Thoughts...

I often think about how Kaitlin is being brought up in a different type of world than I was. In many respects she has the same situation that I was raised in but the world in general has changed. I often feel badly that she will not be able to experience some of the simple childhood pleasures that I was able to have simply because times have changes. However, there are many ways in which she is raised in similiar ways to how I was.

She goes to a church school and attends that church. It is her community and she will have that sense of community until she leaves for college. Its a great place to grow up. I know because i grew up in a community similar to it, but at a different time and place.

The Dutch founded a denomniation called the Christian Reformed Church. It is based on Calvinism.

Growing up. Church was not optional. It was expected. And not only was it expected, but every Sunday was indeed special and set apart.

From the time that we were very young we went to Church and Sunday School every single Sunday. It was not up for discussion. In fact it was when I was in college that I realized that I had the ability to NOT attend church if I chose.

When I was young we went to a Chrisitan Reformed Church that was fairly far away from where we lived..about a 25 minute drive or so. It was where my paternal grandparents went...the church my dad grew up in. It was called Warren Park Christian Reformed Church. I was baptised in that church and attended there until I was in 5th grade or so.

I want to go back one time when I get to Chicago and investigate this church because I can remember some cool things about it. Well, it had a balcony for one thing...that is cool I think. I like churches with balconies. It also had a bell...there was a string that went down the center of the stairwell and it was to ring the bell. The bell would be run by a bell ringer (young man) right when church was to start.

After church my parents would often drive home and leave my sister and I there to attend our Sunday Schools. My grandparents went to the adult Sunday School and then we would find them in the big fellowship hall and they would drive us home to our parents. Often they woudl stay for dinner.

Dutch Sunday Dinner in those days was almost always the same thing. A roast (pork or beef) Mashed potatoes with gravy, a vegetable and rolls. Milk was the drink and the adults had one of two wines. If it was white it was Christian Brothers. If it was red it was Mogen David. Go figure. It never changed in those days. It didnt matter if we were at my grandmothers house or my aunts homes...if it was Sunday that was what was for dinner.

Dinner was served promptly at 1pm and ended with family devotions. Devotions were often Scripture, or a Devotinal book for kids or reading from the Christian Reformed Monthly Devotional called the Today booklet.

After dinner...we all had to take naps. It was required. Sleeping was optional, but resting was not. My sister and I when we were younger had to sleep in seperate rooms. As we grew up we got to nap in the same room. For reasons I never understood, she actually slept (smart girl!) while I was restless and would "fake it" My mom would sleep in her room and my dad would sleep in his chair usually watching some sort of sporting event. I remember HATING nap time because I woudl never really want to sleep. I had to stay put until 3pm and even then I was allowed to get up but could not disturb the rest of the family.

Around 5 ish everyone started to stir. Supper was leftovers from dinner or cereal or sandwhiches. Mom never cooked in Sunday nights and that was pretty typical. Most of the Dutch Reformed returned to church at night for a 6pm service. As a rule,my family did not until we were older. At first the church was too far away to drive back to. Later when we switched to a closer Christian Reformed Church I think that we were just out of the habit of attending in the evening.

Im just strolling down memory lane...more on this later!