Sermonizing

So I'm working on a sermon for this weekend that is turning out to be much more difficult than I anticipated. We are doing a new summer program for families at church this year. This Sunday's event is basically on of our usual liturgies (a contemporary-ish setting) with just a few tweaks--a few things taken out so it is shorter and song selections that are a bit more 'kid-friendly.' We decided to have no children's sermon and no 'regular' sermon, but just one. In many ways, it will be more like a children's sermon. My plan is to make a circle of parents with their kids in a circle in front of them. This way parents are still in charge of their own kids if they are wandering (instead of having all the kids up front with me). The challenging part is that I thought it would be easier to do this same sermon for our traditional services as well--now I'm not sure about that. So I'm struggling as I'm trying to write it. Plus--in theory, I'm on vacation this week, so I sorely lack motivation. I think the real reason I convinced myself it would be easier is that I just don't want to write another sermon. But, I must write at least one now!!

Really?

I don't think I'm a particularly closed-minded or conservative person, but perhaps I am. All I know is that I find it very disturbing that my stepdaughter's mother allowed her to get her bellybutton pierced--at not quite 16 years old. I'm trying to put myself in her position and I just can't get to a place where I'd allow it. If Baby Girl gets her belly-button pierced once she's 18 and out of high school, I won't kick her out of the house or anything...but before that? I don't think I could allow it.