Best Week Ever

I remember a Sunday I’d have to call one of the best weeks I’ve ever had at church.  Not because the music was great or the prayers were eloquent.  I actually missed the preaching part, which was titled, “Take Time to Play,” because I spent the entire service playing with my granddaughter London.  We colored.  We laughed.  We ran.  We read.  We explored classrooms.  We had church, just not in the usual manner of church.  Ours involved Elmo and trying to slide the purple crayon back in its wrapper. I’ve been leading worship for over three decades, and I think the older I get, the less I realize I know.  Worship is so not about Sundays and singing and, well, even sanctuaries. Probably, more often than not, it involves coloring, outside the lines. Clever illustrations, theological ideas, deep lyrics, and moving music can fall far short of an Elmo Coloring book and a wide eyed 2 year old.  I guess that Sunday, trading the blue crayon for the yellow with London just seemed to help me really experience the love of God, more than anything.  I wonder if God sometimes whispers to us (or perhaps screams) “I’m over here!  Outside your sanctuary…in My sanctuary.”  Almost as if He’s saying, “Stefan, I see the love you have as a father and a grandfather, but My love for you… now that’s a whole different box of crayons.  So, color away.  Play hide and seek.  Have fun.  God for it!  Love them as I have loved you.”

I’m not sure what your week holds but I do know who holds your week.  God’s got you my friend. 

By the end of the service, as people were leaving, I was sitting on the floor in the back of the sanctuary drawing stick people on a chalkboards with London.  When she laughed and smiled, I think God was laughing and smiling too. Best Sunday Ever.

There’s no place like HOPE,

Stefan