I cut the wheel hard to the left, then hard to the right, then hard back to the left all in a valiant effort to avoid the massive speed bumps that taunted my little, white car. Every time the shocks slammed up into my car’s very short wheel-wells, I cringed with disgust. I did everything I could to drive around those asphalt mountains minus hitting pedestrians (though I may of come close a time or two).
To many parents, safety protocols can feel like speed bumps dropped right into their Sunday routine. We get out of Sunday school late and then have to run like Usain Bolt to over to the kids department where we slowly check-out our kids (speedbump) before sneaking into the morning service as the music pastors wraps up last song. Naturally, if we want to get the most out of our Sunday, we try to find ways around the speed bumps. “Son, tell you teacher, I said it was ok for you to leave on your own.”
But speed bumps do have a purpose; they help keep crazy drivers like me from running over kids on bicycles. And in the same way, we check kids in and out to keep our kids from harm. As all childcare workers can tell you, it’s not easy to keep track of kids even when they are in a confined space. Kids are small, quick, impulsive, and easily confused. If we released kids without supervision, we might get everyone into church before the singing starts; but, we may also get a kid hit by a car. No one wants to trade safety for expediency. And so, even the 6th graders have to picked-up by a parent. We believe that every kid is immensely valuable to God and worthy being protected.
We install the proverbial speed bumps not to frustrate parents on their already busy Sunday, but to protect our kids from being lost in the shuffle of that busy Sunday!
Witkowski Blog 