by Bruce Gold – Custodian/Valpo FUMC
Whoever comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and even life itself cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry the cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:27)
It was our family’s custom, over many years, to meet on Sunday morning at my sister’s house. My father always brought a danish. We would discuss the news of the previous week and our plans for the coming week. When Shelly and I started attending church, things began to change. The more seriously we took our commitment to the church, the harder it was for us to set time aside for our family get-together. We had to make a decision. We chose the church.
We didn’t consider our decision “hating our family”, but my parents considered it a slap in the face and didn’t understand how we could do it. We were changing our life priorities and our extended family was taking second place, behind Jesus. It strained our relationship with my Mom and Dad for quite a while. My parents continued to spend Sunday morning at my sister’s, but we rarely again did.
Now, I don’t claim that we were carrying our crosses for Jesus. I don’t claim that we are great, or even good disciples of Christ, but that decision was our first step. It was our first step in turning our back on the values of the world and accepting our servanthood in the name of Jesus.
BG
Valpo FUMC Lent 2018 Blog 
Seems to me that was a pretty big step on your faith journey. Given me pause to look at where/when I might have made such a faith-fueled sacrifice or choice in my life….
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I think it would have been better to work at a compromise. Change the service you attend to earlier or later, and change the family get together to earlier or later to be able to do both. Compromise is part of love.
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I think it is good to make God a priority…would they not attend with you? Family can be such a sticky wicket.
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