"It's to early, I just went to sleep." I whined as the alarm went off. Snooze was a convenient button to push, and soon the alarm would be completely turned off. It was my only day not to have to be somewhere.
I had begun a paper route, a seven day a week (holidays included) work week. The middle of the night was when I had to report for duty. The reason I chose to do this was because day care business was down and I was able to bring the boys(before the girl) and my husband with me. Yes, he helped bag the newspapers as I flew through the neighborhood tossing papers out the window. The boys snoozed away in their car seats.
It was quite an adventure not being able to sleep a full eight hours in a row. This is why when Sunday rolled around it became easier and easier to not get up and go to church. We wouldn't be missed and we certainly wouldn't miss going.
How wrong I was?
We did indeed miss going. It seemed the more we missed the worse our attitudes became. Things didn't go as smoothly as they should have. There was a void, an emptiness. We tried to dismiss it.
We still prayed before meals. We still knew God was there, but somehow He wasn't as close.
Our friends at church checked on us a few times, sure we missed them but not enough to go back at least not right away.
Luckily for us, this skipping church didn't last long. It was short lived.
Even now several years later we have obstacles that pop up every Sunday trying to keep us from church. The snooze button still calls. Everybody doesn't get ready on time. Arguments occur. Cars break down. Illness strikes. Something gets left behind that's needed for service.
Sure missing out on gathering together isn't a crime. Sometimes things happen and it just can't be helped. We though must not give up on meeting together. It's in the meeting that we can fellowship, we can encourage, we can love, and sometimes we can eat. Most importantly though we can fellowship and worship God, and that is something worth getting up for!
No comments:
Post a Comment