Free Not Alone: Trusting God to Help You Raise Godly Kids in a Spiritually Mismatched Home by Lynn Donovan, Dineen Miller Page B

ready. A little reward on the way to Sunday School never hurt anybody! Sunday mornings became much easier for us with just a tiny bit of preparation. I also began to pray for Sunday morning on the night before. Right before bed I prayed something like this:
     
    Lord, cover our home with peace tomorrow. Place in my children an excitement for Your house and love for Your people. I ask You to place in me a spirit of calmness and patience. Place a peacefulness over my husband as well, Lord. Don’t allow me to become angry and disappointed. Keep me from comparing my family to friends at church, and make me ever mindful of the fantastic and unique blessings that our family receives through Your gifts of abundance. Lord, give me energy and enthusiasm to cheerfully get my kids ready for church. Help me to breathe the Holy Spirit into them and to love them with the love of Jesus. Make tomorrow a beautiful day, and let me worship in Your house. Fill my spirit with a fresh fire and a holy anointing to walk out my faith in the coming week, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
    Often after church I would take my daughter shopping. She always looked forward to church and to whatever adventure I had in store for the afternoon. These days we frequently met my husband at a local restaurant for lunch.
    We moms were made for community, and our kids need community too. Make every effort to encourage your kids to participate in youth group and youth activities. Save money so they can attend youth camp every year. Let’s be the mother who drives our kids and their friends to midweek youth gatherings.
    Since making a few adjustments on Saturday evenings, Sundays are now my favorite day of the week—every week. And I wake with joy and expectation wearing my woo-hoo-it’s-Sunday-morning smile with great joy! So can you.
    When Dad Objects
    Over the many years that I’ve served in this ministry for the spiritually mismatched, I’ve come to find that in general, men aren’t averse to their children attending church. In most marriages husbands appreciate the idea that their kids receive moral training. This is normally true as long as Dad isn’t expected to participate in any way. What do we do, however, my friends, when Dad protests? This is a difficult area in which to be definitive. The diverse dynamics comprising a marriage come into play in this scenario. With this understanding I share my thoughts on handling conflict with a spouse who is opposed to the kids attending church.
    I will be blunt. For me taking my kids to church is a mountain that I would die on. I hold a strong belief in the function and benefits of the body of Christ. I’m convinced, without a doubt, that our children gain much from the people of faith. They are exposed to believing adults who love Jesus. They make friends who are like-minded in faith. They gain a community that teaches morals, values and love.
    As a believing mother, I am able to be an amazing example to my children every day of the week, but God created us for community and for worship. For these reasons and so many more, I would stand upon this hill with Jesus at my side and relentlessly embrace this conflict with my husband to meet somewhere in agreement about Sunday morning church attendance. I recognize that these conflicts are ugly, hurtful and can be passionate on both sides. But I’m convinced that with God and much time in prayer, traveling this road pays off.
     
    [Jesus] said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children” (Mark 10:14,
NLT).
    Keep your eyes focused on the eternal: salvation for our children and for our husbands. The battles can rage, but with God on our side, whom shall we fear (see Ps. 27:1)?
    The Payoff
    My good friend Shelly has been married for 24 years. Her son, Rickey, recently shared with me a few words about growing up in a spiritually mismatched home. Rickey is 21 years old. He says,
     
    I have to