"Time to make the donuts....."

I sometimes help to lead worship in our church service and I am always anxious to see the expression on the faces of the people in the pews when I ask them to "Please stand and join me in our next song." Some of them look really enthusiastic and ready to sing God's praises and some of them look like they may be plotting some slow, agonizing torture for me if I ask them to stand up one more time. And some of them, believe or not look like they just can't get themselves excited about singing one more song for crying out loud! I can mentally hear them saying with that monotone voice of Fred the Baker in those old Duncan Donuts commercials, "Time to sing a song...." To be fair I think all of us have felt this type of discouragement as we live our daily lives. We could say "Time to get up again" or "Time to go to work again" or even "Time to go to church again." Anything that is routine can become monotonous, even worship. Oh boy, I just breathed a sigh of relief that I wasn't struck down for saying that out loud-but I truly think that is how all of us have felt a time or two. So how can we remain excited about worship? What can we do to help us stay enthusiastic about our time spent with God? One thing that can help is don't limit your time together with God to Sunday mornings. What I mean by this is that if you are spending some time with God throughout the week then Sunday is a day to hear His word and praise Him for all of the things that happened throughout the week-good or bad. Sunday is a time to be with other believers and to give encouragement and strengthen those bonds with one another. If you are saving God for Sundays like you might save "good clothes" for special occasions, then God is going to left hanging far too long in the closet of your life. When you seek a relationship with God, everyday should be a special occasion-even if you spend it cleaning the house in your pajamas! It may not feel like it, but every day that we can read the Bible, talk with others about Him and praise and pray-those are reasons to celebrate! If everyone became weary of doing good and following God, then we would live in such a dark and evil place. In Galatians 6:9 it says, "We must not become tired of doing good. We will receive our harvest of eteral life at the right time if we do not give up." Wow, eternal life? Talk about a life goal! I know that there will be times in al of our lives when it will be extremely difficult to find the strength and encouragement to go on, but that is when we definately need to turn to God and let Him fill us with his strength and grace. Routine does not have to be a burden. Praising God in all ways should be looked at as a privilege and a blessing! So, if are thinking "Time to (fill in the blank)" I would ask you to look at your task at hand again and even if it is cleaning your toilets-try to find some good in what God has given you to do and praise Him in the midst of it all! In fact I have to go do my dishes-woo hoo! I know, I know, it is nothing to get that excited about, but at least I know that God is with me through it all even in the midst of my everyday routines. I will leave you with this 1980's commercial starring Fred the Baker-and remember the next time you are in worship and someone asks you to stand and sing just put a big smile on your face-even if you are planning on "meeting" with them later in the church parking lot! Be encouraged-not discouraged! Blessings-Nicole Here is a link for that commercial-just copy and paste! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=petqFm94osQ