Each Sunday we attend church. Preparation for church will take place the night before on Saturday. My husband and I have several items on our agenda to be completed so that we can walk out the door timely. We really work together well in this area. Such as Ironing, laying out clothes, making sure they still fit, etc. Getting prepared the night before helps us insure that we have done our part to be timely. Nothing is worse than walking into church late.
Walking into church late for several weeks helped me realize that I needed a plan! It doesn’t always go this way, but most weeks we look like we have it together.
When I lay out the childrens’ clothes, or my oldest son chooses what he will wear, I have one rule in my (well more than one rule) but I am a very big stickler on this one. My children are to dress up for church. They are not allowed to look like everyone else. I have explained this to them by telling them they need to look their best for God. Now, they don’t have to wear suits and ties all of the time, but they do have very dressy clothes that they wear on occasion.
My rule is shorts must be khakis or colored, NO JEANS. Shirst must have buttons and a collar. I don’t care how many buttons, but they must have buttons. That just helps the shirt to not look like a t-shirt. This helps to avoid any fights over what will be worn because the expectation is already known. The occasional testing will happen with my teen, but when it does I quickly let him know that if he chooses to wear the item he has on, then he will not attend church or anything else for the next week. Usually, this will snap into his mind, he goes over his week and decides it is not worth it to test me.
My Church Plan:
1. Saturday evening- lay out clothes and iron if necessary. I also, look at my menu and prepare
lunch. I use my crockpot on Sundays unless we go for a picnic.
2. Get all tithing money in stacks for kids.
3. Shower and go to bed at a decent hour.
4. Sunday we get up around 7:30 am and eat breakfast. It is usually something quick to eat and clean
up like french toast.
5. After that, we start to get the little kids ready around 8:15 am, and my oldest son gets ready.
6. By 8:30 am I am getting ready while my husband finds quiet play toys for the kids and turns on
church music. I love to get ready hearing old hymns from the past.
7. At 8:50 my husband starts to get ready, and by 9:15 we both are ready to walk out the door with
the kids. We grab our Bible bag ( It has my bible, paper for notes, and pens) the offering money
and buckle in the children.
8. If we walk out of the door at 9:15 we get there right on time. When we have days where our
agenda doesn’t work so well, we don’t stress or skip church. The occasional tantrum will happen,
or I will forget something and need to go back, or a diaper needs changed. Those things happen.
We still persevere and go to church. We are late, but we get to church.
Cheers!
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