Confessions from Bed-Side Baptist

I, Christian Cleavage/JRE, stayed home from church today. I know. I know. THE SHAME! This blog is about my relationship with God and one of my foundations of our relationship is going to church and worshipping with other believers and today....well, it didn't happen. I can't even blame sickness for my M.I.A. from church. After a busy weekend, I was tired and couldn't find the energy to go.

For those of you who don't go to church and normally stay home on Sunday, let me paint you a picture of how it feels for a regular attendee, like myself, to purposely miss church. Staying home from church reminds me of:
1) Faking sick to your parents to stay home from school because you had a test you didn't study for
2) Calling off from your job and making sure that you fake cough at least twice and channel your inner Dionne Warwick to get just the right 'sick voice' so that he/she won't need a medical excuse
AND THE BEST AND WORST WAY TO DESCRIBE IT:
3) The scene in Risky Business where Tom Cruise slides across the floor in his underwear and sock and does the world's most famous happy dance because he's got the house to himself and he's a couple scenes away from having sex on a subway.

Now, before you go anointing oiling me down. The only reason I danced like Tom (in my head) was because I was tired and it was nice not to have to wake up early. Instead of having to wake up and go to church hungry and not eat until the ungodly hour of 1pmish, I got to wake at my leisure, take a long, hot shower and deep condition my hair, and make a big breakfast with a slide of Dunkin Donuts home coffee. Yum! Today, I had church Ray Charles style. If you saw Ray, there was a scene where he was reading the bible in a hotel room with gospel music in the background..and he told the Record Exec he was 'havin church'. Minus the music, tonight I did the same thing.

I smile as I type all of this because on a resting tip, today was a beautiful day. Did I miss my friends? Yes. Did I miss the music and worship? Of course. Will I look forward to the people in my life who do everything but put up Missing Posters because they did see me today and will not see me next week because I'll be out of town with family? Yes, I look forward to that. I used to hate it, but as I get older, I realize how important it is to be missed and thought about then not even mentioned. But since I know me and I know how many times I've attended church tired or hungry, I know that today is not the end all, be all of my Christian journey. Some believers think it is and may be there's right. But if God really loves a cheerful giver and appreciate genuine praise, then mine would not have satisfied him and therefore, I think I can rest tonight for missing a day.

I pray that this holiday isn't driving you crazy and that you remember what this time is really about.