As a pastor I confess that my job can get in the way of my family. It’s an ongoing challenge to ensure my family comes before my ministry. There are moments I do that well… and moments I do not.
Last week I had a moment that I did not.
Though numbers are not the focus, we certainly track attendance as a barometer to help us determine the success/effectiveness of an event. With goals set, we chase those ‘carrots’ all year long with the best intentions. One such goal is to maintain strong attendance in our discipleship program from August to May.
Why do you need to know this? Setting the stage, I guess.
Last week was the first week of school. Josie started the 1st grade. She was puh-umped.
All day school… Lunch in the cafeteria… more nervous energy than she knew what to do with.
It was also the first day of KONNECT. (KONNECT is our kids discipleship program.) Now that Josie is 6 years old, she gets to participate in KONNECT. Again, she was puh-umped.
After picking the kids up from school, we ran some errands, horked down grabbed some dinner and headed off to church. Josie was borderline psychotic clearly tired by the time we arrived at church. She’d had a few melt-downs since leaving school. I debated on the wisdom of sending her to church and thus being up 2 hours past her bedtime. I envisioned the following morning and the probability of outbursts that register on the Richter scale.
Despite the wisdom of just keeping her home and allowing her opportunity to rest, I took her to church.
Why?
Numbers.
If she wasn’t there, it would count against our numbers.
Like I said, sometimes I do a good job of putting my family first… and then there are moments like these.
(Cue music as she is crowned ‘Mother of the Year’)
You are to hard on yourself. Josie is fine and she NEEDS to be a part of Konnect. She needs to be in a place where she see’s her peers seeking God not High School Musical.
Kyle is right, you motivation may have been a bit off but tired or not Konnect is great for them.
Can I pile on as well?
The motivation might have been wrong, but the experience is what our kids need. If it’s a quality experience, then get that little 1st grader body ready for the lack of sleep.
And…I’ve totally done the same thing, and felt the exact same way.
Konnect is a great ministry–forget the sleep!! 🙂 she’ll prob benefit more from Konnect than the rest of her schooling career. Just being honest. 🙂
For real… I just love you!
You are an incredible mom and Leader! WOW!