Family
By
Michael Lane, Executive Director, Delve Christian Ministries
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The front page article in this morning's "Metro" newspaper calls the state of child care in Canada a "chaotic mess". The statistics are staggering. Dr. Fraser Mustard estimates that "the cost of behavioral and mental health problems triggered by problems in early childhood to be 30 billion". It's a national disgrace, but one that is not entirely a surprise given the reports I hear from friends in the teaching profession. They claim that you can tell with a high degree of accuracy which children were raised in the home and which were raised in day-care. Their attitude, behavior and performance in school are dead giveaways.
This is a problem that is only going to get worse. Is there any reason to think that without intervention, the children of this generation will be better adjusted than their parents? If we don't get a handle on this problem, what will the "behavioral" problems look like in 40 years?
People sometimes ask me why God does not do more to reverse this slide into moral depravity. The fact is, God has given us the tools we need, but we've chosen not to use them. God gave us several institutions which were intended to serve as the framework for a healthy, well-adjusted society. Among these are church, family and government. The first two have all but disappeared from the daily lives of North Americans, and we watch in helpless terror as the third one gets more corrupt and bloated every day. Of these, it's family which has deteriorated the most in the last 50 years. Under the assault of divorce, sexual immorality, lack of responsibility and a desire to have every new luxury they can't afford, parents have all but taken away the very thing that children need the most - two loving parents.
A few weeks ago, my wife and I spent half an hour in Johnny Rockets, a small restaurant which is done up in a 50's style and exudes all the happiness and innocence of that age. We debated whether or not the 50's were really as free and happy as it is always portrayed, and we concluded that it probably was, for the most part, a far better time then the one in which we live. So, what was it about that time - which made it so special - that is now missing from our society? The answer is family.
50 years ago, the husband worked and the wife stayed home and raised the family. I am well aware how shockingly chauvinistic this sounds, but isn't this picture of family the way God intended it to be? I am not saying that women should not or cannot work. What I am saying is that when a couple makes a decision to have children, then one of them must make the sacrifice to stay home and raise those children, not shuffle them off to a day-care. Someone has to show those children the love and support they so desperately need in the tender first years. If both parents love their careers and their lifestyle, then something will have to give. Someone will have to make a sacrifice, and too often it's the children.
You can argue all you want, but the evidence is all around us. We will not stop this moral decay until we start defending the institution of the family. Sending children to day-care so that both parents can work and maintain their wealthy lifestyle is outrageous. However, the fact that in many low-income families, both parents have to work just to put food on the table is even more appalling. We need to make it possible and permissible for one parent to stay home with their children. If they cannot afford to, then we need to step up and make a change in funding policy which makes it affordable to do so. If parents don't want to, we need to help them see what it's doing to their children and to this country.
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Comments
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I agree with you here. The family is central to how our children and world is shaped...as the family decays and falls on the wayside, so does society.
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7/17/2007 5:39:52 PM
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Garreth G., Member of Delve into Jesus since 7/17/2007
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1 parent income--easily said,rarely done--even by those who know it to be the best case scenario for a healthy family--the effort to reverse the decay of the family unit is far more reaching than daycare vs stay at home parent--does this apply only till the children are in school full time?--I think not--every age group--especially into the teen years-- has its specific needs--"latch key kids, home alone kids", crazy busy agendas for kids(soccer, hockey, baseball, dance, lessons of all sorts ----is this not equally a recipe for disaster for the family unit--when all go their own way and rarely connect as a total family unit-even for meals, let alone for family devotions or church attendance
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9/10/2007 8:07:31 PM
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anonymous
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Having family unit that is focused on God is very rare because of the spiritual atmosphere of this modern world where priorities etc have shifted from God to self. People should really return to what matters the most, the Father heart of God who cares, loves and helps all.
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1/5/2008 4:13:09 PM
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anonymous
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Having family unit that is focused on God is very rare because of the spiritual atmosphere of this modern world where priorities etc have shifted from God to self. People should really return to what matters the most, the Father heart of God who cares, loves and helps all.
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1/5/2008 4:13:17 PM
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anonymous
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Families units who are centered on God is rare in this modern world. People gotta go back to be basics and get it right again before it is too late. Everything we have comes from God and no one else. We have life because of God. Look at the example of the father heart of God and learn from it how to be a God centered family and not self-centered.
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1/5/2008 4:16:10 PM
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anonymous
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