A Thousand Hallelujahs of Covenant Parenting
Thanksgiving Sunday at Citizens Los Angeles
A Thanksgiving Praise by Dr. Alexander Jun
I recently had the unique joy of watching and hearing my wife offer a thanksgiving prayer at our local church. As I listened from the pews, all three of my adult children were in attendance. We all ended up at the same church and are currently worshiping together each Sunday. This past Lord's Day was our Thanksgiving Sunday. All of the elementary and youth children worshipped together with their parents. In front of me sat a family with four children ranging from ages 2-9. What a joy it was to watch their individual actions, along with the collective interactions with their parents. Two of the children had begun the various activities from the Sunday package prepared in advance for children by the staff. In the midst of fidgeting, whispering to each other, taking nibbles on snacks, sipping water, and telling one another to shush, there was the occasional outward verbal response or raised head based on what was preached from the pulpit.
They are watching.
They are listening.
They are participating in their own ways within their own capacities at their developmental stages. The parents were actively worshipping as well. From picking up to putting down a toddler, passing snacks, cleaning up snacks, and the occasional whisper of shush to any given child. I smiled as I reminisced of my own experiences of worshiping on Sundays as a father of three young children. I wanted to reach out to all the parents continuing to raise their littles in the church. I offer this brief encouragement to them in solidarity.
The Lord is watching.
The Lord is listening.
In the middle of service I glanced over at my own adult children, who were fervently worshiping the Lord and owning their faith in their own ways at their current spiritual and developmental stages. I offered a prayer of gratitude. At the time of this writing, my children are 23, 21 and 18. We have been worshiping together as a family for about 20 years. At 52 Sundays per year that roughly averages out to about a thousand Lord's Day worship services. That’s a thousand hallelujahs.
I am so very grateful to be participating and continuing to experience God‘s kindness in this unique way every Sunday. At this point in our lives I feel the narrowness of this window in time, and I already know that this won’t last forever.
A thousand hallelujahs.
Please Lord, a thousand more.
Dr. Alexander Jun is Director of Development and Partnerships for KALI. He and his family attend church at Citizens Los Angeles. He is author of a forthcoming book, Sabbath God: Gospel for Korean America (Wipf & Stock, 2025)
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