Church Matters

When we were at church yesterday, Will asked, ‎"Mama? Why aren't the angels at our church anymore?" I had to explain to him that the choir doesn't always wear robes, but they were the same people who sang the other times, too. That one goes right up there with the time he asked, "When can I be bath-tized?"

We stepped out of our normal comfort zone and chose a large church. It has a lot to offer for the kids and me. One of the advantages of a large church for us is that not too many people notice we have triplets. We don't have to call ahead to make sure there is enough room in the preschool class for them, and we don't have to call and say we aren't going to be there. With smaller churches, the crowd seemed to rotate about our three babies, leaving Will off to the side.

We have been attending the same church off and on for the almost-three years we've lived here. The little kids enjoy their classes, and we've gotten to know several of the preschool teachers through Sunday school, mother's day out, and Tuesday morning Bible studies. Will enjoys going to "big church" with Allen and me, and will sit calmly, quietly, and still for most of the service. When he gets tired of watching the preacher, he reads his Bible, but I know he's listening because later he asks us questions about the sermon. I'm okay with that, and I am thrilled that he is thinking. Will really seems to enjoy Sunday school, too, especially when they gave him his own Bible. He takes such good care of it and he is proud that he can read it, even if he doesn't understand it all yet.

We go to church for a while, then flu-RSV-H1N1 hits and we stop for the winter. Our church shows services on television, and I still stay involved in activities during the week, but once we are out of the habit of going on Sundays, its hard to get back to going. That's been the cycle since we moved here. When we aren't going in winter, I don't feel guilty. We still pray as a family, I read the kids Bible stories, I participate in Bible study and MOPS. God isn't out of our lives, but just as we limit the germs in the winter, I feel like I have a ceiling on my spiritual life when I'm not at church.

As my friends and I have been planning MOPS for the fall, the fact that I was not a member of the church came up just briefly. Not everyone in our MOPS group belongs to the church, and not everyone in steering belongs to that church. One of my friends said, "Sarah, you come to Bible studies, you pay for mother's day out, and you are already involved in the ministry of this church through MOPS. So why aren't you guys members?" Sometimes it takes a simple question to get me moving and this one did just that. Allen and I discussed our reasons why and came up with "why aren't we?"

So, here we are.
In a large church.
Three years later.
Now members.
As of yesterday.