They are precious in his sight

Jesus loves the little children... Well, that was certainly true yesterday when our family went to cousin Tyler's church to see him sing.

The church was new to us, but we easily found Tyler and family sitting near the front and we joined them. There was enough room for the kids at the end of the row, so Jenna and Jack sat with Tyler and Auntie Shayna while I sat waaaaaay down at the end with mom and dad.

Of course, we had prepped appropriate church behavior the whole way there, so I knew that the kids knew just what to do. But a surprise was in store: The pastor asked Tyler to come up with him to greet the congregation at the opening and when he politely declined, he turned to Jack, who agreed. And of course Jenna didn't want to be left out...

So as the music started and everyone stood up, the pastor and my little cherubs walked up the steps to the front of the church as the pastor opened the celebration with a speech about children. He didn't realize that this was probably the first time since they had been baptized in infancy that they had been in a church, but that didn't matter. It was fun for everyone.

The best part was when it came time to sing. The pastor encouraged Jenna and Jack to join the preschool group up front to sing the songs. Again, he didn't realize that they didn't know any of the songs, but that didn't matter... Jenna is a quick learner and sang as well as most. Tyler obviously knew all the songs and did the right hand motions. And Jack is just two, for goodness sake, so who would expect him to sing anyway.

When it came time to sing the military song, Jack quietly walked off to join me in the congregation. It was so sweet and I had my little conscientious objector at my side for the rest of the service.

I must admit, the experience was a good one. The community and the message were positive. My little cherubs were just that and I know they left having a good church experience. That was the important thing!