It is Sunday.
My normal routine is to get to our church around 7am.
When I get there, I usually tidy up around the church, put on the first pot of coffee, sit in our office and do my daily reading.
This morning, I woke up and drove to church.
The roads were slightly covered with snow. The view was beautiful. Snow covered the trees and grass with the iconic snowy glaze.
Yet, unfortunately it was a Sunday.
It snowed on a Sunday.
That is not good for churches.
I had several people inquire about church this morning.
I had one person call in to say they would not be able to serve in their scheduled capacity at church.
When I got to church, I got to work to try and prepare for people to arrive. I needed to run and grab some more ice melt, so I drove to the Lowes to pick some up.
When I got to Lowes, I was filled with grief knowing that our church parking lot would be less full than the parking lot at Lowes.
Snow did not stop the employees at Lowes to skip work this Sunday morning. Nor did it stop the dozens of people I saw shopping at 8am—well before the sun started to melt the snow.
Our church was drastically empty due to the snow.
I imagine many churches were empty.
This week is the last week before Christmas time and the churches were empty.
Satan and Santa at odds.
May we be challenged to be more faithful in our pursuit of Jesus.
Western Christians view church as a convenience.
I hope that we can view Jesus as a necessity.
Now that Christmas and Advent are upon us, may we give Jesus priority in our lives.