Family Worship Sunday

Yesterday was an exciting day for our church and for our family.   We had a Family Worship Sunday where all of the kids from 1st grade and up were in the service with the adults (we kept Micah in too).  I love our church!  I love that we are being challenged to do things that are outside of the norm.  I love that God is stretching me to try things that I would have never thought to do on my own and that our children are learning to worship with us even at the ages of 2 and 6.  At one point we were singing and I looked at the boys and both of them had huge smiles on their faces and both arms raised up in worship.  They are watching others model a posture of worship and are learning that this is a way to express their love for God.  The message was very visual and hands on.  Even Micah was even able to participate in building a piece of furniture out of playdough when we were talking about the significance of the altar.  He was actually really funny because he kept saying, "Dad, build a sleeping bag!"  Not exactly furniture, but...he's only 2. 

 Last week Jacob came home with a "font of blessing"  that he made the week before in his class.  It is a bowl that he painted and we filled it half way with water.  Every morning before we leave to go out the door, we dip our finger in the water and make a cross on our foreheads and pray a simple prayer like, "Jesus, help me to remember today that I am yours."  This has made a big impact on all of us, but has been especially significant for Jacob as he leaves for a full day of school each morning.  

I have also been reading a book called "Parenting in the Pew" by a pastors wife who brought her 2 boys into "big" church with her every week and very patiently taught them to worship the Lord along side of the adults.  Her perspective has been so refreshing and made me realize that I have had pretty low expectations for what my kids can learn on a spiritual level even at their young ages.  I have gotten super excited as I have been reading this book and I feel like we are all ready to try some new things.   In the past month or two we have seen a real shift in Jacob's heart toward the Lord and toward prayer.  He has become really open and willing to pray in a way we have never seen before.  I feel so thankful that God brought us to Emmaus!  

This week we are starting a small group to put some of these ideas into practice.  Our family has teamed up with the Haskins family to lead a Family Worship Small Group.  We are inviting people of all ages to meet together every Tuesday to worship and pray together and we are going to incorporate really hands on and experiential ways to involve even the youngest of children.  We met together yesterday to plan and just got really excited as we threw out different creative ideas!   I really feel like this is the beginning of an exciting season, not just for our family, but for many others as well.