Times and Bible boxes

My, how time flies!  It's hard to believe it's nearly Thanksgiving already.  This year has been full of change but I won't wax nostalgic...yet.

We've seen prayers answered in ways that we'd hoped for...asked for...and some in ways we never imagined...others we realized weren't meant to be at this time.  Some doors have closed and others have opened; some are just now beginning to unlock.  There are lots of things that fill our days with laughter and sorrow, peace and anxiety, understanding and wonder.  The worst parts are the misunderstandings, the needless, wordy, jumping to conclusions or the outright hurtful things we can't understand.  It's part of living in a fallen world and even if we try to be set apart, we still struggle to rise above it because there's little to separate us from everyone else except for accepting grace.

In a round about way, I was accused of being narrow-minded the other day, and teaching my kids to live in a "bible box" because they've been raised in a Christian home.  Hey, we have our problems same as anyone else and we don't always handle them in ways that are leaning on God or even glorifying Him.  They've seen some of the ugliness of the outside world first hand.  The argument was that there's no way a child of 13 or 14 could possibly know enough about anything to believe in one thing over another.  That there is a God or that He actually interacts with us or is benevolent on our behalf.  It's a little, well, a lot, cliché but there's an old country *eek!* song that says, "You've got to stand for something or you'll fall for anything."  It doesn't stand to reason that we are required to guide and teach our kids about every other aspect of life but we are to leave them on their own to sort through all the different beliefs out there.  If we are to shepherd them in anything, it should be faith.

I often wonder what causes a nonbeliever to hold to the same values of moral behavior for their kids as those who base their lives on the Bible.  It's one of those perplexing questions that keep me awake, pondering.  As far as knowing for sure if there's a God or not, I think He's shown himself time and again by various means, but folks are so worried that they are going to be misled or closed minded that they actually become closed minded.  They block out any proof or comfort or pardon the pun...heaven forbid...any faith that might put them in a position where they have to apologise for what they stand for.  So who is really sticking their head in the sand?  Those who are open to every thing that the world says for fear they might be vulnerable or those who are open to putting their faith in something. 

Supernatural phenomenon are prominent in our culture today as far as the entertainment field goes and folks are all wrapped up in different worlds and powers.  Let me ask you...what is more supernatural than God? 

This may be a bit jumbled but for now, that's all I have to write.