Chapter 11

What an eye opener from this Chapter. Perhaps all parents of teenagers should read this chapter before they let them start dating. Brende was shocked when he went to a “hoeing” for the first time. The teenage boys and girls got together for a social function but never talked with one another. They boys seemed too embarrassed and spent their time drinking Kool-Aid and eating cookies. Evidently the innocence of Minimite youth was the result of their parents close supervision to protect their children from the outside influences. To prevent unsupervised contact, not even bicycles were allowed. Girls were virtually guarded and if a young man wanted to court a young woman he had to send a letter to her parents. After that he would be invited for diner and was allowed a “time alone”, which was still supervised. The young women were not obliged to accept the offer of marriage but if they did, the marriage followed in several months. The most amazing part of this entire chapter was the fact that among Minimites there is zero divorce. This was one of the reasons Mr. Miller had moved his children to this community. He was worried because many of the Lancaster youth had become involved in drinking, drugs, and teenage pregnancies.

Maybe all of society needs to take a hard look at this community because to have a zero divorce rate is astounding. This could also be due to the fact that these married couples share such a common background and belief system and also have the same moral values.
I am not going to pick up a partner for life until I can ascertain that she has very similar beliefs and moral values. I want my marriage to last a lifetime.