07/12/2026
Saturday Thoughts by Dawn
Who remembers being taught by your parents to always respect your elders? Or, always say “please” and “thankyou”? My parents were very strict on this lesson. If you couldn’t say Thank you to a gift you were given, then you couldn’t keep it. You always answer a person when spoken to. No being shy when it came to manners.
Doing chores without being paid for it was also a rule. Offering to help someone out or doing dishes after a meal was a must. If you couldn’t help with clean up, you shouldn’t eat the meal.
Outdoors was not limited to Help stack firewood, mowing, picking up trash, painting whatever needed it, cutting weeds, etc. The temperature outside was not a consideration. Just drink more water. Again, no pay to do it. You just did it.
I believe these expectations from us was important. As we grew up, you weren’t afraid of hard work or working around your home for free. You don’t get paid to upkeep your own place after all.
And, for most people, you got up Sunday mornings, ate your breakfast, and put on some nice clothes, and went to church. At church, listening and learning was your goal. After church, there was usually a family meal at grams or your mom would cook something special, like a roast with the fixins’.
Those were the days, weren’t they? If only we could go back? Of course, we can’t go back in time, and times have changed drastically. Family time, working hard, doing things just because, and going to church is not stressed as important anymore. Kids want bribed with money to do anything. It’s like they hate the sun! It’s always too hot or too cold for them to go outside. . Using muscles is a no-no.
My kids did really well with manners, They worked around our place and didn’t expect to be paid for it. It’s how I raised them. It’s what I believed was good. The part I failed on was taking them to church. That was a mistake. I really should’ve introduced them to that routine from an early age. Now one goes and one does not. And the one that goes was lost in understanding it all. She’s getting it now.
Maybe if we started children out from the beginning, our children would be better in society as a whole. Having an understanding of God in their lives could only be beneficial.
Why not bring your kids to church and vbs? Maybe, you’ll like coming to? After all, there’s nothing like having a good church family to be a part of.
