A Sour Tummy and Sore Feet

This weekend I have had a sour tummy and I woke up this morning to some very sore feet. No, they are not sore because of my "Hooker" heels that I wore yesterday. LOL! So why am I posting about this? We all are sick from time to time. No big deal.

Well.....

It is Sunday and that means time for church.

No, this is not my church now, however it once was my home church. In fact, that church is the church that my Grandparents were married in back in the 1940's AND the church I grew up in. It is a Baptist church that was, at one time, in a very good area. However, over the years that area turned into the slums....the ghetto. Yep, I grew up in the ghetto. However, my heart still swells with love when I see a picture of this church....the church that I found the Lord in.

I was watching a rerun of CSI a few nights ago and one of the characters said something about turning to religion during the 11th hour. I had to stop and ponder that statment because up until about 3 years ago I was always "religious". Like, I had a strong belief and moral code that was grounded in my faith. I became a Christian at the age of 3 and never had issues with it...until three years ago in which I basically walked away from God. See, three years ago I would have thought that was my 11th hour, so why did I turn my back on my Creator? I am not gonna get into the specifics of that in this post. However, I will say that I have made an about face and am back in a love relationship with God.

But, what about the first 30 years of my faith? I did not find God in my 11th hour...I mean I was only 3! That is hardly an 11th hour! I then reflected on my upbringing and I discovered that my childhood and adolescence was indeed an 11th hour. In the first 18 years of my life I went through 3 divorces with my mom, poverty, and abuse. The only thing I had that was constant and always there was my faith. So, why was it in my adult life, when I reached the 11th hour, did I not cling to God even more?

I felt like God had failed me is why.

I had always done the "right" thing and for the first time in my life the "right" thing allowed a grave injustice to be done to me. I was mad. I was angry and I felt like God burned me so I walked away and did things according to how I saw fit. In the world's view I was justified. Heck, according some in the church I was justified. However my heart was not right.

After three years I have turned back to God. Not in my 11th hour, but in perhaps what could be considered my 1st adult hour. Three months ago I was so looking for an excuse not to go to church and sore feet and sour tummy would have been a great reason! A reason that even people in the church would say was justifiable. However, I knew that I needed to go today. I had no fever. I am not contagious. True, I could not get dressed up (something I love doing on Sunday morning. That goes back to my childhood. We could not afford much, but my Mom always made sure I had something pretty to wear to church. To this day I like to dress up for Sunday church.). I could not even wear flats, but tennis shoes. So, I put on a sweater, jeans, and sneakers and went to church. I am glad I did because the sermon was on something I desperately needed to hear -- having a body that the Holy Spirit can dwell in. It could not have hit closer to home. I am so glad that I was able to move past my sour tummy and sore feet to be in the presence of my God. Yes my feet and tummy are still bothersome, but it does not matter because I have been spiritually fed and renewed.