. My husband joined in with comments, scriptures, and encouragement. Once again the barriers of distance were erased. I shared then my husband shared as well. We ended with a time of short prayers, bringing our needs and concerns before God. Two hours flew quickly. A void was filled in me during this time. We were able to share our separate journeys in this grand family journey and it brought us closer together.
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in your midst.” Matt. 18:20