We got stuck in traffic on the way to church this morning. There was a multicar accident that shut down three out of four lanes of the interstate for several miles. This was not a 15 minute slowdown. I’m talking stuck. Bumper to bumper. For an hour.

Our typical drive to church is twelve minutes. We usually leave about thirty minutes before service starts, giving us plenty of buffer time. So when the clock is ticking down the minutes until service starts and we aren’t moving, I can sense my frustration begin to build.

My inner critic starts to speak.

We’re going to be late.
We’re going to miss it.
We might as well just go home.

The boys in the backseat thankfully don’t seem to mind. We’ve been talking on and off over the past several weeks about what we can and can’t control. I guess they recognize this was not how I pictured the morning going, but we are trying to stay steady.

My youngest, the ever-optimist: “It’s okay if we are late, mom.”

“Yes, baby. It’s okay.” I think I am telling myself more than him.

My oldest, the not-so-optimist: “We should just go home.”

“Well, darling, right now we can’t go anywhere.”

The time on the clock now reads 11:15. Service has started. There are still cars bumper to bumper as far as I can see ahead of me. We’re going to be here a while.

I remember that our church streams online. If I can’t get to service, at least the service can get to me. I connect with my phone and start streaming the worship through my car stereo. Already I am feeling better. I’m not missing out. Not completely.

Worship ends and we are still stuck. By now I really am considering turning around when we get out of this. We will get out of this, right? What’s the point in showing up just for the last ten minutes? The sermon begins. I’m still streaming in my car.

Finally, after another fifteen minutes goes by, we get out of the mess. By this time we have been in the car for an hour and five minutes. We drive the four minutes left to church. We park. We walk in. The boys go to their classes. I sneak in and find a seat on the back row. This is not my usual spot. But I am tracking. We made it.

Breathe.

Life throws curveballs, and there are a lot of things outside of our control. We don’t always get to choose what is happening around us, but we always get to choose our response to it.

I am so grateful for this season where I have been intentionally slowing down and becoming aware of the presence of God, not just in a building, but also in a car, or a conversation, or a smile. Today my kids witnessed a frustrating situation — and their mom choosing joy, gratitude, and worship through it. My prayer today is that this can be a memory to fall back on when life doesn’t go their way.

After church I went to find a friend and asked her to pray for me. In the midst of that, another woman came and requested prayer too. I was reminded again that this is why I show up in person, even when I am 40 minutes late.

The world would tell me just go home. You’ve missed it. It’s not worth your time.

But faith doesn’t calculate like that.

Faith says, “Go anyway.”
Faith says, “Show up.”
Faith says, “Even if I’m late, God is not.”

I didn’t walk into church to check a box. I walked in believing that if I earnestly seek Him, He will meet me there — whether in a car stuck in traffic, or on the back row 40 minutes late.

And He did — in prayer, in presence, in community.

And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
— Hebrews 11:6