Wow, it’s been something like nine months since I’ve last posted. I’m not sure why – there’s been a lot of turmoil in life, but it’s not like I haven’t been thinking, or praying, or living, for that matter. I just haven’t posted anything; most of my thoughts have been so focused on the moment I’m in that none of them have really been worth preserving.
I had lots of thoughts about the recent election in the United States – one that resulted in our election of the “Honorable Donald J. Trump,” with few apparently recognizing the sarcasm inherent in that phrase. However, my thoughts tended to be negative – I have a hard time accepting the election of a President with whom I’d be unwilling to leave my wife alone. I try to keep negative thoughts away from this site, so I curtailed the subject.
My sons have been enduring their own challenges, based on their maturations; my youngest entered high school, my middle son is finding out about life as an adult, and my oldest is trying to determine a direction in life. They’re all struggling, in their own ways; I’m proud of all of them, but they’re all having to endure sea changes of their own.
They’re doing it with as much support as my wife and I can manage to offer them, as far as we think it proper to give. (At some point, they’re adults – or young men, at least, in my youngest’s case – and too much support from their parents would stunt them.) However, something my wife said a couple of days ago was one of the saddest phrases I think I’ve heard in a long time.
We relied too much on the church.
In a way, she’s right. We expected the church to support us – instead, the social structure of our church actually worked against our kids, even though the church was (and is) sound theologically. They mean well. They were just not successful with our kids; our kids ended up being marginalized by the church, relied upon without compensatory support, expected to lead against their wills and before they were ready to commit to such leadership.
Make sure your church pays attention to every one of its members – even you.
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