There is a great video on YouTube for the song "Waiting on a Woman" by Brad Paisley. It stars Andy Griffeth and has a beautiful, bittersweet ending. A must see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvKgnkIN8C8
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Just Say No
Just a few days after Josh & I went to Six Flags, a teenager lost his life at the same park in a tragic accident. Apparently the boy wanted to get to a ride quickly, and rather than taking the walkway, he decided to climb two 6-foot fences and ignore multiple signs warning him of danger. He was subsequently struck by a roller coaster and decapitated.
Now, the last thing I would want to do is add any burden on his poor parents, already terribly overwhelmed with grief. But so often I see children being raised in ways that (unintentionally) lead to trouble, sometimes tragic. We do not just raise children to be good to kids today, but also to be safe, wise & hopefully a blessing to the world tomorrow. As a basic starting point of that, they need to realize that many boundaries should not be crossed. Even if they whine or beg or plead, "but everyone ELSE has an XBox, and BY GOLLY, I'm HUNGRY and I want that Big Mac NOW!"
Please.
I was just in a conversation with a co-worker talking about the rules we place on our children. His notion was that only rules regarding safety were needed. Ok, so don't run across a busy street. That's a start. But what about respecting common decency, or the rights of others? What about rules to guide one in wisdom, growth, and health? What happens when his daughter wants to drop out of 9th grade because her 18-year-old boyfriend offered her a spot in his band?
And yes, we do want to teach kids to think for themselves, and to be brave & bold to explore. But there are some times in life when they also need to take a slice of humble pie, and recognize their boundaries.
The boy who lost his life at Six Flags may not have chosen death, but he did choose the path of death. How many young people today are making that same choice? And how do we guide them away from that? By teaching them that one critical lesson that every human needs to learn at some point: How to deal with the word "No".
Now, the last thing I would want to do is add any burden on his poor parents, already terribly overwhelmed with grief. But so often I see children being raised in ways that (unintentionally) lead to trouble, sometimes tragic. We do not just raise children to be good to kids today, but also to be safe, wise & hopefully a blessing to the world tomorrow. As a basic starting point of that, they need to realize that many boundaries should not be crossed. Even if they whine or beg or plead, "but everyone ELSE has an XBox, and BY GOLLY, I'm HUNGRY and I want that Big Mac NOW!"
Please.
I was just in a conversation with a co-worker talking about the rules we place on our children. His notion was that only rules regarding safety were needed. Ok, so don't run across a busy street. That's a start. But what about respecting common decency, or the rights of others? What about rules to guide one in wisdom, growth, and health? What happens when his daughter wants to drop out of 9th grade because her 18-year-old boyfriend offered her a spot in his band?
And yes, we do want to teach kids to think for themselves, and to be brave & bold to explore. But there are some times in life when they also need to take a slice of humble pie, and recognize their boundaries.
The boy who lost his life at Six Flags may not have chosen death, but he did choose the path of death. How many young people today are making that same choice? And how do we guide them away from that? By teaching them that one critical lesson that every human needs to learn at some point: How to deal with the word "No".
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