Standing In the Gap
In my generation, we played many games… As a child, we were always moving at least when we were awake.
The story is told about my oldest brother-in-law when he was a young man helping his dad sort cows. His father stationed him in a spot telling him to watch the cows, meaning don’t let them get past him.
Somehow that message got mixed and as a cow or two finagled past the young man his dad was unhappy that he had allowed them to pass.
“Oh,” he said, “I thought you wanted me to watch them, but you want me to stop them?”
Two things happened there… or didn’t happen. Communication wasn’t good, and the cows weren’t controlled. And so life happens many times and in many ways.
In my generation, we played many games. Some of these games were hide- n-seek, blind man’s bluff, statues, tag, Mother may I, Annie, Annie Over… I’m sure there were others besides kickball, softball, and kick the can. Those were the outside games.
As a child, we were always moving at least when we were awake. Many decry the current generation which often is seen as the generation that constantly has their faces imbedded in their phones or electronic devices. As one person put it, “I’m glad I had a childhood before technology took over.”
And so it goes. We have so much technology it shouldn’t be difficult to communicate but who are we communicating with? Not only that, but WHAT are we communicating?
I fear for us. Not just for this generation but for the next generations. We need more fathers in homes. Our experts are admitting that the lack of fathers in homes is one of the biggest problems our society is facing.
I remember when feminists came to the conclusion “A woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle.” There are so many wrong ideas in the feminist movement and that is one of them. Empowering women hasn’t solved all the problems of the world either.
I read often of women throughout history, who’ve done those things that they weren’t supposed to do. The ones who flew the airplanes, wrote music, were influencers in science and astronomy as well as those who helped their men on the battlefield. Women who were authors, doctors, teachers, and many more accomplishments beyond what I’ve listed.
We act as if this was shocking in the times when it happened, but really, I think WE are just surprised. I think we don’t know that it was shocking then, and I’m not sure anyone cared then as much as we do now.
Women in those days still ran their homes, still gave birth to children, and cared for their men and their families. But they didn’t do it alone. Under the feminist banner, women can act and live like immoral men and that’s just fine. Except it isn’t.
We look around at the violence taking place in our society with horror. There has been a new hue and cry out there as people look around and realize many of these insane whackos are boys without fathers, and homes without God.
Like the teenage elephants that haven’t had the benefit of the older bull elephants to keep them in line, we are now seeing what homes without fathers produce. At what point will these experts realize it doesn’t take a village to raise a child. It takes a father and a mother and a stable home environment.
Most people are still looking for as some term it “their soul mate”—both men and women. This is just a guess, but I would say that over half the population would settle for the right one man one woman ratio.
That brings us back to children and fathers. In the beginning, God made them male and female and instructed them:
“Genesis 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,”
After arrogant know-it-alls have spent a hundred years tearing apart the fabric of our society telling us all sorts of stupid things, we find that our ancestors did have a number of good answers. Now, the problem is like Hansel and Gretel trying to find their way back home by following their bread crumb trail, our bread crumbs have been devoured by the wild birds and it’s almost impossible to follow the trail back to those good answers.
As a child, another childhood game we used to play was Red Rover, Red Rover. If you’re not familiar with this game there are two opposing groups standing several yards apart. Each group holds hands tightly. The chant goes, “Red rover red rover send… right over.”
The one side picks a person from the opposing group who is supposed to run as hard as they can and try to break through the tightly held hands of the other group. After that point, I don’t remember what the reward was if they broke through or the punishment if they didn’t.
I know they do this trick back and forth until someone wins. As with many childhood games there doesn’t always seem to be a big treat or reward. Just winners and losers and lots of running and exercise and laughter.
The real point wasn’t what you won, but that your team had to stand together. Your team had to hold tight and not let the other guy through your defense. The point was to stand strong, and stand in the gap.
“Joshua 24:
15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.
16 And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the LORD, to serve other gods;
17 For the LORD our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed:”
