Miss Conception

    When I was a child, we always had Sunday breakfast together as a family before we would all go to church. My dad wasn't much of a talker. (I think it was mostly from years of my mother cutting down just about everything he said.) Anyhow, when I would come to the breakfast table my dad would always say, "Here she is Miss _________" and he would fill in the blank with something funny like: Miss Ellanious, Miss Chevious, Miss Terious, or whatever would work together with "miss" as the prefix.
However, I never recall him saying "Here she is Miss conception". It would have sounded really weird if he had and my child-like mind at the time would not have been able to figure out what it meant. Now as an adult, I would love to hear him say it, especially this morning because that is exactly how I felt after attending a wedding last evening.
    We were invited to a wedding for the daughter of a family that had left our church years ago. I don't think they left for the best of reasons, but I hold absolutely no ill feelings towards them at all. My daughter and I were delighted to go to the wedding. I thought it would be nice to see old friends once again. What surprised me the most was how many times these old friends told me that they were surprised that I would come. Wow, did I ever hear my dad say (in my head, of course) "Here she is Miss Conception." Somehow, they had gotten the wrong idea about me for some reason. 
    I once attending the church where this wedding was held. I was a very active member there from 1976-1980. I met my beloved husband there and together we served the Lord. We left the church after some painful interactions with the pastor. We were young and didn't know how to correctly deal with the conflict, so after a year of these painful interactions, we left that church, and we joined the church that we now attend. For the last 29 years we have served in our church and have grown spiritually by leaps and bounds. It hasn't always been without its own issues, and there have been times when we were tempted to just up and leave this church too, but never did we have the Lord's blessing. So, we have stayed, and God has blessed us richly because of it.
    When Jerry and I got married, it was for life. When things got rough and we were tempted to walk away, it was commitment that kept us going. It is the same way with our church membership. We are commited to the Lord and to His church. If there are problems, we seek the Lord and His will, and try to do what God would want us to do.
    Do I fault the folks who left our church years ago? Do I hold any bad feelings towards them? Not in the least. I am just so thankful to God that these folks still love and serve the Lord. I know of way too many people who have left not only the church, but also our Saviour, and are now living only for themselves.
    I am glad that I went to this wedding. It was good to see old friends again. And I hope that Miss Conception can go away and never come back again.