So...your kid hates church..?

This may come across controversial...but..hey..it's my blog :)
 I was talking to a lady after the baptism of her 30 year old son.  She said "I used to drag him to church EVERY Sunday morning!  Even when he said he hated it...I MADE him go anyway!" She was so proud of this!  THAT made her feel accomplished.  All I heard was that her son had been in church that long and is just getting saved and having a relationship with God at age 30!!  That her son obviously hated church as a child.  Don't get me wrong...we all find our Journey at different times.  But....why?  Why did it take a man raised by a Godly family this long?  Why did he hate church?
   THANK GOD he opened my eyes.  You see...my relationship with God is the MOST important relationship I have.  It's the most important relationship ANY of us should have.  So..how does this pertain to kids hating church?  I'm getting to that...just taking the long way round.
  When I was growing up church was what you did to get into Heaven.  It was where they talked about dead people, the guy who made everything and talked about bad people.  You HAD to go.  You HAD to remember the Bible verse for the week.  You HAD to wear uncomfortable "church clothes" and above all else you HAD to behave.  That's a tall order for a child.  To sit and listen to people go on and on ....reciting verses from a King James version Bible (Not hating but no one talks like that and God hears you prayers even when you don't say "Thine" and "Thou" ;) )......It wasn't relevant to me.  It wasn't relevant to my life.  Yeah...those stories were true...but they meant NOTHING to me.  How did me hearing about some guy in a whale make me a better person or get me into Heaven.  I was obviously really way out in left field and lacking guidance.  Most importantly..lacking his presence.
  And sadly...I hated going to church.  When I got old enough to read my Bible..the God I read about wasn't the one i'd heard about all those years!  Don't go and say that I bashed the church I grew up in and the people in it....I'm not.  I love them..but I honestly think they, like many others got caught up in the religious "rules" and ritual...and drifted from the church's real purpose.
   And once I got old enough to not be physically dragged...I didn't go.  I had no more relationship with God other than the occasional prayer to take away a bad hangover (yeah, I used to do that)...or a prayer to make something go in my favor.  Basically I grew up on a pew and had no real relationship with God.
  But that wasn't my parents fault...right?  I mean...they MADE me go.  I was there!  I knew all the hymns!  I knew the stories!  But those stories weren't about me.  They were history.
  And don't go say i'm blaming my parents!  While it is a parents responsibility to help their child develop a relationship with God....mine..like many others...took the approach their parents took.
 BUT WHAT IF WE DIDN'T! 
  If your child hates going to church.....ask why?  Really take note....sit in on their lessons.  Church should be refreshing!  It should be.. IS SUPPOSED TO BE enjoyable!  Loving!  An uplifting experience.  A place where we develop relationships with our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Where we build  family and a community around our kids.  So that when they look around they not only see people they chat about the weather with twice a week....NO....but bonds.   People who love them, lift them up.  AND most importantly people they can actually SEE having a relationship with God. 
  Don't go thinking i'm telling you to leave your church and find a new one...I'M NOT!  But if your church is lacking a childrens program that shows your kids that the Bible isn't a history book but that its about them too....then maybe you could start one.  A wise guy once told me "If you've got the burden..you've got the job!".  Aaron McReynolds book "The Fabulous Reinvention of Sunday School" is a GREAT resource to start with. 
  If your church has a GOOD childrens program....dig deeper...your child might be dealing with a bully....or maybe theres a personality conflict between your child and one of the Sunday school teachers. 
  Maybe your kids just not a morning person!  See if your church offers a later service.
  And, sadly, I am aware that not everyone has been blessed with an awesome church experience.  Not everyone has been to a church where they, themselves, feel loved and accepted as they are, where they are.  First, i'm so sorry that has happened to you.  Not all churches are like that.  Don't stop going and seek until you find a church that you feel at home at.  And then get plugged in.  Find ways to get you and your family involved.   A church isn't just a place to go a couple times a week.  Its a group of people who love you, and you should do life together WITH your church.  Don't think of it as a building...but a family.  When you do life together, you not only surround yourself with people who live their life through him...but your kids as well.  People who hold you accountable.  People who pray with you through the rough times and rejoice with you in the good.  Church, done the way it was meant, is a beautiful BEAUTIFUL thing.  :)
  There's nothing more important than your relationship to God......and it's our responsibility as parents to help our kids develop a relationship with him.  Do whatever it takes!  Even if it means taking yourself out of your comfort zone.   Besides, that's where growth comes from. Nothing is more important. Of all the places kids hate to go..the doctor, the dentist... Your kids should NEVER hate church.  Those words falling from my little ones lips would crush my heart.  I hope my ramblings have helped someone somewhere.  Pray on it.