Sitting quietly...

Once every three weeks Dave and I wake our children up early on Saturday and Sunday for worship practice.  Since Dave and I serve together, we have an expectation that our three lovies will sit quietly and act respectfully during these rehearsals.  For those of you who are parents, you understand that this is not an easy expectation.  However, we believe it is necessary for our littles to recognize that there is a time for playing, a time for being noisy, a time for letting out energy and a time for quieting our bodies.  It's not natural for children to sit.  It's a learned behavior, and it's one we started teaching our kiddos from infancy.

Sitting quietly and being respectful is different than requiring complete stillness or silence.  We recognize that our kids are still, well...kids!  So, we give them tools to help them have fun while staying quiet.  Snacks, drinks and craft supplies make everyone happy.  We pack some of Bella and Abbi's favorite foods and juice boxes as well as an activity bag full of; coloring pages, markers, notepads, stickers, puzzles, etc.  I continue to change what's in the activity bags to keep the girls excited.  For Aidan, we keep him entertained in the stroller, or by sitting next to us on stage, with snacks and toys.  Believe it or not, they sit...each week...without complaining or acting disrespectfully.  

Today, after we finished practice, we got the most incredible compliment.  We were told, by a friend and fellow musician, that our children are so well behaved.  He went on to say that while he was on stage he kept watching our three littles and, in his own words, found the scene precious.  While our kiddos aren't perfect, they are indeed precious and they usually meet our expectations of sitting quietly and acting respectfully.  I'm grateful that, because of their obedience, Dave and I get to do something we love!