Sunday, April 27, 2008

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together...Hebrews 10:25


I'm so tempted to NOT go to church! Before you condemn me, hear me out, please! We slipped over to Jupiter Island for some family photos this morning before church. Even though we hurried through the pictures we were still about 7 minutes late for church. In our church that translates to having to sit near the front as the back is filled up and with a family of 6 (plus one in the nursery) we have to find about 1/2 a pew to fit us all in. Trust me, you won't find 1/2 of an empty pew in the back of the building. No, those are aaallll the way down front! Now, I know it was our fault. We could have waited and done pictures after church when everyone is starving hungry and ready for a nap. Or, we could have woke everyone up after a nap and put on all the previous clothing (baring some accident with food or diapers with the babies) and taken photos in the late afternoon. Considering all, the morning seemed most appropriate. But I digress. As soon as we sat down in the pew, I noticed the communion set up at the front. "Great!", I thought. Easter communion didn't pan out so well for me, so here is my 2nd chance. Nathanael was being fairly good eating his popcorn/cereal mix. Zack had calmed down to about the energy of a medium sized dirt devil and wasn't causing a scene. Yet. The music was beautiful. All is well. Here comes the plate of crackers. Zack takes one, passes the plate to me, I take one and (almost) pass it to Rob. Nate spies the crackers. "I want one, too!" he says. Now I know you are to take communion if you have given your life to loving and serving the Lord. But has Nate ever said the sinner's prayer? No. In fact, some days I can't wait for that to happen. Heathens aren't much fun to be around sometimes. But, he IS innocent. So, I hand my cracker to him to hold intending to break it in half and share it with him when the time comes. Next comes the "wine". "Ohhhh, cold water, too!" says Nate out loud. I roll my eyes and hand him my juice. I'm beginning to not feel so spiritual. Next thing I know, Zack has spilled his juice on his right pant leg. (at least the pictures are already taken!) He is starting to growl as I grab a wipe and swipe the mess off his pants. I try to talk calmly to him knowing that any little thing will transform the dirt devil into a tornado. I turn my attention back to the front and next thing I know, juice has magically appeared on Zack's LEFT pant leg. Oh boy. Now I'm asking Jesus to forgive me for the bad attitude I'm about to have right before taking communion! Thankfully, threatening Zack with the thought of loosing his brownie dessert after dinner was enough to snap him out of it. Communion taken. Nate had half of mine but maybe it will make him more like Jesus. Whew! I know my blow-by-blow is getting long, but wait! It gets better! After a bit, I hear the young lady sitting next to Zack telling him to ask his mother for a wipe. I look up and see blood all over Zack's finger. Great! He has picked the sore on his ear and it is dripping blood! I'm ready to start handing out little business cards to the people who are sitting around us in church who don't know Zack to explain why his behavior is so abnormal. The card could say, "I'm autistic, what's your excuse?" Or "Please visit www.martiansmusings.com to learn why my son appears to behave so badly in public". All in all, we made it all the way through church, up to the last 4 minutes before Nate had to be taken out. (So much for the communion helping him be more like Jesus.) I think that's a record! You can see why it would be easier to just stay home, some days. But I wouldn't want to be guilty of ignoring our call to assembly. Plus I really do LOVE to go to church. Really!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

LOLOLOL what would we do if it weren't for our children to embaress us when we DON"T need it the most? Maybe it's God trying to work on our sense of humors. hehe Love the pictures. They turned out great! (BTW, I have some great stain remover if you need some.)

Misty said...

You have me laughing!! I ALMOST made it through communion..... I wasn't feeling too spiritual between telling the girls to leave the baby alone, sit back down, trying to nurse a baby that wouldn't latch on and spraying milk all over her face....

Actually I was quite uplifted with the first part of the service, I do love our church too! :-)

Your picture looks great so it was worth the effort!

Denise Punger MD IBCLC said...

PS- Your new family portrait is beautiful. Definately worth the effort. You guys co-ordinate so well!

Denise