Church and Children

Church with a large family of little ones is a challenge for even a Saint. Every week, we do our best to attend Mass and keep the kids from erupting in the pew with anything from a loud noise, crying, talking, arguing, making body noises, or picking thy nasal cavity.
Those are just to name a few issues.
Mike and I have 'battled' getting to church for more than a decade and most of those years contain at least one child under 12 months. It has challenged us.....so much! 

The typical Sunday finds us winding our way to an open pew and filing in. I kneel down and do my best to focus on prayer by asking God for help in being a good wife, mother, sister, daughter, and thank Him for all the blessings he has given our family.

Suddenly, I feel a shove against my back and realize that Nick and Noah are laying on the pew and kicking their feet at one another. 

AARRGGHH!

Score:

Peaceful meditation: 0   

Church Challenges: 1

So, I jerk them apart, usually by an ear, and remind them that God is asking us to be especially with him in adoration at Mass. Sheepish, yet suspiciously suspicious looks are staring back at me and my first finger, which is always pointed toward someone. So, I tuck my finger back into its holster and turn around. For at least another 20 seconds...

"Dear Lord.....Noah, stop it........thank You for all that You have blessed us with.....put the books back, Nick............please help, God! Amen."

Mike and I have decided to break our family up into defensive zones of control. We alternate between one with Katie and the older 3(who are fairly obedient at mass) and the other gets the two boys. This has, for the most part, worked out to some degree. It means one of us is walking Katie at the back of church and the other appears to be in a referee/wrestling/disciplinarian role the entire time.

I know that there may be a day in the future when I am sitting in the pew and thanking God for all I have and asking Him to help me be a better mother, wife, grandmother....and I will look over and see a mother with her little children. 

And remember. 

And miss.

So, I am doing my best to love every day and to embrace the vocation of motherhood that He has blessed me with. To also remember that ultimately, God knows my heart and knows my struggles and that He is understanding of my situation currently. 

My Mass may be complex and prayers may be brief and in between a small skirmish, but He knows me and loves me and that helps comfort me during church when I seem to need Him so much.