Patience

I marvel at the patience of some mothers.  Her food grows cold as she literally physically wrestles with her son.  He grunts and screams and throws himself around beside her in the booth. Dad sits across from her, careful not to look up, eating his food.... his hot food.  I marvel because she never lashes out at him.  Not one unkind word came out of her mouth.  I have to say.... some unkind words almost came out of MY mouth!  

Why has he not engaged this son of his?

Does he feel NO responsiblity for the rearing of these boys?

How can he sit there while her food grows cold and eat in front of her?!

A very kind man working at the Chic-fil-a where  I witness this event comes by their table to check on the guests.  He remarks with a smile, "Our food is alot better when it's hot."  She responds gently with a shy smile, "That's not usually an option for me."  

As usual.... dad , husband, father, doesn't even look up.  Thoughts of escape probably fill his mind.  Wishes that he didn't have to sit here and endure that childs rant I'm sure are present.  Never does it occur to him that this is his responsibility.  

Time passes, he finishes his meal and begins immersing his attention now to his cell phone.  

As I observe this all too common experience, I wonder how we got here.  How have we in just a few generations completely lost the scriptural knowledge of family responsibilities?  Today, our country legalized the marriage of gay and lesbian couples. It saddens me that an institution that God invented, that God created in order to show us His relationship to His people, His Bride, the Church is now 'redefined'.  How can you 'redefine' a word?  God defined and created that word, that relationship.  This not-so-new idea of gay relationship should have to come up with it's own term, for the term 'marriage' already has a definition and it does not include anything other than what God determined.  

This Supreme Court decision is just one of many factors that have led up to the event I witnessed today at Chic-fil-a.  A generation gave up their right to live as Godly men and women and revolted agianst societal norms, which at the time were mostly bible based, and left the God given family structure behind.  Women demanded special rights and attention.  Authority was disrespected in every arena.  Schools began teaching liberal ideas rather than patriotism and godliness.  Churches shirked their responsiblities and began to feed the beast of popular opinion rather than Biblical authority.  Parents relinquished their God given responsiblities of education to the government.  They then relinquished their God given responsiblity to raise up their children in the Word of God to youth groups and church camps and mission trips.  

So here we are.  A typical American family sitting at Chic-fil-a is our result.  A man, husband, father,  head of his household feeds himself, without any regard or knowledge, for that matter, of his place in society.  Completely ignorant of his responsibility before God to discipline that child, to lead his family in godliness, to nourish that woman he loved and married by washing her in the Word of God daily, to teach his boys 'when they rise up and when they lie down' the passages of Scriputre.... he goes on day by day.  Is it appropriate to inform him?  Has too much time passed for all of this to be corrected?  Who is responsible to make a change in our culture?  How can this descent be reversed?  How can I inform this young man who he really is?  A man chosen by God himself, to lead, to instruct, to nourish, to be blessed with the responsiblities and incredible opportunity of this young wife and family.  He is special.  He should be respected.  But, he ignorantly choses the lesser road.  And so it goes.... to the next generation.  

And there wasn't even a TV in the room.