I passed the small black book down the pew and blinked back tears. My husband, Eric, smiled at me.

“It gets me every week, too,” he whispered.

“Too Busy”

The black book is how our church takes attendance every Sunday morning. For many years, when it was my turn to fill it out, I simply wrote our last name—Stark—and the church secretary knew to count that as seven people: Eric, our five kids and me.

But six years ago, our oldest son moved out on his own and promptly stopped attending church. He still believed in God, but he said he was just too busy to attend church. That first Sunday, when the black book came down the pew, I wrote our last name with the number six next to it in parentheses. That “(6)” really made me sad.

A year later, our oldest daughter moved out. No longer under our roof and our rules, she too stopped going to church. Now I had to write our last name with a five next to it.

The same thing happened when our middle son moved into his own home. Then our younger daughter went away to college and stopped going. Writing our last name and the number three almost made me cry, so I started writing our names instead. Eric, Diane and Nathan Stark.

Nathan was our youngest child, and the only one who still lived at home. Every week, when I wrote his name in that book, I worried that someday, he would also become “too busy” for church.

It broke my heart.

For the past year, I’d been worrying about someday only writing two names in the attendance book instead of asking God for His help. I needed to make a change. DIANE STARK

Miracle Pew

But one Sunday, right as I was writing in the black book, Ephesians 3:20, one of my favourite Bible verses, appeared on the screen next to the stage. “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,” I read.

I looked down at the three names I’d just written and shook my head at my lack of faith.

For the past year, I’d been worrying about someday only writing two names in the attendance book instead of asking God for His help. I needed to make a change. “God, I’m sorry that it’s taken so long to see that You can reverse this trend,” I prayed. “The Bible says You can do more than I can even imagine and, right now, I’m imagining my kids back at church and walking with You.”

Every week for months, I prayed over that black attendance book.

“I want to write more names in this book,” I whispered. “Move in my kids’ hearts. Help them see the importance of making time for You.”

Then one Saturday night, Eric got a text from our oldest son, Austin. “I think I’m going to come to church tomorrow,” he wrote. “Save me a seat?”

As I wrote his name in the attendance book the next morning, I thanked God and asked Him to keep working on the others.

A few weeks later, my middle son and his fiancée came to church. As I wrote their names in the book, I felt a lump in my throat. “Thank you, Lord,” I murmured. Not long after, both of my daughters, their significant others and my two-year-old granddaughter all attended church.

Our family took up a whole pew. It felt like a miracle. And it was.

That was nearly a year ago, and these days, all my kids—and their significant others—attend church regularly. More importantly, they are growing in their faith and asking God to guide the decisions they make.

And every Sunday, when I write “Stark (11)” in the black attendance book, I thank God for answering my prayers. Having my whole family worship together each week really is even better than I imagined.