Naivete

I was reading an article by Joel Belz in World Magazine a couple of weeks ago, and it really caught my attention. (Unless you subscribe to World, you can't read the whole article; I'm sorry.) The article is a tribute to his mother, but what grabbed my attention was how naive he was to certain things. He thought having a large family was "normal;" he thought having company over often was "normal." I started thinking, "What do I want my children to think is "normal"?

• I want my children to think large families are "normal." While John and I may not have a large family ourselves, I want to interact with larger families so that they don't know anything else. (Thanks, Laura, for helping me out with this one!)
• I want my children to think that entertaining is "normal." Long-time readers know that I have struggled with practicing hospitality, but lately we have been doing better. Not only do I enjoy having people over and fellowshipping with them, I want it to be a regular part of life for my children.
• I want ministry to be "normal" for my children. While I do crochet blankets for my church's blanket ministry, I want to do more. I'm not sure yet what else to do, but I think we may just start with visiting shut-ins and nursing homes. After that becomes more familiar, I will try to work something else in. Of course, I'm limited, too, in what I can do because I have three small children, but I'm sure there are ways that I can minister with my children.

What about you? Have you thought about this? What kinds of things do you want your children to think are "normal"? How do you want them to be naive?