One further, slightly disconnected thought…most Christians can be heard to say, “Children are a blessing from the Lord.” But we don’t really act like they are. We don’t really want them around. I think we often feel like they are a bothersome blessing.

Sometimes I feel like God has been testing my resolve on this with Bess. She screams and fusses and climbs all over everything and God says to me, “There, do you really believe it? Even now? Is she a blessing?” Yes Lord, even so. Although it sure would be nice if you’d calm her down a bit and grant me a bit of wisdom for I’m in great need.

If we are honest with ourselves, we like sending our children to SS because it gives us a break. We can focus on us, our needs, listen to the sermon and “get” something out of it…children get in the way. They take time. They have to be trained. They break our concentration. It’s nice to sit back on Sunday and take a brief break. I confess to feeling the same way and yet I wonder is this right?

Maybe it is all about training. People attended church for hundreds of years before SS was even invented. Did they stay home when their little ones were young? I think not. But, I also cannot imagine them (the children) being rowdy or noisy…

I picture beautiful children in their Sunday best sitting quietly, hands folded in their laps, staring up at light streaming through stained glass windows…maybe this is a memory of myself minus the beautiful part. I certainly stared at the windows enough…it is the one thing I miss.

I wish I could remember my own training…I guess I need to talk to my mom...I was raised Catholic and in the Catholic Church there is no SS. Children are in church with their parents. There is a crying room, but I can’t imagine my parents spending too much time in there. So I must have been trained or something. Then again, maybe it was the dress.

blessings,

dani

Behold, children are a gift of the Lord… (Psalm 127:3)