We're Going to Church

Like most people, when we're on the cusp of a new year, we begin to think about what we could do differently in the coming year, how we could change or improve our lives or the lives of others, and many other impactful resolutions, both big and small.  Read below how one year changed the life of a family and the difference just one year can make.

It has been a year since I started attending Jeffersontown Christian Church with my three children, and with any “milestone,” I tend to become reflective, pondering how and why I’ve gotten to this juncture.

We are haphazard attendees, with the goal being to get to a service once a month, and I find I personally like this “unscheduled schedule.”  I take the kids when I feel a longing to be there, when I feel I need to touch base spiritually within a community.  I go because I want to go, not out of guilt or responsibility.

My children have become comfortable with the Worship & Wonder activities and leaders and even enjoyed a week of Vacation Bible School in the summer.  I don’t know how much of the biblical stories are sticking, but sending them makes me feel like I’m doing something to foster their basic knowledge of Christianity.  When it comes to their faith, I know from my own experience that parents cannot dictate what their children ultimately believe, and I’m okay with that. I’m giving them what I can comfortably and honestly give as a foundation.

Nothing outward has changed as a result of our church attendance.  I think my husband, who doesn’t attend with us, worried that I would start praying all the time and proselytizing, but that hasn’t been the case.  In terms of our daily life and activities, not much is different than it was in December 2012.

What has changed is inside me.  I have realized that what I thought was “my problem with religion” isn’t so much with religion but with any person or institution that tries to tell me what I can and cannot think or believe.  I have met nice people who have simply welcomed me without trying to convert me which has minimized a long-held stereotype of Christians as zealots.  Attending a Christian church and becoming more comfortable with what I believe about God even helped me feel comfortable when I was offered a teaching position at a Christian cottage school.

But mostly, attending church, however sporadically, with whatever motivations inspire me, has made me feel that even if my beliefs don’t completely coincide with what others around me believe, they are still ok.  I am ok.

-Carrie Vittioe, Today's Family parent writer

Read all about what prompted Carrie to write this in the 4-part series that published last year.
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, & Part 4.