Don't Rock the Boat and Can You Pass Me a Tissue??

I don't like the boat to be rocked. I like to sit still, stay in the same pattern, same speed, and avoid choppy waters. I don't like for people to come up beside my boat and rock and it for me. And so last fall when our church announced that they were changing the schedule to get rid of the 8 am service and have a 9 am service instead you can pretty much guess that my boat was rocked. I know I might be the only person under the age of 150 that this was a problem for, but it was pretty much a tsunami in my life. I had always gone to 8 am service. I sat on the same side of the church, pretty much in the same general vicinity, and knew what to expect. Then they switched it up and went to a 9am service. It threw off my whole schedule - my body is, after years of training by my dutiful parents, conditioned to wake up at 6 am, to leave the house no later than 7:35, and to be in my pew by exactly 7:55. This is how Sundays went for all of my life. But 9 am?!?! What time do I get up? Do I just lay in bed for an extra hour? I mean the line at the donut store is going to be much longer because everyone else starts church at 9!!
Well after months of diligent retraining and trying to be positive, which was hard because now we didn't get out of church until 11:15 which is a whole hour later for lunch. But we made it. I won't say there wasn't any griping or sarcastic comments on my side, ok maybe every week on our way to church, but I tried to keep them just to my immediate family and really close family friends who think I pretty funny. And then today happened. Today was the State of the Pulpit Address. An annual even at our church that brings everyone up to speed on the church body and also motivates for the next year - one of my favorite sermons, mainly because it has been a tradition for 20 years and we all know that traditions make me happy. But this year our preacher said something that grabbed me, made me think, and made me have a change of heart. The 8 am service had been dying, no one new was coming to it and it wasn't a time that was conducive to new members but since the service has been moved to 9 over 45 new families have started attending in that specific service. I felt a small dagger to my heart. This change was not about my personal favorite time to have church, it was about something much bigger than just me. So my boat was rocked but maybe my boat needs to be moved every once and a while to remind me that I am not the captain on this boat.

And can you pass me a tissue? After the sermon this morning they replayed a video that our church made after seeing a similar one done at another church. I don't care how many times I see it, I always tear up. So is there anyway we can get a heads up in the bulletin? Like - FYI: Today's sermon will contain material that will make you cry. Please feel free to go grab some tissues during hug and howdy time!