All Out

So, here is what a typical Sunday morning looks like at our house.

The alarm goes off at 7:30am. T. gets up and takes a shower. When she is done, I get up and take mine. The light comes on in the boy’s bedroom in order to get him stirring. The TV is turned on to either watch or tape “Thomas the Tank Engine”. Coffee is brewing and toast is toasting. Once everybody is up, dressed and fed, we then gather together in the car and off we go to worship with our fellow believers.

Once we get to the building, my wife will take our Bibles, coffee, and lesson plan to our classrooms while I take the boy to his two and three year old room. And this is his journey.

My son will turn the corner into the hallway where he will make a beeline as fast as his little feet will take him heading straight to the check in area. As he arrives there, he is ready to give a big hug to his first favorite person Ms. Fran, the registrar. It is a moment that I have been honored to witness every Sunday. Ms. Fran’s eyes light up as they embrace. Though there is a span between their ages, their meeting and hug is timeless. I think we all look toward this weekly moment.

It is a great feeling to know that my little boy loves going to church! This place and these people, for him, are family. It is a place of safety for him. It is also a place for him, where he does not question his right to be there. He never thinks that he should not belong there. His right to hug and be hugged by Ms. Fran is not, in his mind, something that he is not entitled to experience.

So when he arrives at that hallway, he “boldly” goes where he “boldly” goes. Right into Ms. Fran’s arms. And when that happens this verse pops in my mind.

“Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.”    Heb 4:16 (hcsb)

That is how we should approach our God’s throne with boldness. It means to draw close with confidence that He loves us and wants us to be close to Him.

I hope my son never tires of his love for going to church and his love for the people who are there. I hope he never tires of knowing that it is a place where he is loved, where he is free, where he is with family, and most of all where he worships God. And I hope he never tires of “going bold”.