|
||||||
 A generation between my parents and my own child I separate the two extremes with an understandable amount of my own jaw dropping in shock and sincere ‘God help us’ whispered over and over again. The good ole’ days weren’t quite as good as they remembered them when they had no tissue paper and electricity had not even been strung overhead yet. On second thought, they might have been just as good as said in light of the fact that no one knew of today’s modern conveniences and without any question people had morals and taught them to their children. Let’s see if I can remember what my mother and her mother told me about the good old days. "Children should be seen and not heard" and "We were so poor when I was growing up, we had to walk barefoot to school." Though I prefer my husband’s rendition to our daughter of this one: "We were so poor when I was growing up we wore our Keds until they said ‘K’." Yes some things have changed for the better and some things have changed for the worse.Everyone knows what it’s like to be a kid, either they are still one or they used to be one. The games that kids play have changed over the years and so has holding fast to the values we used to. I remember unopposed afternoons of angling and the days when hunting was not an offense to someone else. I did not hunt as a child, but I remember those who did in my family who enjoyed going. I have special joy in the memories when I went along on outings of afternoon angling where I caught my own fish and that brought with it a simple satisfaction. Gone are the days of my playing outdoors under the watchful eyes of my parents. Only memories now are the games of hopscotch and tetherball and my first reality of life in the disappointment of not making it on the basketball team the first year I tried out. Life is like that and in much the same way, when my daughter missed her first turkey she had to accept the disappointment that came with putting away her unused turkey tags. When I was in school, we obeyed the rules or we got a swat, everyone wanted to say the pledge and we had to wait our turn to be chosen by the team leader and the last one chosen was, well the last one chosen. Every year my place changed depending on the school and my abilities, but I generally learned to work out differences and eventually overcame the difficulties. How else could I have learned to deal with life’s burdens and unexpected derailments, than with limits and guidelines set and enforced by those adults who were responsible for me until I matured enough to make those choices for myself?  Those hard times growing up teach us so much. No, I did not like the lessons when I had to do without or learned to make better choices and I still don’t like the things God allows that make me uncomfortable and helps me to choose to change, but I am thankful for those things and what I can learn in those times. How different we would be if nothing bad ever happened and if ‘all’ the things we ever wanted were handed to us. The way some people are trying to bring up children this generation seems to be an ‘all’ or ‘none’ approach, and for the life of me I cannot understand why some parents will give children everything they want or others deny their kids even the precious little time allotted to them in life. How could those spoiled or neglected children possibly find their way to making the right choices and when will they take responsibility for their actions if those who lead the small ones do not teach them or expect them to follow Gods word?The schools that now choose to avoid any involvement with teaching about or including the one true God are looked up to by so many as the (politically correct) standard. That is also the authority which some parents look to as an example and where the children who were not denied birth as ‘the unborn’ can learn they have a right to disobey their parents. Some opt to omit the ‘one nation under God’ from the pledge and others refuse to allow Bibles at school, but force lent menus at lunch because religion is acceptable so long as true faith is denied. I was so sad the day I learned that the teachers at a city school are being trained to teach alternative marriages between same sexes is acceptable as a tolerance subject in the up coming year. What is not allowed is the sharing of the good news of Christ which would give them an opportunity to choose salvation and repent of their sin nor can that kind of faith be shared with anyone else at school without a reprimand. Sadly, today’s unwatched children run literally tumble-bumble like poky little puppies and stare open-eyed into inappropriate content of 24 hour television programs that serve as babysitters. Video games featuring kill as many as you can and evil character themes with role-playing fantasies are the games so many of today’s children play. The unedited images of violence flow through absorbent minds without instruction from parents that should be there to stop the garbage and say that’s not nice we shouldn’t do that because God’s word tells us it is wrong. Why are the mother and father voices silent? Where are their correcting hands to shape that child’s voice of conscience? There are so many opportunities to nurture a child’s mind and spirit but it has to begin at home with the parents. Schools, media and current day games do not take the place of our own responsibility in this area and when we as parents fail to produce the effort to enrich the little minds entrusted to us those negative influences will fill the void.  Mine and my husband’s positive opinion and interest in our daughters enthusiasm for the outdoors and learning the ethics and the respect that go hand in hand with that privilege is not alone. Many friends, neighbors, and family members alike share interests which include hunting, fishing, and camping along with other outdoor recreation with their children. The first time children participate in any of these activities they enjoy themselves and begin to nurture a love for the outdoors while building upon the foundation of respect for themselves and the wildlife they discover. Kids learn to take part in the responsibility they share in leaving the outdoors just as they found it. The moral fibers of patiently waiting for a good clean shot before harvesting that first deer or passing a bad shot to return and try again next time, weaves them into whom they really are. The threads that hold their places in the fabric that they are made of will always be there for guidance with an eventual outcome of instructing others in those values.The calm thoughtfulness that is apparent from deliberate patient instruction with a firearm and hands on hunting and outdoors skill is much preferred to the panicked unknowing constant question: "Is that gun loaded?" that comes from a fear of not knowing how to use a gun. Children who are practiced archers have the same respectful motive when handling and shooting their bows. It is just one more way to spend quality time participating in the teaching of self-discipline and sharing the value of what is important about life including the ethic of taking game. While the children continue to play games, their minds are shaped by our choosing to teach and intervene or ignore the things that are important. As we point them toward the best and try diligently to turn them from the worst influence in their lives they will be continually bombarded with serious issues that will leave an impression in their minds one way or the other. Why have the masses of pro-choice and anti-hunters that support abortions who continue to call hunters barbarians, given animals a higher value to live than unborn infants? Oppositions to the ethics we teach our children are not going to just go away. The time to speak up for our children has come. I for one don’t want to play at this like a child plays a game. I do not agree with their way of thinking. I choose to stand up for the responsible efforts of conservation and continue to take part in hunting and teaching others especially children about what’s really important. That is a respect for all life and the skills they need to choose wisely by God’s word knowing that, He is the one they will one day answer to. I pray that we will choose to be good stewards of all the children God blesses us with and the many resources given to us as we live together on this earth so that we can teach our children how to play the games they should play. |
||||||
|
