For the past six months or so, Charlie and I have been making a concerted effort to get back into the habit of going to church on Sunday mornings, and honestly, it has felt really good to be back in the Faith community. Stella loves all of the music and going to Sunday School with the other kids, and Charlie and I have been enjoying listening to sermons again and having that hour or so every week to just slow down and concentrate on faith & love.
My husband was raised Baptist (while living in Missouri until he was 12) and then attended a Presbyterian church and a non-denominational church with his family while living here in Colorado. I was raised ELCA Lutheran in Minnesota (and even went to an ELCA Lutheran private college), and since moving to Colorado 10 years ago, I’ve sporadically attended an ELCA Lutheran church that’s about 30 minutes away and a multi-denominational church here in town (where I also worked part-time for a few years). However, both of us were pretty much holiday goers and that’s it in our 20s, and we decided it was time to refocus on things that are important to us.
Charlie and I don’t often have deeply religious conversations, and our backgrounds are a little different, but the bottom line is that we both believe in God, we both want our children raised in the church and educated about God and His love for us, and because of the prevalence of religion where we were raised, we both find it a little odd to now live in a place where we often feel like we have to defend our choice to go to church instead of the other way around!
At any rate, it just so happens that the medical center I work for is owned by a doctor who is quite religious. He never forces it on his employees, but he’s very involved with one of the local churches, so it’s obvious to all what his beliefs are. In nearly two years of working here, the most I’ve heard him say about religion in the work context is a snippet like “God has been good to us this year.” I’ve broached religious topics with him a couple of times during private conversations, but never in regards to work. My point is that he is good about not mixing personal religious beliefs with work.
So yeah, yesterday I got to work, and my boss was sick as hell and not seeing patients, but he was here to wrap up a few loose ends. About an hour into the morning, he stopped by my desk and nonchalantly dropped off a Christmas card with a holiday bonus check included. Our last bonus came right when our midwife bill was due, and this one (totally unexpected) came right when we found out Charlie will be out of work for 2 weeks over the holidays and money will be tight with a new baby coming. It’s amazing how things can work out in life. God is good… and so is my boss. 🙂
