The church struggle

Since leaving Pasadena, Matt and I have longed for a church community. Amsterdam community was challenging to find, Chelan was bleak ... so Seattle feels like a breath of fresh air. Christianity in the Northwest is suffering for sure, but there are some really great churches doing some really great things in the Seattle area. Through word of mouth and a month of visits, we narrowed it down to two churches that we were really excited about ... then came meetings with Pastors and worship leaders and so on to discern what these churches musical needs were and if there might be a place, a really meaningful place, for me to serve in some sort of capacity. We have spent the last three months kind of bouncing between these places, visiting a new one every here and there, and honestly often just staying home ... because going to church (especially new churches) with little kids just plain old sucks. 

Due entirely to our life decisions, Calvin doesn't identify "church" as one place ... which may end up being a cool theological thing for him in the future, but right now the reality means that no church is familiar .... and therefore no church is a place he feels comfortable being left in Sunday school. So church becomes the struggle between letting Calvin scream it out, or suffering through service with him. 

Enter the other child ... the one whose nap time falls directly in the middle of most Sunday morning church services, the one who has decided he HATES the nursing cover which results in body spasms and screaming, and that is just generally unhappy because he's tired. Combine the two children, sitting in the midst of grumpy old people who can't help but tell you that there is a nursery available (code for "get your kids out of here"), and the fact that trying to meet the kids needs while being respectful of the people around you ends up being a morning out that is 99% exhausting and 1% meaningful ... and that meaningful is really only because you got out of the house and were around other people, not because you were able to enjoy or participate in worship. 

Does this sound familiar to any other young families? 

We are dedicated to being in church every week and to raising our kids in the midst of a community of believers. But we feel guilty for all the change, tired of all the drama and stress of attending church (aka walking the kids around the narthex), and have decided to just wait to take the kids to church until we are able to pick one where we'll be long term (still awaiting some music opportunity info). So we enter into month four of church transition ... yuck. We are feeling anxious and ready to finally settle down, endure the kids screams for a month, and just get everyone plugged in and comfortable. 

This link was flying around facebook today and was so encouraging to me ... and I hope others read it too, including those that don't have small children. We are a community of faith. This was a good word for me today. I hope it is for you too. 

http://iamtotallythatmom.blogspot.com/2013/05/dear-parents-with-young-children-in.html