I saw a video from an Arizona Deputy Sheriff making a routine traffic stop. He has others filming him and then they, with the blessing of his department, end up as a series on Facebook. The deputy was checking speed limits for a construction zone. They slow down traffic because of the increased danger for the workers so close to the vehicles. He recorded a car that was going 21 miles over the speed limit and the deputy lit him us and followed the car into a Circle K parking lot. The guy in the car immediately became confrontive (while being filmed) and he refused to give documents to the deputy. The deputy finally got the license from this guy who was 19 years old. In addition to the speeding, the car’s windows were so illegally tinted that you couldn’t see through any window, including the front windshield. The driver began swearing at the deputy and warned him that he had already called his parents! Sure enough mom and dad arrive on the scene and begin confronting the deputy and as he returns to his Sheriff’s car the kid yells out in front of his parents “I hope your daughter dies!” As far as I could tell, the parents didn’t respond to the boy. The deputy runs the 19 year old’s license and finds that it has been suspended for a drug induced DUI. No way he is supposed to be driving his car. I’m watching this and I’m ashamed of this kid…but his parents, they, knowing that he is speeding and endangering workers in a work zone and is not supposed to be driving because of his DUI…say nothing to the kid. Then I was ashamed of the parents. I couldn’t help but think “What kind of monster have you created and turned loose on the rest of us?” The deputy knew he was going to be filmed and was a self-controlled and polite…well, way
more than I think I could have been! If I had done something as stupid as this, I never would have called my parents…because I would have to deal with the repercussions from a mom and dad who would have made me accountable for my actions, my car and my language. God has charged parents with the task of loving, caring for and nurturing their children. But what I saw was what happens when God is not a part of a family and accountability to him and to others is never taught. In the book of Proverbs, it tells us to direct our children onto the right path. Not let them choose, not bargain with them nor just ignore the responsibilities of parenthood. If you do…that video shows you what you end up with. Jesus Christ can change that young man and I hope and pray that happens, but I pray that somewhere along the line that the parents will become the kind of parents that God has charged each of us Moms and Dads and really Grandpas and Grandmas to be. Children are precious gifts. Give them a chance to succeed in life through a real relationship with this Jesus of the Bible. Start by going to church and taking those kids to church. Train them…because what you do will be with them for the rest of their lives. And don’t forget to pray for all those who are in law enforcement, the men and women who risk their lives for us each day they put on that uniform. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Proverbs 22:6 NLT Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ
more than I think I could have been! If I had done something as stupid as this, I never would have called my parents…because I would have to deal with the repercussions from a mom and dad who would have made me accountable for my actions, my car and my language. God has charged parents with the task of loving, caring for and nurturing their children. But what I saw was what happens when God is not a part of a family and accountability to him and to others is never taught. In the book of Proverbs, it tells us to direct our children onto the right path. Not let them choose, not bargain with them nor just ignore the responsibilities of parenthood. If you do…that video shows you what you end up with. Jesus Christ can change that young man and I hope and pray that happens, but I pray that somewhere along the line that the parents will become the kind of parents that God has charged each of us Moms and Dads and really Grandpas and Grandmas to be. Children are precious gifts. Give them a chance to succeed in life through a real relationship with this Jesus of the Bible. Start by going to church and taking those kids to church. Train them…because what you do will be with them for the rest of their lives. And don’t forget to pray for all those who are in law enforcement, the men and women who risk their lives for us each day they put on that uniform. Here’s our Bible verse for today…
Proverbs 22:6 NLT Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.
Remember I’m praying for you!
With love, PJ