Maybe we are knees? Elbows? Tonsils?

Do you feel like you have found where you fit in the body of Christ? I'm not sure. I love my church, and definitely feel like our pastor is the best match for us that I know of. We went to lots of churches when we were looking, and none of them was right for us until we came here.

The truth is, we are difficult.

Carlos has a degree in Theology and we both prefer sermons that are well-thought-out and give us something with substance. We've both spent an unfortunate number of Sundays with pastors who tried unsuccessfully to wing-it with a bunch of catch phrases and, occasionally, a desperate reliance on the worship team to step in and rescue them if they got stuck or floundered too hopelessly. (Yeah, I know that is harsh, but sadly, it is true).

Also, as snobby as it sounds, good grammar is important. We visited one Spanish church where the pastor missed the subjunctive every. single. time. Not an occasional lapse, but nearly every sentence. It was so distracting to us as Spanish teachers that we had difficulty concentrating on the message.

We also like a strong worship team where we feel free to participate. At some of the churches that we visited, the actual worship team was fantastic, but the congregation seemed comatose. They were barely singing, and I wouldn't have even felt comfortable clapping or lifting my hands, let alone dancing, because it would have distracted everyone.

Carlos and I both get bored when the announcements (which are already in the bulletin) and offering take up a good twenty or thirty minutes. Petty, yes, but I am being honest.

I want it to be small enough that they notice whether or not we are there, but large enough that we don't get dragooned into helping out with everything that needs to be done.

Finally, it is really important to me that our church be multi-cultural. If everyone in the church looks alike, and comes from the same background, and speaks the same language, we won't fit.

Writing all this, I know how it sounds. I deplore the culture here in the buckle of the Bible-belt where church-hopping is normal. I'm the daughter, grand-daughter and daughter-in-law of pastors, and I applaud the idea of, "ask not what your church can do for you, but rather what you can do for your church." And I remember the adage about not joining the perfect church, because our imperfections would ruin it.

We've been at our church for five years now, and I love it. It fills all of our "requirements". But I am still getting that twitchy feeling. I especially miss worshiping in Spanish. Interestingly, some people that I am very close to have been experiencing the same thing, and some of them have even felt led to leave their churches (they attend different ones from ours, although that is irrelevant).

I don't know. I'm happy with where we are at. But the twitchy feeling is still here.