We should trust and obey when it comes to God, but it is much more difficult when it comes to our government. We hear two sides of everything and I guess it’s up to us to figure out who or what is right. However, God is always right and He is in control. If we put all our trust in Him everything will turn out okay.

It isn’t always true when it comes to our children though is it? We have been given free will and our kids don’t always know which is right and which is wrong, do they? I will tell you a time when I didn’t trust. My daughter had just finished high school and was attending our community college. At the same time, she was working at a fast food place to help out financially and had to close the place after midnight. She met several boys at that late hour and I didn’t approve of them. I noticed that she was getting very tired and thought it was because she was spending to much time with those boys.

In my job as a Parish Worker, I called on all of the sick and shut-in people. One day I was calling on an old couple that had many serious complications. They kept talking about how wonderful JoAnne was. She had cleaned the apartment completely, even to do some painting in one of the rooms. I heard the name JoAnne but had never connected it until I asked. “Why it was your daughter that did all this work. She worked all week. Didn’t you know?” the lady asked.

No, I didn’t. I had thought she was spending too much time with those boys. I hurried to her room where she was lying down to apologize. This happened many years ago but it still burns within me. Why didn’t I trust my daughter?

Well, we don’t trust and obey God very well either, do we? If we trusted Him that our country will be okay because He is in control, and if we trusted and obeyed him with our lives, we would be okay too. Let’s try a little harder to do what that little song says: We must trust and obey.

Today, we have smart computers, smart cell phones and awful dangerous weapons of war that I don’t like to think about. It’s difficult to compare today to my growing up years of the thirties. I believe the technology period in our history books will also cause our  lifestyles to change dramatically.

Conversation has changed our culture the most even in our families. I watched on television the other day, a mother taking away her kids cell phones as they entered her home for a visit. She told them they were always talking to their friends or are interested in something else on their cell phones instead of talking with your parents and brothers and sisters. Friends don’t call one another either. They text! Even when they get together you see them busy with their cell phones, listening to music or whatever.

In my day, we talked to each other! When families got together, the home was a-buzz with conversation. When we wanted music, we made our own by everyone singing either by the piano or by ourselves. If we wanted games, we played card games, like Rook or Dominoes. All the time we were talking to one another out loud!

Everyone in our small town went to Church. The church was the place to go for everything from eating, playing games, Bible studies or singing around the piano. I knew about city life too. When I stayed at my Grandma’s house, Sunday was my favorite day. when I opened my eyes in the morning, I would lie still and listen. There was a hush over the city. Gone was the hustling, bustling noise I usually heard. The stores were closed, and I imagined everyone was resting or getting ready for Church. Although Grandma is gone, I think her city today is quite different. Cities are the same on Sunday as they are on any other day, NOISY!

That is the difference between the good old days and today. Oh, there are some things I am thankful for today. One is the phone. when someone is ill or has an accident, you can reach help easily, probably saving a life. Another is how handy everything is. Your food will not spoil with refrigerators, we cook faster by putting it in the microwave.

No, it isn’t possible to go back to the good old  days. We have changed too much, but we could start thinking our friends and family are really more important than those smart? phones. We are also trying to get anywhere too fast, faster than ever! We want faster cars, faster airplanes, faster computers, faster ways to cook and faster anything else you can add. But wouldn’t it be nice if all of us could slow down a bit? We will see less health problems ,and our food will taste better if we do it Grandma’s way.