Sunday Morning in the Preacher's House AND The Importance of Corporate Worship

So...let me begin this post by saying what it is not. It is not a whiny or gripey rant...because i love being married to a pastor. It is not a "woe is us" story. However, it is an attempt to give insight. It is an attempt to encourage and say, "You can do it!"
The truth is...Sunday is difficult. My husband is bi-vocational. He works a 40 hour a week job and he also pastors our church. When he comes home we have dinner together, he plays with all of the kiddos, he reads with them from the Bible & goes over their catechism questions and we both take part in putting them to bed. He is a great dad. Usually around 9:00 he retreats to his office to study for his Sunday sermon. Now, he meets with several people throughout the week for counseling. Some he meets for coffee at 6:30 a.m.. Some he meets with for an hour after work and before dinner. His study time usually ends around 12:30-1 a.m.. When Saturday rolls around, he usually needs to study from the afternoon on into the evening. It is important to state all of this before just jumping into Sunday Morning. Why? Because so many times people say to me, "I can't get up on Sundays because it is my only day off!" or "I'm so tired because I've worked all week." I can totally empathize...
So...Sunday Mornings are a different animal at our house. Daddy goes to Worship in a different car because he needs to get there a little earlier and stay a little longer. So I start moving toward breakfast pretty early. Once everyone gets up, the dance begins. It is a different day than other days. We consider this Day a Holy Day. The Lord has commanded His people to gather together to Worship Him: to hear from the Pastor -the Words of God from the Bible- the Gospel, to eat the Family Meal-Communion, to sing to Him- Psalms, Hymns & Spiritual songs and to encourage-one another. Twice a month out church community eats lunch together after Worship. This week we will have a baptism and lunch. And...did I mention....we have 5 kids in our house? It is very likely that one of the five will not feel up to par. Honestly, there are weeks that I do not feel up to par. However, I do lots of things during the week not feeling up to par. So, we decided a long time ago that Corporate Worship would be a priority in our lives. The preached Word is remarkably healing. Sunday is what we are preparing for all week long. In my home growing up it was a non-negotiable. Thanks be to God.
We can never find our shoes. What is it with the shoes? One Sunday we got there and one of the girls wasn't wearing shoes. Guess what- we all survived. One thing that really helps is when everyone decides on Saturday night what they are wearing on Sunday...along with two matching shoes....and they lay everything out together on the table. The hair thing can be trying,as well. Simply because black people hair is a little more difficult for a white person to just "pull up". Our corporate Worship begins at 10:30. I normally get everyone dressed and I am usually jumping in the shower around 9:40 and walking out of the door, at the latest, by 10:10.
Once we get to church, getting everyone in the door and seated is the hard part. It's like herding kittens. I honestly do not understand some of the complaints that I hear from people with just a couple of kids. Once in church, I find it extremely restful :). Actually- it is the salve that I have waited for all week. (I do not expect any of my non-Christian friends to understand this....and that's cool...just post about that on you're own blog.)
So....what's the point of all of THAT? I'm not sure really- other than to express "what it's like" to do this...and to say, "It IS worth it." Guess what? There is a super-natural healing and rest that comes from and flows out of obedience.
Our kids know what is important to us. They know who is important to us. And believe it or not- they are shaped by these things. They will grow to value what we value. But more importantly than that- WHY would we not want to meet with the people of God to worship Him?