Worshipping with young children can be challenging and sometimes discouraging. I've had plenty of Sunday's when I wondered what I was even doing in church since I spent so much time in the hall. But, despite the challenges I have to say that I love going to church with my family.
I love sitting together on the pew. I usually have a child in my lap and one or two snuggled up next to me. Often times I even get to hold hands with Harold. I love the peace I feel there. I love mingling with the saints. I love listening and learning.
I remember being bored as a child and I suspect that my children are often bored too. I know there are days when they wish they didn't have to go to church. I don't think they realize the peace and strength they are gaining from being there together. It points our family to Christ.
All that being said, there certainly are challenges to going to church as a family. I thought I'd share some of the things that have made those challenges a little easier for us.
For most of the really young years with my children Harold was in a bishopric. He was called to the first one when Joshua was just one. He served there for three years. We had a break of about a year or so and then he was called to be in another one for five years. Those were the years I was having babies and getting to church and then sitting alone with my children was a real concern.
One of things that helped me get there with all of them was to prepare the night before. I had to make sure shoes, socks and church clothing were all laid out and ready to go. I couldn't spend Sunday morning hunting for things when I was the only one there to get us ready.
The other thing I did to get us there was that I got up early and got myself ready first. I found that if I got them all ready and took care of myself last we were always late. I had to be first on Sunday.
I had certain strategies once we got to church. The first was to sit near the front. That made it so the children could see the speaker and see their dad on the stand. They just seemed to do better up front. I also tried hard to get a pew on the side. This way there was no escape route for little explorers. I'd sit on the end and they were trapped in the pew. I also tried to sit away from other families with young children. If sat near other children it was always harder.
As far as what we brought to church, I kept it very simple. In the beginning I brought lots of toys and activities to keep the children occupied, but I found that the less I brought the better things went. Soon we were just bringing a few church books and magazines. I only brought snacks when they were babies. Once they were old enough to go to nursery (18 months) I quit bringing snacks and sippy cups. This made getting to church easier, but somehow it also made the sitting through sacrament meeting easier too. It's not that we didn't have some really wild days, but for the most part we managed.
Now that the children are older and Harold sits with us it is much easier. I get lazy about getting things ready ahead of time and getting myself ready first, but find when I do Sunday morning is much more peaceful. We still have days where we are confiscating toys or moving children around so they are not sitting by someone they can't get along with, but worshipping with children is worth it.
Going together to church unifies our family in our faith. It reminds us of what is really important. It breaks up the busyness of our lives and gives us a spiritual breath of fresh air. It lets us remember our covenants and our desire to follow Christ. It draws us closer to Christ and each other.
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