Cannot believe I forgot to post this....

I will ine up for my fourty lashes at the end of this post....

I completely forgot to post this...
I started the thread "A question about prayer" and many folks chimed in to answer many of my common questions.

Thank you.

Also, I had come to a self realization that I was expecting churches and parishoners to be perfect. I have learned my lesson.

Anyway....

Last sunday me and the kids went to church!
(Husband had to work. He runs the convention center and there is no out)

The church we visited is a Southern Baptist. I liked it because (And not intending to offend anyone) it was not a non denominational church. It was well integrated, with all the races present, and the Pastor, and other ministers were not dripping in money, at least not in obvious ways.

Now, here is the funny story that I could not wait to tell you, then I got distracted by this weeks activities....

My twins had been to school before. But never Sunday School. Sasha had never been away from me. No sitter, no day care, no preschool.. nothing. I cannot walk around the corner, in the library, while leaving her with her daddy, without her freaking out. Major seperation issues, right? Well apparently not!

They give the parents buzzing beepers, to be notified if there is a prob with your kid. I sat in the main sanctuary in the service and this is what I was writeing in my notebook....

Probverbes 20:20. Honor Mother and Father. Precher is nice, and good communicator. People are well dressed but not overly so. Good music, fun songs to sing.

I wonder if they gave me a dud beeper?

John 1:12.
Only the born again may be a child of God.
Nice Lighting system!

This beeper has to be busted!

THEY PASSED OUT Chocolate to all of us mothers for Mothers Day! Te lady next to me and I agree that we must come back to this place! (hahaha)

Ok, it has been 40 minutes. Now I KNOW this beeper must be busted!

.................................

So, I got up at the end of the service to check on Sasha. She was fine, no worries. "Hey, Mom!" was all I got as she continued to play. I told her I was going to go aagion for a while and she was like, "Ok, bye!".

Sniff sniff..... :cry:
She's not freaking out without me!
It was ALL ME!!!!!!

Ok, just thought I would share....

 

Glad you found a church that you seem to like. My dd (2) LOVES :love: her Sunday School teacher. She's never away from me except at church, but when we say "church" she says "I see Dee Dee!!"

There are so many worship styles available now in most denominations. Since you felt comfortable, visit again. You may have found where God wants you!

 

This is the way I felt when we visited our church the first time. It was awesome. It is a small Bible church. Since then I joined the worhsip band, am going to volunteer in the baby nursery (to get my baby fix!), met wonderful people and made friends, and have come close to a few of the pastoral staff members. If you haven't realized...God is really pointing your direction out to you. I think it's great!

 

JenniferErix,
You crack me up ! LOL. " I wonder if they gave me a dud beeper? "
When my son was little at least twice he ran out of Sunday school with the teacher chasing after him and once he laid down on the floor in the hall and went limp when she tried to pick him up. It's great your daughter enjoyed her class. :lol:

Sherry

 

Actualy I "HAVE" to go back, this sunday.
See, the kids, who run this house, were informed of the "FOAM ROX" buble party that is going on at church this sunday. So If I even TRY to "Sleep In" I will be roasted at the stake! hahahaha!

 

I just wanted to add:

If you are in church and you see a woman with children, no man and no wedding ring, do not assume she is a single mom. Because if you do, it WILL come out in how you look and talk to her.

I got this vibe seriously at this church and it pissed me off.

My ring was not an expensive one to begin with. My wedding ring came from Walmart. It broke one day and I do not have the money to get a new one. A week after mine broke, my husband was standing in knee deep water at the beach. We took the kids for their first beach outing, ever! Yea! The twins held on to daddy's hands so tightly, that they slipped his ring right off. We live in Houston, we go to the beach in Galveston. Murkey nasty Gulf of Mexico water. The ring was gone.

I told my husband that I supposed we are so married that we don't need rings anymore! << I like that.

But I do resent the atitude from other people.
Such as, "Oh! You ARE married! SO where is your Husband? Where is your RINg? DO ya'll do "THAT THING" where you do need rings? Weren't you married in a CHURCH? WHy this, why that?.. UGH! As if no ring is an invite for personal questions.

I think I am going to go to the food store, pop a quarter into the candy machine and grab a toy gold ring for next sunday. Oh! And maybe I will go grab a blow up man to take with me! hahahahaha!

Just be kind, because you never know who you are talking to, nor how wrong you could be.

I am married for 15 years to the same man. My children were born of love in marriage and all have the same father. Their father is not a slacker by any stretch of the imagination, he is running the show, where he works. Sure I would like to have a new ring, but honestly it is only to get "Sticky eyes" off my hand!

blah!

 

I acually got jelous!
How pathetic is that???
:roll:

 

I have considered do ing the baby room thing. I am thinking of it for sure, but being that I have only been there once, they most likely won't let me.

They are big on only letting "Members" help oput, because of safety issue. I could be wrong, though.

 

Oh,hon!
I was so SURE that the beeper was a dud! It HAD to be, you know? Either that or they drugged her ,or something.

Either way, I had to find out.

Turns out, she was fine.
And I was the spaz.

Oh well....

 

Jennifer, look into the baby room thing if you want even though you aren't a member. Our church let's non-members help as long as you have been attending regularly for awhile.

And about the no ring issue...I would be upset too. It's not a very Christian attitude to have when being so judgemental on someone regardless if it's true or not.

 

Wait, though. Jennifer, they just met you, right? This was your first visit, right?
Maybe they thought you might be in need of help. Maybe they were looking for a way to speak to you and this was a way to break the ice, even if it did seem offensive.
I know there are insincere people in churches, but these might have been genuinely concerned for you and that's how it's supposed to be.

How do they know God didn't send you there BECAUSE you needed help? See what I mean?

Also, don't get ticked if they won't let you help in the nursery. I'm a Southern Baptist, too, and you must be a member to do things there. I don't know if it's a SBC thing or just my church's thing.

 

Jen, when I taught 2YO Sunday School, I remember Sally being in the nursery and coming down with a baby to peek in her room, and bursting into tears because her little guy was actually having fun his first day in "real" Sunday School without her, LOL! REALLY!!!

My cousin also had to deal with the ring thing. For some reason her ring was giving her trouble so it had come off. Her DH worked on Sunday, so she attended without him and with her two kids. Then one week she mentioned that "My husband is planning on coming with me next week!" "OH!!! Are you married?" It took her by surprise.

As far as helping goes, keep in mind that these people really don't know you or anything about you particularly. They need to keep the little ones' safety formost. As such, they don't want just "anyone" in there with them. Our church has a "two adult" rule. This is not only for the children's safety, but also so no one can accuse an adult. It's not really a Southern Baptist thing, but some churches are more cautious than others. And in big churches, you have to really be careful because you don't know who is picking up whom. In my old small church, you had to have a number to pick up a kid. One time a grandpa came to pick up the kid, and I gave him a hard time because he didn't have the number. "How am I to know you're not going to run off with her?" Of course, he was a well-known person in our church, but I had a good time teasing him, lol!

 

Well, Jen and Jen! :lol: You do have to be careful. Most churches are supposed to have everyone "signed up", meaning they are supposed to be registered or something for legal reasons. The church could be sued if anything DID happen and the church had not checked the background of the person at fault! It's too bad a few have ruined it for everyone else!

 

No fear...we do a sign up thing. Everyone's names go into a registration and such. My point was this...we have people who have been going to our church for 2 years or more but never became a member (don't know why). I think those people should be able to serve and help just like any member being they have been going there that long. Being in a smaller church we need all the help we can get sometimes.

I also think that when you open your church like that to people to be able to serve right away it not only welcomes them, but it helps them get to know others quickly. My hubby started working in the youth group within 6 months of attending our church and has been active since. Me, I started singing in the worship band within 4 months and have been doing it since. When you are trying to grow your church from tiny to bigger like we are trying to do, you have to give some consideration to things like that in order to grow your church. One reason we stayed at our church is from the welcome we got and hospitality to be able to serve. I know there are some wierdos out there, but even someone who is a member can turn out to be a weirdo. A guy who was a long time member at a local church here in our county attended and was a member for 10 years in that church (not ours thankfully!), then was found guilty of molesting boys. His record before this incident was also clean and clear. Anything can happen...it's the chance you take. Being a member doesn't mean anyone is more or less moral or trustworthy.

 

That's a good point Becky. They may have been just trying to get to know you and who you are, or wanting to help you out. It may just have come across differently at that time.

 

Our church requires people to be a member for at least 6 months before TEACHING Sunday School, though there are exceptions. I know this, because I was an exception! But my DH had attended a Bible Study led by the pastor and his wife when he was first a Christian, another of our pastors came from our "old" church and know us well, etc. So we weren't strangers to them. Also our church is a "mission" church located in a "bad" area. So we are a bit cautious. When people start attending regular, they are permitted to help in Sunday School or the nursery, but it's WITH someone we know well and not alone. I make up the nursery schedule, and am careful who I have these people working with. We also have some guys that help in the nursery. Guys are not permitted to change diapers, and they are always scheduled with a woman.

 

People work in teams in our church as well. There are always two people with any group of children at all times, and a lot of times more. A lot of times our teams our husband and wife as well which is nice.

 

It makes it so much easier for scheduling when there are husband/wife teams. Though we do have a husband/wife that are rather new. I was told to split them up while working in the nursery until we get to know them better.

 

Hey everyone!
Thanks for your replies!

The ring thing: The only thing I can say is that I have learned to "Get over it" because no where are you going to find perfect people. Heck! I'm not even perfect, so I need to get over this ideal that people at church are somehow supposed to be above human frailties.

Also, when it comes to how people treat you and getting the wrong message; it is one of those "You had to be there" kind of things, meaning you would have to have seen the eyes, the tone in their voice and such and so forth.

But no worries, again, learning to deal...

Now, regarding helping at the church. I totally appreciate any church who does not let just anyone waltz in to help. In fact, the more stringent they are, the more comfortable I am leaving my kids there. And yes, this past sunday was the one and only time I had attended. So, again, completely not offended by having to wait to help. Very happy it is that way.

jen
:-}

 

Is anyone's church big on the teens helping out?