The shout of the redeemed?

I posted this on my daughters' blog but I'm adding a little to it for mine.

Last night we (actually) went to midweek at church. ALL of the kids there seemed to be a little hyper for some reason and were running around like maniacs. Karis kept whining that she wanted her daddy (he was up on the drums) and would cry loudly when I explained that we had to wait until he came down from the stage (thank God the music was loud so I don't think the 15 other people that were there heard her). Shiloh kept running over to the other section where Allena had her kid's snacks out, and was especially drawn to the cheese she saw sitting there in a plastic bag. I went over about 3 times to get her away from the snacks and when I took the cheese bag from her she flashed a huge smile and said, "Okaaaaaaaaaay!" Then when she realized I was taking it AWAY from her, not to GIVE to her, she would start crying! Then, after worship, Shiloh was still running around the front of the stage and decided someone was doing something she didn't like. I'm not sure if she was yelling at me, Aunt Melanie or Pastor Ray but she stood practically in the middle of the floor and started shouting (complete with hand gestures), "NO! Dow avay! DOW AVAY! Top EH! TOP EH!!!" Which is translated: "No! Go away! GO AWAY! Stop it! STOP IT!" It was HILARIOUS!!! I still laugh whenever I think about it! But ugh, it was hard work last night chasing those kids around. And forget about entering in to worship. It's nearly impossible with the girls in there. Wish we could drop our kids off as soon as we arrived at church...but that's a whole other blog. Like THIS one, for instance!!!

So yeah, time for a vent. I have not entered into worship in almost 3 years (since Karis has been born). Why? Because our church keeps the kids, even nursery age, in for the entire worship service. I know WHY they do it. They want the kids to experience the presence of God the way we adults do. They want to teach them how to enter in to the presence, etc. But the reality of it is, they are NOT adults and don't have our attention span. They'll dance and get involved for about half of the first song and then play and run around the rest of the service. All they see is a huge room with lots of space to run around and play, they don't care about worship! I know we're not supposed to have or voice opinions about the way God (supposedly) told our pastors how to do things but why can't He tell the leadership to have at least the nursery age kids dropped off in class as soon as they arrive and let them have their own AGE-APPROPRIATE worship service?!?!?! Get the instruments out, put on a Hillsong Kids worship song and do it that way?! Not only would the babies and toddlers be taught (on their level) how to worship and experience the presence of God but the PARENTS would also be able to enter in instead of chasing their kids around for an hour, trying to keep them from distracting everyone else around them, and only feeling more guilty not entering in (or left out because they obviously can't) when the leadership encourages everyone to enter in (or corrects those who are not). It's very frustrating. They want me to enter in but they (or God) aren't making it very easy! Sorry, just how I feel right now.