Church-Going Man

I recently took Dominic to church for the first time.  I never took him in the past because I didn't want to drop him off at the nursery where he didn't know anyone, and I didn't think he could make it through the service.  Finally, I decided he's old enough that we should give the service a try.  The worst thing likely to happen would be that we'd have to leave before it was over.  I can think of a lot of worse things that might happen (puking on the person in front of us, knocking down old ladies, shouting "Where's baby Jesus?" at the top of his lungs, etc), but luckily none of them did.

Dominic seemed kind of excited when I told him we were going to church that morning.  I told him it is a building with a lot of people, and there's singing and a lot of listening.  He asked if there were any trains, and I said no, but there are cars in the parking lot.  I think he was happy to have an outing with his Mama.

He did a really good job and we made it through the whole service.  He played with the folding chairs a little bit, looked around, flipped through a few books I brought for him.  I know he was listening too.  At one point the pastor was making a point about the importance of church relationships, and said something like "Church is not a building. Church is people."  Dominic immediately said, "Church is a building!"  Our neighbors did not hear, but it cracked me up.

About 30 minutes in, Dominic climbed into my lap and sat still sucking his thumb for a long time.  Before I knew it, with a slip slip slip, he was asleep sleep sleep, just like that.

After the service, he was quite happy to enjoy a cup of lemonade before we headed home.

I thought the lemonade would have him eager to go back.  That night before bed, however, he suddenly stated, "I don't want to go to church in the morning.  That man talks A LOT."