Entertain ME

     Have you heard the alarming news?  An epidemic of monstrous proportions is sweeping across the country, even as your eyes scan over the bold type of this page, it is increasing in severity.  It is the disease of "entertainment" and many children are experiencing severe symptoms accompanied by concerning side effects.  Worse yet, although it was once thought to be a childhood illness, it has been found to travel to adults as well.

     Do you know of what I am speaking?  Have you seen some of the symptoms in your home? 

     The early warning signs are exhibited through whining and complaining with sporadic use of the "B" word (bored).  But as the condition goes untreated its effects become more severe: refusal to help around the house, addiction to electronic games and toys, extended time watching television, inability to venture outside four walls, complete loss of interest in the Bible and church . . . on and on the list goes.

     You may think I'm simply attempting humour but I'm not.  This is an attempt to draw your attention to something I feel is of prodigious proportions . . . our children are being pulled towards an intense vaccuum labelled "ENTERTAIN ME" and beyond that suction entry point is a deep dark hole from which it is very hard to return.

     Never before have our children been less "needed" when it comes to responsibilties in real life.

     Never before have there been so many ways to relax, play and consume.

     Never before have we, as parents, felt at such a loss for the right way to go.

     How the Disease Grows:

1. Children are not required to help around the house or contribute to those around them
2. Children are not monitored for reasonable amounts of electronic games, movies & TV
3. Children are left to their own schedules, not incorporated into family life
4. Children are allowed to muddle at a lower standard and are not called to God's standard
5. Children are permitted to believe they are THE WORLD instead of only a part of the world

    
     Part of the Cure:

1. Find ways for each child to know they are a necessary part of the home and community you live in -- responsibilities with meals, clean up, yard work, visiting shut-ins, making cookies for a neighbour, helping a sibling, etc...
2. Don't be soft on media-- if you have game systems and televsions then be SURE you know what they are playing and watching, and set allotted times and STICK TO IT -- lack of consistency often lies more in the parent than the child
3. Prayfully look at your days and weeks, then set a rhythm and routine that incorporates the BIG ROCKS first (read more here from a previous post -- Begin with the End)
4. Stay firm on the standards that God has placed in His Word and expect each child to do the same -- it is too easy to look at the "Joneses" and assume our kids are fine with medicore
5. Gently show each child that they are precious but God has placed many other people around them that they can love and serve, and be sure as the parent that you place your relationship with God and your spouse as high priority

      This isn't meant to be a list of rules -- can do's and can't do's -- that's not how God works! 

     But as parents, we need to be very aware and vigilant of how serious this problem is . . . many frustrated organizations report young adults can't hold down jobs because they are up half the night playing video games, mothers soberly whisper of daughters who act as if no one else in this world matters but them, and fathers break down in tears because they have lost the opportunity to mold their sons.

     We need to realize that the small things we do now with our children will enable them to do big things later when they are adults.  Most importantly, we must see that God has called us to train up our children in the way they should go and that begins NOW, not next week.

"I raised you up for this very

purpose, that I might display

My power in you and that

My name might be proclaimed

in all the earth."

Romans 9:17