Going to church

I woke up on Sunday at 4am. Getting to sleep was easy. Staying asleep was hard.

At breakfast, I was invited to go to church with a few people. I accepted. This would be fun. However, on the way over, my thoughts wandered to the bed I used to sleep in back in my own time zone. Mmm, that bed would be so nice to sleep on right now. I wouldn't wake up at 4am.

Like most churches that I went to, there were greeters at the door. They said hello to me in Romanian, and when I said hello back to them in English, it shocked them a bit. Do I look Romanian?

The pastor was from Texas, so the sermon was supposed to be in English, but he was on vacation for another couple days. That meant that the sermon would be in Romanian. We found someone to graciously translate for us. They sat behind us and talked in our ear. I would have whispered, but he just talked. I wonder if the other people heard us.

During the service, God showed me something.

I was a citizen of the United States, and part of me longs to be back there. I could sleep at nights. I could see friends. I could get a job and pay down my loans. There are things that are just plain better in the US.

However, it is good that I am here. God has a plan and I am going to see it through.

Isn't that just like Heaven? We are citizens of Heaven and we long to be there, but it is good for us to be on the Earth while we are here. God has a plan for this Earth and we should all see it through.

Continuing the analogy, I was reminded of the greeter at the door. He thought I was Romanian, but as soon as I opened my mouth, he knew that I wasn't. When the world looks at me, they might think I'm one of them. They might assume that I go out and drink and have sex just like they do, but as soon as I open my mouth, they know something is different about me.

I thought that was cool.