I am a mom and quite a few other things, but I will focus on my role as a mom and wife for this message. Listening to the reflection on Saturday night’s service made me feel guilty and sad that I cannot usually attend that service due to my health. I own that those are self-imposed emotions. No one is making me feel that way. I want to be there; I just have to weigh the amount of time I can spend doing things and how it will directly impact my well-being. This is a constant struggle and prayer for me. It sounded like the youth jumped in wholeheartedly and participated with comfort and a sense of belonging. I feel so much excitement hearing that. For the past 8 years, we have asked our three girls to attend Sunday service with us. A significant change from the years before was when I didn’t feel my children had a place, nor did I want to go to the church where we claimed membership. So, yes, we ask them to come, but they know we ask in a way that the answer must be yes. Yet, I wouldn’t say we force them to come. If they have rehearsals, they are excused. If they are sick or are out for school or life functions late on Saturday night, we encourage them to seek restorative sleep. If we end up being virtual, they can sit in the room with us or do their own thing. Therefore, I find it hard to say we force them.
Church attendance is an expectation. It helps that we stop at Starbucks to fill our literal cups on our way to set up. It helps that they each have responsibilities during the service, as frustrating and difficult as some of those tasks may be. They have yet to say, “I don’t want to attend church.” Zoey, who has been at Sunday rehearsals for Guys and Dolls Junior, tells us how much she misses church. Did we get lucky that our kids are relatively compliant? I’m not sure. I don’t know if we did anything besides be united in our love of Christ and devoted to learning His way. Molly is 19 years old. Yes, she has Autism and various other medical and developmental challenges, but she has a beautiful brain and spirit. We don’t always see the insight at home. She has been forming firm political and social opinions. She is always open to conversation but feels things intensely that can take a lot of conversation and love to work through. So, when Molly asks for the microphone during Sermon Conversations, Chris and I exchange pensive looks. We are never quite sure what she will say if it will offend somebody or embarrass her or us.
Shame on us. Molly is on the path to follow Jesus. We need to relax and trust in Molly and Jesus. She offers a different perspective to our conversation. She is in a minority in our community, being so young, but she has formed a comfort level and trust that she can express herself and be accepted. Between the youth of Saturday evening and Molly sharing so openly on Sunday, I felt the spark of new life growing in our community, which is exciting. I wanted to write out how amazing it feels to be a parent who has defended her child, navigated safe spaces for her, and tried to teach and instill values and morals that reflect the love of Jesus Christ while allowing Molly to form her own opinions. Chris and I are so grateful that The Table exists and are all committed to growing and nurturing this beautiful spiritual community where EVERYONE is welcome. Thank you, my brothers and sisters, in Christ. Keep being you, and keep learning from and teaching our youth. We need them!
By Amanda Renz