November 22 – “Texting during church”

Church at Seaside this morning was kind of fun.  I set up the teaching as a classroom situation where feedback was encouraged.  I never know how the folks will respond, but today there was a lot of talking.  They really got going during the Visual Verses segment.  That's where we memorize scripture using visual cues I make up.  I am not known for my drawings of animals – especially bears.  Well, this one had not one but four drawings of cows – heifers to be exact.  The word they represented was four-heifer – "forever," obviously.  With a start like that, how could we not have fun?   We had a new couple there who have moved from Kentucky.  She has been praying for her husband to go to church for seven years – the length of time they have been married.  He joined her today, and they both seemed to enjoy what was going on.  She plans to come to our home group.  He said he will probably still be working late evenings.    She met one of our other couples.  They came to home group last week for the first time.  They are one of the funniest couples I have ever met.  She has had all kinds of medical problems, but every time I talk to her she says something outrageously funny.  Today we had a debate about kindness (the subject of the teaching).  How do you debate whether or not to be kind?   And speaking about kindness, we got a Rark today while we were at the pharmacy getting Mom's prescription filled.  A Rark is a Random Act of Radical Kindness.  That comes from a teaching years ago.  And the person who did it was around then.  In fact she is one of the few left at Seaside who was around back before I came.  Sam brought us a turkey.  A big one.  It was a real surprise.  I'm not even sure it'll fit into the turkey frier pots we have.  Chris may have to actually bake it.  She hasn't done that since the first year we fried one.   Chris headed for Bay City this afternoon.  Her Mom's chemo is tomorrow morning.  Kel came by around 5:30 to pick up his drill that I borrowed some time ago.  He invited us to go eat at First Baptist Church.  They were having a "Love Feast."  We had thirty minutes to get there.  Mom sure moved fast.  It was a traditional Thanksgiving meal – turkey and dressing.  Their praise team sang and people shared testimonies about things they were thankful for.  It was nice.  Seemed a bit convoluted at times, but overall, nice.    I did something during the sharing and communion time that I have always secretly wanted to do – text messaging during church.  I see it all the time, but it would be hard to explain if the pastor stopped to send a text during the sermon.  The funny thing is who I texted.  Kel sent me one from two seats away.  I answered him.  Then Chris started texting me from Bay City.  It was a lot of fun for me.  She finally found out where I was.  I confessed. She said something along the lines of "Shame on you!"  And for some reason her texting stopped.  I'll have to ask her why.   1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."   Father, thank you.  Amen.