I don't often preach on my blog, but I had a crazy week last week with repairmen in my house for 3 days. In fact my husband told me as he went out of town, "there will be a repairman here about 4 o'clock." Fine with me. Well 4 o'clock came and went of course. About 6:20 p.m. I receive a call from the repairman to see if I was expecting him and I told him "yes, but I thought around 4, " to which he said, "4 to 7." So I said for him to come on, realizing it might infringe on my Wednesday night 7 p.m. church class. Meanwhile my son and I dive headfirst into editing his research paper which is due in two days. Long story short, the repair went long and my son and I had some quality time together and got that paper nearly complete. AND I felt terribly guilty over missing my church class. I can't remember the last time I missed. We never miss because of homework, either. Not a good feeling. Then I wondered if anybody missed me. And I started thinking I should check up on people more. Not make excuses why they probably weren't there...
Which leads me to my main pet peeve about parents and Wednesday night church: Not attending because their kid has homework. Give me a break! People make time for what they want to make time for...and I guarantee if you have a policy in your home that you attend your church's midweek service unless you are sick and dying, your kids will find a way to get that homework done at other times. So you see, it will actually help them to manage their time better and become more efficient. In the long run, what really matters? Head knowledge or the heart? If tiredness or something else is your issue, I urge you to make a change so that you can attend. I can't tell you how many times I went when I was dog tired because of the example for my kids. But I was always glad I did because I either gained insight into scripture or was encouraged in song or just talked to someone.
So, I'm telling you now, the next time a repairman shows up at 6:20 p.m. on a Wednesday night, I am sending him away. No matter how bad I want my internet fixed! A little good guilt goes a long way.
"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another and all the more as we see the day approaching." Hebrews 10:25
5 comments:
Amen. Totally agree. Go bossypants! Let's hear some more pet peeves.
I've already been guilty of skipping Wednesdays due to Gavan being gone & I'm just plain worn out BUT you are SO right. There should be no excuses if I want to set the example for my kids. I need to set it now so when homework enters our lives, it shouldn't be an excuse option! Thanks for this!
It never occured to me that people would skip Wed. night because of homework. I guess it's because of where we live and most attend every service - especially the children because of the Home. I remember hearing someone say years ago that sometimes they didn't feel like going. Until then I never realized people considered each service a choice. To me, it was a decision long ago and we just "go". It's not something that it decided on each week or each day. Preach on, sister! :)
How many people let their kids miss Wed. night church because of homework, but wouldn't let them miss a ballgame, or other extracuricular activity.
Melody, I think you do have a good excuse to miss church. It's hard being there without your spouse with little ones.
I'm guilty of this sometimes because of teaching late on Wednesdays. It's heartbreaking to only be able to see your child for less than an hour that day and then take them to class followed by bed. I agree, though. They would definitely benefit from going to church more than cuddling on the couch.
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