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| Day 7 of 31 at TWT! |
"That's right, those are numbers!"
"Church!" she squeals, and starts spinning in circles in our family room, kicking up her little feet. She isn't old enough to remember when church meant going to the beautiful historic building just down the street from us; to her, it's a video on our tv that always starts with this countdown timer. (For quite a while, she'd call out "CHURCH!" whenever she saw a QR code, because they put up QR codes for various resources during the videos!)
She spins, dances, and marches to the worship songs, pointing out the instruments she recognizes. "He playing the drums! Piano! He have a guitar like Laurie!" She and her sister call out the names of people they recognize in the sequence of videos: "That's Miss Meredith!" "Pastor Bruce!" "Miss Robin!"
"Can I have a cracker?" Rainbow Girl sidles up with a sly smile on her face.
"Can you wait until we all have them together? It's not communion yet!" I grin.
"Nope!" But she gets distracted with a book on the floor.
Miss Meredith explains the weekly kids' challenge: create a craft or structure related to the message, take a picture, and post it in the Facebook group. This week, Sweetie plans and builds a castle-fort with her giant waffle blocks to celebrate how God has a plan for us.
Pastor Bruce gives the sermon and blesses our communion of Triscuits and juice. ("WE HAVE THE CRACKERS!" Rainbow Girl exclaims.)
Miss Sara explains the various ways we can stay connected online and how to use the Amazon wishlist to contribute to our local service missions. She reminds us to celebrate Lent every day with the pack we received in the mail, full of tools like a prayer chain kit, Ash Wednesday tattoos, suggested readings, and some Easter surprises.
The kids shriek and giggle in their Zooms before and after the service, telling jokes and sharing favorite items while also practicing the verse of the month and discussing the current theme.
It's not the same as walking into the beautiful white building, greeting friends in the historic sanctuary, and hearing the antique bell ring to start the service. But there's a distinct feeling of togetherness, even from our own houses.
Having searched for years for a church home with varying degrees of success, I'm so grateful to be part of this church that is truly a community of love.
A few weeks ago, Miss Robin played a beautiful version of "The Blessing" to close the service, and I could just feel the love flowing from her and the rest of our church community, in and out of all of our houses, between all of us and our children. So much love.
I love that you have found the beauty and joy in your church community even during a challenging time. And thanks for sharing this song, I love it!
ReplyDeleteHow lucky you are to have a church home. I love your description of your Rainbow Girl's reaction to church. Beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSo good to hear how other churches are worshiping and serving together during this time. My Bible study group has remained on Zoom even as others at our church are back in person because most of us have some risk factors. Now we have two sessions- one for talking and catching up, and one for our Bible study. So we are staying close.
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