Pandamonium in the Pew

I have three boys. Twins that are 7 (almost 8 but I am in denial) and a 4 year old. We sit together in church and as we sit and try to worship (try being the key word there) I am always distracted. Constantly. Someone is either filling in the circle they drew with the pencil and it is deafening it is so loud. Or a shoe is thumping the wood of the pew. It could be any number of little things that distract me from worship. This morning for example, I see something out of the corner of my eye..and hear bump, bump, bump, bump. My 4 year old is hitting his brother on the head with a Bible...I take the Bible away, give him a warning look and turn my head back toward the pastor. Am I listening to the sermon? No, I am wondering how many people saw that and what they are thinking.

Now at home I can ignore these things. It is amazing what I can get done through blood curdling screams and crying. They are after all boys and there is going to be fighting. My focus and zeal for accomplishment is amazing. Nothing can distract me, except maybe a loud crash and scurrying of feet, but for the most part, I am a focused, well oiled machine, intent on completing the task at hand.

But Sunday mornings, my focus seems to be on the three little creatures that God has so blessed me with. Is it because of all that racket that seems to be coming from their direction? No, it is because I am worried about distracting all of those people around me. Not just that - but what they are thinking about me and my noisy boys.

I am learning something though. It never fails to amaze me, that someone will say how good my kids are in Church. Even on the days where I have spent the entire time eyeballing them and taking pencils away. How is this? Because I know that even though they are certainly not horrible little animals, they are boys - noisy boys. So again, how can these folks say such a thing when I can hardly focus on one word the pastor is saying?

My focus is wrong. I need to learn to take a deep breath, come prepared for a little distraction but not to sweat the small stuff. Amazingly enough, not everyone is watching me and my kids. Huh...what do you know? Their focus is where mine should be - the preaching of the Word.

I have a feeling there are many of us like that. The things that distract us are very often not even a blip on the radar of others. It has more to do with where our own focus lies.

Note to self...must find a way to find the focus on Sunday mornings I find so readily when completing a task I want to. Yikes.