The service was almost over. The song of invitation had been sung, decisions had been made, and the pastor had asked us to have a seat so he could introduce a couple of new church members. Sydney had been pretty good during the entire service, but she was getting restless. As I began to quietly gather the toys and coloring books she had amused herself with for the previous hour, I heard her start to softly sing:
And I...stor-endure...all to You...all to You.
I smiled to myself. She loves to sing.
She got a little louder. I...stor-endure...all to You...all to You. The lady in front of us turned around and smiled at her.
I didn't worry about the noise. After all, the pastor was just making a couple of announcements and then we would be dismissed. But as it turned out, he had several announcements that day.
Her singing grew louder still.
I...stor-ENDURE...all to YOU...all to YOOOUUUUUUUU!!! And now she was twirling too.
I began to feel them....the stares. The gentleman at the end of the pew glanced our direction. He didn't smile. The pastor didn't show any signs of wrapping it up, and I tried to catch her eye to motion that she was being too loud. But before I could, I felt something. A hesitation. I wouldn't really say I heard a voice, more like I felt it.
She's singing to Me. Don't you dare silence her.
So I sat there for a minute. Had I totally missed the point? The irony is that I had sat through an entire sermon that was about being bold and not being afraid to live out my faith, and I was shooshing my daughter for being too loud in her praise.
Has the Church missed the entire point? I'm all for teaching our children to be reverent and holy, but are we expecting too much? By having these great children's ministries with children's church and preschool programs where the kids have their own service, are we missing the boat? I'm not knocking children's ministry...our church has a fantastic one...but lately we've been asking ourselves if that's what's best for our kids. I want our kids to enjoy church and sing sweet little songs and make friends and do cute crafts. But I also want them to see Shawn and me working through our own spiritual struggles, giving financially, singing praises, and, yes, sitting quietly and listening to a sermon.
And I'd like to think that if Jesus were the one standing in the front teaching, He wouldn't mind if the kids got a little restless. That it wouldn't bother Him if instead of sitting perfectly still in their primped and pressed church attire, they acted a little silly and maybe got a little loud. I'd like to think that He'd smile at them and pat their parents on the back as they walked out. "Thanks for bringing them today. I enjoyed having them here."
And I certainly don't want to teach my daughter that when she's doing something for God in a few years and maybe getting a few uncomfortable glances or maybe even getting questioned a bit that the correct course of action is to be quiet. So I'm learning...I'm trying to relax a little...every now and then I get it right.
