Abandoned and discontent

When I saw the headline to the story "500 Student riot at Cali highschool", I was shocked. It is impossible not to blame people for their own actions, and that certainly includes kids after a certain age. But that age isn't 16, it is more like 3-4...if that. But there is a greater problem here, one that starts at the heart of it all: in the United States, our families are falling apart.

We are turning into a weak nation. People simply do not want to fight anymore, for anything. They want to maintain the status quo, to remain under the radar, and just get by. Lost in consumerism, materialism, and myriad other "isms", we have simply lost sight of what is important.

Last year, when another relationship of mine came to an end, I questioned every ethic, every standard, every paradigm I had learned. I learned that I had no idea what it meant to be a Godly woman, or what I should look for in a Godly man. Then I read "Getting Serious about Getting Married." And while I learned a lot about really dating someone, I learned a lot more about what it means to start a family, and the power and significance the institution of the family really has on the individual and society.

I'll speak from my own experience on this point: I went to a high school where disrespect for authority was rampant. I was as much a part of it as anyone, though perhaps not as much as some. I come from a broken home and have felt the anxiety, self-doubt, and fear that comes from that. Even so, I'm taking time in preparation for marriage to relearn how I behave so that I can be a Godly wife and mother.

Those students are only partially to blame in the big picture. While they are wholly accountable for their actions, their parents and our society are too. If my generation does not start taking family more seriously than it does, does not stop serial dating in lieu of something much more fulfilling, then things will never change.

Brandon came down from Boulder (where he is for this semester on internship) for the weekend. We went to our first "nearly-wed/newly-wed" bible study. The bible study leader, Brett, said that confidence starts from within the marriage, not from anything outside. I can't rely on job performance, grades, or anything else to give me that. I must rely first on my God and then on my spouse. Likewise, children learn their behaviors from their families, from their parents. But how can they do that if their parents are never home, are always fighting, or are divorced? Abandoned and discontent, they are left to wander the roads of life practically alone. To change this, we must strengthen our marriages and families to give them the support structure they need.