Think On These Things

Fatherly Moments

As much of a problem that teenagers can be - especially two at a time with one on the way - there are the moments that almost justifies the troubled times. Moments that give a parent a sense that things might actually improve (albeit slowly). Our oldest son and I had one of those moments tonight. After disturbing family moments - less common than usual, but disturbing moments none the less - I called my son downstairs for a talk. Everyone was heading for bed and I thought that Conner was ready for a man to man talk.

I began to talk to Conner, first explaining what Cyndy and I had given up and would give up in exchange for them simply making an effort and thinking of the family. Initially, he just seemed to be listening as he usually appeared to - half-heartedly and with reservation. But as the conversation went along he began to look at me with an "I’m starting to get it" look in his eyes. What had begun for me as an "I’m like my Dad" moment turned into a "I hope I’m as good as my Dad was" moment.

There are few times in a father’s life when he feels as if he is making a difference. Rather than just bouncing off the emotions and childish cravings of his children. Very few times in which he thinks he is making a difference in his children’s lives. In which he feels he is accomplishing something and making a difference. I had one of those times tonight.

If you have been a parent, you understand. If you are a parent, maybe you can - if nothing else - gain some insight or comfort in what Cyndy and I are going through as parents. If you are newlyweds planning on having a family or someone who has not met your lifetime mate yet, but want to find a loving spouse and raise a family, take heart. Trust me - it will help if you find, or have found, a church you are comfortable with for your future family. Then trust in the Lord.

Will it be tough? I’d like to tell you no, but that is an impossibility. It will be tough. How tough, though, depends on you and your faith in the Lord. It will never be easy or get easier. There will however, be times when you will feel it has been worth it. Times when your children let you know that your efforts were not in vain.

Those times will be few and far between. Yet they will make up for all the troubled times. Do not forget that the prerequisite for those times is a strong faith in the Lord.

Peace be with you.

Ending A Week, Beginning Another

It has been a week since I posted anything. Monday was my Birthday and Cyndy was home from work all week. Ordinarily, Cyndy’s being off all week would be a good thing, but our boys insisted on making it as difficult as possible to have time alone.

Monday night, we went to my parents for cake and ice cream for my birthday. My parents just returned from a two week river cruise which included a stop at the Gutenberg Museum. They have reconstructed the original Gutenberg press. My birthday present was the first page of the Gospel of John in Latin printed on the Gutenberg press in a nice frame. Along with a book on Gutenberg.

It was one of the best gift my parents have given me and there have been many wonderful gifts from them. I’m trying to decide the best place to hang it. They bought it on the trip and had it shipped back here. I greatly appreciate it.

I will get back with the posts tomorrow. Our boys tested us in the past week. Yet at the same time, the Lord was answering my prayers. I will do my past to pass it on.

Peace be with you.

Patience

I used to have patience. When I was our sons’ ages I raised my voice to my mother once with my father in earshot. He let me know his complete displeasure with me. Although I still argued with my mother (I was a teenager after all), I do not remember raising my voice to her again. I yelled at my brother and cursed him once. My father instantly appeared and I once again felt the brunt of his disapproval. My father’s disappointment in me hurt me deeply. As with my anger with my mother in the previous instance, the anger dissipated into a cloud of regret.

I always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt. As a stutterer since I can remember, I have always thought before speaking. Often I would not speak at all, simply to avoid stuttering. I still do not like talking on the phone because I cannot see the person I am talking to and read their reactions. Following a phone call in which someone offended me in some way, I did (and do) analyze the conversation until I have it logically understood. Admittedly - especially when I was younger - sometimes overanalyzed and misunderstood.

As a general rule though, I was correct. Mainly in understanding the caller’s feelings. I avoided many possible conflicts. During my short, ill-fated first marriage - the sole benefit of which was a beautiful daughter - my patience was stretched by her lack of patience, but remained solid. In my years of single parenthood my parents helped greatly with my daughter Jennifer while I endured numerous roommates and a constant feeling of failure.

Throughout the many roommates my patience was continually tested and I reacted better than most. Although I had my lapses. I kept giving every one the benefit of the doubt until they proved to me through their actions that they were not worth it. At times I even swallowed enough pride to choke before voicing my displeasure with the circumstances. I always held more inside than I should have - I have had stomach ulcers since I was eighteen. But thinking everything through ad nauseam allowed me to retain patience and a settled stomach. While keeping the embarrassment of stuttering to a minimum.

When I reconnected with Cyndy - we were friends in high school and dated soon after and again a few years later - we realized that we should have never parted. She has always been the love of my life. It simply took me a long time to realize it. Her temper is a little quicker than mine. She wants to react instantly while I take time to mull it over. It has to be a result of the way I deal with my stuttering because I am Irish, which is translated as quick tempered. Let me interject here that I am not saying I do not have a temper. As I said, I am Irish. But I take time to think before reacting - at least I used to.

Then we had three boys - two within the first two years of marriage. My patience was continually tested, but remained intact for the most part. Even the rising expense of a growing family barely diluted my patience. When our oldest son reached his teenage years it was touch and go. Then the middle son became a teenager and the youngest was within spitting distance. My patience blew out like a tire going flat on the highway while doing sixty-five miles an hour.

I still have patience when reacting to people outside the family. But our sons do not have to step very hard to squeeze my last nerve to the boiling point. Explosion becomes imminent. Then I regret my reaction. Yet not as much as I hurt at the way my sons are acting towards me. And towards Cyndy. Patience fades and helplessness begins to take it’s place. "Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile" is written for teenagers as far as I am concerned.

I constantly pray for more patience and understanding. If I could return to my former level of patience I would be content. If the boys would understand that and let it soak in, all would be well. But the fact that the Lord understands helps me to retain the patience I have not had forced from me. My faith will eventually assist me in returning my patience once again to a manageable level.

Our boys continually test us - stretching it to the limit. They are in the constant flux of the teenage years. Yet the faith that my parents passed down to me remains strong enough to get through the problems that arise. It does not make it easier. But, Lord willing, our boys will mature, the anger at the world not going the way they want will subside, and our patience will begin to rebuild itself. First, however, we must face tomorrow - with the Lord’s help.

Peace be with you.

Alone Time for Parents

Since it so frequently becomes apparent, I was thinking about the latest instance in which Cyndy and I proved that we have little time together because of our children. It is even more irritating when I realize that we are not breaking new parental ground. Combined with the fact that it is not up to the parents whether they break new parental ground or not. Comedians make money from the jokes about a situation common to all parents.

Jeff Dunham, a ventriloquist with an increasing stable of "dummies" has a line in his routine with Walter, a supposed old codger.

"When was the last time you and your wife had [an intimate moment]?" Jeff asks.

"I’m married, you moron!" Walter replies.

The joke is funny because it is a universal truth. All parents can relate. Since everyone has parents, they can relate, because it only dawned on them after they left home that their parents actually had intimate moments. But it makes a good joke because everyone gets it.

I’m reminded of the studies I prepared for the 7^th grade Sunday school (we call them Christ Focus Groups - I add that because I see relevance in the distinction). We were studying the life of the people in the Old Testament. Although I think the leaders got more out of the lessons than the youth, I hope we stressed enough of the right points to get the basic ideas across to them.

We were studying the travels of Abraham and his descendants through Israel and the Negev desert, and later, Egypt. After having the children noted in the Bible, the father was to have lived for over a hundred years, having "other sons and daughters." Abram sent 318 men to rescue his nephew Lot. Which would mean he had up to possibly 600 people in his caravan. Not to mention camels, donkeys, goats, sheep and other animals in abundance - someone had to carry the supplies!

The few moments Cyndy and I get to spend with each other seem like vacations in comparison to Abraham and Sarah. We only have three boys coming in to ask us for what they want or what they can have that they think they deserve just for having been brought into the world. Abraham and Sarah, and their descendants, had hundreds. And we do not have to pack up and move every few days, months, or years.

Even if we do have to move, we can rent a truck or hire movers. We do not have to oversee crops and supplies gathered and loaded. Or count livestock, of which they had to make sure care was taken on the journey. Or deal with people traipsing through our tent at all hours of the day. But we do always have a problem that needs to be dealt with.

Understanding does make it any easier to deal with. Just because we know that it has been that way and will be that way after we are gone does not do away with the disappointment of seldom being able to have an extended conversation. Much less real alone time. But God certainly gave Abraham strength and he will just as certainly give us strength. Faith and knowing does not always make us feel better. I doubt it made Abraham and Sarah feel a lot better.

But Cyndy and I have faith, as did Abraham and Sarah. Faith does not ease the pain or discomfort. But the Lord did not promise it would. He promised that he would get us through the pain and discomfort. He did not promise it would go away - just that he would get us through it if we had faith. We have faith and the Lord gets us through it. While it bothers me, I do not think one of my sons will kill the other as Cain did Abel.

Yet a prodigal son is a possibility. And you know what? The Lord will get us through it.

Peace be with you.

Teenagers, Pt. 3

As much as I talk about how difficult teenagers can be, I must admit that Cyndy and I are fortunate. We raised our children in an atmosphere of church activities and accountability to God at home. We have made mistakes, but we never presented ourselves to our children as perfect. Because of that we do not have the major problems that other parents of teens have.

Our boys may drive us crazy. They may not do chores. They may think they are in charge. They may argue with us - even yelling at times. But we can be confident that they do not do drugs. It would not occur to them to have an alcoholic drink. They would not smoke if given the opportunity. We cannot depend on them to pick up after themselves or clean up their rooms. But when they are not with us, we can trust them to the degree that they will not go against the Christian values with which they were raised.

The children’s director tells us how helpful the older two were with the younger children. The youth director very rarely has a concern about their behavior. Their friends’ parent s tell us how good all three boys have acted at their house. Yet they do not act that way at home. Quite the contrary.

We can deal with their actions at home. It is hard at times, but we can deal with it. But the fact that we can drop them off at the recreation center, the pool, the library, or a friend’s house and not have to worry about them other than what time they will be home is worth some extra problems within the household. As a general rule if they are out of the house we can do what needs done without extra worrying.

It all comes down to raising them in a church family as well as our own. With a Christian upbringing in which we have never presented ourselves as infallible parents or without sin we can rest easy when they are away from the house. We expect them to give us a hard time. We gave our parents a hard time. It is how normal teenagers act. We will take normal - that works for us.

When you are raising children is one of the best times to trust in the Lord. If you raise your children so that they trust the Lord, the family problems will work themselves out. It is just a matter of time. True, we wish they would trust us, but that is not historically feasible. Teenagers do not trust their parents.

As always, we can thank God for our good fortune. Our boys may try to get away with not doing chores or cleaning their rooms, but they - for the most part - are religious children. For that we can be grateful. Even when they tell us to go jump in a lake. But we can trust them when they go somewhere. Which is almost enough to offset their disturbing behavior at home. Either way our love and faith can get us through it all.

Peace be with you.

Teenagers, Pt. 2

Then there are teenagers who are out of school for the summer. Since they are out of school, as far as they are concerned they should be able to do whatever they want all the time.

"Why are you making us do chores? We’re not in school!"

Somehow that makes some distorted sense to them. To their logical father, it makes absolutely no sense at all. Being a logical person causes it to be hard to fathom the not only illogical, but otherworldly and outrageous reasoning that comes out of teenagers’ mouths. What they say or what they do - regardless of how hurtful it feels to the parents - is all justified if they get what they want.

All based on the premise that parents are wrong. If anything does not go like the teenager would prefer it, it is the parents’ fault. Even if the parents had nothing to do with it in the slightest. Which is hard for a parent not to take personally. Even if he or she knows that most teenagers are that way. Constant blame still hurts, especially when their intentions were to try to help the youth.

Even with a strong faith in the Lord, it is hard. Children have plagued their parents for centuries. But the fact that many people have gone through it before does not make a father feel better when one of his sons is screaming numerous false accusations at the top of their young, considerable lungs. These occurrences have pierced the heart and soul of parents throughout history and will continue to do so.

Sadly, it will be years before our children actually realize that - while we may not have always been right the percentages are in our favor. Even then they will feel that certainly they were not as bad when they were teenagers. In that instance, they may be right. With all the technological advances, there are many more distractions with each generation.

I distinctly remember much of my teenage years. Was I a normal, self-centered and absorbed, selfish teenager? Of course. But the rules in nearly every household were the same. All of my friends had basically the same rules I did. Single parents were uncommon. There were no video games. When we went to the bowling alley, we actually went there for the single purpose of bowling. Maybe play a few games of pinball before we left.

But each game cost money. We did not have handheld game systems to play games wherever we were. Most of my friends loved to read - although not as avidly as I did. We would go exploring - without the worry of being snatched by a passing truck. Our only worry was being spotted doing wrong by a parent - any parent. There was always a chance it would get back to our own parents.

It is a different world now. Just as it was for my parents when I was a teenager. Especially when we moved to Dallas, which was the largest city in which we had lived. It was in the sixties and early seventies. The world was definitely changing from the one in which my parents grew up. But as the world advances so do the problems teenagers face and the problems they cause.

At the same time I feel hurt by the hateful actions of my teenagers, I feel sorry for them. Their experiences as parents of teenagers may indeed be worse than ours. And the best I will be able to do to help their state of mind is tell them "this too shall pass" as my father tells me. I know it will not be of much help. While I appreciate the concern he has for us, it still irritates me. Mostly because he is right, but it does not make me feel any better. Every parent has to go through the scorn of their teenagers. No short cuts or easy solutions. And so it goes.

Peace be with you.

Teenagers

If you have - or have had - teenagers, you will understand. If you have young children who will sooner or later be teenagers, I’m sorry. I’m sorry because there is nothing anyone can say and nothing you can do to make it any easier when you realize that you did not actually have your children. The younger version was loaned to you while the teenager was readied to ship from another planet. One morning you will wake up and find that the Twilight Zone television show was not so far-fetched.

Or they may be coming home from school, or a night out with friends, when you suddenly notice that they have grown claws, fangs - while having acquired a very nasty attitude. For more years than you like you will not be able to say the right thing. It does not matter what you plan for dinner, it will not be what they want. If you let them eat what they want it will be something they have all the time. Yet do not dare to plan that particular food for the family meal. Then they will complain that there is nothing in the house good to eat. Regardless of the fact that your grocery bill makes the electric bill look like pocket change.

There are still pleasant moments - albeit few and extremely far in between. Get all of the pleasure from those moments that you can. They will need to last. The next pleasant moment is not even reached the horizon. Do not expect the pleasant moment to extend past a smile, knowing glance, or hug. It will not belong before Mr. Hyde returns and you are once again the enemy. An enemy to be ignored or, when that fails, engaged in battle at every opportunity - opportunities which give no prior notice of their appearance.

If they are active in church youth activities as well as church activities in general, you will hear from church leaders that your teenagers were "a big help" and acted "like mature young men." When they spend the night with a friend, the friend’s parents will tell you what a breath of fresh air your teenager was. Then you will return home to have them attempt to make you feel like the scum of the earth for simply suggesting that they only part of one of the numerous chores they have ignored for several days. For suggesting that they get ready for bed when they return home. Despite the fact they have done pretty much what they wanted to do for the last several hours.

You begin to wonder what it is about church leaders and /or their friend’s parents that makes your children act better when they are with them. It does not help much when you begin to understand that the reason they act better in those circumstances is that they are not with you. You will feel extremely hurt - it will not help either when you realize you had a pleasant time while they gone. You will switch back and forth between these feelings for years.

Our oldest child, our daughter, just turned twenty-six. When I get a call from her I feel pleasure even as I cringe - preparing for what may come. Did she actually call me to talk to me or is something wrong in which she will require our assistance, either monetarily or a disruption of our schedule? Yet we have a much better relationship with her than with our teenagers. Which should give someone with smaller children a chance at hope in the future. I am just over fifty and it has only been in the past few years that I have really felt that I had a good relationship with my father. Somewhat because through the relationship with my children I have come to see my share of fault in our years of "miscommunication."

My father always says "this too shall pass." My father is right. But it will pass like a gallstone - slow and tremendously painful. But it will pass, there will be times - even though they may be fewer than preferred - when you and your children will share the love you have for each other. Times when it dawns on you that you did not do such a bad job after all.

This will be continued. Having teenagers, it has been a long day - week - months...

Peace be with you.

In With the New, But Do Not Forget the Old

My mother and father just returned from a river cruise in Europe. Our daughter picked them up at the airport Tuesday evening. Two days later we received my Mom’s postcard from a place I cannot pronounce that I think is in Germany. We told her on the phone this evening that we received her postcard today, but we did not ask where she mailed it. I’ll ask her when I talk to her tomorrow.

Since my folks began to take trips together away from my brother and I - whether we stayed with someone or were left by ourselves - Mom has sent postcards home. If they were traveling in the states, I received their postcards while they were still on the trip. Sometimes they would call to check on us before I received the postcard and they were miles away from where she had mailed it.

In the past few years when my parents have been taking trips overseas more often than in years past, it was common to receive Mom’s postcards a day or days after their return. Of course now the postcards are addressed to our children, but I look forward to them none the less - I know they are really meant for the whole family. The same way I look forward to what Mom brings back from their travels. If I took all the things she brought me - later the boys and Cyndy (all of which we still have) - and combined them with Cyndy’s raccoon collection, we could turn a large room into a museum of sorts.

But my point is that - in this age of computers and internet - my parents still follow the same travel patterns. Not that in their place I would not do the same thing. As it is, I would be thrown off if they did anything different. Yet I find it interesting.

Were my wife and I to travel to Europe - with or without the children - I would have my laptop. Possibly an international cell phone depending on the cost. But I would definitely have email. Taking care of email daily is not all that troublesome a task, but two weeks worth of email would waste considerable time - not only the spam, but reading the old emails that are now irrelevant.

But my parents see it differently. Why should they not? My father learned years ago how to use a computer, but it stays at home. Notes from research at the library are written longhand. I still take notes that way, but my computer is near by. I am simply a modern version of my father - of which I am proud.

Again I digress. When I thought about the postcard, I thought about the people at the church that are my parents’ age. Many of them have computers that either or both can operate. Not only do some of them don’t, but those that do use them only when they need them and do not check email regularly if they have internet access.

The old ways are not extinct. We may not use them as often or in the same way as we used to, but they are not gone forever. Not yet. Postal service still serves a purpose. Fedex and UPS do not make millions because we send everything by computer. Official documents cannot be simply signed and faxed.

We need to mix the old with the new. Even those who insist on buying every gadget when it comes out enjoys a loving letter or card from a family member or old acquaintance. I grew up when a computer filled a large room and could only be afforded by larger cities for traffic light control and all other vital information - which was collected on punch cards.

If it is on my computer and it is important, I have a hard copy. If the computer and the backup goes, I still have it. Paper companies are still doing a good business. There are still many people who write things down rather than type them. I take notes in longhand when doing research, but type the draft of the manuscript. Then I edit by reading and marking the hard copy, then correcting the manuscript on computer.

Again - we need to mix the old and the new. There is still something special about getting a postcard from some distant place in your friend or family’s own handwriting. Representing an extra effort taken after thoughts of you. It is always nice to know you are thought of and remembered.

I am all for change. We would not have some of the luxuries we have today had it not been for change. But we would do well not to abandon all of the customs of the past. Church services of various denominations have been the same for years - sometimes hundreds of years. Add multimedia including larger and larger video screens or any of the modern advances. But it is still the same service. Not only that, but a small one room church with a vibrant a capella choir and less than one hundred in the pews can provide a religious experience just as meaningful as a sanctuary holding thousands with all the modern media devices.

Peace be with you.

Little League All Stars

Of course it rained today. Fortunately, it did not rain at all before we left about 1:30 to drive the twenty miles to the ballpark in south Garland. The humidity, however, was enough to choke a water soaked camel. Opening the windows on the highway did quite the opposite of the intended effect. Rather than creating a breeze, it gave us insight into how a pair of pants feels when it is being dry-cleaned.

When we got to the fields three games were already in progress. Sadly though, there had been a rain delay before our arrival. Scheduled for 1 p.m., the game began an hour later. J.D.’s team, the Farmers Branch All Stars were to begin their game at three, but it did not start until four. There was little dry space for the team to warm up, but they managed to find a spot. Meanwhile, the parents and family did their best to pass the time.

With the stands full of the families of the currently playing teams, we had no alternative to standing around. Except for those who always bring their own chairs. We used to bring chairs in earlier Little League years and at Disc Golf (Frisbee™ Golf tournaments). Cyndy and I found it too much to keep track of when she and I were left with it all. It is hard to watch a baseball game when you are busy keeping track of stuff. So Cyndy and I stood and walked around while the children played - most of the younger ones (thankfully not ours) in the mud.

The longer we stood, the longer we sweat. For a place where one can almost constantly count on wind (the only question being how hard it blows), there was an abnormal lack of a breeze. When the game finally started we began to move around, urging the players on, and sweating more. Every move took effort to force our way through the cloud of humidity.

By the time we returned home (J.D.’s team won) well after six o’clock Cyndy and I were drained of energy. The house had stayed relatively cool even with the air conditioner off while we were gone. Even so it was some time before the heat our bodies had absorbed managed to dissipate. The weather forecast is not much better for tomorrow when they are to play their next game.

If I am not mistaken, if the team wins the next two games they will win the District and go to the State tournament. But the weather has made mincemeat out of any planned schedule. With more rain on the way, we wonder and worry about the next game being rained out. Hopefully, we will get the games played and won and will move on.

It is even more annoying because we did the same thing in the regular season. Yet despite all the obstacles, the players enjoy playing. Despite having to warm up, cool down, then warm up briefly right before the game. Despite never really knowing when the next game was going to be.

Through it all, the players and their siblings had a good time. And that is what Little League is all about.

Peace be with you.

Keeping Up with the Jones'

One of the differences I noticed between raising a daughter - now twenty-six - and raising our three boys has more to do with age than gender. While the world has certainly changed since Cyndy and I were our children’s ages, it has also changed since our daughter was the boys’ ages. The biggest thing when Jennifer was their age was cell phones. They were the hot new item. And she was more interested in activities than playing games.

The boys have grown up in the age of GameBoys and iPods/MP3 players. It all seemed to come about after Barney. We did not watch the show. No Barney videos or merchandise made it into our house. I told the boys that Barney was dead. I was kidding yet serious and they understood. Mainly because they never saw him enough to like him so it never really registered.

Barney was the last thing we kept them from being exposed to successfully. For years we refused to get them GameBoys or TV video game units. They never actually missed them until their friends began to play them more. Then it became more of a struggle. But still we kept them headed toward physical activities rather than games.

Then a situation came about that we were afraid was coming, but did not realize until it happened. Some of the parents of our children have more money than sense - that doesn’t mean they have a lot of money! When there was a new upgrade, the child would whine until his parents succumbed and bought it for him. Unfortunately for us, that left several friends with old players that they no longer wanted.

Slowly but surely each of our three boys came home with a Gameboy that their friend no longer wanted or needed. That put a bee in the old bonnet. Our excuse for not getting them one was the expense. But we could not very well tell them they could not keep something someone gave them. We always check with the other parents to make sure it was a legitimate transaction.

I did succumb with cell phones - to a point. I got prepaid cell phones. As I said, Jennifer wanted a cell phone before there was such a thing as prepaid phones. The largest bill for one month I remember was about $275 - maybe a little more. I was not going to make that same mistake. Even with prepaid phones it was not long before J.D.’s ended up in the bottom of a creek. The other two ran out of minutes and did not do anything to earn money for more minutes.

Conner, the oldest boy, was smart enough this year - with his birthday in January - to save up his Christmas and birthday money. He paid for his own prepaid camera phone so I threw in some minutes. Now he has a camera phone with no minutes. And we now have old GameBoys, but no one wants them because they are outdated.

Now a friend gave Conner his old iPod when he got a bigger one. Now, as if on cue, Cameron - the middle son - is convinced he needs one. While at about the same time Conner’s friend gave him the iPod, Cameron’s "friend" gave him a GameBoy Sp - an upgrade from what he has. That, however, is not enough. His brother has a gadget he doesn’t. And the cycle goes on. If J.D. was closer to them in age, he would want the same thing. But he still wants something that costs as much.

As a adults we like to think we are passed that stage. We come up with what we think are practical reasons to buy something we simply want because it is a new gadget. Of course there are those who need technological advances for their job. Which is all well and good. But even they go bigger at times just because it is available.

I think I’ve done better than most. Not that I have not thought that it would be neat to have. I have definitely considered the new gadgets. They sound "neat." But I learned when I bought my first Commodore computer in the 1980's. Wait on the next big thing until they get the bugs out. At that time, if you waited a couple of years the price went down and the bugs were fixed for the most part. Now it is down to months.

I have a 4G MP3 player. It is the first one I have ever owned. I have thought about it since they came out. Yet I waited until I had a legitimate reason for buying one. And, to be honest, although it has saved me money in a couple of cases, I could have lived without it.

Regardless of the difference in generations or the advancement of technology, this is not a new phenomenon. Remember the parable of the talents? Joseph and his brothers - they were so jealous they sold him. Then there was Cain and Abel. Siblings throughout history wanted to have what there siblings had. Many who wanted everything right now. They were told the simple method of achieving what they wanted, but decided that would take too long. Many people asked God for shortcuts to what they wanted.

Now my children are bothering me like I bothered my parents when I was their age. The cycle is complete, but will repeat itself again. As it has done for centuries. You know where it appears to have started, right? I was writing this and I just now saw it coming. Adam and Eve and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They decided (with the help of the serpent) that they had to have it right then. We still live with that today and people always will.

We all look for an easier way with shortcuts. Yet we always - sooner or later - realize there is no "easier way."

Peace be with you.