This child wants more

Jamie has this need to be with her peers and others. Not just us. We pass our church every day on the way to school and work and she asks if she can go to church. Today, or now. I remark that we just go on Sundays but she wants more. I have to tell her, "but honey nobody is there today, just on Sundays".

We started going to church during our infertility journey when I was feeling particularly dismal. It's a great church (Unitarian Universalist)with an open theology that recognizes the inherent worth of every person. We practice tolerance and freedom of letting others worship and believe as they so choose. (Which is one of the founding premises of this country btw).

We had stopped going to church when we got Jamie, her nap time was 11am which coincided with the time of service, so we just fell out of the habit of going. We knew we wanted to go back some day and when Jamie started asking to go to church a couple months ago, we got back into the Sunday habit.

So maybe it's time for me to get involved with our church community and get her involved with her church community. She is crying out for it. Yes it's hard to do more, but in reading about Spirited children, they need more. More to engage them, more people to be with, more friends to have a friendship with on a regular basis.

I started thinking it would be nice to take her another day, not just on Sundays, and thought maybe Wednesday would be an option. They used to have either a small service or adult RE classes on Wednesday nights, but no nursery or RE for the kids. I was thinking I would be willing to be the babysitter/teacher for an hour or so to get it started. But to make sure I wasn't the only one coming I decided to check with some of the other families who have kids Jamie loves being with. So I asked around today, and yes the mother of the 3 yr old girl Jamie loves (who we met at the Library a couple of weeks ago and just so happens goes to our church) thought it was a great idea, and so did the gentlemen with the other 3 yr old girl Jamie loves.

It just happens that our church is in flux. Our long time minister just left for retirement so we have an internment minister for one year while we engage in the search for the next minister. So we had a meeting this morning about what we were looking for in a new minister and how we would like our church. During the meeting the cry went out to deepen our congregations relationship with one another. I talked to the RE Director after the service and she loved the idea! In fact she had a better one, one in which families worship and have dinner together. She sent me home with a book about it.

Maybe it's time...