Everyone misses human interaction, large gatherings, family ties, and, yes, live sports.
But I’ve been pondering the less overt things that I miss … and that I’m eager to start up again. Here they are:
One. Blessing houses. Every Thursday for the past 20 years, I’ve gone out with a Good Shepherd teammate to new homes in the area and given them a “World Famous Refrigerator Magnet,” colorful information about the church, a prayer over their house, and an invite for Sunday. Other than preaching, it is my favorite thing about ministry. Can you imagine stopping by someone’s house NOW? Without a mask? Until blessing houses returns, my weekly rhythm of ministry will be off-kilter.
Two. Monday & Friday Energy. On Mondays we share our facility with a local home school co-operative. On Fridays we share it with a large, multi-generational Community Bible Study. Both programs make our space simultaneously chaotic and beautiful. We’ve been able to reconnect with old friends, make some new ones, and through it all, celebrate how our facility is used in a productive way.
Three. Bad Steele Creek traffic. I used to think it was a pain. Now I know it is a privilege to live in a community where people work and have to travel to get there.
Four. Hand writing notes to first time guests on Sunday night. Talk about a ritual! Yet it’s one that has borne some tremendous fruit through the years. But now … the only way we know about first time guests is if they give us a fist bump emoji on Facebook, and it’s kind of hard to write a note by hand in response to that.
Five. Live tennis on the Tennis Channel. Even though we are now in what would be the clay court season of pro tennis — my least favorite by far — it still beats retrospectives and space fillers.
What are yours?