Two for Tuesday - Mixed Messages

WARNING ---- WARNING ---- WARNING

Okay, you've been warned that I'm on my soapbox today...

I never cease to be amazed at what a topsy-turvy world we live in and the mixed messages that the world, and we, send our children.

Several days ago it was on the local news that a baby had been left on the doorstep of an elderly woman one very cold morning. Follow-up stories gave us several bits of information.

• The baby was a few hours old (cord still attached).


• The mother was a 17 year old high school student (the "news" felt is necessary to name the school).


• The baby was in a large shoebox wrapped in a blanket and two adult shirts.


• The mother left a note saying she knew she couldn't take care of the baby.


• The mother was later identified and taken in to be tried in juvenile court.

Clearly this was not a good choice and I am certainly not saying that there don't appear to be better options. What I do want to say is that there are some other interesting facts we know and a whole bunch that we do not.

• They identified the mother because she got on the school bus after leaving the baby and upon arriving at school told the counselor what she had done.


• She said she left the baby at that particular house because she knew someone would be home.

We do not know this girl's particular circumstances. We do not know about her home situation. We do not know anything about the father. (It seems she may have been trying to take care of the baby the best she knew how and was able to.) She did not leave it in a dumpster or trash can. Some feel that because we have a "Safe Haven" law she didn't use that she deserves to be prosecuted. Hmmm. Did she know about the law? Are we teaching about it in our schools? Are the pro-life and/or pro choice advocates/agencies putting money and energy behind making people aware of the details of this law? The law here allows a baby up to 45 days old to be left at a hospital, fire station, or police station. Was there one of those within walking distance of this girl's neighborhood? Keep in mind that she had recently given birth and very likely did not have the money to take a city bus or cab to an "appropriate" place. Do any agencies make transportation available to someone in this situation?

Stop for just a minute - take off your judgement hat, your pro-choice hat or your pro-life hat and consider what a mixed message we, as a society, send. We have a Safe Haven law - but if you aren't fortunate enough to have one of the "appropriate" drop off places where you can access it - we will prosecute you. We have a law that makes abortion legal. Therefore, if this girl had chosen to kill her baby four to six months ago there would have been no headlines and she would not be being prosecuted. It appears as though they will "go easy" on her. Even so, since the newspaper and television both carried the story along with her age, her school, and the address where the baby was left, her peers will likely know or figure out who it is and she will still have that to deal with.

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We send mixed messages all the time. Here are just a few examples:

• We want our children to practice abstinence but we allow them to watch movies and television shows that glorify premarital sex and show it as "what everyone is doing".


• We want our children to "just say no" while we can't wait to watch and read the latest information on the "stars" who have gone to rehab- been arrested - overdosed, or while we overuse or abuse prescription drugs or alcohol ourselves.


• We tell our kids their "value" when we complain about higher taxes to pay teachers, police and firefighters more or about the cost of daycare but turn around and spend anywhere from twice to ten times as much for a ticket to watch a concert or sporting event.


• We watch that team, buy their apparel, and are more than happy to discuss last nights game without a second thought about supporting the players who have been caught doing drugs, driving drunk, carrying unlicensed firearms, and a host of other illegal activities for which they mostly avoid prosecution.


• Then there are all the issues with models and advertising...

Sadly, I could go on. I think, however, that you get the point.

We as individuals and as a society send our kids all kinds of mixed messages every day and then wonder what happened when they do something wrong or make bad choices or don't know what to do in a difficult situation.

Shame on us.

Two for Tuesday-yadseuT rof owT

WARNING- I'M ON MY SOAP BOX TODAY!


I've come to the conclusion that there are two main problems with most people in America today.

First, we, as a people and as individuals, have an extremely arrogant sense of entitlement. We don't want to be the backs on which success or liberty is built, we want to be the guy on top who didn't get stepped on. We no longer want to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, we want to be able to have what we want in our comfy slippers and prefer that someone give those to us. We demand to be served, politely and well, by our waiters/waitresses, retail clerks, clergy and government, often without giving them even a polite "thank you". There job, afterall, is to serve us. We don't, however, want to have our schedules, plans, or agendas disturbed if we have approached them at an inconvenient time and certainly not to serve someone else. We walk around like we have a right to a certain amount of stuff (whether we've worked for it or not), respect (whether we've earned it or not), and all of our rights ( to be employed and make what we deem is enough for our efforts - to a spouse that remains perfect to all our expectations no matter how ridiculous or shallow - to say and do whatever we want).

Well, guess what - the only thing we are truly entitiled to is the breath God gives us each day. That's it! That's all!
As far as what our government (ie. being an American) entitles us to, it boils down to life (meaning we won't kill you for your beliefs here), liberty (meaning fairness in being goverened and the right to make our own choices about things like where we work and how many children we'll have), and the pursuit of happiness (the key word is pursuit - we can attempt to make choices that will make us happy but not at the expense of someone else's liberty or life - that's why they're listed first). God's word, however, does not promise that happiness. In fact, it states clearly that even if we are trying to live right that "in this world you will have trouble".

We seriously need to get over ourselves. We need to be grateful for everything our God, our government, or anyone else does that impacts our lives or helps us grow (please note, I didn't say that makes us happy!). Trust me, you have no more right to the spouse, the house, the job, or even the parking space you want than another person does. If you want to put in the time, effort, and the cost to get them - fine - more power to you. If not, no one owes it to you!


Second, people need to realize and remember that no one sins in a vacuum. Your self-serving, wrong, bad, or even evil choices effect other people. ALWAYS! No exceptions!

Side note: I had someone tell me once that she didn't "do" sin. She may not have liked the term but, believe me, she did sin.

The smoker often states that he knows it's bad for him but it's his choice and he isn't hurting anyone else. We now know differently. Think secondhand smoke. When we cheat or lie, someone is being cheated - someone is being deceived. I could go on, but I'm sure you get the idea. Every time we sin we grieve God and we hurt others. We should remember, too, that sin always has consequences - to ourselves and/or to others who may be entirely innocent. Also, each time we sin (especially if we are repeating the same sin) it seems a little less "bad" and, therefore, gets a little easier to repeat. Eventually it enslaves us and has long since quit being fun or exciting. The best quote I ever heard on sin follows and then I will step off my soap box until another day. I wish I could attribute the quote but all I know is that I heard it from a friend who had heard it from her pastor.

"Sin is fun. It is often pleasureable. But, it will always take you farther than you want to go and keep you there longer than you want to stay."

Stepping down..........