I'm needing to remind myself of the good parts of church and make it public so people will remind me, gently, when I'm feeling VERY frustrated with church, about the good. I wasn't creative enough to come up with a name for this *series* on the last blog, but creativity hit today. It will be called finding the good. I don't know how many editions there will be, but thanks for reading.
Emi has been coming to Worship Team practice since before birth. She's been loved by us all for that long as well. When Emi was a baby, she would come in her car seat, bottle close at hand. I remember the first time Adventure Boy got a good look at Emi...he was enthralled! He looked at me, pointed and said "baby!". It was adorable.
Meg is a fabulous, comfy Mom and happy to share her daughters with us, so Emi has been passed around a lot, being held in the loving arms of adopted aunts and grandma's. As Emi has gotten older, she's gotten quite the personality and developed some characteristics that just melt the heart. Her smile can light up the room. She can make me laugh like no other...a few weeks ago she came in with hot chocolate in hand saying "It's freezing" in her two year old speech. Kanda bought Emi a microphone, when Emi tried to steal the microphones from whoever had her at the moment. The sound the microphone made was quickly silenced, which didn't phase Emi in the least...until she figured out that it wasn't making the same sounds the other microphones were. She's a smart one!
A while back, Yo Momma was holding Emi and decided that it was time to sit down, so Yo Momma sat on the top step of the stage and held Emi in her arms. Emi snuggled right in. I got a little teary watching the two of them. The next week, Emi came up to Yo Momma and stood looking up at her expectantly as to say "Sit down, it's snuggle time."
Most Sunday's Kanda can be found in the sound/media booth running the computer. Emi usually greets everyone on the stage and then heads back to Kanda. She knows that Kanda will scoop her up, cuddle with her and draw with her...or let her push the buttons on the computer!
Today, Emi came in feeling under the weather. She was snuggled up to Meg, not making much eye contact with anyone. She didn't want to go to Yo Momma, she wasn't gonna smile, she just snuggled in with her mom and was there. And then, she seemed to gather a little bit of energy. She wriggled down from Meg's lap and wandered off towards the back of the sanctuary to Kanda. They cuddled, they pushed the computers buttons, they drew pictures.
After church, Meg, Emi and Nat were getting ready to leave. Nat came running up to me for a hug and right behind her was Emi, arms outstretched smile on her face in her polka dot pjs (cuz little girls who don't feel good can wear their pjs to church!) ready for her hug. It struck me then, how grateful I am, for a church family who loves each other. For people like Yo Momma and Kanda who can step in as grandma's for a little girl, who are free with their cuddles, snuggles and hugs. For a place where a child can grow up secure in the knowledge that there are people looking out for her, loving her, cheering her on, eager to share whatever they can and blessed to be a part of her life.
Emi helped me find the good today.
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