When Church attendence seems like an episode of Survivor

Keeping three small children quiet and obedient during church is a daunting task!  Getting them ready for church on a school night, feeding them, getting to church on time is even more daunting!

In our first year back to Maryland, we resolved to attend Sunday morning church service and that is basically all we managed. We had good intentions for Sunday night and Wednesday night but frankly speaking, the amount of energy it takes to get 3 kids ready for church on a school night and keep them up past their bedtime was simply too overwhelming. 

Recently I had the pleasure of speaking with two of my childhood friends who are sweethearts and had children 20 years ago so they've already been through this.  They encouraged us to persevere for these reasons:

1. Consistent and regular attendance shows your children this is important.
2. The effort is worth it in terms of meeting with other Christians mid-week and getting that spiritual boost that comes from fellowship.
3. It becomes easier over time.

So with year two in Maryland, I'm resolved to attend Wednesday nights for these reasons:

1. They have children's church on Wednesday night so I can dispose of the 2 oldest for 1.5 hours!  Violette will probably stay with us until she's 3 but that's only one more year.
2. We did one Wednesday night recently and despite having Violette cry all day from shots and a bee sting and worrying about how she'd do - she simply fell asleep in church and we had a most enjoyable evening!  This just goes to show most of the anxiety pre-church is just worries for nothing.  Doesn't Philippians 4:6 say "Do not be anxious about anything"?  Maybe it's time to put this to use and see what Wednesday church can do for our family.

So there, it's in writing!  Now we must make it happen!