Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Pet Peeves I

Pet Peeves: we all have them. I have several; just ask my wife.

Thus I'm going to have to talk about one of mine today. Yes, I know it's been a while since I've written anything, but for some reason I just can't get what I'm thinking about and what I want to write in this blog to mesh together. But the other day, something presented itself and I just couldn't let it pass.

I was reading a blog from a Christian, Church of Christ, writer about talking to a group of women and one of the mothers asked her about appropriate dress for an up coming dance her daughter was going to! Well, first, I in no way think dancing is a good activity for young Christians. It was what was in the latter part of her message that waved its way right into pet peeve land in my mind, and it's something I've seen several times over the years.

While we teach and preach against a sin, we give no credit to ourselves for that teaching and preaching or to our children for listening to the lesson. In fact, we act like our kids are mindless, spineless, little masses of flesh just waiting to run amok as soon as we turn our backs on them.

I came late to the party. I didn't start going to a Church of Christ until I was 12, almost 13 years old. I didn't become a Christian until I was almost 15. But guess what? My parents instilled in me morals (Church of Christ parents don't have a monopoly on that, believe it or not!), the proper way and reason to treat the opposite sex (oops, probably shouldn't of used that term here as well), and how to properly act. In fact, I went to my senior prom, and nothing happened! (Yes, I can see the nay sayers that are out there saying they don't believe a word of what I'm saying now.) She was a very attractive girl (Oops, I said she was attractive; I'm sure someone will now say I was lusting after her!), but she wore a nice, covering dress, we didn't dance much, but we did a couple of times, slow dances, and I never thought about wanting to get her into bed.

Guess what. My parents' training, instruction, and morals were right there with me. And I would be willing to bet the person who wrote this blog (I knew her and her now husband in college) would have been able to be in the same situation with the same result.

Another example; I was talking with a mother at the congregation I attend and her oldest daughter was soon to be leaving for college. She mentioned how some people were telling her that once she was out of her house she would be doing all kinds of things. She young lady was just that, a lady, a young Christian lady that had good training and was reared by two Christian parents who trained her right. Now she is out of college and working and NOTHING happened, she didn't fall away, become pregnant, go on drugs, or any of the other things some Christians think their children and the children of any other Christian family will do as soon as they leave the nest.

Another example; the congregation I grew up in as a young Christian. It was a very conservative (then not now) congregation and the deacon that oversaw the 'youth group' ruled it with an iron fist. We were always lectured about any evil appearance out there, real or imagined. We were not trusted out of sight or past the end of their noses. The result; probably half, at best, of the people in that young group are now members of the Church of Christ.

So do we let our children run amok waiting for them to fall into sin? No. But should we treat them as criminals and give ourselves no credit for being about to raise good kids? If the latter please don't ask to be a deacon or elder at a congregation I attend. If we have no faith in ourselves and our children how can we have in GOD?

Well now that I've made the member of the church mad I'll talk about my books. Thank you if you've purchased a copy of Memphis Connection; please do a review or comment on it here. I would really like to know if you liked it or The Last Cabbandeum if you have it. Right now I'm kind of out of the writing loop taking care of an injured wife. But in three more weeks when she gets her wing back I'll be working on the first of the Jim Benjamin Series Elapsed Time. This book will introduce you to Jim Benjamin and the group of friends and people in his world. It's set in the mid to late '70's and if you like drag racing I hope you've found the book that you'll like. It's nothing like the Fast and Furious, it's realistic!

Peace!

3 comments:

  1. I agree with your post. We should trust our children, especially when they get to be the age where they are thinking for themselves. I have one that took the teaching to heart and another one that went astray. They were raised the same way. You do the best you can and let them spread their wings and fly. And hope they don't get too close to the sun.

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  2. Great post! I agree with you too. Bring your kids up right and then you have to trust them to make the right decisions when they older. However, if they do make some bad decisions I don't think you should write them off. You support them. Let them know you are there for them. Hopefully they will find their way back to making the right decisions and learn from their mistakes.

    I liked both of your books. The Last Cabbandeum was probably my favoite but I really liked Memphis Connection too. I look forward to reading more of your books. Keep writing them and good luck!

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  3. Hey, Jonathan,
    I saw your comment at Clearing Skies but something happened to my blog and the comment has gone. Thanks for stopping by over there.

    I finished The Last Cabbandeum. Poor Jason, but he got his world in the end! Keep writing and good luck with it!

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