Sunday night rolled around, and I was standing in front of my closet, trying to figure out what to wear. I’d forgotten to ask Missy what the dress code was. Dress up? Business casual? Jeans and a sweater? It was cold out these days, colder than I thought California knew how to get, but it was still better than dealing with snow. I finally decided on black jeans and a sweater. Comfortable, with the appearance of being more cleaned up. And besides, I could always plead ignorance.

I met the girls at the front entrance where I’d met Missy’s family for Christmas Eve. The place was packed, and it was close to starting by the time I arrived, so we went in quickly to find seats together before it got too full.

It was the same room where the Christmas Eve service had been held, but it didn’t look anything like it had that night. Obviously all the Christmas stuff was down, but even that wasn’t the biggest difference. Art hung on the walls—original pieces, I discovered as we walked past—and the stage was filled with band equipment and a living room setup. The lights were low, and clublike music was playing just loud enough to make you raise your voice when you talked to people. We found seats off the center aisle toward the back and sat down with just enough time to glance through the program before the lights dropped and the band started.

This was definitely not church like I’d expected. The band was incredible; they did a song that had been on the radio for months, and everyone was singing along like it was a concert. A young surfer-looking guy gave the sermon and held my attention far longer than I would have expected when discussing religion. But he didn’t just discuss religion, so maybe that’s why; he discussed life.

The service ended after an hour. The lights came back up, music came back on, and people started milling around like they had done before the service, this time making plans for the rest of the evening.

“So what did you think?” Missy asked after Joy and Taylor took off to track down a friend of theirs.

I grinned. “To be honest, I was expecting to hate it. But I really enjoyed it. It’s … fun. I didn’t expect church to be fun.”

She laughed and nodded. “Yeah. God shouldn’t be boring; I think that’s just wrong. ‘Course, everyone’s idea of boring is different.”

“Heh, true. Well, by my standards, this was not boring.”

Joy and Taylor returned with some other girls and suggested a trip down the street for dessert. Missy and I carpooled together to the restaurant, talking about the service the whole way there.