I've mentioned before how Sundays do not feel like the easiest day for us but we believe that they are worth the effort and the turning upside down of our usual routines. I've stumbled across a couple of blog posts and articles recently that have reiterated that point, which is always an encouraging reminder.
It's often mentioned in these types of articles that children absorb what is going on as they watch and listen to the service. But there's often been a nagging question at the back of my mind - what happens when the service is in their second language? Our children's Turkish is developing well but I am fairly sure that, although J knows a few key religious words, he is unable to understand most of what is said in the service.
I'm not going to turn this into a debate on whether or not children should sit through sermons. But I did have this feeling that our children were missing out on some of the blessings of being taken to our weekly Sunday gathering because of the language barrier.
And then I read an article on why children of foreigners like us should learn the local language and one of the points it made sparked a new direction of thought for me.
Our children may be missing out on some of the advantages of witnessing God's people worshipping corporately in their native language. But not only are there still plenty of benefits that do not depend on language, there are even blessings that result from experiencing Sunday gatherings in their second language!
Firstly, even while they do not understand much of what is said, there are still great advantages to them being there. We believe that there is a special privilege and blessing of gathering together with God's people each week and worshipping together. J and S see us making a priority of being there on a Sunday. And they still get to witness the form of a service - the singing to praise God together, praying, God's Word being read and expounded, the Lord's Supper and the fellowship.
But there are also benefits that come about because our Sunday gathering is in their second language, and it's these that I hadn't really considered before. We don't have to try and explain that people in different countries who speak different languages also meet together on a Sunday and worship God - our children get to see it first hand. They know that we can talk and sing to God in English and in Turkish because that's what they experience. They know that native English speakers and native Turkish speakers (and others too, we've a few international students around) can worship God together as family. And this is what is normal to them - not just as a one-off, but every week they get a little taste of what it will be like for people from different tribes and languages and nations to worship God together and a small glimpse of the global-ness of our spiritual family.
So, as is typical for Third Culture Kid in so many different areas of their lives, yes they are missing out on some of the experiences and blessings that would have come with staying in the UK. But they are receiving different benefits and blessings from living here. And that's something I just have to keep reminding myself of.
