Falsetto, Flowers and Paper Bags

I recently heard someone say "There is something for everyone in every church service, but everything might not be for you". For me, I dread the "Shake and Howdy". To me it feels forced. I love being friendly and joyful to strangers as I go through my daily routine. I always ask the cashiers at the stores how they are doing and try to spread the joy! But this portion of our church service just isn't for me. That's OK...I do it anyway. Today was the first day I was excited for the Shake and Howdy. All through the worship songs I was waiting for the moment when I could turn around and meet the woman with the extremely loud, off key falsetto, singing right into my ear! When the moment came, I quickly turned around with a smile on my face...and it was...a...MAN! A young man...in his 30's...who looked more like a wanna-be body builder than a wanna-be opera singer! HUH?! Where was she? Who was she? Either this man had been cursed with this strange voice or the voice was coming from someone sitting in the row behind him which means she was singing even louder than I thought! I was so disappointed.

So the sermon starts. I enjoyed it. My heart was moved. So was my belly. By about half way through I was feeling nauseous. There was a horrible smell. HORRIBLE! It was the most disgusting perfume I have ever experienced. I am painfully allergic to any flowery scented perfume and I could not bear this one. It was strong. It was wrong. My eyes were watering, my ears were ringing, my stomach was churning. I wanted to vomit. And just like the first day I stepped foot into FCC, the Pastor seemed to know exactly what I would need that day. Imagine my relief when he told us to pull the paper bag out of our programs. This was a gift for me! My own personal air sick bag just at the right time! I was tremendously relieved. He does provide!

By the way, I love that my mystery friend was making a "joyful noise"! It's awesome!