With yesterday being Memorial Day, we should have stopped to remember and be thankful for the men and women who served our country to preserve our freedoms. I hope you did.
I recently read a story that is all about remembering. I’ve been reading No Reason to Hide by Erwin Lutzer and he tells the following story:
Millions of mothers can be called heroes. One such is Sonya, who entered into an abusive marriage at 13, and later separated from her husband. She never did learn to read, but she was passionate that her children learn to do so.
She had two son, Curtis and Benjamin. Ben was 8, his brother, Curtis, was 10 when their parents divorced. Sonya worked 2-3 jobs at a time, leaving their small apartment at 5:00 a.m. to go to work, and not coming home until midnight.
When the brothers came home with poor grades, she instituted a strict change. She limited her sons’ TV time and they couldn’t go outside until their schoolwork was done.
Sonya could not have predicted her son Ben would become a famous pediatric surgeon. He performed the first reported separation of twins who were joined at the back of the head. He was an esteemed professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Ben Carson always paid tribute to his mother and credits her fervent dedication to him and his brother for their success.{Pages 230-231- Edited for space}
I wonder what Sonya Carson would think of today’s philosophy of allowing the schools to determine what a child is taught. The battle raging today over who should have the say over children-school or parents-is not one Sonya would have tolerated. I firmly believe it is the parent’s responsibility to teach our children, not the schools. The ungodly philosophy taught in our schools, and hiding it from the parents, or even in direct opposition to them, makes my blood boil. Okay…down from the soapbox.
I leave you with this today: we may never know the influence we have now, or down the road. But let’s make sure it is a good one.
No arguments here. Since you have stepped down from the soapbox, I’ll step up for a moment… I appreciate the state of Indiana is pushing back on this agenda that has permeated the culture. I think the psychological abuse that is being targeted at our youngest is sickening. To have this abuse be encouraged in the school systems and hidden from the parents is criminal.
You are more than welcome to step up on that soapbox, Ryan. You speak truth and I, too, am thankful Indiana is stepping up to the plate. And yes, it is criminal.
It so true that we do not always know where our seeds will be planted, so we do want to always plant seeds that God is happy to cultivate, not seeds He needs to dig up and replant.
My pray group on monday nights and once a month pray group, prays earnestly for the children, and that the schools do not push an agenda on kids that they cannot understand and pushes false teaching directly at them. I believe that parents, grandparents aunts, uncles, all the family members need to look after the kids and help teach them the truth. To quote Louie Giglio ” Don’t give the enemy a seat at our table or our kids table.”
What you all do in prayer is one of the strongest things we can do Gail. And, I agree with Louie’s quote. 🙂
I had heard Ben Carson’s story before, Bill, and it certainly is a remarkable one. May God bless Sonya and every mother like her who strives to teach their children what it means to be best.
Blessings!
I had not heard or read it before Martha. He told another one involving two sons that I will probably use at another time. We need more Sonya’s!
I love Ben Carson’s story. If you have never seen the movie about his life, it is definitely one worth watching. It is called “Gifted Hands” and stars Cuba Gooding, Jr. Very inspiring. I agree with everything you said. God bless you today.
One of the parts I edited from the story was the mention of the movie. I have not seen it but I believe it is based on his book.We need more like him today. I suspect he would have difficulty when he sees what has happened to his beloved Johns Hopkins with all the woke pronoun garbage.