"All in"

I don't know about you, but I've been of the opinion that a person doesn't need to go to church every Sunday to be a good Christian. Maybe that makes me a heathen, maybe not. Regardless of what you think of me, I do like to take a church break now and then; a "sick day" so to speak. "Moderation in all things" is something our church promotes and I freely apply it to most everything, including my church attendence. Taking a break keeps me sane. And I'm all for preserving my mental health as long as possible since I know, given my family history, that my mental health is a fleeting thing.

In mid-December I had a little guilt attack, realizing that my attitude about church attendence may start to impact my kids. I started giving some serious thought to how I felt about ALL things church related and realized that my attitude kinda sucked. And then I had this brilliant idea. The Richards needed a reality check. I decided that we should have a family vote: we would either quit going to church OR we would commit to be "all in".

The definition of "all in" was just that: we're in it, completely. We would commit to read our scriptures daily, have weekly FHE, say personal and family prayers, attend church weekly (or as often as possible given work schedules). Quite frankly, I really didn't care which way the vote went. On one hand, it'd be nice not to feel the pressure to go to church every week and experience guilt knowing there was so much more we could be doing to develop our spiritual selves. On the other hand, it'd be nice to have everyone's commitment and support to be "all in". We voted and it was unanimous... the result, "ALL IN".

It's been interesting to see and feel the changes that have been happening in our home over the past month. And it's been great to see the kids step up and remind Ken and me (mostly me) that we're "all in" and that it's time for prayers or scriptures. Though soooo very far from perfect, we have been doing really well with our commitment to be "all in" and are all taking baby steps towards doing the things that will help us build relationships with Heavenly Father and with each other. I think it's a good thing.