|
Vol. 46, No. 36
SOUTHSIDE ORACLE November 21, 2003
The Bulletin Board
Senior Dinner – Thirty-three seniors attended the dinner in their honor
Saturday sponsored by the young people. It was a great success.
Our thanks to our youth, and to others who assisted, especially Laurie
Giombi, who directed the dinner.
The Sick – Pearl Molla is now home from the hospital following her open
heart surgery….Esther Gray has been ill, but is much improved.
Directory – A new attendance directory is now ready. Our thanks to
Cliff Copass and those who assisted him in this project.
Address Change – Sarah Chukka (contact
us for details).
ATTENDANCE RECORD
Two years ago
Last year Last week Goal
Bible classes
129 124
163 170
Morning worship
193
230
*239 250
Evening worship
67
66 XX 80
Contribution
$3612.96 $4191.06
$4997.57 $4200.00
If you plan to give in the blood drive on January 17th, be sure
and sign up on the bulletin board because a minimum of thirty-five is needed
if we are to have the blood drive.
Congratulations
to Ruby Mae Dabbs, mother of Ed Dabbs, who will reach her 100th
birthday November 21st. Ed plans to be with her in Dallas for her
birthday.
The Wisconsin
Challenge will be assembled for mailing at the church building at 7:00
p.m., Monday, December 1st. If you can help, come at that
time.
Twenty-five attended
the November Christian Workers’ Meeting Tuesday.
Delinquency and the
Shattered Home
A few years ago a
survey was taken of 791 juvenile delinquents in Wisconsin’s two secure
juvenile detention centers. Though the data is slightly dated, the
situation it portrays has likely worsened. The survey bears amazing
testimony to the importance of the home. Only 13% of the incarcerated
young people came from homes with two biological parents at the time the
youths entered the facilities. This was in spite of the fact that at
the time 57.7% of American homes had two biological parents.
Where, then do the
troubled youths come from? 44% came from homes in which the biological
parents never married, 29% from homes in which the parents were divorced, 6%
from homes where a parent had died, and 4% from homes where the parents were
separated.
These figures testify
to the importance of the nuclear family in raising children in a stable
environment. Where children do not have two parents, the chances of
their getting in trouble vastly increase. This is not to say that
there are not good homes with single parents or that having both parents
under the same roof guarantees that children will not get into trouble.
But the facts stare us in the face. The break-up of the two-parent
home is one of the major factors in our disintegrating society. You
can blame poverty, lack of jobs, and poor education for our social ills, and
they all play a part. But until homes are stabilized and biblical
values are taught by the parents, things will only worsen.
The statistics also
speak to the trauma experienced by children when their parents divorce.
Though some divorces are inevitable, parents need to start thinking more
about what divorce does to their offspring than how they can meet their own
selfish needs. Bringing children into the world brings with it a grave
responsibility to teach them how to live. It is much more difficult to
do this if the example of the home presents no role model for them to
follow.
For Christians the
message is clear. We must live by the principles of Jesus in our homes
and provide our children with a secure environment in which they have
examples to follow and motivation to do what is right.
__Monroe E. Hawley
A Mother’s Reward
I do not ask that you repay
The hours of toil and pain.
The sacrifice of youth and strength
Shall not have been in vain.
I do not ask for gratitude
But only this, my child,
That you shall live your life so well
My gifts be not defiled.
The years I watched beside your crib,
The years of love and care
Will simply be repaid if once
I see you standing here –
An upright and an honest soul
On whom success has smiled,
That I may say with humble praise –
“That is my child!”
|
