By
Ada Brownell
Viewing the underbelly of society as a newspaper reporter
affected me. I can't forget the woman
whose teenage son committed suicide; The high school gal I did a story about who
excelled in academics as well as sports, who killed herself before she could be
valedictorian.
I talked with teen mothers in a high school class designed
to train them in caring for their babies, with the emphasis on preventing child
abuse. Only one young mom in the class of about 20 still dated the infant's
father. I could detect anger against parents, former boyfriends, and even the
babies.
I remember the juvenile ward at the Colorado Mental Health
Institute. A psych tech told me abuse, physical and sexual, affected many of
them. That might explain the obscene gesture one patient made to me when I
walked into their television room.
Serious thought
disorders affected other patients. One of the kids killed his parents. The
youths hee-hawed about being insane, putting on a show of disgusting faces and
actions.
I stumbled into the story where a half dozen 12-year-old
boys who gang raped an 8-year-old girl were in court.
Then every year, sometimes more often, I reported statistics
on teen pregnancy (kids as young as 11 or 12 gave birth); abortions; and
sexually transmitted diseases in our county.
As the mother of five, I wondered why we have these things
happening to our children. Are we so busy earning money we neglect our own
flesh and blood?
Praise the Lord my children all serve the Lord. From their births I wanted
them to grow up, as I did, knowing God loves them and has a plan for their
lives—and they did.
Yet, evil forces work to destroy their faith, so thanks to
things I learned in teaching teens in Christian education classes and my other
biblical studies, I acquired much needed knowledge to impart to my family. They
knew serving the Lord was first in my life, and my most earnest desire for them
was and is that they live for Jesus.
Most important, I spent lots of time with them--and on my knees.
Yet, I knew parents don't have control. Each child has to decide
whether to believe God's Word and accept salvation.
Although I've seen effects of sin as a journalist, I don't
dwell on wickedness plaguing our society, and I don't advise others to do so. The
Lord gives too much joy and things to rejoice about to spend too much time
smelling the pig pens in life.
Our children need to know more about the joy unspeakable and
full of glory that the Lord provides and the rivers of living water that
refresh and strengthen our souls. Paul was in a prison cell, but he rejoiced
and told us to rejoice because God is still on the throne.
The good news is our children can be righteousness, even in
this wicked society. "For God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great
love which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive
together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages
to come He might sow the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us
in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 2:4-7NKJ).
All five our children grew up to serve the Lord, be examples of the wonder God creates in His children, and have been or are in Christian ministry, and one of them, Carolyn, is in heaven. What a blessing! What a joy!
©Copyright Ada Brownell February 2014
My book, IMAGINE THE FUTURE YOU, was birthed in part from my esperiences as a journalist.
Here's the summary:
IMAGINE THE FUTURE YOU
By Ada Brownell
Will you be the
person you dream of being—or someone from your nightmares?
You don’t need a
fortune teller to reveal your future. You are the person who determines who you
will be, what your life will be like, and how your hopes and dreams will be fulfilled.
This book will
show how to make the right connections, how to grow your talents, and how to
begin believing in yourself and things greater than yourself—for a wonderful
Future You!
A Bible study available in paper or for
Kindle http://www.amazon.com/dp/1489558284
Ada Brownell’s author page: http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B001KJ2C06
Also available in audio at www,audible.com Free book with new Audible membership
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