Church was canceled today. We called it off last night. Pastor Dave thought “If it’s going to be this bad, why not call it off now? That way, people won’t spend time digging out in the morning, only to have us call and tell them it’s canceled.” So, we canceled the AM service.
This morning, Dougie came and plowed the driveway for me (thanks!). I was already out shoveling. The result? By 8:30, I was dug out. The sun came out, it got a little warmer, and the roads looked fine. So, I decided I’d go to church. And, since Harmony Bible Church wasn’t having services, I thought I’d visit Littlefield. JP and Jimmy T go to Littlefield, so I thought I’d go there. It would give me opportunity to see how a church with over 100 attendees (usually) does things, and to see if perhaps there were some ideas we could use at Harmony.
I had a very nice visit. While there, I had another thought, and one that I also had a couple of weeks ago. Today, I didn’t have any responsibilities but to go and worship. No Sunday School to lead, to Sunday School class to facilitate. No ushering to do, no deacon responsibilities, no stairs to shovel. Instead, I could go and concentrate on the more spiritual aspects of a worship service, and not so much on the “work” involved in putting on a worship service. And I was reminded of that thought I had a few weeks ago, and which I posted of Facebook. Here it is:
Friends, there’s a lot involved in a worship service. People are “working” that you might go and have an experience with God. The next time you go and are spiritually fed at a church, thank all those people who were involved. Thank the preacher on the way out. Thank the musicians for their service. Thank the nursery worker who attended to those crying babies in the nursery. Thank the janitor or sexton for keeping the place plowed and shoveled. Thank the treasurer for staying after the service to count and deposit the offering. These people put in hours a week working, planning, providing, and helping, and most do it unthanked and unnoticed. How about showing them a little appreciation next week?
I am really sorry we missed you yesterday. We went to bed the night before not feeling so hot. We decided with the snow and feeling like we were coming down with something we better just sleep in. I dodged it but Janine didn’t. She is sick today. If this situation ever arises again I hope we will see you there.