Expect the Unexpected {guest post}

I am very pleased to have my lovely sponsor Michelle sharing with you today. Michelle is always finding the funny in everyday experiences, and today is no different. Sit back, giggle, cringe (if you are not a mouse or bat person you will understand what I mean), and get to know Michelle.

Hi, I'm Michelle! I'm so excited that Dalayna invited me over here today!!! I blog over @ www.LaVidadeBlondieChell.blogspot.com where you can read all about our crazy adventures and humorous happenings! I like to define myself as a "random stay-at-home-mom of three (four if you count the hubsters).  I love laughing & helping others to find humor in things.

         Most of us have expectations when we go somewhere. We go to Wal-Mart and we expect the location to contain merchandise on shelving or racks. We go to church, and depending on the denomination, have certain expectations of the music, preaching, and announcements. 

     If you think about it, most of us tend to have alot of expectations when it comes to a church service. The music is the same type every Sunday, the pastor is the same person every Sunday, and so is his preaching style.... The announcements are usually done in the same order in the service line up..... You expect (or don't-depending on where you choose to attend) an altar call...... The congregation dresses in the same style of clothing every week....

     Very rarely will we experience an unexpected change-up when we attend a worship service. "Oh, no! Someone's sitting in my seat!" we think to ourselves, and then we consider that a change-up. Usually churches agree on changes before instituting them so everyone can be prepared... ("What? A new music minister?? NO!!!!" ) and then there's a transition period....and, viola!!! We can't even remember who the original person was!

      Whether or not we should have expectations for a church service is another topic for someone else to discuss ;) What we are thinking about here is the expectations we do have when we go someplace, particularly a place of worship. Typically, we expect to have a nice, relaxing experience with the inter-mitten stirring of the Holy Spirit. We come in, we sit down, we pray, sing, and listen. We reflect on our lives and whether or not we're doing things that need to be changed. What have we been doing? What are we not doing? These are all things we ponder during the service. After we're done listening to the person speaking, we stand up, pray, sing, take communion & prayer requests-basic service closing exercises. We stand up, shake hands and head for the door. Though what we have just experienced will probably be the only calm two hours during our week, we leave. Easy. Simple. Grateful.

       And...then there's the church experiences Michelle has... The church we attended last Sunday meets in a former steamplant that has been refurbished into a "theater". It has stadium-style seating (you know-you have to climb 3,285 stairs if you're not in the first few rows) and it's dark. There are spotlights highlighting the stage area, and enough light to see the concrete flooring and your coffee spilling all over it, but not enough to reassure you that some body won't be stabbing you with a knife. 

        Last week, we went with friends of ours who have four kids and a teenager, so we needed room for approximately eleven people (the kids leave for children's church after the singing is over, so we really only needed about seven or eight seats). Since we were all running late (as usual-and even later since we stopped to jump-start another motorist) we had to climb all 3,285 stairs to find an empty row that would fit all of us. Once we were seated at the top of the theater, I had the slight urge to reach up and touch the old metal rafters. I didn't, of course.

        After the announcements and singing were over, we settled into our movie theater style seats (note: if you wear heels, it is near impossible to cross your legs like a lady, so 1. don't wear heels here or 2. cross your legs like a man) and opened our Bibles for the preaching. A few minutes into it, I heard what sounded like mice in the ceiling. I cringed and lifted my feet from the floor (because even though I heard them in the the rafters, we all know that they only scurry across floors). Then hubby leaned over. "Yeah, that's a bat", he whispered in my ear. WHAT?!?? BATS??? They don't scurry across floors-they fly  down and get themselves stuck in women's hair!!! They're also supposed to sleep during the daytime, not wake up and start talking. I figured that as long as we didn't see one, we were safe. I also mentally smacked myself for wearing my hair down...more hair for bats to get stuck in. I spend the next few minutes cringed towards hubby as I silently held a one-sided rant with God about allowing the bats to wake up. 

          In response to my agitated prayer, a generator (coming from the same direction as the bat noises) turned on. I'm guessing the little creatures liked the white noise effect because after the generator stopped running there was silence from the ceiling. I then apologized to God and thanked him for taking care of the situation. Then I leaned over & whispered to hubby, "If those bats attack, I will be be the first out of this building...I will be jumping over people." It never came to that, but I did keep checking over my shoulder.

           Here' a pic of the rafters....with *all* the lights on.....

           Regardless of what could have happened, I have definitely learned a good lesson about having expectations when it comes to attending church. Sure, I'll still expect Wal-Mart to stock product on shelves and racks, but I have learned that when it comes to worship services, expect the unexpected.....

Hehe, lesson learned! Thanks for sharing with us Michelle! Be sure to go visit Michelle in her neck of the woods and see all the fun happening at La Vidade Blondie Chell.