Do you ever wonder if the electronic age has helped or hurt families? When I see families in restaurants and the mother, father, and each youngster has an electronic device in his/her hand, I wonder if they miss opportunities to talk to each other. I am often asked if I think children are losing communication skills. A loving caring family can be the foundation for developing healthy self-love, confidence, and courage in a frightening, immoral, and Godless world.
One morning at Wally’s timeshare in Carson Valley, Nevada, Everett and I met an eighty-one year old man in a hot pool. His eyes sparkled as he told us a story about his immigrant parents who came to the United States early in the twentieth century. They bought a piece of land on an isolated hilltop in Colorado and built a cabin there. They worked hard to support themselves and their four children. He finished his story by saying, “I think of my mother and father every day. They give me the courage to hang on in spite of injuries I have suffered while working as a truck driver. My mother gave me a strong faith in God. I learned to be financially responsible and to save a little for retirement while supporting a wife and four children.
The blessings go both ways. If you prioritize your family and your faith, they will probably continue to admire and respect you when you are old. This truck driver bought a large comfortable car and took his Mother and one of her friends back to the hill in Colorado where the old homestead had been built. He said she was excited as she shared memories of those early days. His own face lit up as he remembered how perfect his gift to his mother had been. I wonder if he would have created this dream trip if he and his parents had been lost in their electronic devices instead of interacting with each other when the children were growing up.
