We are learning more and more that it truly does take a village to raise a child, and I could not be more thankful for our village! This morning, we were up to help lead music, and with my parents not being able to be at church this morning, we had childcare to figure out! This was the first time we’ve lead music without the help of my parents through the service. And thanks to our trusty “village,” we were covered!
As I was trying to figure out exactly how to arrange this a few days ago, I realized that, really, 3/4 of our kids would probably sit tight at our bench without too much fuss. We could either put Solly down for a nap, or slip him downstairs into the nursery, and the other kids would probably just stay put at our bench, and sit or stand through the songs. However, isn’t it always the moment you walk away that one kid bites the dust and falls face first into the wooden bench? Or someone tears a page out of a hymnal? Or someone dumps the goldfish? I know this is always a possibility, and figured it would probably be somewhat irresponsible to just leave them to it and hope someone would jump in and help if need be. A few days ago, I made brief mention of having to figure this situation out here on the blog, and a loving friend said she’d happily lend a hand and keep an eye on the kids. YES! You guys have no idea how something like that lifted so much pressure off my shoulders!!
So I took her up on it! Solly is feeling down and out these days (we think its just teething) so he easily went down for a rest at church when we arrived. The other three sat at our usual bench, and our friend came and joined us just as Brady and I had to head up front to start music.
What a RELIEF it was to have someone so willingly come hang out with the kids! We had to be up a total of three times, and she just spent the service with us. Once Dekker and Laela got to go downstairs for childrens church, she quietly entertained Rowan and told us to just enjoy the service, which is not our usual! We’re in that stage of life where we are usually quietly speaking to our kids or out walking one around something or another, but rarely do we get to focus on the actual service. Church is more about the routine these days, and teaching our children the importance of attending as often as we can swing it! But today, we got to pay attention, and that was SUCH a gift! Rowan was super happy, too, to have a new friend to whisper with. He loved her!
Before our last song, Solly started to cry. Someone came to get us, and Brady went to retrieve Solly. But that was about to make things complicated, because we knew Solly would cry if we passed him off when we went up to lead the last song. He is not abnormal in the way that he cries if Brady or I leave, but recovers quickly once we’ve gone. But we were assured everyone would be fine, so when it came time to go up, we headed up to the front in the midst of Solly’s cries. When we made it to the front of the church and faced the congregation, we witnessed our lovely friend carrying Solly out, holding hands with Rowan, bringing him along. The crying had stopped before we even started singing, and the three were back in the service in a moments time. Solly was completely content after that.
I say again, what a RELIEF. It went SUCH a long way to know my kids were being cared for by someone who was so comfortable with them, and wasn’t afraid of a few tears. That kind of willingness goes a long, long way <3
We’re home now, lunch has been eaten, and ALL FOUR KIDS ARE NAPPING!! What a great way to wrap up an already lovely morning.
Have a happy Sunday, friends. Reality starts again tomorrow!