2013年6月5日星期三

What do you guys do at the meetings?

“There’s a sleepover at First Methodist on Friday and everyone is going,” I said to my parents. I was in the sixth grade, one of three Jews in class at our Texas public school. We lived in an area where there was at least one church on every block. It took us 45 minutes to get across town to temple,Stainless wholesale stainless steel bangle with rhinestones, where we attended Hebrew school once a week.

“So, can I go? Please?! I’ll die if I don’t go!” I begged, neglecting to mention that missing a social event where Chad Williams was holding court was the real reason.

In this very non-Jewish area of Texas, where we devoured jalapeno poppers and matzah ball soup with equal gusto, my mother always understood the social dynamics we were up against. Her general motto for her four daughters (I was the oldest) was, “I’d rather you girls be social than sit at home like wallflowers,” so her immediate response was, “Sure!”

“Well, I don’t know,” my dad drawled. Whenever we complained about the long trek to synagogue, my father was the one who reminded us, “There just aren’t that many of us Jews anymore.”

When I was young, I hadn’t noticed that everyone headed to St. Anne’s on Sunday while we ate gefilte fish and listened to dinner table stories about ruthless Cossacks. But now I’d come to realize that nearly every social event involved some sort of church sleepover or church youth group, and I wanted in.

“It’s at the church?” my dad asked me. “What do you do all night?”

I wasn’t sure what they did all night at a church, but I answered, “Play games and watch movies and eat pizza.”

After some thought, he relented. “Well, OK. Just be careful,Choose an affordable yet high-quality cell Phone holder.” he said.customized letter logo Soft PVC bottle opener with magnet.

That sleepover at church was pretty much as I’d imagined: We really did eat pizza and sit around and ogle Chad Williams before they separated the girls and the boys and we rolled out our sleeping bags and drifted off to sleep. There was nothing religious about it – except the fact that we were sleeping in a church.

After a few more church sleepovers, it started to feel pretty normal. Of course, my sisters and I still made the drive on Wednesday nights to Hebrew school, but I was most excited to do the church-related things that were the heartbeat of our preteen social scene.

Eventually I started going to church with friends. It’s what everyone I knew did on Sundays. I didn’t catch much of the service since my friends usually found excuses for us to “go to the bathroom,Plastic Card manufacturers directory trade platform for China plastic card manufacturers.” i.e., loiter in the halls chewing gum trying to seem cool.

Since I wasn’t coming home holding rosary beads or handing out The Watchtower pamphlets at the dinner table, my parents saw this as a harmless social diversion. And it was. Until Jesus entered the picture.

Everyone in school seemed to be whispering and laughing about this secret Christian youth group that had weekly meetings at people’s houses. It was starting to become the center of our school’s social life.

“What do you guys do at the meetings?” I asked my friend Lisa, who had hosted a few get-togethers with her sisters.

“We hang out and eat and pretty much just talk,Shop unique Custom paper card with modern style and vibrant colors.” Lisa said. “It’s nondenominational, you should totally come!” Of course I wanted to go. It was the thing to do. I could also hang out with Chad. In the sixth grade, that’s about as glamorous as it gets.

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