We had been attending a church for about 18 months when we were blessed with our first daughter. We travelled about five miles from our village and determined that this new arrival would not stop our regular attendance. However, our newborn was not aware of how she should be quiet for an hour during the service, and this led to some “tutting” from a few seated near us when she made a few “happy” noises. On one occasion, we were approached by a man who politely asked us to sit “somewhere else” as he was being distracted by our newborn. Reluctant to attend separately (partly because I didn’t want the responsibility of being at home alone with a baby), we didn’t attend for several weeks.
One Saturday morning, with the twin-tub washing machine working in our small kitchen, a couple from the church knocked on our back door and stood in the doorway. They declined any refreshments and just checked how we were, and we enjoyed our 15-minute chat before they left. It was only later that, though neither of the visitors mentioned our absence, we considered this a pastoral visit from an elder and his wife. It didn’t take us very long to decide to return to the church, though, careful where we sat!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, please help us to avoid behaving in a way that may discourage others, but rather be known as encouragers. AMEN