Get Comfy

Photo Credit:  jdurham from morgueFile.com

We had a “first” on Saturday evening.  Normally, we all get ready for church and in typical Kallus fashion - despite attempts to get there earlier - we arrive at exactly 6:00 pm (ish).  Always.  Early is the perpetual goal, but it seems just barely out of reach each and every weekend.  BUT!  Not this time.

This particular evening, we were a tiny bit ahead of schedule.  It looked so promising as our house clocks indicated we’d probably arrive with 7 whole minutes to spare.  Why this time?  Well, our son had purchased a handy little portable DVD player with some Christmas gift cards (the second cool piece of portable technology in our home).

So, all three kiddos were huddled in the car watching a movie, ready to go, and waiting on US!  How ‘bout that?!  That was a first!  My hubby and I hopped into the car and were just darn giddy that they were quiet, content, buckled up, and READY.  Ready, I tell ya!

With the catchy little tunes of Disney’s Teen Beach Movie coming from the back seat, I was feeling so optimistic about our early start.  Maybe this is how we can get to church on time, I pondered.  I can almost hear it now, “Kids, please go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, stop fighting with each other, brush your hair, stop rolling around on your clothes on the floor, don’t take her hair bow, stop chasing him around the kitchen, and kindly get dressed.  If you do all of this, you can watch a movie in the car on the way to church.”  Yep!  We’re goin’ with it.  We’re definitely goin’ with it.  Bribery it is!

So, as we neared the last stop sign on our trip there, my seven-year-old daughter peels her eyes away from the movie and mumbles, “I don’t have any shoes on.”  Really?  Yes, really.  I knew we didn’t have time to go back home for shoes.  What I would have given for a random pair of shoes (or at least one shoe) squished somewhere under the seat beside the cracker crumbs and fruit snack wrappers.  A random flip-flop.  House shoes.  Rain boots.  ANYTHING!  Nope.  No such luck.  We looked.

It would take twenty minutes to drive home and back again just for shoes.  Not only would we not be early, but we’d be terribly late.  Then, the tears started rolling down her cheeks.  I had such a mixture of emotions that ran through my head from, “Are you kidding me?!  That’s why I can’t stand that DVD thing!  It mesmerizes you all and prevents you from thinking clearly and now you forgot your shoes!” to “It’s okay honey, we’ll make some shoes real quick out of grass and mud” to “Daddy will just have to carry you” to “How on earth will that look taking you into church in socks for goodness sake!” to “We’ll laugh about this one day…it’s no big deal” to “This IS God’s HOUSE after all…we’re just going comfy tonight…just like at home.  Surely He won’t mind.”

I settled on the last thought because it made me feel better.  I couldn’t help but giggle a little under my frustrated frown because there was nothing we could do at that moment to avoid the fashion police for our 1^st grader.  We just had to go with it.  So, we headed inside our lovely church in socks and that was that.  I was so thankful that the socks weren’t the dingy, stained ones at least.  We have plenty of those around the house.  This pair was actually new AND they were clean!  Thinking positively, I thought it could be worse and she could’ve had no socks and dirty feet.

Her daddy scooped her up and wiped her tears and carried her into church.  He set her down by the door and she walked in with me, still weepy.  I hugged her and assured her that it would be fine.  I told her that we’d sit in the back and no one would even notice.  The main thing was that we were there (Right?!).  God was just glad to see her.

The whole sock thing reminded me that God does love us for who we are – our heart and soul – not for anything materialistic.  In fact, if I recall, back in Jesus’ day, they were barefoot much of the time, right?  Well, at least in dusty sandals (I figure that it’s okay to rationalize.).

Speaking of comfy, God is a comfortable place to fall.  He can wipe tears without tissues.  He can heal without medicine.  He can feed us without food.  Countless times in the Bible, He invites us to be with Him…to be quiet with Him…to pray…to visit His House (even in socks…well, it doesn’t EXACTLY say that in the Bible, but surely He meant to say that somewhere in there).

I also wonder if we do our best to make our place of worship warm and welcoming to all.  Do we assure people who are reaching out for God’s love that they’ve come to the right house?

A comforting verse is Psalms 9:9-10 – “The Lord will be a refuge for the oppressed; a refuge in times of trouble.  And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”

Psalm 23 is also a great reminder about the comforts of following Him in the journey towards our heavenly home.  Taken from a children’s Bible:  “Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!  He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams.  He restores my failing health.  He helps me do what honors Him most.  Even when walking through the dark valley of death, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me, guarding and guiding all the way.  You provide food for me in the presence of my enemies.  You have welcomed me as your guest; blessings overflow!  Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards, I will live with you forever in your home.”

How do we get more and more comfortable with someone?  We spend time with them…many times chatting at their home.  What a great idea, especially when it comes to getting comfy with our Lord.  I’m sure He’d love for us to stop by His house for a visit anytime!

Have a wonderful week, Sunshines!