In spite of all the boredom sometimes associated with church, preferences to be in the play room, occassional requests not to go, and the impression that the most compelling part of the experience might be cookies after the service, I've also noted the following.
When my family was doing a little exercise that involved each of us saying something we like about each of the rest of us, one of my kids listed about me, the fact that I take them to church.
When things came together on a recent Sunday such that we didn't go to church, one of my kids was clearly disappointed.
My kids want to be able to have communion. They will say so, and if behavior issues have caused us to make an exit from the service, they want to get back in in time to receive communion.
To the best of my knowledege none of this comes from any negative motivation such as fear. I don't think things have been presented to them that way and I certainly hope that's not how they've heard things.
I think there are things that genuinely interest them and draw them to church. I don't know exactly what they are. I'd like to imagine deep positive spiritual impulses. It could easily be things much more mundane. Then again, we draw too much distinction between the the spiritual and the mundane. They're intricately intertwined.
I'd like to know what goes through my kids' heads. I'm probably better off not knowing for sure (as if I could). If I could put my finger on it, I'd be likely to go in and muck it up. This way I might keep a more open mind & heart: observing, experimenting, learning as we go, watching for the wind & the flame of the Spirit as it moves.
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