Something stuck in my craw...

First off...is that how you spell craw?  Anyway, I've been thinking about something lately and I'm going to vent a little bit about it.  So I apologize in advance if this seems a little down beat in any way.  If you're still reading then here we go!
A disclaimer: I am a sport nut.  I watch too much on TV, according to some in our house, and my boys are involved in a lot of sports.  I try to catch as many sporting events as I can, and my children will continue to be involved in sports as long as they enjoy them and want to be, and I believe sports can teach our kids a lot about life...disclaimer over.
Have you guessed what's stuck in my craw?  It's been rattling around in my brain that past couple of weeks... the comparison between our dedication to sports verses our dedication to church.  We will wake up at the crack of dawn to get to our kid's sporting event, but man waking up before 9 or 10 on a Sunday morning can be tough.  We will spend hours upon hours watching practices and games and traveling to sporting events, but taking an hour on Sunday for church and maybe another hour for Sunday school seems like asking a lot.  Even more difficult is finding 15 to 30 minutes a day for scripture reading and prayer...(I'm guilty of this a lot).  I haven't even mentioned volunteering for other activities at church...just how much time does one person have!  We're willing to sacrifice almost anything to make sure our kids have everything they need to succeed in a sport, time, money, blood, sweat and tears, but ask us to sacrifice time and money for church then that's another story.
I know this isn't true for everyone, but I'm willing to bet it's true for more of us then we think.  I know I'm guilty in this too.  Why isn't there more emphasis on church and growing our spiritual lives and serving God?  I don't think very many of our kids are going to go on and earn a living playing a sport.  I can guarantee that those same kids will need God in their lives.  So why don't we put more of an emphasis on building our own spiritual life and that of our children? Is it simply because church/Sunday school isn't nearly as exciting as a sporting event?  Is it because we don't always get instant gratification from a scriptural lesson?  Is it because the church as failed at getting the point across how important a faith life is? 
As with all good questions the answer is probable a mix of all the above.  We don't think we have enough time so we push God to the background, and we hope our kids will figure it out on their own later.  If that's the thought then what would happen if we applied that logic to other areas of their lives?  Oh they'll figure out driving later on their own, they'll prepare for college later when they have more time.  Sounds silly doesn't it.  I think it's easy to push God aside because we know that God will forgive us and welcome us back, so like any good diet and exercise program we'll start tomorrow....well when does that tomorrow come? 
God is forgiving, and God will welcome us back, but God is also fair.  Which means if we continue to push God aside then we'll miss a lot of blessings God has in store for us simply because we ignored Him.  Not to mention anything about eternal life and possible consequences of ignoring God all along.  (My thoughts aren't fully developed down this eternal life road (heaven vs. hell), but I do think we ignore the judgmental aspect of God too much).  Also, if we neglect our end of the connection to God then when we need God the most in our lives we aren't going to connect right away because we aren't in the habit of doing so.  You can't play a sport well if you don't practice, how do you plan to be able to connect and bask in God's presence if we don't practice doing so?  And, our kids pick up what's important from us.  If we don't make church and our own spiritual life a priority why should they?  Osmosis doesn't work.  I would think a strong faith foundation and life would be the best thing we could do for our kids in preparing them for the real world, yet we find it so hard to do so.  Yet we dare not miss that next practice! 
Rant over...obviously I struggle with this dichotomy too...some food for thought!