A Perfect Day

The Husband teases me sometimes about how much I love Church. And it's true - I do love me some church-ifying. But it's not just about singing the songs or listening to the preacher. When people get together to worship corporately and love one another expansively, you can feel the shift from small-c, location-specific, particular-denomination "church" to capital-C, universal, all-encompassing "Church."

(There's also, of course, the safety net factor. A good church will provide a soft landing when you fall [as I know first-hand - you know who you are]. Although you hope never to require their services, it's still nice to know you've got "folks" who are looking out for you.)

More and more, our new church is taking on some of those Church-ish features. Take today. Upon arriving, we were informed by one of the parents behind whom we always sit that he and his wife weren't quite finished their prep for the morning but that their kids were already in the sanctuary and had been informed that we would be watching them. Seems inconsequential, but it's HUGE to me that a) it was expected we would come to church and sit in the same pew we always do; b) we were entrusted with someone's children; and c) someone knew us well enough to feel confident in asking that favour of us.

I received three (count'em, three!) hugs from church members today. And chatted with so many people who genuinely cared about how things were going.

Then we had some church people over for lunch. Always a bit nerve-wracking, but everything fell perfectly into place. The oven timer worked properly, so lunch was bubbling when we got home (Chickpea Stuffed Shells from The Cookbook - thanks AF!). The kids behaved dreamily, and ran out into the backyard with their friends right after the meal so the adults could chat. I've always felt that Sunday lunch is a natural extension of the grace of God shared in the sanctuary on Sunday morning, and today was no exception.

After our guests left, the day just kept on being amazing. We took a family bike ride to the lake, and the kids played on the beach until we set off for home with another stop at a park along the way. It was a beautiful day, so we had supper outside:

Finally, I went for a sunset walk around the lake - the water was calm, the trees were budding, and spring was really in the air.

To make this day completely perfect and truly magical, I not only saw a person riding a unicycle, but I also saw someone wearing spats. You know, those white leather shoe-cover thing-eys. And he was not in costume. For reals.

Doesn't get much better than this.