Thou Shalt Move

A few weeks ago, I got to Bible study extra early. (I should probably repeat that first sentence to inspire us all, right?) Like most busy women, being extra early for church service is a very rare occurrence (I’m embarrassed to say). But this particular Wednesday, I had almost an hour to spare. I sat in the car with my two youngest boys wasting time by playing with my cell phone and listening to the radio. As I played the “Wait Game,” I peeked around the parking lot and noticed that a couple of other families were in their cars doing the exact same thing…waiting.

No one wanted to go in the building too early. I guess everyone has their reasons. It wasn’t that the doors were locked or that we’re forbidden to go in the building before services actually began. But for some reason we were all moved to not move. 

After about 20 minutes or so of checking my emails and sending follow-up text messages to family and friends, I decided I would turn the air conditioning off in my car, save some gas, and move toward the building. I figured the worst thing that could happen is that we’d sit in a quiet church auditorium until the multitudes began to arrive.

As we opened the door and entered the lobby, it was easy to see that the church building was still very much asleep. Lights were off and there wasn’t a soul insight. Then suddenly a petite, elderly woman appeared out of the darkness and said “Hello!”

I was surprised to see her. She was a familiar face, but we’d never actually met each other before. Her name was Evelyn Elmore. I thought it was cute that she immediately asked me was I visiting for the first time. I giggled a bit and told her that my family and I had been members for nearly two years now. She laughed too and said that we must sit behind her and that she was always taught that you never turned around to see who’s sitting behind you in church service. I’ve heard that rule too.

As we moved into the auditorium and travelled down the center aisle, we continued to interview each other to get acquainted. Ms. Evelyn has sweet little rituals she does before service begins. She rereads the church bulletin from the previous Sunday to make sure she doesn’t miss any important information. As we got closer to the front, I could see her finger point to pew, and she counted back six rows.
“I always sit on the 6^th row,”  she said. “I think we’ve gone down too far.”

I giggle a little more and sit across the aisle on the same row with my sons, BJ and Jackson. I guess I assumed that our precious conversation was over, but I was mistaken. Ms. Evelyn was merely getting her belongings situated on the pew and then she moved over to chat with me a little bit more.

She complimented me on the good behavior of my children and told me about what it was like raising her own two boys. Realizing that we both still had lots more to share about our lives, I stood back up and escorted her back to her seat. I had decided that I would move away from my comfort zone and enjoy the service sitting next to my new friend.

Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives.

Titus 2:3-5 (The Message)