Do we love em enough, to raise em?

Sunday’s Monday

Wow! Oh Wow! I have enjoyed this week more than I could have ever expected! I have a project helper for the summer and it’s my youngest grandson. I’m loving it! He is allowing me to re-see where I was, when I started the handyman hobbies. We had two grandchildren (Morgan Loftin and William Findley) to graduate high school this week. Forgive me but I can’t help it, “my pride is showing; big time!” These are my babies.

I have, at different times, over the last several years had the thought, most of the world’s children are not being raised anymore, their just being allowed to grow. We as adults treat them the same as we would our house plants, in that we give them only what they need for that moment and leave them to grow until it is decided they have need of further care. Most adults are happy to have children as long as they don’t become an obstruction of what they want to do. Dysfunctionalities in families have been, since the day of Adam and Eve! Genesis 2:16-17 (NIV), 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die. Genesis 3:6 (NIV), When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Dysfunction found its place that day and a path of survival in spreading one to another. Just as it did with the children of Adam and Eve, as the act of disobedience spread from the parents to the children. Genesis 4:8 (NIV), Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Sin is an infectious phenomenon that can’t be truly understood by the human mind and has therefore been largely ignored by the masses over the millenniums. Which has allowed each generation of children to worsen in mental and spiritual health as their defenses are failing. Think about it! We as humans (in America) require laws to inoculate our children against infectious diseases to protect their life. How smart is that? God has given us the instructions toward protecting ourselves and our families and “most” openly refuse to abide. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (NIV), 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Now I realize, one has to know these things before they can speak of them with confidence to anyone. Especially the family which see’s you after the doors are closed. Like the title of that country song “And When We Get Behind Closed Doors” written by Kenny O'Dell. Your family gets to see the real you! Everyone has a public and private you which we display accordingly, but our families get to see both! Are you displaying confusing behavior to further complicate the path your children are soon to forge? This what the bible is saying in Proverbs 22:6 (NIV), Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. I Know for some, this goes against their grain, but I ask you to look at where your children are in their life. Are they kind, selfless, loving and respectful to other children? Raising children starts with Hebrews 12:11 (NIV), No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. The training part is the job of us adults! No child should ever be left to the devices of this world. I must confess that I learned most of this after my children were grown and I wasn’t a great and perfect parent. However, God raised three find Christian adults inspite of my stumbling and bumbling at being a parent. I often say, my children raised me to be a pretty good adult. “When in truth we grew up together,” which is true of most parents. We do the best we know but we can know so much more, when we know God. The truth is in 3 John 4 (NIV), I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

HAVE A BLESSED WEEK BY BEING A BLESSING TO OTHERS!

COMMENTS WELCOME…pal249@hotmail.com…06/10/2018