Situation: There is a neighbor who is divorced and lives with his girlfriend. He also "won" the family home in the settlement so he has kept it so his children can stay with him every other weekend. Other than that, he never is there. But the two family dogs are there, outside, all the time. They have one of those electronic fences that the dogs are supposed to not cross due to devices in their collars that shock them mildly. Only problem is, "Sam," the neighbor, doesn't maintain it properly and sometimes the dogs - and they are both big, full-grown labs - run free and terrorize the neighbors.
Several of his close neighbors have talked to Sam, with no results. They know the dogs are lonely. Sometimes they feed them if the dogs appear hungry. Now what kind of lawsuits do you think would be filed if those dogs hurt someone when they were loose? Clearly, the dogs are neglected and ignored.
We also know of several children who are ignored due to both parents have high-powered careers for which they are rarely home. I pray that their 'nannies' love them! It is very hard for children to grow up happy, healthy, and optimistic if their parents are hardly ever home. I don't buy the modern idea of spending "quality time" with your child. You just need to spend a lot of time, period.
Lord, today, we just pray that we all will treasure the children, all our friends and relatives, yes, and even the dogs in our lives! Lead us to the right priorities in our lives, please; we know that children are with us for such a short time - then they're on their own.
Happy Easter!
No comments:
Post a Comment