Church shopping

I have to admit that even though I've had quite a few things to blog about lately, I haven't done it because I've been so absorbed in the quilt that I've been working on for little H (which will eventually have it's own post here). Still, I wanted to post some stuff just to get it out of my system. The first post has to do with our recent task of what I like to call "church shopping", or in other words, looking for a church that we would like to take little H to. For big H, this is really important, and so it has become important to me as well, even though I admittedly am not as concerned about it as he is. I have unfortunately had some bad experiences with religion in my past, and I feel almost (honestly) afraid to expose little H to some of the things I was exposed to. Sometimes I think I would rather see him go through life without any religious ideas forced on him than I would see him forced to take part in one religious system or another. Perhaps it's my fear that he'll be closed-minded or that he won't think critically about things that makes me feel this way. I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to, and plan to, raise an upstanding and moral child who knows the difference between right and wrong and who wants to do what's right and be a good person....I just sometimes struggle to see the connection between that and all of the other "accoutrements" that come part and parcel with many organized religions (concepts, doctrine, belief systems, etc.). For example, I will admit that I have a very difficult time understanding why we MUST accept the divinity of Jesus in order to be "saved" or accepted into the "kingdom of heaven"...or why God has to be personified and anthropomorphized on a routine basis. Anyway, those are my issues, and I'm working on resolving them. H doesn't have those issues, and so when it comes time for questions from little H, he might be the one providing answers, with just a little logical input from Mommy. All that said, we've been church shopping. Last weekend we visited a First Baptist Church in downtown Gville, and boy, was it the WRONG church for us. We debated about going to a Presbyterian church around the corner, but when H informed me that they believe in predestination, I couldn't even do it. Anyway, our first clue that this Baptist church wasn't for us was the free hearing machines that were neatly placed on the table in the foyer area, and the real kicker was the sanctuary full of white hair. We were the youngest ones there, literally by about 30 years. It was NOT the right church. The people were super nice, and of course everyone was staring at us because we stuck out like a sore thumb (and I'm sure this ENORMOUS baby in my belly didn't help that), but we have decided not to return to that church. Next week we're thinking of trying a church that one of my friends goes to, which is supposed to be a bit younger. We'll see how it goes....I'm trying to be open-minded here, and trying to work with H to do what will be in the best interest of little H, regardless of my own personal issues. Maybe it'll take me some time, but hopefully, it'll all be for the best.