That was then...this is now...

Last night I was channel-surfing to avoid all the election broadcast (yes I voted but I am good to wait until the morning for the results). I landed on the show "The Walton's". Remember that show? Can you hum the tune?

Just looking at this house gives me such a warm feeling of a peace most of us don't experience today and a comfort that has been lost with the innovation of our civilization. This TV series represents how it is suppose to be, and how I want my home to be. This structure represents "home" for me, a time though simpler and maybe more difficult, so full of family.

Last nights episode took me back to a childhood that was similar to these lives...godly parents, discipline, values, rules, responsibility, and family togetherness. One of my grandparents had a farmhouse that was similar to this one. I could smell the home-grown food cooking in the kitchen, the smell of that fresh country air, and I could feel the absence of today's busyness and related anxieties. So many emotions flooded over me that the end of the show actually left tears in my eyes and an ache in my heart.

The kids fought each other but they loved each other more...

They disobeyed their parents but they also respectfully submitted to their punishment (which last night Ellen got caught smoking in the shed with her male cousin and had to memorize 10 Bible verses before supper!)....

There was no back talk (that would have cost her another 5 verses!)....

They sacrificed for each other...

They ate together...listened to the radio together...did chores together...

For the most part they were content with what they had or what they earned...

They respected each other, they respected themselves, and they respected their bodies...

Most importantly, God was a vital part of their life, He was expected to be.

Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth.~Deut 11:18-21

Grief...what has happen to America? Could it be.....

I mean seriously.....is this what over 50% of our families have come into (mine included)? I am afraid I have watched a few episodes in this series too and found it amusing and humorous until I decided to look at it as God would. Is God laughing?

I am shamefully grieved at my own families failures...divorce, broken homes, loss of respect, compromised values, and a tolerance of world views has definitely invaded our life.

I am truly grieved today...grieved for what was then and what is now...wishing for "then" again...praying for those kind of days again.

I wonder if I can find the Walton's again tonight....maybe see if my girls could watch it with me..

Father God, Holy God, forgive those of us who have failed in this scared creation of yours...family.

Believing Him~Pamela