Life Matters - December 3, 2025
When God gave us babies He certainly knew what He was doing, as there is no one in this world that we love more, yet there is no one in this world who can try our patience more. When they are sweet they can be very, very sweet, but when they are not they can be…well… just not. If you don’t have much patience when you become a dad and a mom then that becoming will certainly present many golden opportunities to become a dad or a mom with the persistent patience of Job. At least the patience of Job before his many calamities befell him which, we believe, he would not have spiritually survived had he not exercised himself in patience beforehand.
And that is the point; is it not? God desires for us to learn patience in the little things (no pun intended), so that when the ‘big’ comes we are ready to meet those giants on their own turf. With an active, patient, dependence upon God who said, “he that is faithful in that which is least will be faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.” (Luke 16:10 )
Three of our married children and their varied size families—plus one with his girlfriend—were here for varied lengths of time (up to four days) from Thanksgiving day to Sunday and it was heartwarming—at times humorous—to observe the interaction between parents and little ones. Patient listening. Patient helping. Patient loving. Patient correction. Patient disciplining. Patient humor. It was all there as this amused grandpa observed from his easy chair or during interactions with them. I guess there really is nothing new under the sun. Little people have their own unique way to communicate their love, fun, play…and…wants. Little tykes can still have surprisingly oversize opinions about themselves and their wants. But when these children surrender to their parents – boom – it’s over – the fight goes out and peace returns. Little people may not know the ‘why’ but they do catch on to the ‘when’ pretty quick. The more sensibly kind and consistent, the sooner they catch on to the ‘when’ of the line crossed. Parents have everything to do with that ‘catching on’ of their little tykes.
And then the time comes to move on into the academic part of learning life skills. Many of our grandchildren are already in that phase, with some already phasing past, and it is indeed fascinating to observe the growth of their understanding in how the world works as they learn the fundamentals of reading, ‘riting, ‘rithmatic, as they move on into history, science, geography, etc. Their brains are being exercised in learning how to patiently apply the way God has created the world in orderly fashion to the needs of everyday life. God’s creation is intricately woven into their education.
Not all are so fortunate. Ryan Walters, CEO of Teacher Freedom Alliance and former Oklahoma state superintendent of public instruction, says it well when speaking of American public schools and the Teachers Unions guiding them with CRT – DEI – LGBTQ indoctrination to create a teacher army of social ‘justice’ warriors that “the NEA sees its role to be the indoctrination of the next generation.” Godless indoctrination, that is.
It hasn’t always been this way. Early Americans believed it important to have schools not only supporting, but also helping to indoctrinate their posterity by teaching and upholding the morality of Holy Scripture—the Word of God. Old Testament moral principles, with also some New Testament, are intricately woven into America’s founding document—The Constitution of the United States of America. It is no mistake that America is often cited as being founded on Judeo – Christian values. The founders did well in endeavoring to set up a functioning Romans 13 government. It has served Americans so well that expectations have risen to a level where some of today’s generation are ignorantly using freedom to protest freedom. I suppose because freedom has responsibility woven into its very existence and so when responsibility is rebelled against, freedom becomes caught in the crossfire, because these rebels have no context with which to feel the terrors of tyranny.
‘’In early American education, religion played a crucial role by integrating moral instruction with academic learning, particularly through schools founded by religious groups. The curriculum often combined teachings from religious texts with basic literacy and civic values.” – Ellen Lowrie Black. It is important to note that in early America, as in its documents, ‘freedom of religion’ was understood as the freedom to practice Christianity in whatever form expressed by one’s denomination to which he or she voluntarily became a part of; in contrast to the jurisdictional compulsory membership of the Old World. So ‘freedom of religion’ was understood to be within the context of how one understood the Holy Bible.
In an article published on July 30, 2007, extensively titled, Understanding the Role of Religion in the Formation of Schooling and Education in America, the above-mentioned Ellen Lowrie Black Ed.D. of Liberty University writes; “The conviction to educate children was based on belief in the Bible as God’s Word. Hence it is not surprising that teaching children to read was a core value since all individuals needed to be able to read the Bible.” She goes on to quote George Washington, the first president of a nation still in the experiment stage of a government, of the people, by the people, for the people; “The future of this nation depends on the Christian training of the youth. It is impossible to govern without the Bible.”
Freedom as we have known it makes sense and is upheld by a continuum of submitting to the God of creation, as a child to a trustworthy parent.
Life Matters!