Why We Skipped Church

The ironic thing is I had finally decided to drive to church that Sunday, for the first time since we moved to the Bronx.

See, we’ve been attending a church that is across the 207^th St. Bridge in the Norwood section of Manhattan. To get there, we walk about a half mile to a bus stop, wait for the bus, ride the bus for 5 stops, then walk a couple more blocks to get to the church building. We leave at least 40 minutes for the trip. We do it this way because the church has no parking lot, only on-street parking wherever you can find it. And finding it is difficult. On Saturday night I had seen that rain was forecasted for the majority of the next day and I thought, “Well, this would be a good day not to ride the bus.”

Our beloved Bx12 SBS

Riding the bus has its downside, of course. If the weather is bad (too hot, too cold, too monsoon-like, etc.), then the walk to and from the bus – with 3 little kids – can be very annoying. Too, there is no guarantee of a seat on the bus, depending on how full it is. Unless, I must say, you have a child with you. We have NEVER had to stand if we’re holding Juliet; someone always gives up their seat. Always.

Anyway, it was supposed to rain, so I decided we should try driving and see how bad it would be. At the very least, even if I had to drive around for 20 minutes looking for a parking place, it would be better than walking a mile in the rain.

But then the warnings from my phone’s weather app began: “Wintry mix.” “Icy conditions.” “Take extra precautions on the roadways.” My resolve was waning.

Amber, our Priority 1 colleague who was under the weather that day, texted me and told me to be careful, that there had been two car accidents near her building already that morning.

Hmm.

I even started seeing warnings about sidewalks and stairways. Ice. Slippery. Use caution.

Ultimately, we decided simply to stay in. The thought of the mile-long walk in the rain on icy sidewalks was just as bad as driving, considering that (as I saw on Twitter) the police were “urging” people to stay off the roads.

Yep, we skipped church. Turns out we made the right call though, because around noon they suspended all bus service in the Bronx because the roads were so bad. So even if we had made it to church, there would have been no bus to take home.

No buses = No go out

So we had family church. I put my church shirt back in the closet and reached for my guitar. We’d sing a song or two, then pray together as a family. We sang “Oceans” because I knew that Ginny could sing along with that one, and then sang “Who Is the King of the Jungle?” complete with motions. Then we went around and prayed for each person individually, especially for anything she was afraid of or worried about. My favorite moment came when Ginny (a week shy of 8) prayed for her baby sister. Cora is still pretty shy about things like that, and just shook her head when we asked if she would pray, but no matter; she still got a glimpse of Jesus. Juliet, of course, is only just learning to say her own name (She currently refers to herself as “Et”). We didn’t belabor it, didn't force it. Altogether, it was maybe 20 minutes. But it was a great family church service.

We don’t want Jesus to be someone we go visit once a week at church. Our kids (and we ourselves, for that matter) need to know that He is always with them, and that all they have to do is knock, and the door will be opened for them. They also need to see their parents following hard after Him, even if we’re just in our living room.

We’re not perfect. Not even close. We have plenty of areas where we can – no, must – grow. But we hope and pray that as we learn to listen and obey our Father better, that our girls will watch us growing and then turn and do the same.

And we'll see about driving to church next week. They're forecasting no precipitation, but I'll keep checking my Twitter feed, just in case.