Cry Room Chronicles VIII

As we drove in to church, we thought we were late because a lot of cars were parked by the playground. We've started parking near the playground so we don't have to walk as far after Mass when the kids are done playing. We were not late and no children were at the playground, so it must have  been some sort of fluke.

Walking into church we saw Father and the acolytes getting ready to go in, so we knew we weren't late. We were the first to arrive at the children's chapel as usual. Jacob turned on the lights and I turned on the TV. Lucy wore shoes to church for the first time. She practiced walking around with help. She'll be walking on her own in no time at all.

Jacob decided to repeat some lines from the second reading a few times as he was looking at his own book. His favorite was "forgiven us to God" which strictly speaking is not accurate but certainly heartfelt. He did a lot of chattering during the sermon also. Lucy wasn't as distracting. She wandered around a bit and tossed books on the floor, but not too many or too loudly.

Timmy and his dad Luke came in during the gospel. Timmy was pretty good, just wandering all over every now and then. Timmy and Jacob both wanted to go upstairs after the sign of peace. They pushed on the door together to no effect. Eventually when the parents were ready, we helped open the doors and head upstairs. Jacob took off like a shot while Lucy tried out walking again. I ran to catch up with Jacob. He was in tactile mode, so every light switch, door handle, banister and sign within reach was touched. Walking up to receive communion, he stroked each pew. And also on the return trip.

I saw Colin, James and their parents in the vestibule but didn't get a chance to talk to them. I wonder why they didn't come down to the children's chapel. I hope they aren't concerned with their boys pestering our kids. I think it's been okay the past couple of weeks.

After Mass we headed to the playground which was pretty warm and fun. Timmy and parents didn't join us this week. Hopefully we'll get to see them next week.

In spite of Jacob's chatter, I could follow a good bit of the sermon. In the gospel, Jesus teaches His disciples about praying, including the Our Father and the famous line about "ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you." Pulling out an old cell phone, Father asked us how great it would be if we could text with God. Prayer should be that way--talking with God, building friendship with Him which we bring to our communal prayer at Mass. None of us have as good a prayer life as we should. Too often we go to God just when we want something. We think it's good for us and often God doesn't respond in the way that we want. He really knows our needs and will take care of us. We need to be open to what He wants for us. We could figure it out if we paid more attention to the petitions in the Our Father.