New to THIS Child

Friends, it has been a long time.  I began this blog while my kiddos were little bitty and moved into an annual blog there after.  This is a topic I still have lots to explore, learn and share!  The children are now 9 and 5 and asking more difficult questions than ever.  Our youngest just sat through her first worship service!  Not our choice, but how do we tell a child "no" to sitting in worship?  Thus the importance for an outlet and a renewal of Worshipping Parent.  We now have "new to this child" situations and our eldest is giving us new turns along the way as well.

I am reminded how Jesus led the disciples.  Gently and sometimes with one-on-one discussion.  Why?  They needed it to fully grasp what was before them as they followed Jesus.  Expectations are often miscommunicated or not communicated at all within our workplaces, marriages and children.  It isn't that we want to not communicate, okay, sometimes I just want silence, but that's something else.  We just forget.  A typical Sunday morning at our home includes the cat waking me up, although the rest of the family is sleeping, and then a slow movement of the house.  Coffee on, one child and then the next.  Then my husband.  We have breakfast, read the paper and depending on whose day it is will watch yet another Sofia the First episode or the latest movie on a loop. That's when the tower of bliss begins to crumble.  It will be time to get dressed. There are tears over dresses and hairstyles, little sisters bugging big sisters, big sisters snapping at little sisters, and questions that everyone asks and are answered.  Sometimes we forget to say, "This is a joyful day of the Lord!  We are going to church this morning which is extra special because it is communion Sunday. Would you like to talk about what worship will be like before you go?"  Right.  Instead it is a litany of "no you can't wear your Mardi Gras mask for church even though it is fancy" and "did you feed the fish?"

Example...Last week our youngest asked to sit in worship.  I didn't want to say no.  I wanted to joyfully say yes. But, she had already been especially wiggly and we had already burned through our worship bag AND it was the point where Time With Children kids were leaving for children's church.  In front of 200+ people.  At the front of the church.  I said in a whisper with a kiss, "I love you.  Next week.  We need time to prepare for worship okay?"  She smiled and skipped off.  Truth?  When I said "we" in that moment, it wasn't her, it was her dad and myself who needed to mentally prepare for this season of her life and ours.  We (the hubby and I) and we (the hubby, the kid and I) talk during the week, on the way to church and a lot of whispers during church. She was ready and so were we.  We were exhausted, but it was time.

I'm holding on to the title this week of "New to THIS Child" because I don't want to assume Sumner will need the same things her sister did as she worships.  They are different kids with different ways of processing and experiencing life. 

There are so many ways we try to provide for our children's successes in life...education, friendships, extra curricular activities, etc.  Sunday may not be the easiest day, but it is a consistent day of the week we can purposely prepare our children.  We send them to school and have them do their homework so they will be successful adults in the professional world.  We shouldn't neglect the faith foundation building before us either.

Have a blessed week and know you are not alone as a Worshipping Parent.
Rev. Lissa Long