Sunday Mornings

Once upon a time, I thought it was a great accomplishment to get three kids up, dressed, fed and out the door in order to arrive at church on time.  If you think that is something, you should try getting 21 ready.  Thankfully, most of the time, things go fairly smoothly. 

We start getting the children up at 7:00.  On Sunday, we have a completely different routine than other days.  Everyone has to dress for church and make their beds before coming to breakfast.  Some do chores first, others eat first.  Some have to be dressed in nonchurch clothes because they are really messy eaters.  They then have to be changed after eating.  After the kids and the chickens are fed and all the chores are done, they get to put on music cd.  This is usually a tranquil time, but not always. 

All of the Casa washing machines are broken and we are using the one at my house until the others are repaired.  I took a big basket with me last night when I left and washed last night.  Marc came up around 8:00 and I took some more down and got it going.  At 9:00, the housekeeper still had not arrived.  I disrupted the routine by telling everyone we were going to hang the clothes.  Most of the time, they groan and complain about having to hang the clothes.  Everyone jumped up and excitedly ran outside.  We got those clothes hung in no time.  Then they rushed off to church.

Getting 21 up, fed, dressed and chores done is nothing compared to sitting in church with them.  Before church even started they were trying to get outside and steal the oranges off the trees.  And then, there is always some, usually Katy and Jose that have to sit with an adult because of their behavior.  If I ever go to another arcade, I should be an expert at that whack-a-mole game.  I don't whack anyone, but there is always a head popping up from somewhere.  I am reaching and telling them to sit.  I am shushhing.  There is no worship for me.  This morning we stood for communion.  After I took mine, I was deep in prayer when the kids began to pull on me and tell me it was time to sit down.  I completely lost that prayer thought. 

I breathed a big sigh of relief when the children left for Sunday school.  Almost immediately, I could hear three of them outside playing.  I got up and went to see why.  After herding them back to class, I was able to listen to most of the rest of church.  While I may not be worshiping much, I sure hope that someday the children absorb what we want to absorb.

Terri