big church with addison

Yesterday, we went to the Saturday night service at Timberline Church here in Fort Collins, Colorado.
As a family. Scott, Jack, Will, Addison and I all went as a unit.
I'm not sure you understand how revolutionary this is.
Sundays can be cuckoo crazy as we go our seperate ways...arriving at seperate times for set-up, worship practice, etc.
So you should just know that I heart going to church on vacations.
Jack and Will went to kid's church and Scott and Addison and I sat in the service.
We listened to the message and sang worship songs and passed the offering plate and
soaked it in.
Having Addie next to me, reminded me of when my siblings and I were little sitting next to my mom in big church.
This may have made her want to pull all her hair out a time or 12...
managing 4 children under the age of 7 on a back pew is not for the faint of heart.
We would stand on the pew next to her to sing hymns and when we got bored 4 1/2 minutes into the sermon (sorry, Dad!) we put our heads on her lap and she would scratch our backs or tickle our faces...I'm sure she was hoping that we would fall into a deep church-y slumber so she could actually enjoy the word of the Lord.
She would bring baggies of cheerios and a fist full of coloring books to keep us kids occupied.
And when all else failed and our wildness could not be tamed,
she would haul us out of the service and vow to never return.
Good times.
But yesterday, Scott and I sat with Addison, his small palm in mine, enjoying his company.
When we sang, I held him hip-high and he rested his head on my shoulder,
arms circling my neck.
He mastered a whisper when he talked to me(unbelievable!) and his only complaint was that he had not acquired a doughnut before enterring church.
Doughnuts speak of the Lord's goodness to a 4 year old.
He laid his head on my lap and I scratched his back.
When he grew restless, I searched my purse and found two peppermint life savers, which he sucked on fervently, not even crunching once.
Surely, the Holy Spirit had something to do with this exceptional behavior.
I had a peaceable moment in a church setting and that is a rare and beautiful thing...
the smell of Addie's hair brushing against my cheek,
hearing the voices swell around me while I held the weight of him against me,
looking over at Scott sitting next to me,
holding hands with him during the message.
This is one of those vacation memories that I need to tuck away in my pocket,
because in 2 days we're going to back to real life, people,
and I'll need to remember that instant of calm.
I'm just sayin'.