For the Church-Going Mamas

Dear Mamas,

It's Sunday.  It's been a long week.  Some of you work full time and then come home and work some more (for a far more demanding boss: your children).  Some of you stay home with little ones who aren't potty trained and even when they are, they still call you from the bathroom to, well, you know.  Some of you are homeschooling moms who carefully plans out your week to include all the math and reading plus a field trip or two.  Some of you are mamas with older kids and you're dealing with eye-rolling, end-of-the-world-meltdowns over end-of-the-world issues like nail polish and cell phone privileges.

You've done a lot of laundry over the last week.  A lot.  (How do all these little people create more dirty clothes than a small Asian country?)  You've made meals.  Some of those lunches you've packed in the 37 seconds of free time you have in the morning.  Some of those dinners only half the family ate because the other half was protesting it wasn't boxed orange macaroni and cheese.  You've done several bedtimes that consist of 15 trips to the bathroom, another 12 for drinks of water, and the 48 times someone just had to tell you something.

It's Sunday and you are tired.

But you still got everyone up this morning.  You picked out their good (or half way decent) Sunday clothes.  You got everyone dressed despite the grumbling (mostly theirs, some yours).  Your husband impatiently asked what was taking so long and you bit your tongue before you pointed out that you had like 63 people to get ready and he had himself. But you threw a muffin at each child for breakfast (because there's not time for anything else) and load everyone up.  Despite all your rushing and good intentions, you're still late and one of the kids spilled milk all over the back seat.

The service is a blur.  Was that your kid singing the theme song to "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" while everyone was saying the Lord's Prayer?  (No, wait, that was my kid).  Somehow you manage to hear 53 seconds of the sermon (that's a new record) between runs to the bathroom or trips to the cry room.  You try really hard to talk to your friends afterwards but that never seems to work out as you hoped.

The car ride home is loud because your two year old is throwing a Fit to End All Fits about having to be strapped in while in the van (oh wait, just me again?).  Everyone's sort of . . . grumpy.  You're still tired, except more tired because you've spent the last couple of hours trying to keep your kids in line and be friendly and personable at the same time.

Sunday is not done with you yet though because after Sunday comes Monday.  And that means, more laundry, lunch making, backpack packing, ironing (if you do that kind of thing.  It's been years . . . do we even own an iron anymore?), baths, and bedtime (again) to get ready for the beginning of the week.

When has Sunday ever been a day of rest?  Why do you keep doing it?  You could stay in your pajamas all the day long, throw on some cartoons and not do anything while you sit on the couch.  It's not like the kids seem to appreciate your effort.

But they are paying attention.  They are seeing that your church family and worshiping God together is important, even when it's really not easy to do sometimes.  They see how Sundays at church become an essential part of your family's week.  It's necessary, it's important, and, yes, it's hard.  One day, I have faith, it won't be so hard. One day, I pray, our children will understand why Sundays with our church family are important.  One, I hope, they'll even thank us for taking them each week.

I'm counting on it.

Signed,
A Mom Who is Right There With You (and who may or may not have had mis-matched shoes on this morning)