Visiting Churches

As you may have read, I'm a seminary student, so being a church nerd comes naturally.  I love church and have loved church all my life.  I would rather read a church newsletter than People and get excited when I read the titles for the sermons in Saturday's paper.  I know, I'm weird.  But its me and I'm cool with it.  Now I get to not only share my enthusiasm for church with my cute hubby, but with my children as well.

Last week I was the visiting pastor for a church about two hours away.  It is a small congregation and I was told they don't have many children attending.  They do have however a nursery for kids that may come.  Thrilled with the opportunity to have one of my children with me on Sunday (having my hubby would have made me nervous) I offered the experience up to our four year old.  She was so excited!  Even when I told her that her friends wouldn't be there, she was still excited!  I thought to myself maybe another member of the family would be a church nerd too. 

We gathered up on Sunday and hit the road.  Macie was fabulous.  We got to the church.  Again, fabulous.  I thought again to myself how lucky I was to have a child who loved church, any church so much.

This coming Sunday begins my internship and we'll be a two church family for the next three months.  Sometimes we'll worship all together, sometimes we may divide and conquer.  Things will depend on my duties for my internship and/or our church, my husband's duties at our church and maybe the weather.  Macie asked if she could go with me.  My heart swelled...she wanted to go to another strange church with her Mommy.  Then she told me why...

"I just love playing with all the toys at all your churches mommy."

I'm sure there is a theological something in there, but I had to take a Greek exam, tried a new recipe on the family and worked all day so my thinking skills are on low.  The basic lesson for me was, if I want my daughter to love going to church it may just be about the toys.  Sigh.

Screaming all the way...

You are up, dressed, fed and out the door and then you get in the car...baby is screaming because she hates the carseat or the sun is in her eyes or the paci dropped or  or  or ....then there is the 4 year old who because the baby is crying has decided that the buckle is too tight, her finger has a bruise and she probably bit her lip all which require a good cry.  Decisions decisions.  Your morning which was going pretty well and too which you'd already thanked God and given yourself a little "high five" has now turned to mud.  Do you keep going or call it a morning?  We kept going and 15 minutes later arrived to church a little less together and looking like I'd been shot with a bit of electricity.  Cookie time...WE MADE IT! (Hubby taking his Mom back home from staying the week).

Benefits of making it:
1) Baby in nursery and fed by staff
2) 4 year old in nursery learning about "Jesus teaching us to pray" and having a blast (finger and lip healed immediately)
3) I got to worship!  This morning our guest pastor preached on Mark 8...making a personal decision as to who we say Jesus is...
4) Friends and seasoned parents who were amazing with their words of wisdom and support

So my friends, even though I gained 3 more grey hairs for the morning, didn't get to use the potty until I dropped all the kids off to the nursery, and breakfast came in the form of bar...totally worth it.  Have a great week everyone!

PS-Don't forget this tip:  Prepare for Easter Sunday now!  Don't wait, you will HEART yourself for it!

Places to hear God speak during worship (hint: sometimes it isn't the sanctuary)

I took the girls into worship today!  We made it to church on time and with all of our finger/toes AND it was spring forward Sunday!  God is good!  I must have looked less than fabulous though, because by the time we were on our way out to the car I had 3 different people help me along the way.  One precious member even held the baby carrier while the 4 year old decided to dive into the car verses just walking around to the door closest to her car seat.  Why cars are jungle gyms to 4 year olds I'll never know.

Note to self and others for today:  put "give yourself a break" on your calendar and celebrate the Sabbath as best you can.  Today, I took 5 minutes to myself in the church restroom.  There was nobody in there and I knew that I could have 5 minutes all for myself.  I'm not sure "sabbath" keeping means hiding in the restroom, but I'm definitely sure I was a bit closer to God.  Mainly because God was the only one talking.

Worshipping as a single parent

This Sunday my husband will be running to Charlotte to pick up his mother.  I have two choices, call it a day or figure out how to get myself, a 4 year old and a 3 month old to church.  I'm going for the latter for a couple of reasons.  First, there are many many single parents out there that get their kids to church every Sunday like it isn't a big deal.  They make it look easy!  God bless them!  Whether single by separation or divorce, having a working spouse or even a spouse that doesn't attend worship, these parents do what it takes to make sure that their children are an active member of the body of Christ.  Again, GOD BLESS THEM!  Second, I'm sure that I'll have things to confess and thank God for on Sunday..."It is right to give thanks and praise".  Lastly, the body of Christ is also my family.  They recharge me, encourage me and pray for me.  I hope I in turn am able to do the same.

So on Sunday, rain sleet flood or mud, the Long girls will be at church.  We'll be going first to honor and praise the Lord, but on this Sunday, we will be there especially to honor those single worshipping parents and the glory they bring to God by their presence each and every Sunday.

Easter Prep

Just a quick note to remind all us parents that Lent begins with Ash Wednesday.  Lent is a wonderful time to begin setting up healthy worship habits or work on your regular worship routine.  Easter morning is not the ideal day to decide to "get back to church".  With a little routine check as parents we can help prepare our kids for when their church has lots of new faces and sometimes a crazy schedule.

If you have not found a church yet, Lent is also an excellent time to begin worshipping at a church to see if this will be your new church family.  This will be especially fabulous for the kiddos!  By Easter they will no longer be the "new kids" but kids that the teachers, nursery staff and volunteers will know.  They will be able to transition into childcare and the such as a pro by Easter!

Feel free to share your ideas, joys and concerns.  It takes a village not only to raise a child but to parent.

Get yourself some people...it is biblical

Exodus 18:17 and following is one of my favorite.  Here we have Moses who is trying to keep up with everything and everyone in the wilderness.  He's at his wits end trying to glorify God.  Jethro, Moses' father-in-law approaches him and encourages Moses to delegate some of the duties.  Verse 23 reads, "If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain".  Huh.  Pretty smart of Jethro.  What's even smarter is that Moses listens and utilizes the advice!

In the corporate world we might call Jethro's wisdom "networking" or "getting some people", but in our faith community we call it the church.  Now, the church may not show up at your house to help make sure your toddler eats all their breakfast in time to get dressed and make it to church, but they can keep you in prayer.  They can offer you words of encouragement along the way.  May not sound like much, but when you know that someone is waiting to say something positive the mountain is not so bad.  Also, if we take Jethro's advice and apply it to other areas of our lives, maybe getting to worship won't feel like one more thing.  Do you really need to be the only person bringing the class snack?  Can you share the load with another parent?  Do you really need to be the only one who stuffs 200 newsletters or can you share that with a neighbor you'd like to catch-up with over coffee?

Case in point, I just recently had a baby.  My self esteem has been a little low (baby fat and sleep deprivation).  So, I asked for some help.  There were people keeping me in prayer and others who I just requested that for the next few months when they see me to say, "You are skinny and brilliant".  I'm neither, but just hearing someone say it with a smile makes me feel better.  They'd never know I needed these things unless I asked.  In return, I feel better about myself and look forward to the compliment.  Not world peace, but that's okay.

The big bold message of all of this is to work towards realizing that God never calls us to do it all.  There are things we must do.  Jethro didn't tell Moses to just let it go or ditch his responsibilities.  God simply wants us to be our best and sometimes we must share the load so that we aren't under so much strain.  Let your prayer be "God, how can I share the duties to which I am called."

Socks and Shoes

We have to wear them.  We have to make our children wear them.  When we go to church, the debate becomes (at least in my home) which ones to wear.  I have a conservative viewpoint on church shoes.  For my daughter I think she just behaves better when her shoes are plain and comfy.  This becomes the debate...to sparkle or not to sparkle.  While this post is about girl shoes, I'm guessing boy shoes have the equivalent.  So what to do?  Pick your battles right?  This is one that I pick every other Sunday.  On top of everything, my daughter is great at matching stuff, so there is always a sparkle shoe to match her outfit.  This drives me nuts. 

I know, there are bigger fish to fry, but this is one of my daily fish (we debate this Mon-Fri as well). 

Why is this such a big deal?  As mentioned above, my daughter just behaves better with a "quite" shoe.  Also, the sparkle shoes give her blisters which in turn sets up a whole other set of issues around band aids and first aid.  Lastly, and completely shallow...I just don't like them.  Now before the sparkle shoe folks jump after me...I REALLY think they are cute on other kids.  One of the little ones at church has some white/pink sparkle shoes and they fit her.  They are perfect.  Mine, it looks like she's playing dress-up.  Probably why they are so much fun.

So, here is where we stand...sparkle shoes may be worn in the car and then we change into church shoes before our feet hit the pavement.  It has been a good system. 

Now I titled this post "Socks and Shoes"...I'm not sure I've completely figured out socks.  Why do children hate them so much?  We either don't have them on right, or they aren't the right ones.  While I like my girls to wear the socks with lace around the edges, this is not a battle that I force upon my Sunday morning.  If it happens-great, if not-oh, well.  Is it bad to pray for sandal season to arrive sooner than later?  No socks with sandals!

So-socks and shoes.  Yes, we can celebrate the resurrection without them.  Yes, there is no need for them to match or for that matter fit.  Theologically, biblical folks probably didn't bother with either.  Please don't tell the children.

It all began in worship...

So here I was, sitting in worship listening to the sermon and realized that I had witnessed another set of "We Made It" eyes just across the pew.  If you are the parent of 1 or more children, you have made these eyes one time or another.  The "won't somebody give me a cookie" thoughts running through your eyes as you at he same time realize your hose don't match.  It's all good though!  Why?  Because you made it!  You made it to church despite the mornign routine and all that could or did go wrong with it.  You should get a cookie!

This is when I thought about seeking a corner of the bulletin for encouraging parents to be in worship.  A little column that acknowledged that they deserved a cookie.  Then I looked at the bulletin.  It was so full of other awesome stuff, that this little tidbit corner would be lost.  Facebook?  Maybe...but a blog where I could post things along the way, make a "helpful tip" corner and post some pictures as they came in, well that would be way more fun.

So, here it is the first entry.  I promise to make this a regular.  Topics that should be arriving soon include:  Socks and Shoes, You Used to Be 2, and Making It A Routine.  Please feel free to post your stories and helpful tips!  None of us do this alone and all of us as Christian brothers and sisters ultimately want to make it to worship each week. 

Take care and I look forward to the witnessing we can do together!
Lissa Long