Worship thee always...

Come, let us worship and bow down,
Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand...
Psalm 95:6-7

One thing I have come to know in the last few years- God has grown my heart to worship.  Over the years, we have had opportunity to worship in many settings, in many places, and that has been especially true in the last couple of years, as we travelled to raise support to get to the mission field.  We have worshipped in extremely traditional services, and those with a contemporary bent.  We have worshipped in rented school buildings and in hotel conference rooms, in large modern church facilities and in buildings nearly a century old.

And the same remained true upon arriving in Costa Rica.  We have experienced Sunday worship with several different bodies.  Such kind people.  All with a true passion for praising our Savior.  And yet, we weren't settled.

In the past month, our path was directed to a fellowship of believers and finally, we have a place.

By North American standards, I guess the building where we meet would be considered a humble place.  No back and forth discussions regarding carpet samples or paint colors here.  The building is right next to the street, and traffic can be loud.  So can the rooster out back and the puppies the next lot over.  But the congregation welcomes us heartily, and the pastor preaches grace every single week, and we are thankful to be there. 

But I am ever mindful that, truly, worship isn't about Sundays only.  I go back to that old Puritan prayer on worship from the Valley of Vision-
Let me live wholly to my Saviour,
free from distractions,
from carking care,
from hindrances to the pursuit of the narrow way.
I am pardoned through the blood of Jesus—
give me a new sense of it,
continue to pardon me by it,
may I come every day to the fountain,
and every day be washed anew,
that I may worship thee always in spirit and truth.

Amen, y amen.