Another Sunday Morning

I am up relatively early.   The house is still quiet and the sky is just starting to get lighter.  The girls are still snoozing, snuggled in with sweet dreams.  The dogs have already been outside and my cup of coffee is ready for my enjoyment.

It is another Sunday morning.

For the last 20 years, Sunday have been the culmination of my week, usually preaching or teaching.  For years, we went to our church, ministering in some form or fashion.  For two of those years, we were itinerating as missionaries, speaking in scores of different churches.

But for our years in Moldova, Sunday has always been an anomaly.  Worship can be great, but it is in a different language, turning every service into a language lesson.  I usually preach, but even that is at a basic level, whether I am preaching in Russian or through an interpreter.  You can't go high-level language when the language is in the way!

And though we have a "home" church, their kids program has gone to the dogs, (or almost non-existent).  That too makes it a challenge to relax and enjoy the service.

Yet perhaps I now understand the power of choice---choosing to simply GO and be WITH other believers.  I can CHOOSE to worship, even if I don't understand it all.  I can CHOOSE to have a searching heart, and pray that God will speak to me and encourage me. 

It is just another Sunday morning?  Not if I'm open to letting God speak and move once again.

Comments

[Clinton]

Good stuff; good reminder. I was just lamenting this morning that I'm sort of stuck in a small town in North Alabama where the "worship style" is not one of my choosing. Yet, like you, I choose anyway to go there. The need to be with other believers trumps my desire to "enjoy" worship that includes the use of a guitar.

[Raatz]

Thanks for the note, Clinton. It is such a challenge to all of us! You are right, it is not just missionaries that face the challenge. I am SO glad to hear that you went anyway. We need more people with that same maturity.