God’s pursuit of me

As a kid, my family didn’t attend church.

My mom and dad were newly married and starting a life together.  They were very young.  While quite responsible for their age, they still wanted to party in their downtime.  Of course, the party lifestyle and Jesus don’t fit together real well.  That didn’t keep God from beginning to seek us out.

One Saturday, I heard a knock on the door and ran to see who it was.  Standing on the porch was a nicely dressed couple with a clipboard in the man’s hand.  They asked to speak with my mother, but I could already hear her footsteps as she made her way to the door.  The adults all greeted one another while I stared up in silence and listened to the conversation.  They explained to my mom that their church had a bus that picked up kids in our neighborhood.  They told us all about the singing and games that went on.  They mentioned the candy and prizes available.  After hearing the whole pitch, they asked if my mom and I were interested in riding.  My mom looked down and asked if I wanted to go.  I shook my head no and hid behind her .  She, smiling, looked to the couple and stated that I would be ready in the morning.

Oh, man.  Thrown under the church bus by my own mom.  It’s not that I didn’t want to go to church or that I didn’t like the nice people and what they promised.  I was just still young and shy, not wanting to go alone.

The next morning I was up and ready.  The bus pulled in front of the house, a young boy ran to the door and knocked.  He said that he was glad I was ready to go as they didn’t have time to wait for kids to get ready.  I climbed the steps and found an empty seat on the left side.  I slid all the way to the window and leaned my head against the cool glass and just stared out of it the entire trip.  It was an uneventful morning and I don’t remember much else about it.  I just know that I was relieved to get home after it was all said and done.

The next week, the workers came back on Saturday to see if I would be riding again.  My mother informed them that I would and the man pointed a finger gun at me and said he would see me in the morning.  Not if I can help it, I thought.  I recalled what the boy had said who knocked on my door about not being able to wait.  The next day when he knocked again, I opened it wide to reveal myself standing in my underwear.  He bemoaned the fact that I wasn’t ready and said that he would see me next week.

Again, not if I can help it.