I go to church at Fred Meyer.
Someone asked me the other day whether I had gone back to church, or if I was just reading my Bible at home instead. I simply answered that I still was not going to church and didn't say much more than that. But the honest and complete answer would have been, no I don't go to church, and no I don't read my Bible at home, and no I don't pray before I eat dinner. I could have continued the conversation by sharing that I also don't start each morning with prayer and devotions, and I don't read books by popular Christian authors, and I don't have my radio set to a Christian music station, and I don't go to Bible study, and I don't have a prayer partner.
I go to church at Fred Meyer. Every Sunday morning like clockwork. And I'm only being slightly facetious with this statement. Church is all about encountering God, right? Well, I find God in the produce section of the grocery store. He's there every Sunday morning, and even when I go on Saturday or on a Thursday night. Every time I show up, He does too. I'm passionate and excited and obsessed with fruits and vegetables because they are beautiful and delicious and good for me. I feel so blessed and fortunate to be able to buy as many different fruits and vegetables as I could ever want, every week, and I rejoice in the beauty of it every time. And when I'm rejoicing and feeling grateful for the beautiful things in my life, voila, God's there.
I encounter God every time I go on a walk. Lately, I've been walking almost every day, and every time, God shows up! When I'm walking, it's my thinking time, my pondering, wondering, questioning time. It's the time when I bring my mind and heart back to a positive and healthy place if I've been upset about something. It's the time when I think of solutions to my problems. On my walks, I sometimes bark at dogs or sing with birds or compliment trees on the beautiful leaves they've grown. And they all talk back. So I'm either crazy, or I'm interacting with God.
I keep running into God everywhere; it's crazy how many places He and I happen to show up at the same time! Every time I listen to a beautiful song, smile at a stranger, name a spider, sing to a houseplant, clean my bathroom, lay under a tree, gaze into my husband's eyes, dance in the rain, examine a blade of grass, imagine a unicorn, read a great book, sing with the stars, listen to the wind, write a poem, give a hug, every time God seems to show up, and He and I are doing it together.
And then every once in a while, I show up to a church service. And sometimes I see God there too, but not every time.
