To church or not to church? That is the (current) question.

Last night, the boys and I were invited to attend a special Shabbat service at three of my students' temple, and then stay for dinner. Although I have no plans to convert to Judiasm, I really enjoyed the night. I used to attend church regularly, when I was a kid, but during college, I stopped going. I've occasionally gone to a Christmas Eve service, but have never joined. Jason and I talk about joining a church sometimes, but we never seem to make the time to go.

After last night, though, I feel more compelled to find a church. While I consider myself to be spiritual and able to grow spiritually on my own, I realize what I miss most about going to church is the community. Both of our boys had a ball last night, playing with the other kids, sharing a meal together. As I've gotten older, I've come to appreciate the traditions that you find in worship services. I don't want to be one of those Jesus Camp style Christians, but I do think I'd like to find a church to join. Some of myself, but a lot for the kids. I want to enable them to make their own choices about God and church and to never force my views or opinions on them, but I do think I'd like to expose them to ideas so that they'll have a basis for whatever decision they decide to make.

So maybe tomorrow morning we'll get up and go to the church we always talk about visiting. Or one Sunday evening, we'll meet up with one of my co-workers at the church she and her family attend (they say it's a laid back, wear-your-jeans kind of service). I'm not sure what path we'll find ourselves on, but I do think it's time to start walking.