| by Vicki Brady |    |
Imagine moving into a new neighborhood with your family and immediately having your children invited to the neighbor's house on the corner.
Everybody in the neighborhood raves about this family. You notice that they live in the biggest and most expensive house on the street and pay someone to mow their lawn. One day you take time to visit this family and discover that they are actually pretty nice. Not only that, you notice that almost all the kids in the neighborhood come to their house on a regular basis, so after some consideration you finally agree to let your children spend some time there like everyone else.
The first few visits seem to go nicely. Your children come home all excited about the fun things they got to do and the really neat playmates your neighbor has. They talk for hours about what they did, who they met and how much they like the neighbors.
But after awhile you begin to notice a change in your children. It seems that following each visit with the neighbors, your children come home a little more morose and a little bit withdrawn.
Eventually, when you ask them what they did at the neighbor's house each day they just shrug their shoulders and say, "I don't know."
Now, time you used to spend together in the evening is spent alone. Your children's free time is taken up working on projects your neighbor has asked them to do. Even your weekends are interrupted by games and parties your neighbor has planned for them without consulting you. To make matters worse, your neighbor has begun to ask you to chip in for the expenses he has had as a result of your children's visits.
One day you are having a meal with your children, and you remind them of church the next day. Suddenly, your son blurts out, "I don't want to go to church anymore. Our neighbor says there is no God. He says people who believe in God are morons and that they will believe in anything, even fairies and leprechauns." ...(more)
