See Ya on the Other Side.

Chris and I made a pretty big decision for our family last week.
It happened while we were sitting in church.

I was attentively listening to Pastor Matthew's sermon when I happened to glance to my left and caught the eye of a friend sitting with her family on the opposite side of the Sanctuary.  We exchanged a quick smile and wave, and continued our studious note-taking (pfft!).
Shortly after that, I saw another friend, and another friend, and another friend...all sitting in the same general area of the Worship Center. 

Admittedly, I tuned out from the sermon for a few moments to evaluate the current situation.  We sit on the right side of the Sanctuary.  Always have.  It was most convenient to slip out with a fussy baby to the nearby nursing mommy room. 

Well, guess what.
I'm not a nursing mommy any longer.
And, months later, even though I play piano on the opposite side of the stage, I exit the opposite side of the stage, and everyone we KNOW sits on the opposite side of the stage, we were sitting in the same old place.  It just didn't make sense.  Let me illustrate...

The above shows where I play the piano on a given Sunday morning.  It's on the left side of the stage.
We usually sit just to the right of this picture, about 5 rows up on the side.

 

 To get to my seat after worship, I exit the stage on the left, go down a flight of stairs (sorry, I couldn't capture that in my illustration), across the downstairs choir room, down a corridor of classrooms, up another flight of stairs, down the aisle of the church, around and up (with an occasional detour to the cafe).  No wonder I'm always out of breath when I finally sit down!

Wouldn't it be easier if we just SAT on the left side?  It literally astonishes me that we didn't think of this months ago. 

Now, I know church seating can be tricky territory. 
If you sit someplace long enough, it can feel like you own it.
I know, because I grew up Baptist ;-)

But, I'm learning to embrace change in my adulthood.
Some changes we don't have control over.  I've had a lot of those lately.
And other change shakes things up just enough to give us a welcomed new perspective.

Our new perspective will be from the left side from now on...or until we feel another change is necessary.    If you're at Bethel on Sunday, we'll see you on the left side ;-)