“It’s the most important thing,” the second man said.
On a recent Monday, as I sat in a waiting room, I overheard a conversation between two older gentlemen.
One man asked the other, “What did you do yesterday?”
“I don’t remember . . . I took two naps,” he replied.
I felt sorry for him, as I imagined his day. Soon the two men were in a friendly conversation.
After a few minutes, the second man said, “I went to church. Did you go to church?”
“No,” the first man replied.
“I went to church,” the second man said again. “It’s the most important thing.”
Ray and I are so very, very grateful for our church. It is not flashy. The singing often isn’t very beautiful to our ears but the words are, the messages are. The songs build my faith and comfort me. Most of the prayers are beautiful, not flashy either, but real, very real. Ray’s lessons always teach deep spiritual truths that we can use. We all know that the sermons and classes are going to be true to God’s Word.
And the people . . . oh, how Ray and I love these people. Their faith nourishes us, as does the knowledge of their decades of faithfulness. Their love comforts us. We know that they love us, too.
I know from communication with homeschooling mamas that many long for this and find it elusive. I am so sorry. We know that we are very blessed with something very special. I once met a healthy, fit homeschooling mama who had had a heart attack. She was in the middle of a difficult church problem at the time. A medical professional—I’ve forgotten the exact role of that person now because she told me the story several years ago—told her that he believed that stress had caused her heart attack.
The church is God’s idea. He gave Christians a great gift when He gave it to us. I am so sad when people get in the way of that great blessing. May God give each of us the courage and strength to be healthy church members and help us to find people with whom we can share sweet church fellowship.
Now to Him who is able to do
far more abundantly
beyond all that we ask or think,
according to the power that works within us,
to Him be the glory in the church
and in Christ Jesus to all generations
forever and ever. Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21