<Note: Comments made about this post (as well as its popularity) have motivated my wife to write some more specifics on how our family does this>
Peace at church is important. And we have found that one way to experience it is to not be late.*
Our goal is to be sitting down before the singing starts, having eaten a hot meal together and having left a straightened house. Ideally the dishes are washed or are being washed in the dishwasher.
If you want to know how we do it, the trick is to (A) get as much done as possible the night before and (B) get up on time.
(A) Here are the things we do the night before (and by the way, much of this helps with enjoying the Sabbath by doing the work early):
– Get clothes ready for the kids, making sure that we have clean socks and non-lost shoes and outfits for everyone.
– Get clothes ready for the adults.
– Plan the breakfast and prepare it as much as possible, cracking eggs if we’re making scramble eggs, mixing up the recipe if we’re having oatmeal bake.
– Pre-set the table.
– Make sure the house is straightened (Okay this doesn’t have anything to do with getting to church on time, but it’s more peace-inducing if you know you’re not coming back to a disaster.
– Make sure the kids have all taken their baths.
– Get the girls long hair combed.
– Get all of the kids’ bible bags ready, as well as whatever we’re bringing to church.
(B) Getting up on time is the tricky part. For us it comes down to the fact that we would probably always be late if it weren’t for Debbie telling me I had to get up. But we’ve learned what time we need to get up to get to church by 9. (6:30-7:00).
So having said that, I was humbled by this video put out a couple months ago by Desiring God:
It doesn’t matter if you are punctual if you have had to be angry at your kids (and each other) to do it. I just read this to my wife and she thinks I should confess that we are sometimes guilty of anger (when we get up closer to 7:00 than to 6:30). But this Sunday we did pretty good.
* If you don’t need to be on time to have peace in church, you may disregard this post.
The Responsible Puppet 
15 comments
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February 2, 2009 at 7:56 pm
Molly Piper
Abraham and I have been discussing this a lot lately. I’m sooo glad you wrote this post! We kept asking each other, “Is there a way to get out of the house on a Sunday morning so that you still want to be at church?”
We’ll definitely need to talk through our Sunday morning plan of attack and take some pointers from you all. I’ve found myself wondering, “If it’s this hard with just 2 kids, how are we gonna do with more?”
February 2, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Chris
If I ever stop to look at the newspaper on Sunday morning–even just a little, we are late for sure.
Before I got married and had kids, I was never late for anything. It’s not their fault–I just always try to get more done before I leave than I can actually accomplish. I haven’t learned good time management for more people than myself. Sometimes we are even ready well before it’s time to leave, but we’re still late because I will try to get something done while we’re waiting, or one of us will remember something we have to do.
The only way I can really be on time for anything–not just church, is to pretend I have to be there 15-20 minutes earlier than I really have to be there. So when I write appointments on the calendar, I’ll put 8:45 instead of 9:00. I also keep all of our clocks and my watch running 10 minutes fast (except in the living room).
February 4, 2009 at 12:30 am
bethyada
Our solution is go to a church that starts at 10:00.
(That’s not the reason we go to it).
February 4, 2009 at 10:15 am
abigail
Tom and I read this out loud together the other night and watched the video. Very helpful and convicting. Of course, admitting this to you means that you can ask us about it later, especially when we walk in late to church. Rats… I mean, good good. Being on the worship team often sort of forces “on-time-ness.”
Our problem hinges around the same thing as yours (although I’ve never seen you all be late).. if we don’t wake up early enough, everything is off. Which hinges on going to bed at a reasonable time. Easier sad than done for us.
ps. I tried the meme.. posted it yesterday.. want to see what yours would be and if they’d be different than the karaoke choices.
February 4, 2009 at 11:51 am
jamsco
“Of course, admitting this to you means that you can ask us about it later, especially when we walk in late to church.”
Well, the fact that we sit close to the front means we don’t notice when people come in late. Except for the poor people who are ushered to the front row when the sanctuary is full. I try to give them my condolences later.
So, if it makes you feel beter, you could come in after the sermon started and we would never notice.
Thanks everyone for the nice comments.
And Bethyada – what about Sunday School!
February 4, 2009 at 11:55 am
jamsco
Oh great. I just noticed that while I meant
Getting To Church On Time
I typed
Getting To Church One Time
!
Not good. But it’s fixed now.
February 5, 2009 at 2:17 am
bethyada
what about Sunday School!
Jamsco, Sunday school for adults seems to be an American thing. Sunday school was developed for children some time ago. In commonwealth countries that term still is used in that manner.
The structure of our service is worship, notices, prayer, sermon and communion (not necessarily in that order). There are at least 2 blocks of singing. Communion is not weekly (though I think perhaps it should be). Sermons can be teaching or exhortation (our sermons are 30–40 minutes). Sometimes baptisms occur.
While different churches run their services how they want, most probably have a variation on the above theme.
There is no Sunday school, which I assume is a teaching class that precedes your church service.
The exemptions would be Brethren who have 2 services with teaching in one and singing in another and people come to either or both; and the Seventh Day Adventists who have a teaching session prior like your Sunday school, but then they will be using a US program.
February 5, 2009 at 10:02 am
jamsco
Okay, we’ll give you a pass this time. But if you ever move to the US, we’ll be asking questions.
February 8, 2009 at 10:17 am
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February 8, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Molly Lilja
Thank you! This is a great reminder, we were late to church today… the culprit… SOCKS!!! Uhg, those darn lost sock can really set you back. Two goals this week… buy more socks that fit and match, etc. (who knows what happens to them?) and then set them out Saturday night!!!
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