Finding a new fold?

I wrote back in my post about seeking a shepherd that welcomed bleating lambs how much difficulty we were having reconciling our need to be part of a church with our convictions regarding our children. We feel very strongly that their church experience is supposed to be full of peace, love and joy. They don't feel comfortable leaving us yet (at least a couple of them don't) and we don't feel comfortable letting them cry. Our church doesn't have a family area so we wound up spending most services hanging out in the back with them where no one would be disturbed, and were we missed the service. It was frustrating and seemed pointless.

We've tried a few things, including some other churches, and nothing seemed to fit right. I've been recording some Spanish services that I really enjoyed, and we have access to our pastor's sermons online. It isn't the same as participating in worship with my brothers and sisters, though. Carlos attends at least a couple of services every week through his job, but I don't get that.

So, this morning, I attended an early service with the baby and Ariana. I saw several old friends, and was able to enter into the worship service without any distractions. It was heavenly (yeah, I know, I am a sucker for puns). I felt so refreshed when it was over. I was also delighted to see that there were all kinds of people represented, including all races and colors, and a variety of physical and mental disabilities. It felt like real life. They also have a family room with a live feed of the service, and there was no pressure at all for the kids to be separate from me.

We'll see. Obviously, I would like for our whole family to be together. But, as I have reminded myself many times, this is only a short season in our lives, and based on today, I think this might work out very well.