Another Wednesday night visit

Usually we try to break our church visiting up and not visit a church twice in a row. If we visit on Sunday, we don't want to visit on Wednesday, for example. But we decided to go ahead and visit Wednesday night at Thrive this week.

The kids and I went alone as Bobby came home with one of his terrible work induced headaches. I don't get the impression that he misses having a Wednesday night church obligation so much. He works a high stress job, goes to Boy Scouts on Monday, Cub Scouts on Tuesday, many of his weekends are taken up with scout activities or home projects. I think he needs his weeknights just to chill and prepare to get up the next morning and do it all again. I can't blame him. Not at all.

Anyway, the kids and I went on without him.

The elementary kids are in a program called Caravan. It's a scouting/Bible memory/Bible knowledge program. Something that stood out to me was a part of it called "I Believe Questor" badge. I believe this is a badge for understanding the Nazarene Articles of Faith. The handout that we received for studying for this badge had a question and answer format. It reminded me of the catechism. I was duly impressed by this systematic way of teaching children deep Biblical truths. It is important to me that whatever church we choose helps us to begin to lay a strong foundation for our children.

Side note...we have neglected the spiritual upbringing of these children. I admit it. When I look at how ignorant they are compared to what their older siblings knew at this age, I cringe. May God have mercy on me.

While the children are in their program, the youth meet together. Gabriel did not share a lot about what the youth did or studied. I think he felt a little awkward and disconnected. All this church visiting business has been tough on him.

The adults who are not working with the children leave, or go into the main room for prayer. (I say main room because I simply do not know how they refer to this area. Sanctuary? Auditorium? I don't know.) The lights are low and candles are glowing on the stage. A screen is used to scroll prayer requests as a church member plays soft music and sings songs that are mostly prayers set to music. This is their prayer chapel. It is an oasis of peace in the middle of a busy week. Nobody leads anything, there is freedom here to sit and meditate on God, to walk the perimeter of the room and pray, to kneel at the front, to pray alone, to pray together. When you are ready you just get up and walk out quietly. Thrive has done an excellent job of setting aside a time and place to encourage private communion with God, away from the noise and busyness we all live with everyday.

After prayer I got a chance to ask Pastor Herb some questions about Thrive and about the Nazarene church in general.

Why am I so drawn to this little church community? Of all the churches we have visited, this seems the least likely. It came to me recently. When Bobby and I were younger we belonged to a very small church in Gibson County; Double Springs Presbyterian Church. We loved that little church so much. I wanted to provide a link but alas, they have no website. I am not surprised by this. The church was so very intimate and everyone was involved in the lives of the other members and the life of the church. We have never experienced anything like it since. We have had wonderful relationships in churches, but never anything like that. In larger churches you simply must divide up somehow. So the parents are usually friends with each other. The older folks are friends with each other. Maybe the homeschoolers form their own circle. It is not an division meant to keep people out, but rather to draw people together. But in a tiny little church, there are not enough people to divide out. So you learn to relate to the people who are different than yourself. You learn to value what they bring to the table and you learn to hope that they value what you have to offer. It is refreshing and terrifying at the same time.

Oh, going by the numbers? Two out of my three kids gave the Wednesday night at Thrive high marks. One child gave it a 9.

The other said, "I wish I could give it a fifty. Mom, can I give it a fifty?"

"Does a fifty come between 1 and 10?"

"No."

"Then give me your number between 1 and 10 please."

A disappointed little voice from the back seat said "Okay. Ten."

Then, a whisper, "but really it was a fifty......"