"Let the Little Children Come to Me"

"Is it worth the hassle?"

"It's too much work!"

I am tremendously thankful for my wife who single-parents it every Sunday morning. While I am making sure that I'm ready for Bible class, that my sermon makes sense, and that I have my hymnal opened to the right order of service, she is dressing, feeding, and hauling the girls out the door for 10 o'clock worship. That's not even the tough part, because then she spends the next hour wiping noses, quieting tantrums, dolling out snacks, and doing goodness knows whatever else it takes it keep a 2 year old occupied and a 7 year old paying attention. There are days when I finally get home that she tells me, mostly in jest, "Well, I heard the 'Amen.'"

As hard as it is, it is worth it. It's worth it to me, because I love to hear my girls' voices in church. It doesn't matter if they are crying, laughing, jabbering, or singing incoherently. I love it. I love my eldest's simple yet unabashed confessions of faith as I ask questions during the Kids' Devotion. I rejoice when my two-year-old folds her hands without being prompted because it's time for prayer and when she says "amen" because she knows the prayer is over. It warms my heart when I heard our seven-year-old this morning say with disappointment, "Church is over?" It's worth it to see sights like the one pictured, a daughter who tucks herself in because she is all tuckered out from a busy morning at church. 

As hard as it is (for my wife) I am so glad she does, because she is helping them establish a friendship with Jesus that will carry them through this life and on into the next.

So, is it worth the hassle? Yes.

Is it too much work? It's work. But the reward far outweighs the toil.

I'm certain my wife would agree.