That's cool, so like 'good news' heartwarming stuff. I'll toss some in when I run across 'em.
On the religion thing ... me, I'm a 'fallen Roman Catholic'. I see myself as pretty spiritual, but after Catholic grade school and being forced into it through my youth, once on my own, I moved on. I just never got what so many get out of it ... but I never fault others who do. I don't firmly believe, I don't firmly disbelieve, so an agnostic. I do regret not raising my kids with a religious background though. My wife was, but backslid with me, so neither of us pushed it on the kids if ya get my drift.
My family was never particularly religious when I was a kid. I did attend a private catholic school for a number of years but that was mainly b/c the public schools in the area weren't very good. It's not like I attend every Sunday or anything but it's a strange combination of my wife and all the things I hated about Catholicism that actually brought me back to it in a roundabout way.
My grandfather was strictly Roman Catholic and didn't talk to my Aunt for a number of years for becoming a Baptist. That always left me w/ a bit of disdain for overly pious or religious folks. So when my wife asked if I'd start attending again I was pretty reluctant. Wanting to make her happy and not wanting to fall in w/ a group of hypocrites we went around to some churches in our area and asked about what charity work they did in the local community. You'd be shocked how many do nothing more than a canned food drive here and there.
My grandfather would probably roll over in his grave but I'm attending a Protestant church these days. (He would have considered a Protestant much worse than a Baptist lol). I don't get anything out of mass personally. It all really just started b/c I wanted my wife to take pride in me but I didn't want to sit through sermons constantly feeling ridiculous. While the church has no shortage of pious judgmental hypocrites you can single out a much better group of people by doing the charity work when the opportunity arises.
So what started as a means to impress her left me w/ a greater sense of community. Charity work oddly enough is a kind of a "high" in a way and I'm probably doing it for selfish reasons. It leaves you feeling better about yourself and you really do meet some decent people. She got me out of my comfort zone and made be a better man I think. My favorite one is Habitat for Humanity. I loved my grandfather but it's also a bit of a middle finger to him at the same time. I hover between agnostic and atheist yet feel I'm a better Christian than he was b/c I do more than just drop some coins in a collection plate to buy the Pope more pointy hats. I'm far from perfect, my motives are questionable, and I'm only doing it b/c I want to feel like a better man/impress the Mrs.
If I have kids I definitely wouldn't force mass on them and would rather have them learn to question than submit to any kind of a blind faith. I would hope to drag them along for charity work though.
I consider myself a 'spiritual' person, as I said. I never returned to church more or less because I married a woman who did Assembly of God, and as I said, I was raised Catholic. She never really attempted to talk me into going to her church, and I did the same. She went to church for some time after we were married, but though she was into it before we married, she never got into it heavily since. Mostly laziness on both our parts, I suppose. She did take my girls from time to time, but like I said, it was sporadic.
I do think I should've gotten my girls a bit more education in the religious area, but we also taught them right from wrong ourselves over the years, so both turned out to be good kids. Neither is religious now, but occasionally I see a bit of curiosity in them when they ask me about something bible related or whatever. That's why I wish I or my wife had done more in that area, thought it doesn't seem to be a big detriment to either.
I'm glad to hear you're getting something out of your experience. That's the best of both worlds, when you can make the wife happy and feel good about it at the same time. All sides of my family were Catholic ... an Austrian, German, Irish, and Bosnian Croatian mutt, I've never even thought of a different path if I ever chose to return. LOL
I'm not sure I've really figured it all out myself. I'm not particularly religious but do attend church. My belief in God waivers one day to the next. Inspirational stuff in general I guess. Heartwarming stories of kindness. Idk, that sort of stuff I guess.