I suffer from nostalgia.

[Gerioke]

My brother is the new pastor at a church here in my town and most of it's members are made up of Home-schooled families with what looked like a minimum of 4 kids each. One family had 12 kids!

My post here is not about home-schooling (though it could be) but more, about regrets.

As we sat on one side of the congregation I looked out over the families during worship time and the place was filled with children. Older siblings helping care for the younger ones and ALL were singing and clapping. Even the little toddlers. They closed their eyes and folded their hands while praying and even listened to the pastor while he preached. He told the young kids that couldn't yet write out notes to count the number of times he said "humility" in the sermon and then report to him afterward. He told the ones who could only draw out their notes that this would be a sermon where they could draw a picture of a shephard and a sheep when they heard him mention it. All ages were included in the sermon and listened intently.

My mind wandered to my own church that We've been in for 25 years and raised both our kids in. If the child is under 7, they don't even come into the worship service but stay in a room throughout the entire morning. I suppose someone thinks they might be disruptive to the service. The majority of middle school and high school students are too "cool" to sing along and freely worship with the congregation. Also, they entire service is kept moving by a clock rather than the Spirit.

I suppose I was stunned at the reality before me. Though my kids have turned out well by the world's standards, they have also been raised watching "Friends" or "Family Matters" and many other shows. They now talk like they watched "Friends" rather than "Bonanza", if you know what I mean. They won't have any problem making their way because according to society, they will fit right in.

When we came home from church I told my husband I could never be a member of that congregation because every Sunday I would sit there, filled with regret for not placing enough importance on keeping my children's minds as pure as possible.

This may seem silly to the rest of you but for me, it was gut-wrenching as I came face to face today with my greatest sin........... not being the parent that God called me to be.

For those of you with young children or who are planning to have children......take this as a warning. Letting your kids watch "whatever" on TV is a lousy idea. Everything that goes into their little brains will shape and mold them into the adult they will soon become. And trust me............it comes quickly.

Thanks for letting me ramble (and pour out my heart). I could have written 6 pages about what I'm feeling today.

Totally at Peace

God bless you, your family and your insight