New Year's Eve

The Story:
So it's 8:30 p.m. on New Year's Eve. My wife and I are on our "oh so comfortable" sectional knocked out! I wake up and ask her "So what do you want to do tonight?"

Now anybody that knows me knows that I am a "church baby." So not being in church at "Watch Night" service on New Year's Eve is foreign to me. As a matter of fact, last year was the first time in my entire life that I did not attend church on New Year's Eve and truth be told, I enjoyed it! How liberating to know that God is not confined to our "Watch Night" service, but that he is even at the nucleus of us spending time loving on those who he has placed in our lives.

So I sent a text to a friend of mine, Pastor Nolan McCants of Harvest Church in Plainfield, IL to see what he and his family were doing. It turns out that his church was hosting a non-traditional New Years Eve celebration at the Marriott Suites. So my wife and I got dressed and went.

We had a ball! We ate, laughed, danced, celebrated Jesus, prayed, won a door prize and then got a suite for $49!!! It was beautiful to see families there enjoying themselves and the freedom that has been given to us through Jesus Christ. Kids were playing video games; couples who hadn't been out in years were dancing to love music; it was awesome! I have nothing against traditional church, but liberation is a beautiful thing. And I can say that it has been these types of events (not church) that have brought my wife and I closer together and strengthened our marriage (the $49 suite helped too! Church Amen!!!)

The Lesson:
1. God is much bigger than our "church services" and traditions.
2. God gets more glory out of us loving on our husbands, wives, and children than he does out of us having a religious experience.

All in all, I love to have church. I love to run, jump and shout (especially on New Years as I recap on all that the Lord has brought me through). But, I shout a lot better when my wife and I are happy!