Whew!

I have so much to share about our Holy Week and Easter celebration today but first a note about my 3rd born who is 3 right now.

If you've never had a 3 year old boy before, the only thing that I can think of to describe them is this.

Life with my 3 year old is like living in a monkey cage at the zoo. He is sweet and wild, loving and angry. Angry in a wild man cub type way. So I was a little worried going into Holy Week knowing we would be attending church 4 times...

He did great the first two services and then by service #3 (Good Friday) he was a little done. Thankfully there was ANOTHER 3 year old boy in the pew right in front of us (the second pew from the front in the church). Why thankfully? Because it took SOME of the show away from us. It went something like this:

Moment of silence

boy 1 (mine): WHEN will it be OOOOVVVEEERRR?????

boy 2 (not mine): I HATE CHURCH!

boy 1 : WHHEEEN will it be OOOVVEEERR???

boy 2: I HATE CHURCH!

Now I didn't even hear this little boy saying these things because I was too busy being overwhelmed by my own 3 and 1 yr olds but his mother told me later when trying to comfort me for my own child's behavior. What is funniest is that these two boys were  both sons of church staff. Both boys are very much raised in the church, disciplined to proper behavior, etc but, well, they are 3.

Do you have a child that is driving you nuts in church? Yes, do train them. Yes, practice at home with lots of devotional time where they are trained in how we sit in God's house. But more importantly, remember that they are sinners. They will always be sinners on this side of heaven. You are a sinner. You will always be a sinner on this side of heaven. No amount of training/discipline/personal example will make them perfect. Ever.

So take a deep breath, dig in to your Easter candy, and keep on keepin on. And maybe invest in some climbing wall time. Perhaps it will keep your 3 yr old occupied for a few minutes.