Forcing to go to church?

Ive been seeing this blog thats been going around for the last couple of days. Its title " Why I Would Never Force my Kids to go to Church"
Check it out here!
The title was intriguing enough for me to read and after I was done I thought to myself how true that was!
I got to thinking about my childhood. My parents were both raised in church and actually met in church. Therefore, you can imagine my sister and I were " forced " to go to church as children. I can so vividly remember waking up on Sunday mornings and going in to the living room, getting on the couch, putting my gown over my legs and burying my head in the pillow to block the light until it was time to eat and get dressed. I would always say a prayer that my parents would say," Oh, we aren't going today. You can go back to bed." But God never heard THAT prayer... When did parents start trumping God? =) I also remember my cousins lived diagonally from us and every Sunday they were forced to do the same thing. They had to go past our church to get to theirs. And every Sunday we would leave about the same time. If we were leaving and their door was opened , or vise-versa, we would call because that usually meant someone was sick.  ( They were also active in their church and my aunt and uncle are watching their children still go  to church along with their grandson! )   And that was really the only reason we ever stayed home on a Sunday morning, Sunday night or Wednesday night.My parents were both involved in teaching and me and my sister were part of choir and groups and Sunday School. We went to VBS at our church and my cousins church. Now I used the word forced but I want to say that I use that loosely. I can't ever remember hating church. I liked it on Sunday nights and Wednesday nights because I didn't have to get up. But I ended up loving it. I was saved at a camp but I got baptized in that church. ( In which I fell down the stairs first and was already wet before I got dunked in the water  ) I made friends and loved the small church atmosphere.
Skip to many years later, after some bumps along the way, Im still involved in church. There were times after I moved out of my parents and got married that I didn't feel forced to go. I wanted to go. However I started to see my current spouse as the parent, forcing me to go some Sundays that I don't want to.
That got me to thinking... I sing about 3 Sundays a month in different campuses and services for Calvary. I love it and wouldn't have it any other way. But the Sunday Im "off" we usually go to the first service and I can enjoy it with my family. The Sundays which I have Drew, we make him go. He argues sometimes, but never regrets it when he gets there. He loves singing and honestly loves learning about God. Even at 6, he's already quoting verses and asking more and more about God. When Im having a bad day, he will come and love on me. And that just shows me that God is working through this child and that Im doing the same thing that my parents did for me. Even though he doesn't go when he is with dad, Ramon and I are still laying a strong foundation for him. And I can only pray that his love for God and church will grown and that one day, I will seel him doing the same with his kids.
But there are Sundays that I don't want to go. I don't want to get up because I want to sleep ( And we all know I get a plenty of sleep during the week due to the whole not having a job thing ) Thats when my spouse becomes a past parent. He forces me to get up and go. And when I do, I don't regret it.
Our wedding vows didn't mention church. They didn't mention that one spouse was to force the other one to go somewhere when they didn't want to. But the vows didnt have to read this. My husband was bought up the same way. If it weren't for him, I would have never heard half of the sermons that I really needed to hear.
So parents, go to church. Make your kids go. And spouses, rely on each to force one to go. God depends on us to make a difference while were here on Earth and what a great way to start=)

Just another year....

So we have hit 2014. Well, we hit it a couple of months ago but given this is my first post of the new year, Happy New Year!! So while I would have loved to start this post out by saying how great this year is going, I can't lie. I lost my job again, have already been in the hospital and have had some bad blood work results. Yea my year is starting off great.
I have tried to make the best of it. By doing more around the house and my husband I joined a gym and started working on our health. I am proud of him and can't wait to see where we both are in 6 months. On top of that, I am doing Weight Watchers again because this has proved successful for me in the past.
I was talking to a friend as almost all of this was going on. And I looked at him and told him I don't know if I can handle it anymore and how strong I couldn't be. I just needed to break down. His response was simple, " You need to break every now and then." The more I thought of this, the more I thought it was a little silly. I needed to break? Wasn't I supposed to stay strong for my family, for my son, for me? It would be so much easier to not but aren't we supposed to face life's challenges standing straight up?
Maybe this wasn't life's challenge. Maybe this was God's challenge. But even so, I had enough already. And each time it just gets harder. So maybe I needed to break. Maybe I needed to show God that I was broken and I needed him to put me back together. Whats the point of acting like you have it together when inside, you have nothing left. I admit, this has been the hardest time for me. Even when I look at the past, I just can't seem to wrap any rhyme or reason around what has happened. So one day, while I was here alone, I broke down. I got on my knees in the middle of my living room floor and just let it go. I talked to God and probably in some form, screamed at him. And then I rose and I sang to him. All within 10 minutes of each other. Only he can understand what was going on in my heart. And why this had to be done.
To this day, my favorite song has always been " Held" by Natalie Grant. I have said it in previous posts, but this song is true and says the truth.

This is what it means, to be held. How it feels, when the sacred is torn from your life and you survive.
This is what is is, to be loved, and to know, that the promise is, when everything fails, we'd be held.

Im glad he he promised us this. This is why we can break down. This is why we don't have to be strong for anyone. He is holding us through good and bad times. But most all, when we break down, he is still holding us.
So my friend was exactly right, I needed to break down. I needed to let God see that side and then let him begin the healing process. He just needs to start putting me back together for his will. In his eyes. And in the meantime, my family will do just fine=)