A day with AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" interrupting church

can only be awesome.

This was my Sunday: I have a pan-handler friend, Tina, who has become very dear to me. She is pretty unreliable as far as making plans goes, so when I see her, it is always by surprise. I show up to church, the earlier service, and there, three rows from the front, is not only Tina, but her roommate, Rose! Totally surprised. So I make my way up there, take a seat.

Tina wants to talk. In her normal voice. While we're praying or something quiet. Rose is insistent on rummaging through her PLASTIC grocery bag during the sermon in this small sanctuary, which was distracting to pretty much everybody. Oh God, help her find what she needs QUICK...We stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down... and Tina starts to nod off and fall over. She has low blood sugar, poor soul, and her legs are hurting due to MS. So every 10 seconds or so, I try to inconspicuously nudge her to keep her upright.

After one of these noddings-off, she wakes up to my phone ringing in the middle of church. Of course, one of the few times I forget to silence it. SO, I'm digging, trying to find and silence it. She doesn't understand what I'm doing, so she grabs one of my hands (which, I was using to locate the phone) and tries to shove a ring that looks like this on my finger, while my phone is still buzzing, ringing, annoying... yes. It's all beat up but really sweet of her to give to me. She starts to tell me the entire history in a pretty loud whisper. Then starts to nod off again.

She wakes up, some time later, and starts rummaging through her purse. She whips out this huge, butterfly hair clip. Like the size of my hand, and it's pretty ridiculous looking. I'm prepared to receive it and just whisper, "thanks," but she wants to see this thing on me. She tugs on my hair, twists my head 90 degrees (still in church) and starts to wrestle getting this thing in my hair, which she does in record time, thank God. Back to the service to which I'm paying no attention (nothing new there).

A few more minutes follow of more of the same: falling asleep, nudging, pastor YELLING. I look over at Rose to see how she's doing and... she's totally conked out. Practically laying on her side on the pew, but at least not snoring.

Tina awakes again after yet ANOTHER nodding off and gives me yet ANOTHER gift: Half-empty. Smells kinda sick. Shove it in my bag along with my other two gifts in the last hour or so. Tina falls back asleep.

I'm at the end of my rope when all of a sudden, Rose doesn't just stir, but totally snaps awake and makes the largest amount of noise that anybody has ever made with this plastic bag of hers. I caught myself before I laughed out loud. But believe you me, it took all I had to not. I tilt my head down, my whole body convulsing minorly in laughter. Service still going on.

I think about how ridiculous and HILARIOUS everything is, how the pastor is making semi-snide remarks at the falling asleep of my friends ("I know we're all tired, but let's try to stay awake and respect the Word of the Lord."), how this woman with so little is constantly giving me things and saying positive things ("I feel so great here. I'm so glad I came." etc)... and I am so grateful for the diversity of the Body of Christ. I'm so grateful that we are all gritty ragamuffins and that God loves us regardless. I'm so grateful for surprises, for friends, for love.