Revival!

Revival... in my words... a big fancy word for adult Christian Camp, but you get to sleep in your own bed at night.  :) 

Well, our church is holding a 4 day revival that began today during the Sunday School hour.  The "morning sessions" were great.  Basically, they were trying to get you to come to the rest of the week by sharing stories of God's movement among people.  They had some key points, but the one I liked best was this:
    If you keep worrying about what people think, you'll never know what God knows.

That is SO true.  We often worry about others and their opinions that we aren't focusing on what God wants from us.

So, here's the deal.  I really enjoy the preaching and worship at these things (nowadays they are called "conferences" not "revivals").  However, with 2 small children (18 mo and 11 weeks) it's not always convenient when they hold the sessions.  They all begin in the evening and go thru our bedtimes.  As I sat there pondering what to do about the week the guy made another point. 
   This time will go by SO fast.  After today (just one day of Sunday School, Morning Service and Evening Service) we will be halfway through.

That made me also think of all the thousand of times I've heard people tell me that the time with their kids passes by SO fast.  So if that's true, and the time does fly by, then what is it I want my kids to know?  Well, most importantly, I want them to know God's love.  I want them to have a personal relationship with Christ.  This means, I have to set the best example I can... I want church for them to be a safe place and a place they enjoy.  I want to know that when I send them off, they will seek out a church and find that fellowship with others.  This means that I have to set the example.  (And yes, I do realize as my kids get older there will be times that we can't attend an event- this is NOT the end of the world.  There will be games or conflicts, but for the most part I want them involved in church)

I decided that I would attend the "conference/revival" this week.  It's a small price to pay for mixed up schedules.  My kids are too little to really get anything out of it, but I can.  However, I will not let people judge me when I leave at the altar call.  Here's the thing... if you know of, or have been to, a revival then you know the altar calls can be LONG... hours even.  Now, while I don't think that will happen here, I also know that I still have my young kids to consider and their well-being... which does not include staying up WAY WAY past bedtime.  Matt and I occasionally take them out past bedtime and if we can do that for just a normal evening, then we can do it for a church event too.  As the man said, this will be a quick week...  

There's my decision... I will go each evening... (we have nothing during the day that I can't give extra naps or extra downtime to the kids if needed), but I will most likely leave at the altar call.  This doesn't mean I don't feel the need to pray or anything, but I also know I can have that opportunity at a later point (like during a nap when both kids sleep).  I don't think God will be mad for that :) 

We're going tonight as a family and it will be the first time Caylee will get to go to "big church" to sing, then she'll head to the nursery.  The other nights I will take the kids and we'll see if Matt gets off in time.  I'm looking forward to this week and excited about what God will do!