TIMES HAVE CHANGED, HAVEN’T THEY?

It used to be that we had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets. As children, we would ride in cars with no seat belts or air bags. Riding in the back of a pick-up on a warm day was always a special treat. We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle. We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, bread and butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!  We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on. We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.  We made up games with sticks and tennis balls and we rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them! Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!

If you were fortunate enough to have lived in a Christian home, you were doubly blessed.  Even though I didn’t live in a Christian home, I had a best friend who was a member of the church and his Dad was a deacon.  They greatly influenced me toward the truth and several years later I obeyed the Gospel.  We went to Gospel Meetings, VBS, camp and were involved with every work of the church.  It was some of the most enjoyable and memorable times of my young life.  But it doesn’t seem to be that parents are as interested in the church as the previous generations.  As a result, our children are not as interested either.  Times sure have changed, haven’t they!

—Paul