How "little" are they?

Last night, Don snuggled up to me in bed. I had already put on my CPAP breathing machine (for sleep apnea) and was lying on my side turned away from him. He put his mouth close to my ear and whispered, "What service are we going to tomorrow?" My husband, the romantic.

We decided to try the early service, which starts at 7:45 a.m. We used to attend this service regularly when Deanna was a baby, as she was always up early and it didn't interfere with morning or afternoon naps. But back then, the service was at 8:00. It got changed to 7:45 when they added a third service at 11:30 a.m.

We live 20 minutes from our church, so to arrive on time for a 7:45 service means getting up early-thirty, getting the children fed, dressed, Deanna's hair done, shoes on the boys feet, and ourselves bathed/showered and dressed. For years, we've considered it impossible and have not even attempted the early-morning ritual. But we went to the 8:00 service when visiting Don's parents last week in West Virginia and are having friends over this afternoon for a game of cards and an early dinner. The early service seemed to be the best option.

This morning, we dressed quickly, I threw on some make-up, and we headed out the door. We were about 3 minutes late getting out of the driveway. We had traveled only about 2 blocks when we realized one of the children had left a chocolate pop-tart on the edge of the kitchen table, well within Donovan's reach. As most of you know, chocolate is toxic to dogs, so we turned around and headed home. Pulling out of the driveway the second time, we were running about 10 minutes late. Don commented that we'd be lucky to arrive before the sermon. The early service has no hymns, no bells, no whistles. The Priest processes in with the cross in silence, the scriptures are read, the Psalm said, then the Sermon starts.

We were driving as quickly as the speed limit would allow.

Daelyn: "Wow, we're really flying!"

Daddy: "Well, we're not flying too fast. We have to be careful. There's usually two little police cars that sit right ahead on this road watching for people speeding."

Daelyn: "How little are the police cars?"

Dane: "A lot smaller than our van."

Daelyn: "Why don't we just run over them with the van, Daddy?"

Don and I glanced at each other and grinned. Great way to not draw attention to yourselves when we're late for church.

We arrived just at the end of the Gospel, in time for the sermon. No speeding tickets, no crushed "little" police cars. Just a slightly disheveled family smiling radiantly as we slipped into our pew.