Our Church Pew

A few years ago we made a big decision to buy new living room furniture. It would be the first time for us to buy new furniture since the nearly 12 years before when we had bought our last set. We went back and forth on what to buy—sectional or separate pieces—and we tried hard to envision the needs of our family as the kids were now much bigger and there were more than there were before. We needed to make sure that parents and all of our five kids had a place to sit when watching TV or just hanging out as a family.

We finally settled on a traditional 3-piece set with the sofa, loveseat, and chair, and it has served us well. This is where we hangout and tell each other about our days, this is where we snuggle with the little ones before we tuck them in, this is where we stay up late watching movies with the big kids. Lately, this has been where we gather to share news and updates, and this is where we are napping during our extended time at home.

But today, this is where we did something I had no idea would have ever happened. In all the thoughts I had of how we might use these sofas and how they might suit our needs, I never envisioned the way we used them today.

Today, our lumpy well-loved couch served as our church pew. Today, our family of seven gathered in our living room facing a live stream of Mass on the laptop. Today, we sat, stood, and kneeled together. Today, our typical family-time room became a place of worship.

There is no doubt we are facing times none of us could have ever imagined. We are living in a world where our schools and churches are closed, where we gather with our neighbor at a distance of six feet, and where our food and our jobs are as uncertain as the next press release. 

But we are also faced with some new opportunities.

We can teach our children to learn when there are no assignments or grades attached. We can teach our children the importance of community where there is no community contact. And we can teach our kids to praise and worship when it looks like there is no one else to praise and worship with us.

These lessons will surpass anything they could learn at school, anything they could learn in a community service project, and anything they could learn at a bible study.


Today, we can take the ordinary, like a family sitting in their living room, and turn it into a house of worship. 

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