I've always thrown parties in my home for family, church, showers--bridal and baby--and Ken's squadrons.  It just seemed like I was the one who did that for some reason.  Thirty to forty people was  the usual count that I could seat at tables.  But if there were more, they just sat on the floor around a big old round oak coffee table.  No big deal.

But there is a time you quit doing those things.  Your children are gone, other younger women start doing what you used to do, and your socials get smaller.  And fewer.  Finally I quit.  Until last Saturday.  I had my Sunday morning class over for dinner.  There were nine of us.

And what I found out was--I had forgotten about all the details that go into having a party.  A million details.  When you quit doing something, and then try to do it again, you realize that you have lost some of your ability to make it happen.  And it becomes a big deal.

I eventually got there--it turned out great.  Everyone had a good time.  And after it was over, I fell into bed, slept like the dead, and promised myself that I would never do that again.  I'm sure I will forget and do it again someday.  But it wasn't easy like it used to be.

There are habits that we have in life, when neglected, become harder to reimplement.  I have been saddened at the number of people in America that have stopped going faithfully to church.  They have lost the commitment, the habit, in their lives.  Because, let's face it, occasionally you get a pastor that isn't dynamic, or the music doesn't suit you, or someone irritates us, etc. etc...excuses.  But going to church puts us in contact with people who are on the same path that we are on.

And it's not always about what you get out of it.  There comes a point in Christian maturity when you realize that there are many people who need what you have to give.  And the people in your church bond in a way that doesn't happen anywhere else.  God put it this way: "...let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds.  Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit of doing, but let us encourage one another..."

God expects us to gather together.  It's his way of insuring that Christian people bond.