Make Church a Priority.

One of Cody’s new duties as a part of the youth ministry is to write a bi- weekly column in The Contact, the church’s newsletter.  I could not be more proud of his article for this week and wanted to share it with you.

School is out, summer is here, and our lives just got a bit busier. I am finding that this is especially true for parents. Every conversation I have with a parent involves all of the events they shuttle their kids to and from. These events can move you to a different part of the sate every day of the week. The temptation we find during this hectic season is complacency. When baseball, softball, theatre, golf and music keep us moving at a constant pace, the thing that usually gives is church.

One of the things you notice when you work with kids is that they (often, but not always) become like their parents.Making church a priority in your life does not guarantee that your kids will do the same, but if you don’t, it is almost certain that they won’t either We have a lot planned for this summer, and I know your kids cannot attend everything, but I hope to see them as much as possible. I also hope that when you drop them off at the church, house, park, restaurant, or wherever else we meet over the summer, that you will stay for a while. We can always use the extra help and I would love to get to know you a little more. 

One of the main questions that we talked about with the youth committee when they interviewed us was “How do we keep our kids involved in church after they leave our youth ministry?” Cody and I both believe that it’s important for students to start asking questions and learning to search out answers in the Bible now, so that when they get out into the real world, they will already have a base for their own faith, not just the faith their youth minister told them they should have. We were shocked once we got here and realized that church is an option for a lot of students… students whose parents are involved in church, yet don’t make them get involved to.  This really amazes me and is hard for me to wrap my mind around, because church wasn’t an option growing up. 

Now, I realize I only have a nine month old, and while he is starting to show some defiant attitudes, I know it’s no where near what he will be as a teenage boy. Someday I will probably beg for the days when my biggest problem was keeping Griff out of the pantry and telling him no when he gets into Dakota’s food. I read a blog the other day that said something along the lines of - “Is [this] an easy choice? No. In fact, it’s the hardest choice for me. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t the right choice, and as a parent, I need to make the hard choice to do what is best for my kids.”  There will be a day when getting G up and ready to be at church by 9 will be a struggle. He’ll probably sit with his friends on a Wednesday night, complaining that I’m mean because I took his phone away for some reason or another. You know what? I’m ok with that. I want to make the hard choices and know that I’m giving my kids the best chance to continue to be involved in the church even after they graduate from youth group. 

If you’re a parent in the trenches, making the hard choices to get your family to church as often as you can, keep up the good work. Your child may not understand it now, but they will thank you for it someday!