January 8, 2017

Sunday.  I'm catching up a bit.  Our second week of church at 2:30 p.m., and it was our second week of things going poorly.  It was also Fast Sunday, and even though the notion was shocking to the kids, we fasted clear through the day.  I did smile a little when Miles said that he had never been so excited for the bread and water before.

I had two meetings before church and Greg had one, so I guess that's what made us lose track of time a little.  We were all ready for church, and I was finishing up my lesson plans for the day while Greg and the kids tinkered with our enormous Lego Village in the living room, which seems to be growing larger by the day, when Greg asked me to check the time.  I felt as though I had glanced at the clock mere moments before to see that it was 1:45, so it was really difficult for me to process when I saw the hands pointing to 2:35!!  I shouted to Greg.  He stumbled up, shaking Legos off of his lap.  We both felt like we had been placed in a time warp!  How could it be so late?  By the time we grabbed our bags and shoes and all of the kids filed into the car, we were very late.  Exceedingly late.  We never do that!

To make matters worse, we missed the passing of the bread.  And Miles had so been looking forward to it.  And when we tried to sneak into the back of the gym to find a seat, there were none.  The place was packed.  A few nice people helped us carry in some extra chairs, and we sat crammed against the back of the gym.  I sort of wanted to just go back home and let Lance finish his nap.  But, of course, we persevered.

We had to break many of our self-imposed church rules just to help Lance get through the day.  He and Greg watched Mickey Mouse on the iPad during the last hour while I taught my lesson.  Lance is sort of against going to nursery at five o'clock in the evening.  I don't blame him.

So it was with grateful hearts that we piled into Mom and Dad's little kitchen for Sunday dinner.  Everything tasted amazing: a roast with mashed potatoes and gravy, Mom's famous peach jello, hot rolls with butter and peach jam, and the most delicious Hawaiian juice.  It was about as comforting as home-cooked comfort food can get.  Then we laughed and played Farkle together with the large dice Greg made them for Christmas.  With full bellies and warm hearts, we walked back into the dark at the end of the evening, happy with the day after all.