An oldie, but goodie...

I just got this email again today. It's been around for a while, I remember seeing this a year or so ago. I'm not sure who the author of this is, but it's so true.

"The other day, someone at a store in our town read that a Methamphetamine lab had been found in an old farmhouse in the adjoining county and he asked me a rhetorical question.

'Why didn't we have a drug problem when you and I were growing up?'

I replied, I had a drug problem when I was young: I was drug to church on Sunday morning. I was drug to church for weddings and funerals. I was drug to family reunions and community socials no matter the weather.

I was drug by my ears when I was disrespectful to adults. I was also drug to the woodshed when I disobeyed my parents, told a lie, brought home a bad report card, did not speak with respect, spoke ill of the teacher or the preacher, or if I didn't put forth my best effort in everything that was asked of me.

I was drug to the kitchen sink to have my mouth washed out with soap if I uttered a profanity.

I was drug out to pull weeds in mom's garden and flowerbeds and cocklebur's out of dad's fields.

I was drug to the homes of family, friends and neighbors to help out some poor soul who had no one to mow the yard, repair the clothesline, or chop some firewood; and, if my mother had ever known that I took a single dime as a tip for this kindness, she would have drug me back to the woodshed.

Those drugs are still in my veins and they affect my behavior in everything I do, say, or think. They are stronger than cocaine, crack, or heroin; and, if today's children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place."

Lately, I've been thinking about today's children/teenagers.

Our neighbor has 2 teens (the girl is about 13 and the boy about 15) - he's a single father and I give him props for doing it on his own, but I wonder what the world is coming to when I see these 2 rarely going to school, hanging out with their friends on the porch smoking cigarettes and talking on their cell phones, cursing at their father when he does try to discipline them, vandalizing the cars in the lot across the street, skateboarding on neighboring private property, etc.

I'm just using this family as an example. I see too many kids with cell phones these days, too many kids allowed to roam & do as they please, too many parents overlooking this behavior with a "kids will be kids" attitude. I hear reports about drugs being found in the lockers at a local middle school, and juveniles being arrested for unimaginable crimes. I see reports on TV about fights happening inside the schools - and the other kids video taping the heinous act with their cell phones, instead of stepping in to help.

I'm scared to death to see what the world will be like in 7 or 8 years when Jaden starts high school. I'm so thankful that my parents brought us up in the right way - we were taught to keep God first in our lives, to respect others, to work hard to EARN what we wanted/needed, that life didn't always go the way you wanted, to go out of our way to help others, that we are responsible for our own actions and that actions always have consequences (good or bad). Curtis was brought up with the same values/beliefs and we try hard to instill these in our children. I pray that we are succeeding and that our children will grow up to be the hard working, respectful adults that our parents raised.