How sexy can I make church?

The next morning was Sunday, and I had a devilish idea.

I had agreed that Sunday would be Charissa's day off. She would go to church, of course, and then have the rest of the day to herself. We had discussed over dinner the previous night her calling her friend, Amy (another college student I'd used as a babysitter), for a ride after church.

Charissa showered in her usual routine, walking back to her room dressed in just a towel while I made pancakes for Sunday morning breakfast. She came to the table in a very casual outfit, basically pajamas, as presumably she would get dressed for church after we ate.

"You know, I was thinking," I told the kids as I poured syrup over my pancakes. "Maybe we'll go to church with Charissa this morning. What do you think?"

"Oh, do we have to?" my son said.

"I think it's good to go every once in a while, and I'm sure Charissa would love to show us around. What do you say, Charissa?"

She smiled very brightly and perhaps with a bit too much enthusiasm exclaimed, "Yes! I'd love for you to come!"

I smiled as well and told the kids, "Well, that settles it. When you're done eating, go and put on something nice. We'll go out for brunch afterward, and if you're good, I promise to take you to ice cream." As usual, that got that motivated!

Charissa helped me clear the table, and with some nervousness I ventured forward with my plan. "You know, when I was a kid, my dad would bring us to church a lot?"

"Oh, really?" she asked. "Did you like it?"

"Ha," I replied. "Not really. But actually he started to make a game of it and that helped a lot."

"What was the game?" she asked, stacking dishes in the sink while I started to wash.

"Well, we did different things. One I remember doing a lot was we had to leave something really important at home, something we almost always had with us. The goal was to try to forget about that thing while we were at church, to be paying attention so much that we didn't notice it was missing."

"Wow, that's really cool," Charissa said.

"Yeah. When I was like 6 or 7, I was totally attached to this little toy bear that I could carry around in my pocket. I always had to have pockets in my pants and shorts so I could keep it with me. So I'd try leaving that sometimes. Or, when I got older, I might leave my wallet or my keys. It's weird, but also pretty liberating."

"We should try it!" Charissa said, playing right into my hand.

"Yeah, that'd be fun," I agreed. "What do you think you'll leave behind?"

"Gosh, I'm not sure. I'll need to think about it," she said.

"Me too," I agreed. We talked about other childhood memories as I finished up the dishes, and then we parted ways to get dressed. I put on a nice button-down shirt and slacks, and I left my wallet on my bedroom dresser. I brought my ID and a hundred-dollar bill; no credit cards today!

I struggled to keep my cool when I saw Charissa in her form-fitting sleeveless brown dress that, I suppose, passed for fashionable church-wear among the young people.

I don't think my sister could have gotten away with something like that, but thank God, times have changed! She put her phone in her purse as we got ready to go, leaving me to wonder what she might have left behind. And, more importantly, how would I find out...