I choose church with my kids NOT because I like the chaos of getting everyone out the door in clothes they think are “too dressy” or because I like hearing the whines of why any shoes other than a tennis shoes is too tight. Because I do not.
I choose church with my kids NOT because it feels like the easy thing to do. Or the thing I want to do when I’m trying to curl my hair with constant interruptions from sons asking about where to find a toothbrush, or because it’s fun to choose an outfit with someone pulling on my leg after finding three of my dresses feel a bit too tight. Because truthfully it’s just not very fun.
I choose church with my kids NOT because I see a huge and constant change in their hearts after the weekly lesson. Or that because by hearing a scripture that week it will make them listen better to me that day.
So nope, that’s not why I choose to go to church with my kids.
Instead, I choose to go to church with my kids because I know it’s a life-long investment. Actually, it’s even more than that. It’s an eternal one that is worth every struggle to get them out the door.
And I choose it because I know that one day the scripture they learned today in Sunday school WILL one day be the one that Jesus uses to direct their heart in a moment of uncertainty. And fear. And they will find truth and comfort in what they’ve been taught. Because it was planted in their heart so the harvest would one day be there.
And I choose church because I know that by bringing them to these four walls where we consciously choose to make Jesus our priority, one day when they’re grown and need the church more than ever, they will be able to comfortably walk in and find a peace within the walls of a church they choose for themselves. And just be able to breathe knowing it’s a place for everyone always – mistakes and all – including them.
Basically, I choose church not because I like the struggle of leaving home but because one day when they are in the middle of their greatest struggle, they will find their home in Jesus.
And that makes every week of “seeing” the outward crazy of making church happen know the “unseen” growth of what is going on in their hearts worth it.
That’s why I chose church.
Quinn Kelly