Spring brings a change of wardrobe, typically. Lighter, shorter, brighter. Kids show up for church wearing everything from shorts and flip-flops to frilly dresses. Others dress for the season in uniforms: soccer, baseball. The hallways are full of little players, wearing shirts with numbers, ready to hurry straight from church to a game.

As leaders, I suppose we should be grateful that they show up at all. Because sometimes they don't. When faced with a schedule conflict between sports and church, most kids who play competitive sports don't even see it as a conflict—they go to their game.

For many families, church takes second place during certain seasons of the year. The kids may or may not have a say in it. A dad may decide that extra batting practice on Sunday morning, and the opportunity to start in the big game that it brings to his eight-year-old, is more important than attending church. 

Our church has studied attendance patterns, and we've concluded that on average, kids make ...