Former Attorney General John Ashcroft tells the story of an eight-year-old boy named Lloyd Rush who tiptoed to the phone and dialed 911 while his mother was napping.  The police immediately returned the call to confirm, and Lloyd’s mother, Bianca, answered.  I think it would be an understatement to say that she was not a very happy Momma. 
         After Lloyd’s punishment, his mother made him write a letter of apology to the St. Louis police department.  The letter was written in pencil and fine penmanship, and it read,  “I hope you accept my apology.  I got a punishment for this.  I hope it didn’t cause any trouble for anyone.” 
         The police officers were amazed.  The 911 system at the time was seventeen years old, and eight-year-old Lloyd was the first person ever to apologize for misusing the emergency system.  Ashcroft writes, “Bianca was not the first mother to learn that her son had abused the system, but she was, apparently, the first one to take action.  Her refusal to remain silent or to allow her son to remain silent was a thunderous blast to the officials in St. Louis – and an effective message to her son.
          How often does our silence tell our kids, wittingly or unwittingly, that what they have done is really okay?  What kind of messages are we sending when we choose not to say anything at a time when words need to be spoken?”
          Think for a moment about the content of the conversations you have with your children or teenagers.  What do you talk about?  I suspect that many of us visit about the superficial details of school work, recreation and sports, shopping, and television.  Conversations between parents and kids need to drill beneath the surface of life and get to the soul.  This only happens when we make the effort to really listen to what is going on in the lives of our kids.  We need to learn to listen to their hearts and not just their words, but we also need to be clearly communicating the truth verbally.
         I’m convinced that young people today need good “preaching” from Mom and Dad.  There is a negative connotation in our culture today in regards to preaching.  If someone is “preaching” at me, then we assume that they are “making me feel guilty,” “judging me,” or trying to “force their religion down my throat.”  I think a lot of parents need to shift out of neutral into first gear and “preach” to their kids about the pitfalls and traps in life and relationships.   You don’t have to be negative to “preach the truth” to your kids.  Your kids need you as a spiritual mentor to clearly communicate the truth of what God desires for their lives.  Believe me, if you are silent, and not “preaching the Message,” then they will get the message of materialism from the media, the message of free sex from the music, and the message of self-centered living from the movies and their friends.  If your not preaching a clear and consistent picture of what the Christian faith looks like in the world, then your kids will be spiritually aimless like a boat without a rudder.  Proverbs 1:8-9 says, “Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.  They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.” 

Category : Tommy Talk