Fathers Day Church

I have a interesting father’s day storey to tell, but before I do that I wanted to wish all the fathers out there a big Happy Fathers Day!   It is not always easy to be a father and I commend all of the fathers out there.   I feel really blessed that I am a father of two wonderful children.  How every I am filling more of the disciplinarian mother role now daysJ.   So it is not one of those musts to celebrate father’s day for me.

Well let’s get to the story at hand….

I worked late last night and didn’t get back in until 2am.  I didn’t feel like driving down to Chestertown to my friend’s church, or to drive to Philly to a MCC church that I know I would feel more comfortable in.   I thought that I would pick a local church so I did the usual Google search.   There happened to be a church meeting about a block away from was I am staying.  I pulled up there web page and saw they were meeting a 10am and set my alarm to get up in time to get breakfast and make it there by 10am.

I did notice that they were a bible based church and I really do like that; however they did seem to be more on the conservative side of what I feel comfortable with though.   I struggled to get out of bed as the alarm clock was squawking at me. I had the great usual breakfast and off I went to church.   I usually try to not go with my first impressions because I want to get to know things first.  I have found you don’t always see the whole story at first.  As I walked in I was not greeted at all, being new it is already unnerving on what and where to go.  It was weird being there was people standing at the door, they just chose not to say anything to me L   As I started to walk into the auditorium the pastor saw me and not being greeted and came over and gave me a bulletin.   I proceeded in not feeling welcome and found a place to be seated.   As people came in and saw that I was new, yet not one person made any effort to greet me at all.  I go to many churches as I travel so I’m used to being new but this church had to be one of the unfriendly that I have been to as of yet.   So as services go it was kind of the usual Baptist type, so here is where the interesting part comes in.   In part of the service the Pastor wanted to have any fathers in the audience to come up and give a testimonial to being a father and what God has done in their lives.   It was funny because there really were not many that wanted to come up and they were reluctant.  What really got me though was the spirit really was moving me to stand up proudly and say my testimonial on how God had blessed my family and I.   In the end didn’t because I can only imagine what crazy issues I would have caused in a church that I don’t even attend regularly.  I don’t know if I did the right thing in retrospect though.  I think once again I overlooked and over though what god leads me to do.   I hope that someday I will be able to be to the point I just do when God speaks and not over think things.  I am going to give the church a second try next Sunday even though my first impressions are not so good, they may be wrong.   If they aren't I will move on to finding another church though.