Wow. Record low for number of entries these last 6 months!! Only 15.

But I'm starting to pick it back up again. :)

I'm here to write an introductory entry on something I will likely be writing/venting about in the near future.

My husband and I are a minority in our church. We are serious about things that our church as a whole is not serious about.

Our church is a good church. But Stephen and I are definitely more serious about how our theology plays out in our lives than the rest of our church.

We're just more serious about faith in general than the majority of our church.

This has come out in several ways since we've been attending this church (which I will call Pleasantville Community Church). A couple years ago, it divided us with the rest of the marriage ministry team when we were trying to pick a speaker for our marriage ministry retreat. Around the same time, it came out every time our small group Bible studies needed a new study.

Now that we have had Micah, it's coming out in an entirely new situation.

Our church has an extensive children's ministry. Even their nursery is highly organized. You can put little Suzy May into the nursery as soon as you bring her home from the hospital, if you want! Pleasantville will spare you the inconvenience of having your children with you in church at any stage of life!

And that, right there, is what we have an issue with. They would NEVER EVER say that that's how they think, but it is how they act. It's how they have shaped the entire church.

Our child is not an inconvenience to us. In any situation.

So. Every Sunday we bring Micah into the service with us. And every Sunday for quite a while now, we've taken him out into the foyer with us because he's getting too talkative (or fussy, when he was younger).

In the foyer, there are glass windows that allow you to see into the sanctuary, which is called the "multipurpose room," because they use it for EVERYTHING. And there are speakers so you can hear the sermon. But there's nowhere to sit. There are two armchairs, which are usually taken up by the worship team members or other people who have responsibilities in all 3 services.

In the women's bathroom, there is a small corner with a couple of rocking chairs and a changing table, and the sermon gets piped into there, too. But for the size of our church--well over 1000 people--and with the influx of families with babies lately (no joke!!! I don't know where they've all come from all of a sudden! I was literally the only person pregnant in the service we attend, and then all of a sudden, lots of babies everywhere!), we're going to outgrow that little room very soon.

So here's how the battle is taking shape. Every Sunday, Steve or I are out in the foyer holding Micah and listening to the sermon. And every Sunday somebody connected to the nursery comes up to us to tell us, "You know, there's this great nursery you can put him in so you can enjoy the service..." And every Sunday we politely tell them, "Thank you, I'll keep him with me."

No crashing swords yet, but oh, I can feel them coming. Every time somebody comes up to me to tell me about the nursery, I bristle.

Part of my problem is that I don't have my reasoning down in stone yet. Stephen has his: He doesn't want other people raising our kids. Plain and simple.

Me? I'm less black and white about it. Especially if we're going to homeschool, we'll hardly be at risk for having somebody else raising our kids. The nursery would be the exception, not the rule.

But I don't want to put him in the nursery either. Or Sunday School. I really would like to keep him with us. I want him to understand what church is. I want to prevent him from having shallow roots in the church.

...Sigh.

I was going to write more. But Stephen is beckoning me to the dinner table. Oy.

To Be Continued...

-Stephanie

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