Kids and their energy!

How many times have I thought when watching my kids I'd like to have a tenth of their energy?  How many times have you thought that?  Kids seem to have an endless supply.  I'm not sure, but when God made my youngest son Alex I think he accidentally gave him twice the dose of energy and spirit!  The things that kid comes up with and the non-stop action, unless Tom & Jerry is on, is enough energy to power a small town.  But I digress.  I think kids have a lot to teach us adults, and I was reminded of that fact yesterday during church and Sunday school.
Before Sunday school starts I like to stand in the hallway and watch the kids come in.  One of the reasons I do that is because it is awesome to see the excitement they have on their faces.  Well, most all of them, there are a few that wish they were still sleeping, but the vast majority are excited to see their friends and genuinely excited to come to Sunday school.  Those smiles can't help but lift my spirits for the day also.  As I watch them file past to their rooms and I see their smiling faces I wonder how many adults will come to church with the same exuberance and energy?  While there are a few the percentages are lower for sure.  Now, I don't expect the adults to come sprinting down the church aisle to their seats and I don't expect them to hug, punch, high five, give piggy back rides and so on to their friends in worship, but I often wonder what emotions they, and I, bring to worship?  Is it just another obligation they need to fulfill?  Is it simply another check mark on their list?  Or is it genuine happiness and praise that bring them to worship to see friends, to experience the living God, and to be reminded that we aren't alone in this crazy adventure called life.  I often wonder how different worship would be if we all came with the same amount of happiness and appreciation to be there instead of our grown up sensible ways of being.
The second thing I learned on Sunday, or at least was reminded of, was the energy and joy kids bring to a worship service.  I put in our church newsletter a month or two ago an article that praised and thanked moms and dads for bringing their kids to worship.  If anyone has brought a small child to a worship service you know the nerve racking feeling.  You think every noise is a terrible interruption and all eyes are looking at you wondering why you can't control your kid.  Well, I say the heck with control!  The noises that kids make, as long as the noises aren't screams at the very tops of their lungs for minutes on end, and the hustle and bustle they create bring an energy and joy to a worship service that nothing else can.  Worship services aren't meant to be somber, quiet reflection for a solid hour.  There is some time for that, but we are worshiping a living God and a Spirit that dances with us and there's nothing completely quiet and somber about that!  We are a community, and communities are made up of different people and we need to be reminded of that. 
People ask me all the time how I keep my concentration when there's noise going on in the congregation.  I keep my concentration because I absolutely welcome the noise and hustle and bustle.  There's isn't much worse then looking out over a congregation with no kids and not much activity.  The energy and joy the young ones bring lift my spirits, and I bet if we're all honest with ourselves they lift our spirits too.
Kids can still teach us old adults something after all.  They remind us to have fun in life, they fill us with joy and energy, even though they can be exasperating at times, and maybe most importantly they remind us that worshiping God is meant to be fun too!