p.s. I Love You

I may be funny to my friends but my family just thinks I'm strange.

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Location: French Guiana

Monday, February 21, 2005

Try, Try, Try Again

Sunday I watched in awe as the man who thought he’d never be called daddy, softly stroked his finger tips in swirling circles across his four-year old son’s back. He made slow soft sweeps as his son sat on his lap. The man was watching the pastor deliver the sermon not looking at his son. I watched the boy visibly relax and settle down in his father’s lap. His dad ran his fingers through the boy’s hair and they both seemed that much closer to heaven.

I can tend to be distracted by the small things. The large autistic teenage boy in the back who has a tendency to shout out doesn’t cause me to miss a beat. It’s the little scenarios that catch my attention and cause my mind to wander. The little boy in front of me was also trying to stay in big church. Both his parents were at their wits end. They had stepped out a couple of times to quiet him. They tried coloring, talking softly, holding him but he didn’t want to be there and he keep telling them loud and clear. I’m betting they didn’t catch much of the sermon.

There are several people working on keeping their 4 and 5 year olds in big church. They seem a little young but I know their parents enough to know they haven’t made the decision rashly. Heck, I know from experience that its way easier to keep them in the nursery than to try to get your child to behave and still get something from the sermon yourself. Shoot, if I had my way little princess would still be in the nursery at her current age of 11.

No, that’s not true but she was in the back classroom until she could get something from the adult hour of worship. She didn’t pay attention to the sermon for many years (some people still don’t) but she enjoyed singing the songs of our faith and I loved hearing her sing them to herself in the shower and at night in bed, comforting herself.

Then last week, lo and behold, as the pastor gave the chapter and verse for the sermon, little princess grabbed her bible and immediately flipped open and followed along. My eyes welled up with tears of joy.

To all of you trying to keep your kids in “Big” church: Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but one day they will want to be there. ps. They probably won’t thank you with words but that’s OK too.

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