Going to Church - at last!

Tweet

Yesterday I went to Church for the first time since June 2020! I wore my new woolen dress. I asked my Mum to lend me a belt to go with it. She had to get into the wardrobe first to get it, as there were some boxes and stuff infront of the wardrobe and she needed to move them first before she could get into the wardrobe. She had about 5 belts on a coathanger. She brought them down for me and I chose one that I thought went nicely with my dress. It had a good buckle, and I only had to fasten it on the first hole. My Mum said she would do her best to come, but if her hip was playing up she wouldn't come, and I should give people her appologies. I walked to Church. It was a bit windy but it wasn't raining. When I got there I was welcomed at the door by a gentleman I know but can't remember the name of! He said "Hello" and I said "First time since June 2020!" And he said, "Yeah, I saw you coming." I had a drink of green tea before the service started. I was led to believe we would be going into the sports hall for our drinks, but no, they had them out at the back of the main hall. They had those disposable cups with no handles out again! Why? You can't drink not drinks out of those! 1) You could burn yourself on them because of them having no handles, and having to hold them round the base! 2) They make the tea taste funny! So I asked my Mum's friend Francis Hendon to get me a proper mug (made of ceramic!) So she did. She went down to the kitchen and fetched one. I brought my own tea bag. I took it out of it's paper case and put the paper case in the recycle bin. Then I put the tea bag in the proper mug and Francis poured hot water on it. She asked me if I wanted milk and I said, "Oh, no no no, no milk!" And she said, I didn't think so. Then she asked me if I wanted any cold water in and I said , "No, just the hot will be fine." So then I let it brew for about 3 minutes. I told them that at home I usually brew it for 4 minutes, and I time it with a timer! We talked about the windy weather and that it's because we're in the Trent Valley. There were some biscuits and stuff on plates on the table, so I treated myself to a KitKat, but because I wouldn't be able to carry it and my drink and hold my walking stick too, I put the KitKat in my coat pocket. When my tea was brewed I went and found a seat. I sat by the wall about half way down. I took my coat off and put it on my chair so I could sit on it. I also put my bag down on the floor. drank my tea, and when I had finished it I went and took it back to the table at the back. Now that I had taken my coat off they could see my dress! Francis said to me, "Oh, I like this outfit that you've got on today," and I said " Thank you." Then I went and sat back down. My Mum did not end up coming. A lady my Mum is friendly with called Diane asked me if my Mum would be coming, and I said "She'll be coming if her hip's not playing her up." But no, she didn't end up coming. We sang a few choruses first, 2 of them that were new to me, and one that I knew. A group of people were going to be brought into 'Partnership' with our Church. It's the new word for membership. The people who were being brought into membership all went to the front and introduced themselves to us. A couple who were sitting near me, called Mary and Mike, were there, and a lady who was sitting behind me, called Pam. They were prayed for and then they went and sat down. Apparently it was Pioneer Sunday. We had a video message from the Pioneer Church leaders rather than having a message from someone actually in our Church. They had a new Pioneer Church being set up in Nigeria I think it was, and one of the guys was over there interviewing the new pastor who was called Stephen someone. I couldn't understand a word he was saying! Then a few more people said a few things. There was a trailer for a Pioneer leaders course that some people were going on. Then a lady who was head of Pioneer UK said a few words, mainly about the Pioneer network and the work that they do, and how many countries had Pioneer Churches. There was no proper gospel messsge. I was nearly bursting for the toilet near the end of it. So when they actually finished, they started singing one last song while people started leaving, and I rushed to the loo. When I'd finished I went to flush the loo and there was this knob, I wouldn't call it a knob, it was just like a raised back button with a green light at the cenre. I tried to push it in but it wouldn't move and I didn't think anything was happening but then suddenly a soft flushing sound was heard and the green light turned red! I thought wow! Very Sci-Fi! I went back into the main hall and put my coat on and collected my bag. I said goodbye to Francis and I walked home. When I get home I told my Mum all about it.