Third of July

There is nothing so fulfilling as a good ol' picnic in the park with people you love, especially when it starts with live music and truly meaningful (to me) prayer. *Sigh*

That's what we had the priveledge of attending this morning! Our church's annual service and picnic in the park for the 4th of July.

It was gorgeous, and there was a great turnout. This year, I didn't have to provide music or run sound - so I got to sit at the park benches with everyone else and just enjoy. As usual, Reverend David's message was profoundly moving (how does he know how to speak to just what's going on in our lives every single week?) and the music by Joe G. and Donna Marie Cary was just fab. Donna Marie was in great form this morning. Hurrah!

Plus, one of our members was Christened today, at our church's first Sunday morning celebration of the kind. There have been a number of children in the congregation welcomed to this world with a Unity Christening (Baby Girl included!) but this was the first to have a public celebration of it. Little C. is such a beautiful light, and his family is incredible and full of love, and it was a heart-growing event for all in attendance. Well... except perhaps for Baby Girl, who at the time was down the hill a little bit, on the swings with her Daddy, refusing to be anywhere but there with him.

A Toddler, the Children and High Temperatures
I am SO PROUD of my little girl for being so awesome this morning, given the necessary chaos of any large potluck picnic. I am DOUBLY proud because the heat index at the time was 100 degrees F. OH MY GOD it was HOT! So hot, I was joking that I was glad I wasn't running sound because with all my sweat pouring off me, I'd short the system out. It's not really that far from the truth, I was the sweatiest person there.

Anyhoo, we prepared Baby Girl well, and actually remembered to bring water, bug repellants (baby-safe and adult-ready), toys, SUNSCREEN, and oh yes, SUNSCREEN. The E.P.* missed half the service because Baby Girl was intent on getting as much playground time as possible, which he obliged. Over the course of several hours, she was drenched in sunscreen 3 times, and still came out half as red as a strawberry (just like her Mommy, I was so hoping she wouldn't inherit that. Oh well. =)

When The E.P. or I wasn't looking after her, the other children were fabulous with Baby Girl. They helped her up and down the playground, encouraged her to use the slide (how were they to know she's already a super-slide afficionado? lol! It was just HOT and she didn't want to burn her legs ;) and looked after her like a sibling. It was a joy to watch, especially just after the Christening celebration. When I was growing up there would be regular Christenings in the churches I attended, and a lot of pretty words were said and a lot of love was shown -- but in the weeks afterward, it never felt like the cohesive church family we'd uniformly (in unison) pledged to be. But at our present church, even the children are heavily involved in everyday spiritual growth and sustenance of the church - we respect openly respect them in both words and actions, and trust them to respect each other. So they do.

At one point, a couple younger girls were playing with Baby Girl. I had to get her in the shade before she got heat exhaustion -- I thanked one of the girls several times for being so great with my daughter, and then told Baby Girl that we had to go up into the shade -- that "These big kids know how to take care of themselves in this heat -- see, they're not as red as you are, they are taking care of themselves, using sunscreen, not playing too hard and drinking water." As we walked up the hill back to the picnic shelter, several of the children proudly told me that they were going to go get some water too. I had honored them for being respectful of their bodies - and in doing so, they became respectful of their bodies' needs in the moment. (I love it when stuff like that happens. =)

Fabulous Conversation with Fabulous People
I know, I know, all I'm doing here is gushing. But seriously, I've been craving such a great event for a while. I was oblivious while The E.P. kept running after Baby Girl, but I'm so grateful to him for giving me that opportunity to engage in fun discussion with some other adults. I learned some really valuable things and hope I was able to pass along some good information too.

This is the first church community I've ever belonged to where I feel like I actually belong. I am NOT implying that "Everyone should come to my church!" Heck no! We are all different, Spirit created each of us to be unique, and as such our spiritual paths are unique. Other people would feel like constant outcasts in Unity, and yet embrace other traditions as fish to water.

Plus our lives are so busy, I'm coming to rely on my Church family for friendships. That is new as well; in the past, friendships made at church tended to be the ones with the least sturdy foundation, for a variety of reasons that make up an essay for another day. I find that I actually depend on my church community, a concept I've heard about all my life but never quite experienced. And it's lovely. =)

*For "new" readers to this blog, "The E.P." is my "Evil Prince", my nickname for my DH since long before we were married. Oooh, those lordly 'evil' know-it-all types with dark hair and a biting wit are sexy. ;)