The Sunday Morning Sacrifice part 1
This is another post about worship philosophy...but I've been thinking and talking with Robert a lot about it lately, so I thought I'd share.
I have 3 children, 3 small children, and getting ready for church on Sunday morning has always been a challenge. To complicate things more, my husband has always served on staff at our church, so I basically function as a single mom on Sunday mornings. Let me just pause a minute and say, I know I'm not really a single mom, and that has got to be there hardest job in the world. I am so thankful my husband is at church serving early on Sunday mornings, instead of laying in bed while I take my kids to church alone. But, with that said, back to my story...
One Sunday morning, about 4 or so years ago, I was feeding my 6 month old daughter her breakfast while trying to keep my 2 year old son from getting himself dirty or needing a diaper change before we all loaded up to leave, and to be honest, I was having a pity party. I was thinking about how hard it was to get up at 6:30, get myself completely ready, then wake up the kids, feed them both, get them both ready, and get to church in time to drop both of them off at their classes and make it to the choir room at least 5 minutes before the service started...just in time to put on my choir robe, find my place in line, and take a deep breath. I thought about my husband and how easy he had it on Sunday mornings. Sure, he had to wake up earlier than me, but he got to take a shower, get dressed and walk out the door. Heck, he could even drive through Starbuck's if he wanted (he would never want to do that, by the way, but he COULD if he wanted to). Wah Wah Wah! Then the Holy Spirit convicted me. I clearly felt the Spirit say to me, "This is your sacrifice for me, on Sunday mornings". The Lord confirmed in me that what I was doing to get my children ready was not only a great thing to do as a parent, but was part of the worship I was bringing on Sunday mornings, as long as I did it for Him. He reminded me of all the ministry wives I knew, and how they had done this very thing...Janice Thomas (4 kids), Carol Ann Draper (3 kids), Kim Meador (6 KIDS!) and they all survived! But from that moment on I began to think of that Sunday morning ritual as the beginning of my worship service that day. Carol Ann Draper once said to me, "It's not hard to get to church with the kids, it's just hard to get there happy." Boy is that true. But thinking of it as my offering of worship helps me not to lose my temper as often. It helps me get up a little earlier, and really want the morning to go well, so when I get to church I'm not "undone".
Now, for those of you that are not in the same boat as me, maybe you are at a different life stage, and you do have the priveledge of getting up early on Sunday morning, with your spouse, or alone. You drive through Starbuck's on your way. You arrive 15 or 20 minutes before the 9:15 service, get out of your choir and walk casually to your place of service or worship. I'd like to ask you to be mindful of the people like me. There are young moms that are only about 3-5 years behind me in this parenting journey. They sing faithfully in the choir, they teach Sunday School, they serve in preschool. If there is any way you can help them...do it! I'm not talking about myself, now. I've reached a place on Sunday mornings, where I feel my pre-service time with the kids is under control. I've really got it down, now. But there are others, I think of Melissa Spivey, Holly Putnam, Tiffany Ingram, Ellen Bearden, Marnie Sanders, Liz Walker, Tiffany Crenshaw...all of these women serve. Sometimes their husbands are able to help, sometimes they are not, because they serve too. So when you see these moms, and others you may know, offer to carry diaper bag...all the way to the classroom. Hold a door open for them while they push their stroller through, help them check their children in quickly, so they can be in their spot on time, give them a little grace if they come to choir (or Connection Class) right on time or even a little late. Remember, a great amount was required of them JUST TO GET THERE, help them out when you can. Maybe it could be your sacrifice to arrive even earlier, offer to meet them at their car and help drop off their kids. What would it cost you? 15 extra minutes of sleep? Believe me, it would be invaluable to one of these moms and worth more than you can imagine. Please comment, I'd love to get your perspective on Sunday mornings.
I'll post the Sunday morning sacrifice part 2 in a few days. What do you sacrifice during worship?
8 comments:
Can I get an AMEN?! You are further down the maturity road than I am at the moment. Sunday mornings are often my least favorite mornings of the week. But, I'm trying to put my "big girl pants" on and get on with it;-)
Great post!!
I so totaly understand where you are coming from. I am a single mom and have been for a while. Even when I was married, my husband didn't come either. On top of that, I am a PK(Preacher's Kid) and have most of my life attended my father's church. It was hard with a 6 year old and a 1 year old but was so blessed with people and other couples in the church who walked my kids to class with me, saved my place in line in choir, and even simply just words of encouragement when I walked in frazzled. Yay to those who are willing to do the little extra things! we really do appreciate them!
CC- girl, I know exactly where you are! I wanted so bad to be at church, but couldn't tolerate all the work and prep it took me to get there, and I hate to say this-but I will because I bet you can relate...there are times when I made it, on time, in a relatively stable mood, and I encountered an uptight person who needed to make me feel bad for being a little late. I don't think people have any real idea of what goes on with moms on Sunday mornings. I know I didn't until I was one. There have been many that are wonderful and helpful, but I thought shedding a little light on this perspective might turn people a little less inward, and more toward helping! Love you!
Mary- Thanks for your input. I can only imagine the sacrifice you have made in order to worship on Sundays. Can you imagine how that pleases the Lord?
This was a good post!
Thankfully, we live VERY close to the church and can leave 2 minutes before we have to be there (IF our kids are dressed and by the door). My husband travels during some of the weeks each month, so we are glad to have him home on the weekends if he has traveled!
Good morning my dear friend. For some reason I chose to click on your facebook page this morning and for the first time saw that you had a blogspot, so I decided to check it out. I know now that God lead me to this very area, and I was truly blessed through your Musings and journey's this morning. Yes, it is a rare morning that the Barron household makes it to church without an argument of somekind, but I have realized over the past year that this is Satan's way of attacking my preparation for worship. It is not really my children or my husband, for they are the same as they always are. It is truly that Satan has disguised it so that I feel their tantrums, messy clothes, impatience, or just inability to hurry up is an attack on me! Therefore, I have been known to retaliate, which only delivers us all in a bad mood at the church building front doors with a hurried thought of, "Elaina put a smile on your face! What will people think. You're in ministry!" Thank you for bringing your well received perspective on this. On a side note ur church has actually gone a step farther and stationed volunteers at the doors who's sole job is to help those Mom's to their rooms, get them checked in, carry the babies, and whatever else needs to be done. Thanks again friend.
What a wonderful post! I am so glad I read it. You really hit the nail on the head. I'm beginning to look forward to Sunday morning already!
I have to share a funny story. Several years ago when my children were about two and six it was I who had to be at church early and my husband who had to bring the kids. I held my breath as they walked in, quickly ran to my husband and asked , "Are you okay? How did it go?". To my amazement he says, "I don't see what the big deal is. We actually got here early." But as I inspected the children I could see that neither child's hair had been brushed. I proceeded to ask him if they had brushed their teeth...to which the answer was "NO", if they had used the bathroom..."No", if they had even had breakfast...again, "No". So you see, apparently if we would just be willing to let a few things go, we could get there just fine!
On a more serious side, how many things could we actually let go of to make for a smoother Sunday morning. Does she have to have her hair perfect with matching bow? Why can't he wear his Spider Man boots? Or does it become my caring about what everyone else thinks of me?
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