Happy Saturday, Prairie Edge. It is Saturday, right? Without school and church to mark where the week begins and ends, it seems I'm seldom certain what day it is. Wow, say that three times fast: "seems I'm seldom certain, seems I'm seldom certain, seems I'm seldom certain". Sorry for that. Point is, we've all become accustomed to our routine and schedules. So, when what we can do, are comfortable doing, or are even legally allowed to do, seems to change daily, it can become a bit unnerving.
When we first announced we would be temporarily suspending worship services, my daughter asked me how long it had been since I missed a Sunday morning service at Prairie Edge. The most accurate guess I could come up with was somewhere between 18 months and 2 years. From this I was able to draw two conclusions. First, I really enjoy being a part of worship here. Second, I should really go on vacation at some point in my life!
And not having church goes beyond Sunday. It means no praise team practice on Thursday. (and no hanging out chatting for an hour or so afterward ) It means no visits and meetings with Trudy and Tom to go over that weeks’ service. No asking Trudy for suggestions on praise team songs for the week, and then rejecting them. (Ok, not always) And no harassing Eric (you may know him as Isaac) about spending all day in his office watching funny cat videos on YouTube.
But after a couple of weeks of being depressed about not having church, rather than continue to lament its absence, I've decided to anticipate its return. How amazing will it be to reassemble after several weeks of hiatus. I'm already picking music for the first Sunday back. There are so many great songs I would want to do. So, Tom, if you're reading this, you may want to limit the message to about 6 minutes or so, because there's a good chance praise team might "accidentally" play like 10 or 12 that week. Just a heads up. Also, those with sensitive hearing; have your earplugs at the ready. With all the pent up energy, there's no doubt we will be testing the structural integrity of the rafters!
In the meantime, here are a couple song links. Listen at your leisure, or maybe just before listening to Sunday's message to sort of simulate a praise team. A lot of the lyrics are quite fitting in times like this, and applicable always. The first is an older song that is actually the song that turned me away from secular music, and on to praise and worship music. They were the perfect words at a difficult time. (Or maybe difficult words at the perfect time)