Day 160: Our Church, Our Faith

If I am being honest, I would have to say that there is a chance we would have skipped church today had we not had plans to eat lunch with friends afterwards.  The kids were still sleeping when we had to get up in time to get to church, and it was very tempting just to keep sleeping ourselves.  But, we dragged ourselves out of bed and got the kids up and ready as well.  Ironically, right before we left, our friends called and cancelled. 

We headed into town anyway only to discover that the interstate was completely closed, forcing us on a 15 minute detour that made us late for church, which was also disgruntling.  But, once we were there, I was so glad to be there.  We haven't been to our church in the last two weeks, though we have been at church.  I missed the worship, and I really enjoyed getting to worship with Barney.  We had a good conversation afterwards about  our church, style of worship, and a bit on the sermon as well.

Barney is a very private person when it comes to worship.  He has never enjoyed sharing in small groups or Sunday Schools, and he has never really found a comfortable way to share his worship or study experiences with me either.  We have had long conversations about this in the past, and lately much of it has centered on making sure that he is sharing his faith with the children.  While he has gotten much better at that aspect of it, he does not do as well with me.  If I initiate a conversation about something faith-based, he will talk to me, but only to a point.  And, he never but never initiates that type of conversation himself.  I know that one of the best ways to strengthen our marriage would be to embark upon some kind of shared worship experience like a couple's Bible study, a devotional, or even a regular couple's prayer time (we pray together as a family at every meal and before the kids go to bed, but we don't have a designated or set prayer time for just the two of us).

I don't know how to initiate it in a way that Barney would feel comfortable with or that would happen in any way other than me forcing it on him, which I know would not be a healthy situation.  Our marriage is lacking in this area, and I don't know how to fix it.