The song “10,000 Reasons” meant a lot to me this past Sunday. My favorite version is by Matt Redman and is probably my favorite song of all time. I actually just heard it for the first time less than a year ago when a guest singer sang it at an outdoor church service that our church held in a local park. I don’t think I even made it out of the parking lot before I had it downloaded to my phone. There was just something about that song that hit home.
Well, this past Sunday I needed to listen to this song on my way home from church. The reason was my two-year old.
Let me explain…. When we are home, I’m pretty diligent about talking both of our boys to Sunday school and church. Part of this is because I’m one of the Pre-K teachers. Now Axten (who is 2) is kind of young to go to Sunday school, but most of the time Kevin’s out doing chores and dealing with the cattle, so I have to take Axten with me.
Hudson has always been pretty good in church. He’s really been an easy kiddo all around. I’ve always gotten comments about how well-behaved he is during church.
Then Axten came along and he’s the complete opposite! It’s hard for him to sit still and be quiet, so an hour of Sunday school and then another hour of church can be very frustrating for this mommy.
Now I’m very lucky that Kevin’s family is always there to help me. We take up a whole pew every Sunday. Hudson usually sits down by Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Nancy in the middle, and Ax and I are towards the inside aisle. Aunt Nancy always has fun things for the boys to play with, so that’s one less thing I need to remember when getting out the door every Sunday.
Most Sundays we can usually make it to the children’s sermon with no incidences. Axten likes to “sing” along with us so that keeps him occupied towards the beginning of church. Then two fruit snacks usually gets us through the sermon and to the end of the service.
This wasn’t the case this past Sunday. He was antsy and being a “two-year-old” from the very beginning. He didn’t want to go up for the children’s sermon so I carried him up there. He was being loud so I then carried him out of church, had a little discussion with him, and then came back in.
That lasted about two minutes and then he was acting up again. Now I’ll let a little bit go because I do realize that they are kids, but I could tell that Ax was not happy. So we went out and into the restroom. Well, that was a mistake….
Axten proceeded to throw a temper tantrum in there. I figured at least the last few pews of people in the church could probably hear him, but there wasn’t a whole lot I could do about it. I tried to get him to calm down, but it took a few minutes before we could go back into the church service. When I got back to our seat (about half way up) I asked my sister-in-law if she could hear us. She said yes with a smile. Ugh!
After the service was over I have a few moms come up to me with a sympathetic smile and said that they have all been there before too. I also had someone tell me that they boys are so well-behaved, but I’m thinking that maybe she was a little hard of hearing or just being extremely nice!
Anyways, it was a frustrating morning. I have no clue what the sermon was about. A friend of mine, Katie, has written a similar post recently and I totally sympathized with her after this past Sunday’s service. Now I know it could have been a lot worse, and I know that it’s just a stage that Axten’s in, but it’s still frustrating. On our way home I turned on this song (10,000 Reasons) and it help put everything into perspective. It was just what I needed to hear after not hearing most of our church service.
We’ll be back at church next weekend and hopefully it goes better than this past one! Otherwise we’ll be listening to that song again on the way home!
Do you have any tips or tricks to getting through church services with young kids and getting something out of the service for yourself? If so, please leave a comment and let me know what it is! Thanks!
Love that song. Gives me goose bumps every time I hear it!
I know! Me too!
We used to put a bag of tricks together. Color books, books, quiet toys, etc. Since they are too young to get much out of the service, they didn’t listen so it helped distract them. Switch the bags contents to “mix it up” and they don’t get bored. Good luck, we’ve all been there!
Michelle-
Great idea! Our church actually has little bags similar to this hanging in the back, so the boys usually grab one of those!
I always had a “busy bag” for church, but some days that didn’t matter! Sometimes what you get out of it is knowing that you are doing the very best for your children by instilling in them that God’s house is a special place to visit on a regular basis. 🙂 I can look back now because I’m just barely past that stage, but it will gradually get easier! I remember being frustrated too, that I often had no idea what the service was about. But hang in there! Some days are just like that with two-year-olds. 🙂
Diane- 🙂 Yes, I know I’ll look back on these days and wish for them back…. Just have to remember that when I’m frustrated now! 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
It’s funny how songs can come on at just the right moment – kind of like we were meant to hear it :). When my oldest was little, it seemed like if we went every week, he did better, but if we missed one week, it was harder the next time. It is hard for little guys to sit for so long especially with Sunday school too.
That’s so true LaVell! 🙂