Well folks, it finally happened. A rite of passage that comes to every preacher's kid at some point in time - despite the best efforts of the parents to be responsible.
I forgot Zach.
Now before you freak out and call the authorities, I'll tell you why.
Our usual Sunday morning routine is that I pick him up after Sunday school and take him to the sanctuary. Usually, I have to get to the choir room pretty quickly to rehearse the choir anthem one last time, but sometimes I don't. The general rule of a normal Sunday is that I leave him in the care of some responsible adult until Gram is in her normal pew, ready to receive him.
Well, then there's today.
Today I was playing the piano in worship. This doesn't surprise most of you because you know I used to do that every single Sunday. But I don't do that anymore. Since we have been in Pineville, I rarely ever play. I am just the back-up, and I like it that way. Being full time pianist is not something I can handle with two boys and the schedule this family keeps. It's going to be obvious I can't handle it after this story.
Since I was playing today and had some things I needed to run over again, I did not go to Sunday school. I was so focused on what I had to do that I didn't even realize I had forgotten Zach until I came out of the choir room after the "one last rehearsal" with the choir and saw Gram sitting in her pew with no Zach. I frantically looked for someone to ask to go get him and saw our associate pastor Thomas. Thank goodness!
This all doesn't sound too bad. Really it doesn't. But then I talked to his Sunday school teacher tonight. It turns out that she was about to bring him to the sanctuary with her because it was time for worship. Zach refused to leave because he kept saying, "Someone will come pick me up." Of course, I now feel like a total loser parent! I apologized profusely. She lovingly understood and just laughed. Thank God for outstanding Sunday school teachers!
In case you haven't noticed, life happens in this family. It's all in how we deal with it. Will we laugh it off or beat ourselves up forever? I've noticed lately that the enemy is trying to bring up my recent failures over and over again to paralyze me with fear. When this happens, I pray for God to "guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 4:7). I pray He will literally set up a military detachment in front of my mind to keep my heart and mind focused on Jesus. This way I am filled with Him and not with things that have been cast "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). So don't let your parenting "snafus" get you down. It even happens to the preacher's family!
I forgot Zach.
Now before you freak out and call the authorities, I'll tell you why.
Our usual Sunday morning routine is that I pick him up after Sunday school and take him to the sanctuary. Usually, I have to get to the choir room pretty quickly to rehearse the choir anthem one last time, but sometimes I don't. The general rule of a normal Sunday is that I leave him in the care of some responsible adult until Gram is in her normal pew, ready to receive him.
Well, then there's today.
Today I was playing the piano in worship. This doesn't surprise most of you because you know I used to do that every single Sunday. But I don't do that anymore. Since we have been in Pineville, I rarely ever play. I am just the back-up, and I like it that way. Being full time pianist is not something I can handle with two boys and the schedule this family keeps. It's going to be obvious I can't handle it after this story.
Since I was playing today and had some things I needed to run over again, I did not go to Sunday school. I was so focused on what I had to do that I didn't even realize I had forgotten Zach until I came out of the choir room after the "one last rehearsal" with the choir and saw Gram sitting in her pew with no Zach. I frantically looked for someone to ask to go get him and saw our associate pastor Thomas. Thank goodness!
This all doesn't sound too bad. Really it doesn't. But then I talked to his Sunday school teacher tonight. It turns out that she was about to bring him to the sanctuary with her because it was time for worship. Zach refused to leave because he kept saying, "Someone will come pick me up." Of course, I now feel like a total loser parent! I apologized profusely. She lovingly understood and just laughed. Thank God for outstanding Sunday school teachers!
In case you haven't noticed, life happens in this family. It's all in how we deal with it. Will we laugh it off or beat ourselves up forever? I've noticed lately that the enemy is trying to bring up my recent failures over and over again to paralyze me with fear. When this happens, I pray for God to "guard my heart and mind in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 4:7). I pray He will literally set up a military detachment in front of my mind to keep my heart and mind focused on Jesus. This way I am filled with Him and not with things that have been cast "as far as the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12). So don't let your parenting "snafus" get you down. It even happens to the preacher's family!
Comments
Post a Comment