Just Show Up

I asked my mom once how she and my dad found it in them to drag us, kids, to church every Sunday. I know I complained a lot and I’m sure my brothers did too. It had to be hard, it’s hard for me now with my kids.

Her response was, “We didn’t always have it in us, sometimes we struggled."


She explained, when she didn’t want to go my dad would step up and encourage her and she would do the same for him, always supporting each other. They did this because they knew it was important to show up and teach their kids about God, even if they were on the struggle bus. When I was a teenager, the last thing I wanted to do was wake up and go to the 8 am service, but I did because my parents set a precedent in our house.

 When I moved out on my own, I stopped attending church. I only went back when I moved away from everyone I knew and found myself lonely and a carrying strong feeling of missing something. I found myself praying a lot about how I was feeling. Prayer brought me back to church and the feeling of missing something drifted away. I came to realize I was missing my relationship with God.

 As an adult, I am thankful my parents encouraged each other and made me go to church every Sunday. I hope someday my kids look back on their experience being part of the church and have a thankful heart as well.