Why I Cheated Last Night, and Maybe You Should Too!

Via http://www.sxc.hu/profile/justfine

I cheated last night. Obviously, not on my husband, but I did attend worship at another church. It’s no secret that I can’t be in worship on Sunday mornings due to my Kids’ Quest responsibilities. What most people don’t know (except Saturday night worshipers!) is that I normally attend worship at our Saturday night service. Normally, this works out really well for me. My husband, Rafael, and I arrive at church around 4:30 on Saturday afternoon and set up the Education Building for Kids’ Quest. Then I make sure that the Saturday evening Kids’ Quest leaders are all set to go, and I head to worship with Rafael. Normally.

But the past few weeks have been abnormal. Last Saturday (3/26), I was leading Kids’ Quest, so I didn’t get to attend the whole worship service. This Saturday (4/2) I had worked on Friday night and was taking the whole day off from church (remember that one day Sabbath commandment?). So that makes two weekends and no worship. What’s a woman to do? Well, in a city the size of Richmond, it’s pretty easy to find a worship service to attend that will fit just about any schedule.

And so I did. And so I do on occasion.

And it was fantastic. As I was walking in, I wasn’t thinking about a list of responsibilities or people I needed to catch up with. I wasn’t worried about whether the leaders had adequate supplies. Nobody touched me on the shoulder as I was preparing my heart for worship to ask about VBS (which is totally ok, by the way; please catch me when you can!). I didn’t have to jump right up after the sermon to go get the Kids’ Quest folks. I was anonymous to everyone except for Jesus, and it was sooooooo good! It was all about me worshiping God just as God’s child, not as a children’s minister or even a wife or friend.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Nothing makes me happier than Christ Church on a Sunday morning! Yesterday, I got to do the following really awesome things:

• Chat with a two-year-old for 10 minutes who wouldn’t even say “Hi!” to me 6 months ago.
• Comfort a crying three-year-old who was in Kids’ Quest for the first time (and it worked! She was fine).
• Catch up with four wonderful volunteers about their lives.
• Hand out Egg Hunt invitations with a fabulous 2nd grade helper to a whole lot of kids who are excited to invite their friends.
• Teach 2nd and 3rd graders and watch them make the story of the resurrection come to life through art and drama.
• Talk to a 4th grader who really wanted to know about Pentecost about where to find the story in his Bible.
• Hear from a young friend about his trip to Disney world.

And trust me, those things were really awesome. I came home in a great mood from having served all morning. I love serving at Christ Church, mostly because I love all of you so much.

But service is just not enough. In fact, service without worship, prayer, and scripture study can be empty at best and frighteningly misguided at worst. So if you are not able to regularly attend worship because of your ministry responsibilities, maybe you should do some cheating too!

As the leader of a ministry, it is my responsibility to set an example of how to live a Christian life. I take it really seriously. And worship is an essential, if not the most essential, component of living as a faithful Christian in the world.

But more than all of that, I need to worship. As our music ministry’s logo goes, I was made to worship. I love to worship. I love that in worship, I can bring my sorrows, my fears, and my joys; my whole self, the parts that are beautiful, the parts that are ugly, and everything in between to meet Jesus, and that he will find me no matter where I am. Because before I am anything else in this world, I am a child of God.

And you are too.

Blessings, Rebecca

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