Everyone's up and out of bed. The boys begin a slightly shortened version of their 'task packs' {Part of our chore system- to be explained in a later post}. Chores are tended to, breakfast is had together - everyone except Dan- as he'd left early to fulfill church responsiblities. Everyone gets dressed and ready. All work together to gather everything that is needed ... you know... the essentials.
The pack of raisins for Noah in church, the sippy cup of milk, and Mimi.
The older boys clean the kitchen and dining room after breakfast while I shower. They tend Noah, wipe his hands and face and get him dressed. As 9:30 nears, everyone heads downstairs to put on shoes. Everyone knows what shoes to wear in church, or so I thought. The boys help Noah buckle into his car seat, they get themselves in. We are ready and had a fairly enjoyable morning. We ride to church listening to a new favorite song,
Manifesto by The City Harmonic.
We arrive in the church parking lot. We're a few minutes early for church so the boys request that we hear it just one more time. We rewind the song to 3:00 minutes, where our favorite part begins - the Lord's Prayer put to a catchy tune. We all sing along, kids drumming on the seat backs, everyone smiling, and hearts preparing for worship.
We hop out of the mini van and begin to walk across the lot - me giving the normal speech. "Noah, you will be a good boy in church. You will sit quiet with Mama.", to which Noah replies "Yes, Mama". I continue, "Isaiah and Eli you will sit like gentlemen and participate in worship. I expect you to follow along in your bulletin, reading prayers where appropriate, responding for responsive readings and I would like, as would God, to hear your beautiful voices praising him!" They respond in unison, "Yes, Ma'am".
No sooner do I finish the verbal routine when I notice Elijah's feet. He had, for some unknown reason, decided to wear tall socks with his winter church shoes. Shoes and socks intended for wear with long pants. He has adorable brown sandals for summer wear with his nice shorts, but today... well... I'm not sure what happened today...
I ask where his sandals are. They're at home of course. I conclude quickly that there's nothing to be done now. My face expressed clear displeasure at his choice of footwear, and I make a mental note to be more mindful of his feet before leaving for church on Sunday mornings.
We are steps from the front door and I realize that by now his head is hung low and he's beginning to cry. He's embarrassed. I'm feeling badly for making him so, and here we are about to enter the sanctuary. Isaiah, quick to come to all our rescue, blurts out with a huge grin- the one he gets when he knows he's about to say something witty,
"It's OK Elijah! We have a silly book at home that says Jesus even heals a man born with no fashion sense!"
"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22
3 comments:
He has his Pa's fashion sense? :-)
Oh and I definitely didn't notice his feet, so you can let him know :-)
Ha Ha! Perhaps he does! I'll be sure to let him know - he'll be thankful! ;)
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