When I was

growing up they were called broken homes. Today they may be called single

parent homes, blended family settings, same sex marriage families ...

no matter what name is used to refer to a non-traditional family, you

can almost always bet, if there is a child involved, there is ongoing

pain to be reckoned with.

Perhaps it

is partially because my generation has been the "me" generation.

It seems there is a whole wide-ranging age group of self-centered spoiled

brats who think if it doesn't feel good, then they have the right, even

the obligation to themselves to walk away from it.

In so doing

they have walked away from their children. Now, those children are trying

to find mates and have relationships and raise families. And they don't

have a clue!

I'm sick of

psychological jargon that would attempt to convince me that children do

not need two parents a mom and a dad, and a stable home life. I am fed

up with all the excuses parents offer for not being able to get along

with each other for the good of their offspring! I am disgusted to observe

that many of the animals with which we share our world are doing a better

job of parenting than humans.

I don't know

what to say anymore to parents who fail. So today, I want to talk to the

kids.

I want the

kids to know it's not their fault. I want them to know it's okay to feel

all the feelings they feel. The anger. The insecurity. The lack of trust.

The bitterness. The frustration. The guilt. I want them to know those

feelings are okay. They are a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.

I also want

them to know that is not okay to act on so many of those feelings. It

is not okay to strike out or strike back at those you love because you

are angry. It is not okay to refuse to be good because others are not

good. It is not okay to choose not to perform, not to be all you can be,

because you feel that others have failed in their performance.

You see, kids,

it turns out that it really is all up to you. You can choose to be good.

You can choose to love. You can choose joy. You can choose to be unselfish,

to share, to care, to be the best you that it is possible to be. You can

choose to realize that what others do is not your fault.

Jesus knew

something 2,000 years ago that it still true today. He knew that "a

little child shall lead them."

Even a child

as young as three, five, seven, even teenagers with all those raging hormones,

even young adults can lead. The trick is not to give in to the selfishness,

the self-centeredness, the "I" and "Me" syndrome that

has become the ultimate American plague.

The desire

to acquire more and more things is only a complication of the primary

disease. Me-ism is the sickness that has set the stage for what could

become the downfall of what many consider the greatest nation on earth.

But, kids, that will be for you to decide.

No matter how

old you are, you can choose this day to forgive. You can choose to not

be mean because of your anger. You can choose to not strike back at those

who hurt you or at others because someone you love lets you down. You

can choose to listen and observe all things, to see the good and the bad

for what it is.

As you make

your observations, it is also in your power to be all those things you

want so much for others to be. You can choose happiness. Don't let the

unhappiness and misery of those who have failed you rule your life.

There's just

on more thing, it's not all up to you alone. There is a Creator God who

loves you and wants you to be all you can be. He will help you. Look beyond

those who fail you to One who will not fail you. Observe the rest of His

creation. You will learn much. There is still some degree of order in

the universe. There are still a few good examples to be followed. Don't

focus on what you have not had and do not have, look instead for that

one beam of light that will show you the best first step you can take

to becoming what you want others to be.

You will change

the world if you can do that. It will become a better place. Other kids

will no longer have to suffer like you have suffered. I believe in you.

I believe in the world you can create.

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