One of those... months.

I feel incredibly frustrated and crabby lately.  I'm certain it's because I currently have no margin in my life, and when I do find an hour before bed free I end up watching an episode of 24 with Jeremy (as a date... for real). 

Last night was at least fun - I invited another couple over for dinner.  Having them over gave me the motivation to clean up the living room, kitchen and dining room, so I at least felt decent about some things before I fell asleep.  They have a a little girl who is a little older than Peter, so the kids entertained themselves while we ate BLTs, brownies and ice cream.  That also meant they were out the door around 8 PM to tuck her in to bed, so I got quality time with Stinky Pete, too.

Part of my crabbiness is stemming from work, because I've been given added responsibilites (that's what you get when you're a good employee, I guess) but that also means I've got more to do.  And I don't really want more to do, because I want to be able to leave early on Fridays and not worry about finishing things so I don't have to do them on Monday. 

Blargh.

Really?

So. It's been awhile. There are a million things to write about. Peter. Church. School. Marriage. But what's rolling through my head right now is just a comment made by someone who checked out MainStreet last week and emailed Jeremy letting him know that our church will not become their church home because it's 'too casual'. (Full disclosure - they also live like a half hour away, so they are also looking for something 'closer to home', which I totally get.)

'Too casual'? Maybe. I have worn jeans every single Sunday so far, but I think that's primarily been driven by unshaven legs and trying to get both myself and Pete dressed and out the door on time. Although I don't think they meant 'casual' in the dress code sense. If I was an outsider, I might think MainStreet is a bit too casual, too, but more from what I'm coming to think of as a style of 'abundant grace'. Jer mentioned that we have more liturgical elements than, say, the other new church down the street (scripture reading, etc.) so the service isn't exactly 'casual' in a biblical sense. However, our attitude regarding performance (read: presentation) might be.

I can't think of a Sunday yet that has been completely polished, with all people involved hitting their transitions at just the right moment, announcements and such being totally engaging and fun, or Jeremy not forgetting to mention something like prayer partners at the end of the service. The week this couple visited, Jer jumped ahead of the service order printed in the bulletin, only to realize it after a minute and backtrack. So... if someone is/was looking for a completely perfectly polished service, they probably won't find it at MainStreet (at least... not yet). I can excuse these blips because I know one of our core values is abundant grace. I would much rather (I think) attend a church that can laugh at itself when things don't go quite-so-right than attend one that gets high-strung and tense when a microphone stops working. All that to say, though, I wouldn't want to go somewhere that always felt like the service was thrown together last minute and was completely unorganized...

What a crazy line to walk between being a church that is too performance driven and/or too sloppy. My prayer is that we will get it just right for what we want to be at MainStreet. I hope that we can be a church that has high standards, but that also practices grace. And if that means we seem 'too casual' to some, I think I'm okay with that.