Training Our Children to sit in the Meetings

Training your children is never easy. In fact sometimes it can be downright exhausting! Joshua and I want our children to enjoy going to the chapel on Sundays and learning to sit through the meetings. Let me tell you that with restless, busy, noisy little children that is no easy task. We have tried many different things and finally hit on a plan that works for us right now.

We have started "practicing" at home in the evenings having our family Bible time where we sing, read the Word of God and pray. Gideon and Tirzah are expected to sit on the couch with us quietly, except when singing where we encourage them to sing with us. It has been delightful to see Gideon starting to sing! He at first started off just singing whatever words came to his mind "rabbit, trucks, kanga" but he picks up on words that we sing like "shepherd, Jesus, etc" and he sings those words now. He is proud of the fact that he can sing. (He is singing right now "I'll walk with Him always"). It is precious to us that they learn to worship at an early age. Gideon also says "amen" after every prayer and asks after every prayer in the meeting "done?" At the meetings they are allowed to play quietly on the pew with their toys, look at books and I bring their cups and a snack--goldfish is their favorite. When one of them acts up--normally Tirzah they are taken out until they are ready to come back and sit still.

We make them sit through the first meeting at our chapel which is the quietest the Breaking of Bread--our worship service. Then usually the second service they will either play in the nursery with me watching or another mom or grandma. Sometimes Gideon wants to just sit with Grandma for the meeting. But we've decided to give them a break if they want and let them play if they want to. Then after lunch we have a third service in which they normally take a nap or rest.

It is not easy to train, it is honestly exhausting! I come home so tired in the afternoons! And I don't judge moms or think hardly of them if they choose to stay in the nursery with their children because I know it is so hard to train. We rejoice in little victories like where Gideon and Tirzah both sit fairly well through a service or they fall asleep or we hear them singing. We want them to grow up loving to worship!

At home singing

This picture is from a while ago, notice the passie

Sleeping on Aunt Lydia's lap