5 Ways To Be Late To Church

Perhaps I’m the only one who can’t seem to be ready for church on time, but some Sundays, no matter how early I get up and how much pre-planning I do, there’s still a huge rush to get out the door.  So, in case you are early for church every week, I thought I would share some of my ideas for how to be late for church.

1.  Fix a big breakfast.  Actually, I don’t struggle with this one because I learned this lesson well from my mother.  She had four of us children, plus herself, to have ready for church, so our standard Sunday morning breakfast was cereal.  I proudly carry on that tradition, sometimes adding muffins that were baked on Saturday.

2.  Wait until Sunday morning to decide what you and/or your children will wear to church.  My girls are old enough to understand what a “church outfit” is, so they select their own clothes.  However, what I want to wear will invariably need ironing, so I now try to plan ahead for my own outfit.

3.  Allow Bibles, diaper bags, Sunday School papers, and other church essentials to be scattered around the house.  We try to overcome this by keeping our Bibles in the same location all the time.  I also try to gather everything we’ll need for church the night before and put it in one easily-accessible location.

4.  Imagine that everyone will walk calmly to the car and buckle themselves in when you announce that it’s time to leave.  I am working on having our girls and myself ready five minutes early so that, should any delays occur, we’ll still be on time.  I said I’m working on it, mind you….

5.  Dress your baby completely and set him/her safely in the infant swing while you step into the bedroom to put your clothes on so you can dash out the door.  I just had to include this one, because it was actually a strategy of mine when our oldest daughter was a baby.  The problem with it?  I can’t tell you how many Sundays in a row, during the two minutes it took me to throw my clothes on, she would have a messy diaper.  I would be ready, but we had to start all over again with her.

Do you use any of these strategies or have other suggestions to help us be late for church?