This past year I read a book with my daughter called Little House in the Big Woods. You may be familiar with it. It’s the first book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and it began the popular Little House on the Prairie series. I don’t recall reading it before, and as I read it to my five year old, I think I enjoyed it even more than she did. Something about the way the family lived, it intrigued me. I love my internet tremendously, but the simplicity and closeness this family shared sounded really wonderful to me. The idea of working together for each other drew me into their little world. Many times as I read the pages aloud I yearned for such a time as the ones described.
I look around today and I wonder if we wouldn’t be better taking a step back in time where we could focus more on important matters, and less on trivial ones. I see the things around me that cause so much unneeded stress, and I truly believe that the principalities and powers of darkness wish to destroy what God has created. God favors families. He favors love, time together, and focus on cultivating those relationships. What I see today is in direct opposition of that, yet those things have developed slowly over time, so much so that we don’t even notice them deteriorating the fabric of family.
Our pre-teens and teenagers are so absorbed in their Snapchat and Instagram that they can’t even come up for air. Not that we notice. We’re buried in our Facebook newsfeed or hottest new game app.
The normalcy of public school education with its ever increasing curriculum demands are swallowed like good medicine. The school year gets longer, testing increases, and hours of homework creep into the family time. So children that already spend 8-9 hours away from home are spending their evening hours doing more projects, reports, and extra credit assignments.
Mom and dad are too exhausted to help much. They’re tired because they’re putting in more hours. Dual working parents are the majority. And while the cost of living has definitely increased over time, I wonder how much of our “necessities” are truly that? We work more to be able to buy more, yet we hardly have time to enjoy all our purchases. We save all year long for a week long vacation that leaves us exhausted and in need of a day off from our off days.
A lot of our hard-earned money is spent on activities. So. Many. Activities. We spend more time driving to activities, purchasing gear, costumes, and accessories for our activities, or working on our off days to raise funds for our activities. Activities where we watch other people teach, coach, and mentor our children. Is this the time together we’re craving? Makes you think.
Time together doesn’t cost a dime
If you had to sit down and add up how much quality time you spend alone with your spouse, what would it be? What about your children? And not time doing and going. Just time. Is it less time than you spend on your weekly commute to work?
It makes you wonder if divorce is more prominent today because it’s become socially more acceptable, or could it be because we’re spending less time enjoying the company of our spouse? Would children get in less trouble if they had a present parent/parents available to guide them? They say it takes a village to raise a child, but I’m wondering if we’ve taken that too far. Now we just want the village to take care of them. And then when our children fall down and fail we can have teachers, coaches, and the church to blame for their demise.
This is hard stuff to think about. It’s taking everything we’ve called normal over the past few decades or more and realizing that it’s actually destroying the family unit. Our kids are playing ball 3-5 times a week until 10pm, and the parents are working 60 hours a week to keep designer duds on the kiddos lest they get bullied for wearing WalMart brand clothing. Everyone has a TV in their room, a cell phone in their pocket, and a brand new car in the drive-way yet none of that will go to Heaven with us. We’re working very hard providing material possessions for our children, when in all reality we should be on our knees with them leading them to a closer walk with Jesus. Eternal life is what we should want for our kids, not the best education money can buy. And while I’m all for giving them a bright future, I don’t want to give them the world if it forfeits their soul. When my grown children look back on life I want them to have memories of time well spent rather than spending all the time. I gotta work on this! I don’t have it all figured out either, but I’d like to think my eyes are open enough to see that Satan wishes to destroy us.
Satan wants us tired, worn thin, and stressed. He wants us in debt up to our eyeballs, and our health failing because we can’t sleep enough, eat right, or handle our stress effectively. He wants husbands and wives fighting over finances, disrespectful teens who learned how to treat their parents based off Nickelodeon sitcoms, and thousands of young children sexually abused by the adults we’re so quick to place our trust in. He wants us busy, but not productive. He wants our plates full, but our tank empty. He wants us looking to society for what’s best for our families, not God’s word as a lamp to our feet. He wants the family unit ripped apart, and many times I look around and see us letting him. We’re not even trying to take a stand.
I’d like to believe that it’s not too late. We can still fight to save our families. Perhaps it all comes down to stepping out in wisdom, courage, and truth for our family. In a world that’s so busy Keeping Up With the Kardashians, maybe it’s time to be a Little House on the Prairie. What do you think?
*Of note, this isn’t meant to offend anyone. It’s just meant to trigger thinking about it. I’m certainly a work in progress.
You nailed it. Every. single. word. is. truth.
Thanks!
You said it all and right on every point! One episode of “Little House on the Prarie” shows one Christmas when the girls got a tin cup, a peppermint stick and a penny. They were so thankful. Many years ago, when I looked at all the presents my girls got, I put a tin cup a candy cane and a penny in a gift bag- I told them the story and how blessed they were and never forget that!
That’s awesome.
Thank you for this timely message. I believe more and more people are hearing it. One summer when we had met our youngest daughter and her family ( two daughters about 8and10 and her very good husband) for a two week camping vacation, my daughter said to me, “It takes me about two days away from the forest to begin to see the trees. Then what I want to do is go home, sell our house (with swimming pool). Quit my job, and move to the middle of about twenty acres, home school my girls and really live. But I get home and it’s back on the treadmill and I can’t seem to get off!” Even though her husband had a very well paying job. Satan CANNOT entrap us. We do it ourselves, but God can show us a way out, and He is calling all parents to let Him.
I’ve always loved thinking about living the simple life again. We had a very nice home because my dad was a builder, not a mega home builder, just a builder. We didn’t have gifts from our parents at Christmas because there were 7 kids. Our grandparents and Aunts and Uncle provided most of the Christmas gifts. I do remember getting stockings with simple things; an orange, an apple, a dime, and most importantly……Life Savers. It was simple and fun. Mom’s favorite gift, when we did manage to have Christmas was a Hoover upright. She loved it. I can still see the joy on her face. I yearn for simple. I have a passion to live in a cabin. I think maybe I lived a life like Laura, on the prairie, at one time. Great article.
That was a sweet idea of the tin cup and candy along with the story. That is a treasured moment for your children, never to be forgotten and probably passed on to their future families.
I remember as a child of 9 we would get two presents for Xmas. It would be a piece of clothing and 1 toy. Mostly socks for clothing. What would kids think about that now days?!! We also try to give our kids what we never had. Is that even right to do?!!
Well stated! I have long advocated importance of strong family values.
I am not as religious as some but I think we have seen an antichrist and I think you are accurate in your discussion. We spend a lot of time keeping up with Jones to the demise of good old family time. I read lately, of a family who checks cell phones at the door and requires family discussions an games, no TV.
Sounds good to me.
Agree with you ! I wish we could go back and live the way little house on the prairie did.I know we can’t go that far back ,but part of the way I would except..
Have you ever heard the motto ‘Nebraska…the good life’ ? Its kinda crazy to think about but we enjoy a lifestyle that is similar to years ago here. Slow pace life style…5 minute commute to work… less pressure to do activities… Because there are less to do! You make your own fun instead of depending on others to provide it. Less income is ok if you have less expenses. We have Tne 13 acre woods with trails for the kids…ho carts…chickens, ducks, turkeys, and a stream and pond filled with wildlife. The children love it here, and grandchildren …yes my kids have gone out into the world and returned here to raise their children. It’s all about family and helping one another.
Life can be good if you make it good 🙂
I rem3mber as a kid, we got clothing for Xmas and birthdays [IF there was money for anything] I’m only 68, not all that old, but still look back at those days as the best of my life. We didn’t own a television until I was 7, and had 2 stations to choose from. Most of the time, they didn’t come in anyway.
During the day, we weren’t indoors [unless it was school] and we had chores we did.Every meal, we sat down together. Of course this was before cell phones and internet.
Wow this is what I needed to read. This is powerful and a real brutally honest eye opener. Thank you for truth and great advice. It truly is something to think about!!!!
Thank you!
Beautifully out and spot on
so true.
Totally honest. The anti-goodness is missing in today’s world. We’re such throwaway society. If we were only able to step out of our comfort zones and be simply kind.
WOW! I thought I was the only one who noticed this happening or felt this way! I have so wished our girls could have grown up the way I did, playing red rover outside with all the neighbor kids, and baseball, and riding bikes, and kick the can! Just enjoying the world around them. We eat dinner at the table as a family, like we did growing up. I hate the direction the world has gone. We make sure to take time out as family spending time, playing family games, movies at home together, enjoying each other. It breaks my heart to see most of daughters friends who don’t have that kind of family connection at home. Her friends would rather be at our house than their own.
Yes,How true your words are. God Bless you..
We did do that a lot until this past year. I really miss spending the time together. The kids turned 13 and 14 years old and don’t want to do this anymore. I would love some suggestions on how to pull them back, closer as a family again.
Yes, you nailed it. I see it more now in my grandkids than in my kids. But my youngest is leaving in a week for college. I pray I’ve done enough to help her see this world and it’s stuff is NOT our home.
You really hit it hard as a grandparent raising 3 children. I am really touched by what you said…prayer and good time together is my desire. Thank you for sharing
Very impressed with this thoughtful and true writkng. Laura’s family did it right,!
I totally agree with all you said and I admire you for standing up for family values. God bless you and your sweet family!!
Thank you.
I just attended discussion on “fake news” this generation has no critical thinking skillsOne person who teaches journalism remembered his discussions with his Dad after Brinkley report(dates) him real parent discussions.Think about the big 5 Google,apple, Facebook.Twitter& Pandora.Thats where your kids get there info.Social media is great but also not real.Talk about Mind Control.Keep pressing what your values are.Never give up.
I love this. I tell my grown children I would if been fine back at that time It makes me I’ll how you are everyone on there phones even at sporting events When I’m with one of my daughters she is always checking her phone and her husband has to call at least once if not more Thanks for sharing have a great day
Truth! Thank you for putting my exact thoughts into words! God Bless!
I’m in total agreement, when I was a child, we were a family of 5 kids and 2 parents. We didn;’t even have a television until I was about `10 . We played outside.. hopscotch, dodge ball, all kinds of games with friends and family. We got a few toys for Christmas, and like the kids on Little House, we appreciated it so much because it wasn’t an everyday. Todays kids are ungrateful and spoiled, (not their fault) because they get so much it becomes the NORMAL. They want more and more… new versions of smart phones etc. Each usually has his own room and when family is together at home, they are not really together…Back to basics and very limited time with electronics is best. Thank You for posting this… and I will definitely share…if you don’t mind…
This is one of the best blog posts I’ve read in such a long time. You have no idea how much this has helped me. Tha k you…just thank you.
This is a beautiful article. A grace to me. Thank you!. Satan enters–or at least entered my home & life—when I got tired of the violence in home (ok, Im not delusional, yes Satan lurked in the corners of my home, apparently) and I went to our civil courts in the USA, PA in particular (#5 most corrupt state according to records). I was scoffed at for having the calm idyllic life of the fairy tales….Home was just that when one specific party was not within our home….then our 5 kids were taken from me…and i was forced out of the marital home.Penniless, homeless, childless. My kids (at least my 50% of them–as if kids are divisible) lives were up ended & filled with all that i despised..and they were forced to embrace violence, meanness, lies deception and all that is Satanic..i kid you not. I got precious few custody time with only 2 of my 5…during which pictures of Gods beauty on my fridge was replaced with Satanic gore. I was & am still petrified for my 5 now adult kids–18 years later. I have not seen one child for 18 years, never able to reunify yet. Coincidentally the 18th year anniversary of “the Taking of my 5 Kids” is this week August 10th. Prayers are appreciated–as this group may understand..Love. Very timely article. My Broken Heart, deeply scared….Faith is all i have. I had loved reading & watching quality stories like this with my kids.
So sorry that you had to endure so much heartache and you’re in my prayers. No matter who was at fault here, forgiveness is always possible and I hope you will reunite with your estranged children some day. Never give up. I feel sure that you won’t.
I pray God will restore what the enemy has stolen!
I so agree with you. For sure ,there was more time for reflection, communication, just getting to know each other better,
Agreed! 100%!!
Thank you!
Brie, I hope you don’t mind me sharing this to my friends and family. You nailed this one. We are all guilty but there is time to change. Thanks for opening or eyes and putting it in words.
I definitely don’t mind you sharing. Thank you!
So true!
Thank you.
I am from the old school (pushing 80 years old) when family was family! We have lost so many important values of life! It’s all about technology, now. I sit in a restaurant and watch every member of the family with a cell phone in their hand, up to their ear! When do they ever say hello to each other and how was your day? They can’t even have a conversation while enjoying dinner. They just might miss something on Facebook! Wow! Times really have changed! And where is God in these busy lives? Church and Sunday School on Sunday mornings? I doubt it! Too busy! Gotta prepare the kids for school tomorrow, and ourselves for work! People, wake up! It is all about where your priorities are! If God is not your first one, I suggest that you re-think your life, because you are headed in the wrong direction!!! Brie, I really enjoyed your post! It was so exact and well written! Praises to you! Thank you for sharing such great insight.
Thank you so much. Glory to God in the highest.
On Valentine’s Day this year, my husband and I went to dinner at a restaurant and at one point I looked around and noticed that literally everyone in the restaurant was on their phone. I find it insulting and rude when people do that to me so I can’t imagine doing that to my husband. If we don’t have anything to talk about, we sit in silence, people watch, look at the decor, etc. My husband and I are millennials but we both believe in the values of enjoying each other’s company and respecting each other.
Oh my you nailed it
Thank you.
I totally agree, Bree!
Thank you.
100% agree
Thank you.
Spot on and very well said.
Thank you.
Thanks! Much needed. Similar to my own thoughts. I saw it when my kids were young and even more with grandchildren growing up. Definitely will do my part to slow it down and make time and hopefully be the example for my family!
Thank you.
Recognizing this year’s ago, I worked hard to keep our family from falling into the traps satan sets for all families. Though far from perfect at it, it was worth the effort as our now grown children are finally seeing the benefits. They are recognizing and understanding that their once “deprived” lifestyle was actually a life “spared” of much drama and trauma and instead was rich in ways money can’t buy and stuff can’t fulfill.
Praying that they continue to live life similarly with Life in Christ in focus and with eyes wide open to see satan’s lies for what they are…lies.
This is beautifully written and so true!
Thank you so much!
Only critique I have…shouldn’t have concluded with “this is not intended to offend anyone.” Ma’am, it’s time we get offended! We need our toes stepped on and some conviction. You speak truth. God’s truth does not offend. I will be offended if I continue my fleshly ways and do not seek God’s face and spend eternity in hell with the other easily offendable people.
Continue to speak it, sister! May God richly bless you. ❤️
Thank you so much!
Same thought, Lacey. Thank you, Briann.
Lacey I agree with you. And Brieann you are spot on. I wish the world could read this and their hearts, minds and spiritual being head your words. To much bad and to much family division anymore. God is at a distance or not even a factor in so many lives. He needs to be the main focus. Hard times are a coming, best have God in your arsenal against Satan!
Thank you.
Just want to move to a farm and live the the old days. You eat what you harvest and live a simple good life with your family. Right on Brie!
Yes, my first thoughts, how do I get my kids on a farm!! I grew up pulling weeds in acres of crops at 6am. My kids need to feel what work is.
You are so right. This is a fundamental flaw in today’s urban society: kids think that putting down their ipad is manual labor.
But Little House On The Prairie has become Corporation On A Deadline and weeds are dealt with by a large, expensive piece of spraying equipment operated by a trained employee.
The legal liability of having an unindoctrinated child in a potentially dangerous situation is just too great. The same parent that thinks that they want their child toughened up will be the first to sue when their “baby” gets a boo-boo on someone else’s watch.
Start with what’s around your own home: Quit doing their (and your) tasks for them because it makes you feel needed–or you think that you don’t have time to teach them how to do it better and faster. You (and we) don’t have time for the result that occurs if you DON’T teach them.
Turn off the TV. Play ball with them. Do home repairs with them. Teach them how to cook, balance a checkbook, fold laundry, clean the garage and generally develop them to be alert, engaged, contributing, thoughtful, decent members of society instead of spoiled, entitled burdens on it.
Enjoy your kids, sure, and make sure that they know that you love them. But love doesn’t come from material possessions–no matter what your child tells you in the grocery line!
I recently heard that parents have two jobs: teaching their children to work and teaching them to love. Difficult but rewarding.
Go forth!❤️
Another indication of satan’s grasp of family life is the statistics of possibly disabled or special needs children who are aborted: estimates differ, but some say it is 90%. The reason I mention this is because we have a 15 year old with Down syndrome who has required a very high degree of care. After she was born, I was so busy caring for her, I didn’t have time for household chores, so our older children got a lot of experience with taking care of things and each other. One set of difficulties gave rise to others, and even though it has been quite a few years since we were overwhelmed by T’s health issues, other difficulties have prevented me from being a ‘normal’ mother until the last year or so. People always tell us what a good job my husband and I have done raising our children to be responsible, thoughtful, aware of others’ needs, kind, patient, and mature, but I always just laugh and shake my head. WE didn’t raise them that way, that was what our overwhelming circumstances and, sometimes desperation, defaulted to. We were always around, and we spent as much time as we could, consciously teaching our children, but they mostly raised themselves, and had to take care of basically all of the typically adult management responsibilities of a family, on their own, because there was no choice. Things have been hard for them, and I felt really sad, and like a failure, for a long time, but now I realize how blessed our other children were by the challenges our family has faced, and they have had to deal with, instead of my husband and I taking care of everything for them. It’s painful, but I have become grateful for those painful times.
Thank you for that! My children also have been forced to take over most of my responsibilities in the house. I have physical disabilities and have had multiple operations, so they know what it is like to serve and work. Yes, they complain and still act like kids, but they are horrified when they see how most children they see behave. All my children starting at age ten can cook at least one or two meals independently. At age eight they can do their own laundry. I used to feel sorry for them, but as they are getting older I realize that it has been so beneficial for them.
I sure wish we could go back to the rotary phone, sitting on front porches , drinking lemonade. I hate what has happened. Computers and phones have let Satan into the homes in so many ways …..one being pornography. I honestly believe it’s just as bad as a drug addiction. I pray things change , but I do not foresee that. I wish you the best with your little family and it’s good to know some people still want “family”.
Ha! Who had time? My grandma worked from sun up until sun down. There were animals to feed, kids to feed, wringer washes to wash, laundry to hang, floors to scrub, gardens to weed, socks to mend. This glorification of the “good old days” makes me laugh. A lot of people died never having had a day of leisure or vacation. Yes, the idea of sitting on a porch drinking lemonade sounds lovely, but unless you were one of the privileged elites making your money off the work of others – chances are your life was HARD WORK.
I’m not saying there is anything wrong with HARD WORK. It’d do a lot of people a lot of good to get their hands dirty with some manual labor, but listening to a bunch of people with indoor plumbing and hot water faucets and their own bedrooms talk about how we need to get back to those days is laughable.
Katie you are right! She needs to read the rest of the series to truly appreciate what they went through. I read The Long Winter one summer day and was surprised to look up and realise it was not freezing outside. Going back to that time means not only giving up dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves,electric lights, and hot running water, but also lifesaving medical attention, insulated homes, and ready availability of fuel and food.
The good old days might have been tuff but you had a family, what a real family is suppose to be. a TEAM where everyone did their part an when they got things done they took time for each other, be it set on the porch and drink lemonade, or play hide an seek in the yard, or just sit at the table an talk (TALK something that sad to say has been lost along the way) and enjoy each other’s company. It’s hard to grow in love and feel the closeness, comfort and straight you should feel from being a part of a family when everyone is running in a different direction. Sad to say but it is so true SATAN is well on his way to destroying the family unit, and believe me he is very PLEASED with himself for pulling it off right under our very noses. Sad, so sad, I pray that we wake up before it is too late, bring the family back. Send satan on the wild goose chase not your family.
To Katie. Katie, I am 87 years old and I can tell you the work was hard! BUT, it was also fun. I chopped cotton, picked cotton, drew water from a well etc.,etc., I had something worthwhile to do. I loved singing to the top of my voice when I was outside. I squished my toes in the mud after a good rain. I knew my parents worked hard, but I saw them almost 24/7. I went fishing with them with a cane, line, hook and sinker, using squiggly earthworms for bait. We swam in the backwaters of the TN river. Neighbors all knew us and we, them. That was good.
Preach.
Well yes, actually I agree with you. Really hard work on those farms. But I believe when they were able to have those free hours they enjoyed them more with family. And the social events of the week were hours spent at church. And hours of hard work spent alongside family members were much better than hours of leisure spent in separate rooms on individual devices
It may have not been pie-in-the-sky lovely all the time, but from an older mom of 2 & Grammie to 6, I can remember MY grandmothers working hard (both in & out of the home). Yet, they had time to have the grandkids stay over. We didn’t get entertained, we helped with whatever they were doing (laundry with the wringer washer anyone? gathering eggs, digging potatoes, watering the flower & veggie garden, baking, cleaning, shopping) or we used our imaginations and their new-to-us simple toys. Fond, fond memories. Our boys were both public & homeschooled. Both had it’s advantages. What was the best for us, was to limit extra-curricular to one apiece at a time. Also limit time away from home; either hanging with friends or working. Also limited video game time. We knew their friends, their music, what they were watching on TV & computer. And we were involved with any activities, while working ourselves. We kept evenings pretty free, supper together. Sundays were church & family day. Saturday we all worked here at home together at least part of the day and tried to have fun then but also took those free moments that crop up to toss a football; sit and talk; just “be” together. Sounds idealistic, but it can be done. My first suggestion and one that has worked well for our grands/kids: limit electronics time. For everyone. You are not the President; put down that screen for a while. Look your family in the eye and smile at those you love. Do it now. Whoever is on the other side of that screen is NOT as important as your spouse and babies. **jumping off my soapbox**
Amen, Sister!!!!
Yes!! This is so true. Many families that we know (including ours), have sold everything they own for a simple life traveling in an RV. We started the process of downsizing and debt free 5 years ago. We now live a super simple life on the road, serve the Lord and enjoy each other.
It can be done, it needs to be a radical transformation.
Exactly. You nailed it. When my children were in school they gad home work it more on Wednesday night that kept them from church. They love going to church. I spoke to the superintendent at that time , on a Wednesday night I called him he was keeping ready for church. I explained to him yes my children love to go to but because of all the homework on Wednesday nights they could not go. Wasn’t long after that, that it was cut bad or none at all. And we were blessed that there was only one sport at a time. I told them one was all they could do at at a time. So yeah Satan throws alot at you, But also adults, parents do too. We can’t give Satan all the credit.
I don’t read a lot and kind of surprised with myself that I read this entire article. But glad I did.
Michael, I’m glad you read the whole thing too! Maybe the Holy Spirit was prompting you to hear something important ☺
I started homeschooling last year for many of these reasons but specifically because I felt I didn’t have enough TIME with my kids. From the time they got home from school, we were running ragged doing homework, piano, extracurricular activities, etc. We were getting home late and hardly having any family time. With 6 kids, we were usually scattered in different directions. I’ve seen so many blessings this past year from being able to spend more time together. Love your article! You’re spot on!
Thank you. I love homeschooling.
Young people !! Please read this for the truth!
I as happyl married man to the same lady for 57 years have something to tell. Parents you had better make time to spend with your children if and when they reach the age of 18 or so it’s much harder then and is now, if not impossible; not nothing is impossiblle.
The answers to raising children is PRAYER!
Poppie
So much truth here. It’s an eye opener. We need to preserve the family, values, and Christ-like living! Amen!
Best blog post EVER.
Thank you. ☺
While I agree with you , I must say I see a glimmer of hope! Some people are moving from the demands of a big home to smaller ones, ones that serve them, not enslave them. Some are finding truth in “less is more!” Perhaps there are more people wanting out of the hamster wheel! In time maybe they will also see the need for what God intended us to have; serenity, joy and appreciation of simplicity.
There’s always hope!
We have friends who bought a much larger house than the already-large home they were in. I saw her at the grocery store one day and asked how she liked her new home. She frowned and stated, “When you have 10,000 square feet, you have to call your kids’ cell phones to find where they are.”
Yet, it’s now been 10 years and they’re still there.
People truly create what they want; and it reveals SO much about their character.
Brie this was awesome. Definitely has given me something to think and pray about, as I have been recently seeking God on things I could do for my family, and my marriage to be closer to Him. Thank you for sharing!! God Bless
Thank you. God bless you.
I’d love to be apart of this current blog….Jesus Christ is the first important thing in my life. We are moving from the USA to Hong Kong! Strange and different but I still hold strong with my son that our God is the Creator of all and the only way to heaven is to believe in His son, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross…..bottom line –who do you want to see in Heaven?? God made it very simple….it’s not how good you are. How good is any man? He gave us a choice to talk to him personally and not go a thru Priest, Pators, Nuns. The Bible states “free will”. One does need to have personal relationship with God and not go thru common men because we are all sinners….like you and me!! His plan is so simple—-just believe in the many miracles. Read the Bible to know!!! Satan is always working among us…..I have felt Satan working again my marriage and family and see that now! I will Never submit to that. Ex: Beaides my husband (non-Christian) —We are asked to be quite and listen. That goes beyond all I know! But, under time of change—I will not for my one and only child give you in to the ————-! It will be The Little House in the Prairie”! Ok!
Sorry for the rant…God is in control!!! Maybe not my plan but I will choose his any day!!! If he would only throw a book my way tell me how. XO, all in love, A
,.
Praying for you and your move.
Angie, when you get to Hong Kong, check out Island Church. http://Www.islandecc.hk
So very true! We read this book last month and it gave us a push to move even more towards the basics and minimalism that we have been craving. Children need love, stability and family- not the latest tech, a fancy vacation or everything they ask for.
Totally agree.. except this isnt satan’s doing, but human’s inflated ego and lack of introspection… understanding that this path and thinking comes from within and we aren’t led or tricked to it is important… otherwise one may just say prayer and penance is enough for this to change.
Prayer and reflection is important, yes, but also action. Deciding not to keep up with the Jones, choosing to accept change and make change and focusing less on the sin of others so as to reflect and repent your own.
Only way anything like this will change for the better is to be strong enough to be an example for what you’d like this world to be.
Great article.
Great post Brie, however I definitely agree with this comment. We tend to shift the blame to Satan for decisions that stem from our pride, insecurities – ego. Satan definitely capitalizes on our decisions and the consequences that result — but we shouldn’t forget that WE had to make a decision. And there are even seemingly good things that consume our time like community activities and even ministry involvement that keep us going nonstop and leave us with crumbs of our days to give back to God. Rather than saying current society is totally bad and we should escape (don’t get me wrong, society does have its ills), we need to examine our hearts and do the internal work FIRST, rather than fleeing an external environment.
One of my all time favorite books. I always wanted to be one of those cousins tucked in under a warm quilt on a big feather bed, listening to the sounds of grown ups lilting from the other room.
Yes!
Interesting! Perhaps that back to the basics is why there are almost 4,000 people in my facebook group “Remembering the REAL Laura Ingalls Wilder.” We are all adults and we all love Laura.
I wrote letters to and received letters from Laura when I was in grade school. My third-grade teacher knew Laura personally and had homemade movies of her. Of course, I grew upon a farm in the Midwest where we did churn butter, butcher our own animals and hand milked a cow. We had a handcrank telephone on the wall and made our own soap from the fat of a pig. Homemade ice cream and homemade bread were the norm, not a special treat!
My brother and sister and I were raised “Prairie Style.” There was no internet, cell phones, or even car seats in cars until we were in middle school. Our friends were outside, our “equipment” for sports were bicycles, roller skates, a ball and glove and bat. Our curfew was dinner time and sundown. We ate at the table as a family. Our back yard and the outdoors were our playground. My mom stayed at home and sewed clothes for all three of us. I didn’t know that stores sold clothes until I was 12. Our meals were homemade, we walked to school and back. Discipline was quick if we didn’t obey our parents or dared to talk back (sent to our room, writing sentences, a swat or soap in our mouth). We knew love though. Lots of love and time together. We knew our parents were there and not lost on cell phones and computers. Vacations were spent with extended family camping, fishing, swimming in lakes with cousins. Aunts, Uncles, grandparents were there. I remember this when I remember my childhood.
My brother and sister have tried hard to give their children the same. It is hard. My sister in law home schools all but one of their kids and they are expecting baby number 10 in February. My sister stayed home for years. She worked and went to college and graduated this May! Her first born son graduated high school in June and was the star quarterback for the small private school my sister worked at! He had a full ride scholarship to the Fighting Irish Notre Dame! He broke his back during one of the last games of his Senior year however, and its uncertain if he will be able to play football again.
Prairie Style living is still possible. You just put your family first. It is not easy but it is possible.
So awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Jennifer, I enjoyed all of your comments, but I want to say how sorry I am about your nephew. Football and a full-ride scholarship are great – that is how my husband went to college a bazillion years ago- but good health is so much more important. I pray for his complete recovery, and if that includes football in his future, then that is wonderful.
Thank you for writing and sharing this!! This is the best article I have read in a very long time. It is exactly on point.Thank you!!!
Thank you!
Love this! I grew up on a farm and thought something similar while listening to Little House in the Big Woods on audio last year with the kids. I try hard to have those simple moments. Thanks for your insight.
Thank you.
Well spoken, agree 100 %. As a mom to a large family , this was revealed to me as we were raising our older children ( team 1). My husband and I made every effort to make family time priority, but I am realizing more and more how far from this we have drifted with team 2. I find myself running from lesson to lesson, activity to activity. Time to get back to the basics…….God, family, then activities…….Thank you for sharing your heart.
Thank you.
I also agree. I just wish I would of done better with my own children. I am striving to be a good example for my grand children. This world is not our home, we have to function in it and be a light for Jesus in it. Thank you for your article. It was really spot on.
Thank you so much.
Oh man, I could not love this more.
Thank you!
From a Grandmother of 9, I agree totally. Now, i live alone and go to see my family when I can. There are two Great Grand-daughters. I remember my grandparents living close by and one grandmother living with us until I was in high school. Oh, how I remember and cherish all the time I spent with them.
Thank you.
As the mother of nine, I love this article. Several years ago we decided to simplify. It started by severely limiting the extra curricular activities and then moved on to homeschooling. While my kids where in public school I felt like the only time we had together was stressful, panicked time. Quick get up, get breakfast, get your shoes on, rush out the door. Quick come in, put your shoes away, get a snack, homework, (TONS of homework,) dinner, bath time and then bed. This couldn’t be good for our familial relationships, it had to end. I have loved homeschooling for the normal family time we get.
Thank you. This is always one of my main reasons for homeschooling (among many).
I loved every word of this. Thank you.
Thank you.
So much YES. <3 Time is precious and Satan loves stealing it away…
Thank you.
Mostly agree. However, there are also thousands of adults wrongly accused of “sexual abuse” by children attempting to gain attention, thriving for love and attention from divorced parents, one trying to love the child more than the other. Sympathy for a poor abused child equates being showered with gifts and attention to make them feel better. Can’t even set a child in your lap these days for fear it may be interpreted as “sexual” in nature by someone. Children these days are spoiled rotten, have no respect for others, and are offended by everything and everyone if things don’t go their way.
As an adult who went through the horrors of childhood sexual abuse I am horrified by your comment. Sexual abuse on children is a pervasive and a REAL issue. I was never showered with gifts but I do live with PTSD and it has affected every aspect of my being. Most women I know who were sexually abused (mostly by family members!) have hidden their pain and trauma because of people who make such ludicrous statements as you have.
So very true. Thanks for saying the truth. Five year old’s with cell phones with a data plan is child abuse.
Little House in the Big Woods is how we live at the deer lease. It is my favorite place to be! We don’t have running water, or cell service. Being out in God’s creation is the best family time. I’m 33 and my parents INSISTED we had dinner at the table every night and several other “unplugged” things. Now I go to friends houses and see that I was (and still am) VERY blessed to have parents that wanted to spend unplugged time with my sister and I. I don’t have kids yet, but you can bet when I do, I will raise them like I was raised!
I am a retired school teacher and I would come home from work and relax by watching little house on the Prairie. Loved that program.
I love that you said, “none of that will go to heaven with us.” Exactly! This says it all perfectly as my daughter is embarking on her journey into Jr high and I already see a full schedule ahead of us. I’m dreading it immensely and wondering how I can make it easier on our family. Lots of prayers needed indeed!
Praying for you right this minute.
Just yesterday, I told my family that electronic devices are consuming our family. Then, I asked them if they have heard of the TV show, “Little House on the Prairie” and I asked them if they wanted to sell everything and move to the country and build a one room church with our new neighbors. Today, my wife sends me a link to this story. Ha!
As the leader of the family, I realize I need to start with myself. From now on, everything electronic has to be kept in the office nook and nothing can be used after 8 pm.
Ha, that’s so cool. God wink for sure.
This type of dialog is so healthy Jenifer. Each family will make decisions, but many are not made consciously but by following the path of least resistance when they are already exhausted. Everyone could use a step back from that state to think it through.
May I just say, kudos and wonderfully-written. But Satan has another trap: math. This kind of math: good parenting + lots of family time = adult that reflects that. Brace for impact. We did all the right stuff. Lol! We read ALL the Little House books. We sent our first child to a Christian college where she went on mission. At that college, on that mission trip, she turned to homosexuality and, three years later, is still in it. So, obey God and then give them over. Do not let poor decisions on your adult child’s part discourage you. Did I handle it well at the time? No. NO! But we are holding strong to God’s Word – Proverbs 22:6. And ladies, let’s not beat each other up or even silently think, “I bet she didn’t _______.” Fill that blank in with make her go to bed on time, pick up her room, read her Bible every day, homeschool, you name it. We did it all. But God’s math will carry our family to completion in Christ Jesus.
So sorry. I see it every day: great parents who kept their child in church and God’s Word; yet, they wander from it and rebel. Keep your faith in God that He will return her to the upbringing she had.
Thank you. Oh, how I thank you for this. #truth The other math is the legitimate number crunching. We live in an old house, we drive used cars, we wear clothes forever, we buy gently used items for Christmas gifts, we don’t go on summer vacations and still … the designated “provider” of our household cannot cover it all–tithing, insurance, savings, events, parochial school. As his helpmate, I work outside the home. My daughter is in one activity: swimming lessons. God called us to a create help fight pediatric brain cancer a decade ago, so we spend time doing that. I found this article because I checked Facebook over my lunch hour. At the end of the day, I am exhausted, blessed but exhausted, so while I feel Satan’s yoke, I struggle to specifically find where I need to do battle with him.
you did absolutely nothing wrong(unless you rejected her after she came out). God created your daughter the way she is–it is not a “choice” she made. Be a real mom and accept your daughter the way God created her.
This was a fantastic article, I agree. And Mamie, so sorry to hear of your family’s struggles. Keep praying for her, keep trusting in the Lord, and remain faithful to His Word. Keep loving her (part of which is telling her the truth, both about God and about herself). And, ignore Debrah’s comment here.
Debrah, what you speak has no basis in Scripture nor in science, only in the current whims of a culture that is given over to Satan and his lies. You make the claim God created her that way, I call you on your claim. Prove it. God’s revealed Word to us says the opposite.
I have spent 47 years in full time preaching. I have worked with congregations up and down the eastern United States. As to your article, just let me say … AMEN! Many are concerned as to why our beloved USA is in the shape it is in today. Your insight gives us the answer. We have lost the family and corrupted our children. Please God, bless America again by opening our eyes to the truth. Thank you for your wonderful words.
Excellent post! I just shared with all my readers!
Thank you.
Thank you…our family dynamics are about to drastically change. I appreciate the wake up call.
Bless you and yours❤
Thank you so much.
Yes yes yes! I felt this exact same way this past year reading By the Shores of Silver Lake to my kids. More God, more family, more time, and more simple.
I am atheist – just so as to not mislead anyone.
Time spent with others who are dear, and becoming less alienated from nature through long walks in the woods or other natural settings is some of the very best time that life affords to us. I try to spend a week each year hiking in the back country to reset myself, to remind myself that the world I experience in nature is the real one, and not the artificial one that most of us take as real most of the time.
Alienation from nature is a terrible state for a person. Nature restores us, but we have to spend time in it, becoming immersed in the natural life to really get it. Otherwise, we experience and take the crazy world of man as the real one, and that is a cause of grief.
Thanks for commenting.
Yes! Thank you for your great blog post! We recently sold our house, my husband quit his all-consuming job, and we moved our little family to the Virgin Islands to allow for a slower pace of life and more family time. We were all too familiar with the life that was just “too much.” Thanks for sharing your thoughts and hopefully encouraging dialogue to happen!
That sounds wonderful.
Brie, I think the world, especially, the USA has disregarded Christ so much in their lives, that they are feeling the pain. It leaves me sad and heartbroken. However, by them disregarding the path of Christ, has left a path wide open for Satan! Boy, has he just stomped away at our friend and family, with a hated vengeance.
The only way for us to return America to its previous God loving and God fearing state, is by turning their eyes on Christ. However, I’m sure that will never happen. So many of them are world loving, instead of Christ loving. All we can do is pray, pray and pray.
PS. When my girls were younger, they had 20 beads a week. Each bead that they spent was equal to 30 minutes to spend on computer, cell phone, PS3, or tv, they could make their decision on how to “spend their beads/time).” But, the rest of the time they had to play, read, crafts, etc. We (my hubby and I and both girls) had family night each Wednesday night, the kids choose what we would had for dinner, then we would play board games or watch a movie. If we were watching tv as a family, no beads were ever needed. Actually, no beads were needed when watching tv as a family or using the computer for school projects. We always sat down for dinner every night. Even, if one of them had a girlfriend over to spend the night. I was so disheartened with how many of their friends thought that eating a homebaked meal at the family table was “weird.” The girls also had mandatorily age appropriate chores. We did pay them an allowance so that they could grasp the idea of money at a young age. However, if they wanted something that I would not buy for them, they had to buy it out of their own money. I was often proud when they thought about it for a few moments and they decided “if they needed that, or not,” and put it back onto the store shelf. I know this doesn’t work for everyone, but it was great for our family.
Whoops, no beads ever needed with family time. Sometimes the kids actually had left over beads after the week was over. Nope, I never let them carry over either. This worked on my younger one and teenager.
Thank you for sharing!
Good article ! We have 13 children ( 3 home made and 10 adopted ) and we are always in some form of micro crisis many of which you describe perfectly. One note to add – I had relatives who were farmers ( they lived the old way that we tend to long for ) and the husband and wife were essentially busy from sun-up until sun-down – seven days a week. They spent very little time not working – it was work or perish. Not the stuff of story books but more like the real ” prairie life”
Absolutely agree 100%. I am a home school mom, and Teaching from a place of rest is a great book. We also need to live from a place of rest.
Yes! Thank you.
Perfectly said and all very true! Love this!!!!
Thank you!
Little house was my favorite. I wish we could go back to when Gods love and family were all we needed
Refreshingly righteous and truthful. Thank you for saying what so many are observing but either can’t articulate it or don’t want to say it out of fear.
Thank you.
I agree with everything you’ve written. I myself have many things to work on. Thank you for sharing ❤️??
Thank you.
So very well said. Thank you for your wake up call.
Thank you.
Our family is moving to a super small town where there are few to no activities for our children to be involved in and my husband will only be working 13 days a month and we can’t wait for the change in our family and our family time. I love this article so so so much!!!! We will have our trials but hopefully we will be able to go through them as a tight knit family. We love little house on the prairie.
God will take care of you. 🙂
So. Many. Unsupported. Statements. For example: God favors families. Really? Where is that in the Bible? Divorce is more prevalent. Really? The divorce rate is down and has been declining for years. A much better post would be: *I* favor families. *I’m* scared of divorce.
God bless you. Thanks for taking the time to share your opinion. 🙂
Mark, this is not an academic journal, so sources and references are not requirements–and the readers of this article would generally be Biblically informed enough to know the sources of the first statement. I’ll do the research for you though . . . The Scripture teaches that God designed families (Gen.2:21-24), gave them a biological mandate (Gen 1:28), that the crowning covenant declaration of God’s people, the Shema, is followed by a clearly stated spiritual mandate for families (Deut. 6:4-9), and that it is an act of His mercy and kindness that He “puts the lonely in families” (Ps. 68:6)–those are off the top of my head, and would probably be common knowledge among the readers of this blog (and common knowledge does not have to be sourced even in academic writings). Sociologically, the divorce rate went from 3% in the late 1800’s (Little House in the Prairie) to 7% in 1960, to 40% today (granted, that’s a three year low). divorce.lovetoknow.com/Historical_Divorce_Rate_Statistics
That said, the elephant in the room is the dramatic increase in co-habiting couples . . . this could safely be estimated at above 47% (www.nbcnews.com/health/new-normal-cohabitation-rise-study-finds-1C9208429), and with co-habiting couples, the rate of break-up is approximately 5X that of married couples (https://www.thespruce.com/cohabitation-facts-and-statistics-2302236). Why I had to do your research for you, I’m not quite sure, but in the spirit with which you first wrote, Your. Welcome.
Sorry, “You’re”
I have to say I agree with Mark (and others) comments in regards to some parts of this article. Particularly the comments about “God favors family” and the divorce comments.
I think your heart was in the right place when writing this HOWEVER you may not have thought it through. God favors family? Really? So someone who is married with 7 children is favored over a single person?
Thanks so much for the comment and your grace in understanding I’m human. It would have been worded more appropriately to say “God is in favor of family,” which is what I intended. I also never condemned divorce. I’ve been divorced. But that doesn’t mean I think it’s the absolute best thing out there. I think when you write your heart down and hundreds of thousands of people read it, some of your intent can be lost in translation. For my established readers who’ve been following me for the last four years I think they got my heart. To everyone who didn’t I apologize. It’s tough to get everything right. 😉
Of course God “favors family.” We are ALL part of His family and we ALL come into this world via a family. We ALL have a mother and a father who should love us and teach us about the Love of God via their actions. The family is the basic unit of society, and within it is how the next generation is raised in truth. If we can deconstruct family, chaos ensues. Just look at the Black Family which has been devastated by government inserting itself as father and provider (all in the name of “helping” of course).
One of the best articles I have read in my 32 years of ministry. I wish people could have realized 30 years ago where we were headed. My prayer is that young couples, being 63, 50’s are young, will realize we need to change if we really want to save the family. We need to work together and not let this world destroy the family. Thank you again for such insight.
Thank you so much!
I agree, well done standing and speaking up!
It has also so affected the church that the church is the last to be put on the list of our lives.
Divorce rates have increased because abused women increasingly have the legal, financial and social freedom to use it to escape from their abusers. The National Violence Against Women Survey for 2000 reported that 25% of women reported being victims of intimate partner violence at some point in their lives. Women are more likely to be killed by their spouses than by all other types of assailants combined, and intimate partner violence accounts for 14% of all homicides.
Divorce is a social good. Divorce enables women and their children to escape from men who would beat, rape and kill them. This is not about social media. This is not about failure to communicate. This is not about YOUR precious marriage. Until society teaches men to *stop abusing their wives*, then divorce is a necessity, and all women should have free access to it.
Shame on you for shaming them.
God bless you. Thanks for sharing your insight.
“25% of women reported being victims of intimate partner violence” and yet the divorce rate is approaching 70% of marriages. Must be something deeper, including abuse of men by women, shifting culture, and hardened hearts.
Brie is speaking as a Christian. And the God whom she adores and follows says clearly the opposite of what you’re saying Samantha. Divorce isn’t good (Malachi 2:16). Even in the situation of abuse, while I agree the separation of the couple is a necessity, divorce still isn’t good. It’s every bit as traumatic and tragic (perhaps even more so). God purposed and designed marriage to last a lifetime (Matthew 19:6). In our brokenness, we see it. And we certainly see the harm it causes to all involved.
SandHAndrews, I think what Samantha means by saying that divorce is good is that it CAN have a good purpose, not that it’s a good thing in general. In Matt. 19:8, Jesus says that God permitted divorce because men’s hearts were hard. Men at that time were turning out their wives & leaving them destitute over something as simple as an unpleasant meal. God made allowance for divorce to protect women. You can research this for yourself – many Bible scholars have written about it. It’s a wonderful thing that these days, if a man is putting his wife &/or children in danger, she can leave him & support herself & the kids. If she only separates without divorce, she has no legal rights, & he likely will hunt her down & kill her. I’m not being sensational. It happened in my family & happens all the time, that’s why women need safe houses & new identities.
While I wholeheartedly agree with many of your points – it struck me as odd you’d place childhood sex abuse so haphazardly in this blog. Data indicate family members are typically guilty of such abuse. Moreover, as a working mom who MUST rely on others to help with my kids (and despite judicious choice with respect to their caretakers)… the way it’s written is STRESSFUL. Shocking. I’m curious about solutions. Not casual references about grave, evil social issues and constructs. Thanks
Thank you for sharing your feelings. So sorry I caused you stress.
When I read your article it made me think about a song written by Toby Mac – I don’t want to gain the whole world, to lose my soul.
Yes, definitely. Love that song.
Oh my goodness!!! You nailed it!! So very true! Great perspective. Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much!
Well, good points were made about spending more time with family and less screen time- agreed. But lady, if you haven’t been divorce, you don’t know what you are talking about! True people get divorce for many reasons, but in the causes of addiction, adultery and abuse -they tha are divorced are justified!!!!
Betty, I don’t hear her beating up on divorcees. I hear her speaking against addiction, one of the three causes of divorce that you list.
‘I don’t want to give them the world if it forfeits their soul.’ That speaks volumes. So true! I’m with you, Sister! My prayer is that I teach my child to seek Him first in ALL things.
A friend shared this on FB, and I greatly enjoyed your writing. I agree — Satan wants us exhausted, ill, disconnected. I’m blessed to homeschool my two (8 and 10) and enjoy their company, so we do not have the increasing school demands that we see around us. We are reading through the LH books, as well as watching the TV series. My kids were astounded at what little they had, but oh, the freedom compared to kids today. (And the innocence — compared to what we have to tell our children today to keep them safe.) it’s interesting that modern life makes survival less of a worry; but now we have to worry about survival of the family with all the modern conveniences. Thank you for sharing!
I could not agree with you more. I am thankful that our daughter was not subject to as much as children and families are now (she is 24), but we did take the road less travelled even then and our time off was mostly spent in the back yard, local parks and pools, and at the library. We did not spend money we didn’t have and although her schedule eventually became a bit hectic that wasn’t until high school. When she was young her only extra curricular activities were Sunday school and a dance class. We didn’t even have cable tv??! We are very far from perfect, but I am glad that we bucked the norm. She was never bored, she read, played outside for hours in her sand box, with bubbles and balls, her lone swing and a skip it. She painted rocks, danced, and played with dolls, and she took part in real life too, like cooking, cleaning, laundry and grocery shopping. Kudos to you for bringing this to people’s attention. Hopefully it will convict some young families and not just make them shake their heads and continue life as usual.
My heart hurts thinking about what this will look like by the. Time my littlest are grown. Thanks for making me think.
I do appreciate your thoughts about how we choose to spend our time, and the potential problems with those choices. You share some very perceptive and thought provoking observations for those who haven’t given “life” much thought. It seems that at this point in history, the issue seems to be much more prevalent in Western and or wealthy countries which tend to have larger groups of Christians, which might be something to consider as well. I strongly disagree with a premise you mention early on, however, and that is the belief that ” God favors families.” You can probably cite Bible verses to support this claim, but the one that stands out to me is Romans 2:11 ” God does not show favoritism.”
That God does not favor any one person or group is my belief and understanding of the Word. God is pure love and as that, well beyond our understanding. His love has nothing to do with ones status as being in or having a family, in the sense that is referenced in this post.
Think you sorely misinterpreted “God favors families.” Of course, He does. It was His idea. He called it into existence. He has commandments throughout His Word to make it the best it can be. Following His Word sure makes for a joyful experience.
The word “favor” implies preference. Scripture indicates that God does not have a preference. The Spirit of the Word being unconditional love also indicates no “favoring”. Does God love families? Of course! And God loves single people, divorced people, childless people, criminals, and those “we” consider most despicable. Not one thing in my comment suggests that one not make best efforts to lovingly raise a family. Your comment is merely proselytizing and not edifying.
Can I share this on my blog with appropriate credit. Awesome
I just finished the same book with my ten year old twins (summer reading) and definitely had an epiphany or two while reading it. The first one was how “brainwashed” the book had made me as a child, with impacts still in my life: the mother was constantly “busy” doing things that I had internalized as “necessary” which frankly, just is not. I don’t have to spend days churning weekly butter, get excited about “making it pretty” with carrot juice, or hand sew every stitch of clothing my family wears. (I still have internalized “make sure we have food” in a compulsive way – lol!) There were contradictions in lots of places (Pa never went into the woods without his gun, except for all the times he did.) and yes, a positive spin on a hard life. BUT it was written for children, so I don’t think the terror of “Pa isn’t home yet – that family is SCREWED if something happens to him alone in the woods” was as apparent to my children as it was to me. I also ended up doing some reading on the “real life” story of the author, and it is simply fascinating (see Wikipedia). But one of the things this classic story has done is literally make us all, however briefly, yearn for a fantasy life that is just as fictional as Narnia. The author wrote the tale after the Great Depression had wiped out their family funds; she skipped the unpleasant bits (the dead baby brother doesn’t appear in the “Big Woods”), and only briefly touches on cultural changes (see “Sabbath when Grandpa was a boy” versus the way her father chooses to celebrate). It is an excellent story, and it is well told. It definitely impacts our perceptions of our country (the family trying to steal Indian land doesn’t even get a mention). Does it make me question whether my children going to gymnastics versus jumping on stumps for fun is better? Nope. It makes me grateful that I can toss the laundry into the washing machine while running to the grocery for milk and butter, and bless the teachers at their school for getting them out of my hair for a few hours so I can make some adult contributions to the world. Children don’t see the drudgery; I am grateful it is historical storytelling I can share with my kids. But…we’re making pickles today, because, well, because. The influence lives on… 😉
Thank you so much for putting that book into perspective. It’s one of my favorite books but oh so idyllic! REAL stress was petting a bear you thought was a cow. A wife waiting up all night with a gun in her lap hoping her husband would come home, watching your children die of so many diseases. There was just as much drug abuse, drunkenness, sexual abuse back then as there is now often with no hope for any help. The Big Woods and the prairies were often so isolating for women they suffered terrible depression and other mental illnesses. If you read the last book in the series, “The First Four Years,” you’ll really see the stressors on families – many of which we avoid today because of our modern times. I agree family time is so important but don’t yearn for a fantasy life that was never really like it sounds.
Sounds like you have pulled apart my brain and put all my thoughts into words! The devil has been hard at work on my family for several years but I know it’s because we are doing all the right things. Pulling our kids out of public school to homeschool to get away from the demanding curriculums, staying strong in the midst of both my parents and one of my husband’s parents passing away in 4 years time (we are only in our lower 30’s), involving our kids in every church activity possible, not letting our kids become “those kids” who only know how to socialize behind a screen….. all these things satan looks for opportunities to creep in and boy does he try. Society has become so “me” centered instead of family centered with Christ at the top. I don’t want my kids to become like that and although I love my technology too I really believe that’s when everything started changing-when technology (computers and smart phones) became the center of everything we do. I am definitely an old soul at heart! Thank you for this!
You did a wonderful job of describing what families are becoming. We moved because we wanted more time as a family and so my husband has been able to work from home. But the reality is it has become more stressful living in a place where it isn’t go go go. I can’t get into it and we believed God led us here for a reason. Paragraph 10 you made excellent points and we have dealt with one point in that paragraph already. Early on in our oldest daughter’s life. She has blocked it out we believe. We haven’t but it has been put away until something triggers it. It was not an adult yet another child who did this horrible act. We can only say love and care for your children every single day and trust God knows more than we do and will carry you through even the most awful things you believe you will never be able to get through. Thank you for being brave enough to write this article. Job well done!
Yeah, you’re right! As the “good book”
says, “The truth will set you free!”
So well written! And ohhh the peer pressure when you do start to simplify. It’s mind blowing how even the generation before us believes that busyness is the answer to keeping kids out of trouble and in God’s word. I fail at something daily with my boys, I’ll be the first to admit it! And Aren’t we all Still a work in progress, but the best word I ever learned was No to Every. Single. Whim. They choose one event each per season. I have had people look at me like I have a 3rd head because I choose not to drive myself crazy driving the boys to all of the craziness. They are well rounded, they have a sense of team play and they know how to work together toward a common goal, we also known how to do it as a family. Thank you for these sweet words! Bless you and yours!
This is sooo on point!
Satan is stealing our families and we are handing ourselves over without a fight.
Thank you for the article, now let’s work to get back to the basics…. God and family!
You have just worded an article with the exact thought patterns that has motivated my husband and I to make changes and move forward in life towards improving the quality of time we spend with each other and our family it is a great article indeed but for many it takes courage to make the necessary choices that would bring them a simpler life such as getting rid of debt and committments and choosing to spend time together by giving up our distractions I have seen how difficult this can be for others yet it all begins with simple choices it really makes you wonder that sometimes the actual choice isn’t a difficult one but first we need to re align our priorities then the simplicity of our choices truly becomes apparent
As an 82 year old and the youngest of eleven children raised on a farm by two loving parents that were married over 60 year. I frequently comment that I would not trade my growing up years for anything. I was raised like the Little House on the Prairie. Married 61 years, raised two wonderful girls, and hope we passed some of this on to them. However at 82 I too have become consumed with the technology of our time and drawn into this web. How does this happen? The devil is working overtime and we are working part time.
I literally started reading Little House in the Big Woods yesterday to my almost 5 year old daughter. What a coincidence! She starts K5 next week and we have chosen to Homeschool. We are giving her the first season of Little House on the Prairie as one of her birthday presents the following week. Our journey into minimalism & simplicity has drawn us closer to Christ, closer as a family and made our marriage stronger. Your post was so encouraging and I intend to follow your blog for more nuggets of wisdom! Thank you!
AMEN AMEN AMEN sister! We are gaining the whole world and losing our souls and those of our children and our neighbors and friends. God help us!!
Well, Brie, I must say that as a 70-something, I admire you for saying all of this so profoundly before you were even 40! LOL I’m not sure I even had a clue by 40! In my case (forgive me for digressing here), the church was the biggest influence in having everybody busy every night of the week and all day on Sat. and Sun. Whoa!! I truly made huge mistakes in that area, and I’m not sure my daughters have recovered. Could I take a tiny exception to what you said in your 2nd paragraph–“God favors families.” Yes, He certainly does. When I was single due to “the other woman”, God really, really favored me. Statistically, it is likely I’ll be a widow, and I’m certain He’ll favor me then, too. I know singleness of any kind is not your focus here, and I get that, but those of us who were, are, or will be single should remember that God favors us also. BTW, the 40s will be your best decade ever!!
Thank you so much. I definitely should have worded myself better. God doesn’t favor one over another. He favors ALL. I just meant He is in favor of family. Thank you so much for addressing that soooo kindly. I appreciate it, and all your sweet comments. God bless you.
Brie, I’ve never seen your blog before but your post and the mention of Little House in the Big Woods stopped me in my tracks. I began reading those books just as the TV show, which was largely fictitious, was beginning. I collect Laura’s adult writings now, which include writings about her own faith. The books and biographies written by her editor and others using her diaries, information from her daughter and from research after the children’s series fill in many of the blanks that her series left out. I’m 50, and as I look back on my character development, during the time I was being taught the precepts of God’s word, I was also devouring the stories of that family living it out what the Bible teaches. Those books shaped my life by giving me someone to emulate. Please keep reading them to your daughter until she can read them all herself. I learned the precepts of respecting my parents, being kind to others, the value of hard work, the importance of being independent (which combatted peer pressure), perseverance in trials — so many things were imprinted on my heart from Laura’s life. I made many missteps in my life but those books coupled with my training at church and home always brought me back to center. Blessings to you and your family, and I hope your daughter will develop a love for this wonderful series to go along with what you’ll teach her about Jesus!
Wow, this is SO what I’ve been thinking lately & so well written – while I personally LOVE the internet and one of my jobs is solely dependent on it! I think it is a HUGE tool for Satan’s use. I would gladly give it up to go back to a simpler time. I think internet/social media/smart phones has provided so MANY opportunities for Satan to become ever present in our lives. Thanks for insight – I plan to share it!
Spot on! Thank you for sharing this. I read all the Laura Ingalls Wilder books in grade school – long before it became a TV series. It’s time for all of us to take a deep breath and slow down. 20 years ago, I predicted that technology and the constant activities we encourage our children and ourselves to participate in and be “involved,” could be the eventual demise of all of us. Satan is working hard. I want to be wrong. Technology won’t go away, but it’s time we put limitations on it in our lives. God has blessed us with a beautiful creation and family and friends – that should be the focus and center of our lives. We need to put our faith in God to guide us in our daily life. God’s Blessings to you and your family.
Keep in mind the real guy that inspired Little House was little Joe Cartwright (Michael Landon), he was a 4 pack a day cigarette smoker. To really understand little house you have to go back to 1959 when Bonanza started and at 22 made Little Joe a super star. He was a great guy in my book but a human with vices. After Hoss died on the series of a pulmonary embolism in 71 Little Joe began to write and direct some Bonanza episodes. I noticed watching each their were family oriented like little house. I don’t know if it was the hurt they all suffered losing Hoss or what but Michael wrote love scenes and families and loss all parts of a families struggles. I can see after 1972 when the series ended Michael Landon progressed into Little House. As a kid he was beautiful and admired as he aged he realized life is sacred and short family being the glue that holds it all together. If we lose sight of family we give Satan a hole to creep in. Joe or Michael was a little Jewish boy that picked his name Michael Landon out of the phone book but changed lives forever. Cigarettes the Hollywood in thing killed him took him away at a young 50s.
SO true. Every single word!
Your article kept reminding me of a passage I’ve often used at funerals to help us to focus on what truly matters. It’s a large part of Isaiah 55, but verse 2 catches the essence quite well. “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”
Very good! Thanks for sharing.
First time I’ve read your blog. Powerful and humbling thoughts. I needed this. Thank you!
What a fantastic article! This is so true! Twenty-one years ago, when I was pregnant with our first (after being told we wouldn’t have any) my husband and I determined that our family would come first. We chose to give up “all that the world has to offer” so I could stay home with our daughters. We went without all the frills that two income families have, but God always provided. We homeschooled our daughters and when we needed extra money for co-op classes I babysat out of our home so I could continue to be home with our girls. We did the game nights, family movie nights, turned the tv off and listened to audio books in our living room, had family meals every night of the week (with devotions) not just once a week like so many other families and I wouldn’t change it for the world. Both my girls will be in college this year and I can look back and know that while we were not perfect (far from it!) we were TOGETHER! I’m so grateful for that! The gift of family is God’s greatest blessing!
This is THE BEST thing I have read in a very long time. You nailed everything. EVERYTHING! I’d love to tag all of my friends, family, and strangers in this post. Such an eye opener! Great post! Thank you so much for sharing!
Many of your points were spot on but missed something. Mega churches with their schools. There’s the financial push for the members to simply belong to the church and the large tuitions to attend their schools which causes financial strains on families, too. Youth trips to foreign countries have taken the place of mission outreach in nearby areas. It’s out of control.
Great read, all very true. I think about the kids that their parents work everyday and then the parents send the kids to grand parents for the weekend. When do the parents have quality time with the kids? Wish things could be more like Little House.
This says it. “Eternal life is what we should want for our kids, not the best education money can buy. And while I’m all for giving them a bright future, I don’t want to give them the world if it forfeits their soul.”
I love the Little House on the Prairie series!!! I read them with my mom when I was 6 or 7 yrs old and have read and re-read them over and over again. 🙂 The moral, ethical and spiritual values in each book are inspiring and life-long lessons I’ve never forgotten.
Great blog. It hurts me to see fathers and mothers completely ignore their children. While sitting in the doctor’s office, I observed parents of four young children playing on their phones. The kids were all over the place silently screaming, “Notice me! I am here! I need you.”
Little House (and the whole series) are definitely romanticized fiction, only minimally related to the actual experiences of the author’s life. It can be tempting to think that they had a “simple” life… what it was, in reality, was brutal.
Still, the desire for a simpler, less-ragged existence is a good thing! I was raised “Prairie” (rural-mountains and broke), without TV, making and gardening and all the rest. I also bought my first computer at 13. So tech and simple are not mutually exclusive. 😀 We’ve raised kids for the past 21 years, and now the whole stack of them, 21 down to 9, are capable of using technology without being consumed by it, are largely “commercial-proof” and wise consumers, can make and grow and build and serve. We’ve focused on involving them in all discussions about family resources, whether that resource is time or talent or money. They’re pretty reasonable people, and seem to enjoy our lifestyle a lot. They definitely value the autonomy their long-term responsibility yields–they have so much more true autonomy and agency than most of their friends.
I do think it’s wise to guard family time and space, and cultivate connections. In conversations with my son’s friends, I’ve decided a lot of parents just focus on having their kid under their roof, but NEVER interacting with them, so it’s a very lonely life for the teen. We do it a lot differently, and I’m glad of the results.
Still don’t want a pig bladder as a balloon, though.
Loved your article! I loved the Little House books growing up! Our children are missing so much! The family worked together just to make a living! Children did their part too. They learned responsibility, sharing and charity!
Thanks for sharing this article. This is something that was on our hearts as parents of a newborn. Satan seems to love to use confusion, distraction, and business as a ploy to divide. We decided to home educate not long after our first son was born, and then we decided to move from our St. Louis home and buy a small home and land in a small town. We noticed that even home educators were very busy…mostly too busy. My husband thought having a farm, raising animals, fixing up an old house, would prove good work for our family. He died a year after we moved to apply the truths we were learning, but the Lord blessed and used all of that to draw us all closer…it’s been a rich life, and even now as my children are now adults and young adults, they love to work together, serve the Lord, and they are still enjoying the projects here on this little farm. We can know these things as true, but it’s when we step out on faith and really follow the Lord’s leading as true disciples that we see His work, not our own, in the hearts of our family. The Lord bless you, keep encouraging. <3
Love this so much!! Thank you for putting into words the way I feel.
Thank you for articulating what my heart has been feeling! As a fifty-something mother of seven grown children, I still find this insight critical. We are raising a niece and nephew, three and one. My “made it by the skin of our teeth” attitude has had to be adjusted and updated. I can see how effective Satan’s tactics have become and how they have advanced since our first time around. It’s so important to have this insight! Take me back to “Little House” too!!
I don’t think an imaginary Satan is doing anything, it sounds like your family’s desire to keep up with the Jones’ to provide your children designer duds, TVs in every room and make sure they get to every activity you can cram in to their schedule is your problem.
Sure a simpler life is great, but Laura’s life is not real in the 21st century. Divorce is at a higher rate than in Laura’s day because women aren’t soley dependent on a man to support them any longer and those women no longer have to put up with a horrible life with an unloving spouse (or whatever). Children have always tried to distance themselves from their families at some point–it’s called growing up.
You desire for more family time is great, find it, you don’t need Satan or any other god to give you an excuse to work to find it.
Love you, Lynn.
Unfortunately, Lynn, Satan is not imaginary, but thankfully, neither is Almighty God, creator of the universe.
That will preach! Literally. I am a pastor (and husband and father). I am very convicted by this blog. I will be digesting and acting on this one for a very long time. Thanks!
This blessed me so much! It’s something I’ve also spent some time pondering. That’s not to say that some things, like cell phones and appropriately-lengthed TV viewing, are inherently bad, but you are so right that these things easily lead into the disintegration of the time to “just be.”
Spot on, Brie!
That is one of the reasons I like taking a cruise at Christmas because we get quality family time together. There’s no work or other activities to pull my husband one way and me another and my youngest son of third. We spend time together talking, walking, enjoying a show, or even zip lining. It’s not about the gifts it’s about the time we have together. I treasure it more than any gift.
You make some good points, although the world has always been broken, and the “simpler” days weren’t necessarily so good. The Little House books were highly edited. Details like the family witnessing a man douse his wife with kerosene and burn her, the fact that one of the reasons they moved so much was because of Pa’s debts, etc, were removed. You can google it. I was surprised too.
I think we have to be careful about saying these days are so much worse than the “olden days.” Slavery, war, abuse. Think about the Old Testament days. The world is vicious and always had been.
YES! The answer is not in the lifestyle, but in the attitude of the heart. I have a friend who basically did what this article is suggesting, & she’s miserable & wants a divorce. The puritans came to America to create utopia, but their sinful hearts followed them.
Absolutely the truth! They need us, the grandparent and their mom and dad so badly. It is a scary world!
You hit the nail on the head! I could not of said it any better. I’ve told my son the kids play way too much ball during the school season and on into early summer. They have no family time. Thanks for sharing!
This reminds me of a plaque I was given by a loved one… It reads:
“HEAVEN… Don’t miss it for the world!”
I’ve been saying this for years! We waste so much time, money, and energy on nonsense. It breaks my heart.
Well done you! You subscribe to exactly what we have been thinking…and feeling…and trying to act on! We share many of the same philosophies (we authored ‘Declutter Now!”) and it’s refreshing to hear it presented with a new take! Tyou!
I love this article and the points made here. I’m a very busy homeschool mom of 7 children, toddler to teen. After a lot of prayer, the Lord has shown me several things lately: 1) Don’t compare yourself to others and the way they are raising their children. Seek the Lord for HIS plans for YOUR family. Realize that different seasons will look a little different, but for goodness sakes, DO NOT compare what you *should* be doing with all your friends on facebook. Seek the Lord in ALL decisions, all activities, and things that affect the family. 2) There is no 4-step process for raising perfect children. Seek the Lord in all things. Learn to pray like crazy…
We’re all individuals… and YES…most of us need to slow down! Many of us are living off coffee with crashing adrenals… We are (or will) pay for treating our bodies so badly… God made us with physical limitations, we are *not* robots who can keep going forever.
Thanks for sharing!
Basically true but pcs, smart phones, ipods and such not around with boys growing up and Tara didn’t care much for it, however that said…my fave things online are Gaithers Homecomings, tv, radio, Sirius Xm ch 65 Enlighten and all kinds of southern gospel music and channels and singers. I MEAN lots. Rev Stanley and Rice, Trinity Broadcasting Networks, lots of others. You tube has ALL the gospel singing you cd want and Gaithers has everything else, plus Singing News, on and on. Found it all this year and makes me so Happy..plus offline Bible and lots on line. Most gospel singers and many preachers have home pages. Family and tour news, love it. Devotions, study, quizes. Check out Mark Lowery and the Booth Brothers and all the Gaithers goodies, GOD IS ALIVE AND HE IS ALL OVER THE INTERNET…♡
Although I do agree with the ideas you and I both hold dear, the real story of Laura is not always the story of the books. Even Laura agreed that the Laura of the books was not always her. I too love the books, but reality of that time was very different. I agree families of the books sound wonderful, but the real family was exhausted, stressed, and very much in debt. Those parents worked much more than 60 hours a week and had no guarantee of food to feed the family.
As a child Laura was moved as much as 8 times before she turned 16. Laura’s parents were very much in debt. The family was in debt due weather, bad information, building on land that did not belong to them, and Laura’s father loosing jobs. Laura took in sewing jobs to help the family finances until she turned 16. She then became a teacher to help the family finances. Laura and her husband remained in debt most of their lives. Both Laura’s father and Laura’s husband lost homes and land due to debt. The books were written with her daughter, Rose, as a way to make money. There is some speculation as to how much of the books were written by Laura or by Rose. Both were in need of money at the time.
You wonder about how much time we spend with our families compared to Laura’s family. They worked as long as they had light and then they went to bed until light the next morning. Extra sleep was a luxury that few could afford. Older siblings watched the younger ones with little adult supervision. As the children aged they worked along side parents. The children taught each other with very little formal education. There was no medicine. Laura’s brother died. Her sister went blind. Her husband was paralyzed. Her son died–all due to lack of medicine.
There was a hardness of life. Fire, sickness, and lack of food often were causes of death.
There was by all accounts lots of love and hard work. The time spent together was not about building relationships, but working to survive.
Exhaustion then compared to exhaustion today is completely different.
Stress then was not being able to physically survive. Stress today is not usually that dire.
Yes, we put way too much value on stuff and too little on God’s principles. But the only way to change is to find our own individual path within God’s plan not by copying the paths of others.
Truth. Liked and shared.
Wow! Very insightful into the pitfalls of the lifestyles we’re living today. My 5th grade teacher used to read Laura Ingalls Wilder books (also Hardy Boys & Nancy Drew) after lunch each day–I LOVED that portion of each school day. I think that’s when I really “fell in love” with reading.
This is very empowering on so many levels. Loved it and have reread it so many times and shared it. I hope it provides for true reflection for many to keep our loved ones close!!
I agree with a lot of what you have said, but as a mom of 3 kids,i have to say… sometimes people have to be double income just to pay the bills…without a new car, and wearing walmart clothes, and living in a totally retro-decor house.
We are in the middle of tournament softball for one daughter and competition dance for the other. As well as piano lessond and karate added to the mix. It’s such a hard thing to decide what to do. They love softball and dance, but with our society always striving for excellence, it is no longer good enough to do things on a recreational level if you want to grow in your skills. We want to be good parents and give them opportunities to be the best they can be at what they love, but it wears a momma out! Especially when her husband works some nights and weekends. I just keep praying for wisdom i all of it!
Parents are still the parents, as has been shared…, there are ways to make sure gratitude imbues our children’s hearts. set Limits and unplug if necessary but always be engaged in a great cause because Satan is given permission when “idle hands are the work of the devil.”
…and don’t believe all the hype…, in 2017 There are still so many valedictorians, Olympic Athletes and young Inventors, etc. out there that share they do and don’t have a twitter or snapchat account are rarely online or blog all day, and either spend the summer in an orphanage helping others or are just gamers or race Drones…. it takes all kinds….
A very nice essay and absolutely on point. The Ingalls family practiced the high moral principles they instilled in their girls. The main thing they did that always stuck with me was to be GRATEFUL for what they had, no matter how little it was. For every biscuit on their plates they gave thanks. And they loved each other unconditionally. They were strong in hard times. Charles and Caroline (Pa and Ma) sorrowed over the loss of their only son soon after he was born; Laura and Almanzo buried their only son when he was 12 days old. And they continued to live on, grateful for the loved ones still left to them.
Are you kidding me? Even back in those days, there were distractions that you would now label as ‘Satan’. Progress is not of the devil. True progress is finding meaning despite the distractions, not blaming them on other things. In Little House on the Prairie, the devil was in finding ways to live past middle age. Disease, famine, etc. Instead of looking at technology as the devil, why not recognise its merits? I have been in a healthy long distance relationship with the love of my life, and I get to call him and communicate with him although he is 3 provinces away. I don’t have to worry about dying in childbirth. My parents have lived long enough to see their grandchildren grow up, and loads of these things we owe to modernity. So rather than complaining about it, embrace it and take responsibility rather than blaming Satan.
Amen
It’s so easy to blame Satan for the choices we make……
What I am wondering is why we are tolerating this. If we keep throwing our kid’s freedom under the school bus, there will be a soon coming day when none of us will have any freedom. Something must be done.
I find everthing in this article to be true. I am just about to turn 21 and I have always wanted things to be more simpler. I remember having time with mt family and playing outside. I’ve never really needed materials in my life that I don’t need. I have always wanted to see how life was back in like the little house on the prairie. I know for me and my family when I have one we are gonna take time to be with eachother and God is going to be the focus because I’ve been in a family where we’ve had God and then we strayed and things were much better with God in our lives. Thank you so much for this article!
This is one of the many, many reasons we have stepped off the merry-go-round of life and home school our last little one. A slower pace, one income means less stuff, much tighter budget, and not a lot of extra stuff. It also means a lot more quality time enjoying time together. While our marriage still greatly struggles, we are winning the busyness war! I’m older and wiser ; ) Great job!
I believe so many Christian families have allowed themselves to be sucked into the worlds value system where material things REALLY matter, pride and ego to have the latest this and that. If we could see our lives from God’s point of view we would realize that this life is but a dot on paper compared to a line drawn out to infinity! Lord forgive us! Great article and right on with every word.
Absolutely perfect and spot on! This may have been the best put together that I have seen in a long time! Well done.
Right on point! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and wisdom!
I think the idea that we are overly distracted is true. it blunts the Spirit’s influence and hence our access to the healing of the Atonement. I don’t agree that all this is “because of Satan.” Sure, he pushes what is there to his advantage, but we create our own messes and the means for most of them. We are to blame, not Satan. He merely leads us down the wrong paths with silken cords.
Found this article via my church’s FB page, and it’s terrific and on-the-money. The number of comments it’s earned is also encouraging.
Television and other media “entertainment,” with smart-aleck insulting children, weak parents (especially fathers) and a skewed sense of reality has been a satanic corrupting force, no doubt. You can trace the change back to the early 1970s, when CBS and other television networks all at the same time cancelled family friendly programming like “Mayberry RFD,” “Green Acres,” and so on–all of which were top ten shows–and replaced them with “All in the Family” and other “edgy” programming.
But I’m not sure if things are as dire as the media makes it seem when it comes to family and how the next generations perceives and responds to things. People aren’t watching television the way they used to, the whole system appears to be imploding. We are in dramatically changing times, there is both great opportunity and concern for what happens next.
Thanks again for this terrific piece.
I completely agree with everything here. Sadly, Satan did take my family down. We are now only a fractured shell of what once was a thriving, happy family. Once the gate is opened Satan will sneak in and before you know it he has stolen and killed love and joy…..hug your family closer, commit to guarding your gate. The world can wait your family cannot.
Wow thanks so much for sharing this. As a missionary with NTM in Papua New Guinea we are away from America for years at times and when we come back to plug in to America we began to feel all of these things you were talking about. It is so true and we don’t know it because we have never known anything else. But when we step out it all becomes so obvious. Thanks for the post – josh and faye butler New Tribes Mission Papua New Guinea
I needed to read this. I also need to remember to take a stand for our family and our precious time together. Life is so short, our time with our children is fleeting. Your message is perfect as we begin the hectic school year. We need to be mindful of how we spend our time.
My husband became very ill when we had 2 small children. I had a job that did not provide any insurance so we had to go on public assistance for medical help which meant I had to stay home to take care of him and our children. I made every garment we wore, had a huge garden and preserved enough for winter months and had all the fresh stuff in summer. As my children grew, they had to help to get everything done but it taught them to be great workers as parents now. My husband survived but I have often thought what life might have been if we could have both worked in public work instead of having to learn to spend 24/7 keeping our heads above water. I am glad we learned to trust God to take care of things we never could have. I read those books to my daughters and we even had some meals like the Ingalls family did by candle light and no tv on. They have vivid memories of those days when we pretended we were the Ingalls family. I agree with other posters that the lesson we all learned was to be thankful for what we DO have rather than complain over what we don’t have and to trust and thank God for it all.
My daughter sent this to me. So glad to know about you and so enjoyed/appreciated the read. God bless you…keep putting Him first!
This echoes my sentiments exactly…even as I sit here reading this on my phone while my children play and watch TV in another room…excuse me, I need to put my phone down, turn off the TV and Playstation, and go play a game of rummy before they go to bed?
LOVE!
SO PERFECTLY PUT! THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS! YOU READ MY HEART’S CRY. IT SICKENS ME TO SEE HOW FAMILIES ARE BEING TORN APART BY EVERYTHING YOU MENTIONED. WE WATCH THE SHOW AND WILL CONTINUE TO PLACE IT’S VALUES IN OUR CHRISTIAN HOME.
That was very timely and anointed. Thank you for sharing this! ?
Of course, this is true. Thanks for joining those who stand up and say so. <3
Well articulated. I’ve had many of the same thoughts and concerns myself – including the wish often – to return to simpler times, and I think the solution is as individual and unique as families are.
Miss Brie, spot on. At 61, I find myself still passionate about full time ministry, I’ve seen much success and much adversity, and, by most folks’ estimation, my pursuits have brought glory to God, but…but nothing compares to the blessed years I had with my beloved wife, Vanita, and the days I have had and still have with my children, their spouses, and my grandchildren. Success in the Lord’s eyes is measured so much more by what you have advocated for in this post than the surface products you so eloquently described. Nickels and noses are poor substitutes for the true treasures of heaven. May your heart be heard over and over. Thank you much.
Yes! I cannot agree more…I have been trying to take that step back..and it is so hard these days. We have chosen no TV and our cell phones are just phones, not connect to the net. I am a stay at home mom, home school, homestead as much as possible. Our children are well behaved I think because they do not have the million times faster than life TV in their life teaching them to disrespect their parents and each other! I think facebook is my biggest issue and i have threatened to through out the computer all together! It is really hard these days….I still find myself running and conscious of the need to slow down and enjoy what the Lord has given me. Great article!
Addictions come in all shapes, sizes, types, and they’re all temptations. Instead of throwing out your computer 🙂 just turn the thing off. Problem solved. Temptation overcome. Addiction gone.
Wow! Just wow! You nailed it! I read with tears streaming down my face, as I lost a child to Satan’s schemes, and though I know he is ìn heaven, doesn’t make it hurt less now! I would give ANYTHING for 1 more day, hour, MINUTE, second of just. Simple. Time, Cherish your children, you’ll never know when God will want them back!
Many good points, I do think there is an assumption that things were easier or more loving back in earlier times. I am not convinced this is the case. Remembering issues grandparents told me about of struggling so hard simply to eat. I also know divorce rates are at a 40 year low. Teen pregnancy is lower now than in the 50’s, only in the 50’s women felt they had to marry. I agree we have lost something if we don’t put down the phones.
I read the Little House books every summer from the time I was about 7; the first year for the library summer reading club (do they still do that?) and afterwards because I love the series. I even bought the set for my girls when they were young so they could enjoy them, too. I noticed that when the Ingals were in “the big woods” they didn’t have the same challenges as when they moved closer and into town. That’s about the same as life today. The more we live in the world (literally and figuratively) the more challenges we face. Maybe that’s why God said to be in the world but not of the world. Great article and reminder.
So perfect. As an empty nester I think a lot about things like this. Little House on the Prairie was always one of my favorite TV shows too growing up. 😀
In a few words, “LESS is MORE.” Your post is beautifully written.
If only more people agreed with this enough to do something about it. It’s hard, I imagine, to make the changes necessary, though I also think some people don’t want the change because they are comfortable with the rat race…it’s familiar. If you are young, or have a young family, you need to start the habits that form strong relationships early. Keep the TV off. Set small time limits on computers and screen games – for you and your children. Read together every day. Eat meals together. Don’t get your children involved in more than 1 activity at a time, and make sure the time commitment is appropriate for their age. (There is no reason a child under 10 or 12 needs to be at practice and games more than once or twice a week.) Take walks and bike rides together. Stop buying items until you need something, truly need, then, more then likely, families could live on one income and mom could stay home. Treat others with respect, including our children, and demand to be treated similarly.
Thanks for the post. It really is about choices we make…is my relationship with Jesus my first priority and am I willing to put my spouse and family above the all the rest? Setting boundaries within the home like less screen time might be awkward the first week, but the payoff comes when great conversations are had and books are read out loud instead of TV shows watched. It takes intentional planning and it takes energy…but if we don’t expend the effort to “resist the devil, he won’t ever flee” from us. (James 4:7) As a mom on the other end of raising and homeschooling my kids (my youngest is a senior in high school) I want to encourage all of you Momma’s that the time spent now in guarding your relationships and time with your spouse and kids will pay off in dividends later. It.Is.Worth.The.Effort. Blessings to each of you as you stand in the gap for your families! You can do this!!
You are a great thinker and even better writer!
I enjoyed the wisdom in this article and your willingness to ‘say it’. I am a survivor of the onslaught of the enemy’s plot – the ’60s. My life work is focused on exposing the lies that have brought great destruction on our homes. Have you read The Feminine Mistake by Mary Kassian or enjoyed the study entitled True Wiman 101? Also, Lies Women Believe! Another good one! My heart soars to know another called and obviously equipped 30something pushing 40 sees the problem and is speaking Truth into the brokenness. I have prayed for you this morning – may our God increase your territory!
Jackie Jackson
http://www.wordview.org
So true
This is excellent and I would love to share it to Raising Kids On Your Knees Facebook page with your permission.
You may.
Well said! Thank you for so eloquently putting into words how I have felt for the last 23 years ( with at least a decade to go! ) as I have been home raising my 6 babies, loving my husband, and trying with all my might to stand strong against the cultural current you described to keep our little home on the prarie sacred But the enemy is so crafty and the current is strong and i swift. So much work to keep the enemy at bay. But I must tell you…..it is so, so worth it. Many times I’ve been so tired …..but I am beginning to see fruit! My oldest 2 daughters have married and have little ones of their own. They have planted themselves firmly in His word and are building and keeping their own ” little houses on the prarie” ! My oldest recently confided in me that she was concerned about a family member who was losing her way – she’d seen a post by her cousin that revealed she was struggling and lost and being carried away by the current. My daughter questioned if she’d overstepped her bounds in letting me know and I responded with a resounding ” no”! My grown daughters and I, we’ve linked arms, and are standing firm together, refusing to let Satan take steal our families and loved ones! I am amazed and so grateful. So, I encourage you to continue to stand strong and firmly planted and fiercely guard your ( His) home on the prarie. God is so good. And yes, He favors family! Thank you again, Brie, for putting your thoughts and heart out there – an affirmation and virtual linking of arms !
Perfectly writen, Thank you for putting my thoughts in to words. I pray prople read this and take a moment to slow down and make a few changes. It was a beautiful reminder of where priorities need to be. Thank you
Appreciated your article, and thought you might like to meet a modern day Laura Ingalls Wilder. See Sarah Hein’s website – https://sarahheinthepioneer.com
I’ve been given the privilege of prereading her soon to be published first book – you’ll love it!
Everything was spot on till the last sentence. It should offend people. They need offended!
Satan? Come on. A lot of what you say is valid, but Satan?
I had a similar reaction as far as Satan goes, but I think he serves as a proxy for hopelessness in this scenario, as far as how increasingly busy schedules can effectively drive families apart. I don’t personally believe in Satan, but I found this to be a compelling read, with some useful insights.
Depression is typically exacerbated by a feeling (if not a reality) that the sufferer has no control over his/her situation. Becoming withdrawn, not enjoying activities you once did, and having an externalized locus of control (“Why is this happening to *me*?”) are all symptoms that are pretty typical of depression. Whether or not there is a Satan behind these feelings is arbitrary; the feeling of hopelessness is still there as husbands continue to work late and teenagers continue to be buried in their phones. Spinning your wheels on Facebook only makes it worse.
I think communicating openly and candidly with your family and friends greatly helps. Don’t be afraid or embarrassed to tell them how you feel, or how what they’re doing is hurting you. I was in a similar situation when my partner was working literally non-stop a year ago after starting an especially stressful new job. Know that if you can control anything, it’s your voice.
Harking back to the bucolic era of colonial life may not be realistic or desirable for a lot of people, but the feeling that you’re in over your head is one that we’ve all felt.
And here I sit at physical therapy after an extremely hard morning with my stepson and all this floods in and hits right where is should.
Well done! Thanks for your insight on this subject and involving faith in it. I wrote something similar two years ago from a father’s perspective and broke down actual time increments with my family. The seconds are precious. https://brandonjamesbenson.wordpress.com/2016/01/17/tea-time-my-fight-against-the-clock-for-my-family/
“In a world that’s so busy Keeping Up With the Kardashians, maybe it’s time to be a Little House on the Prairie.”
Perfect.
This is spot on!! Had a conversation with a friend about this very thing. This world isn’t our home. Things don’t matter! You’re tired of them soon after getting them and you need the next best thing to impress people that don’t care!! Kids don’t want the junk until they are taught by the parents to love it and seek after it. Vicious cycle. I want mine to seek God and not stuff.
This is so so so good. A friend shared your post on facebook and what you’ve written is so accurate, beautiful and true. Thank you.
I would like to private message you. How can I do that?
Go to “contact me” at the top of the blog page to send me a personal email.
As the mom of 3 adult kids and Gigi to 2 grandsons, I wholeheartedly agree with you! Excellent post and insight! I encourage you to keep writing, sharing, encouraging & inspiring! ???
I agree with you 100%. We need to step back and enjoy our time with our family and friends.
Being there when people are in need, lending a helping hand. I can go to the park have a picnic and enjoy my family than go spend $100 dollars or more to go out and eat and have more fun and time with them out getting fresh air and enjoying God wonderful creation. There just to much go, go.Thank you for writing this it’s so very true.
My wife and I got married late, she 31, me 33. She had her own gardening business, I a successful silicon valley company. We were rock climbers, outdoorsy people. She was a PK from Indiana, Presbyterian. I a product of a Methodist country girl and a Canadian Danish atheist. Three months after we got married, she got pregnant, and we started to really look at our future. I had been ill for years from the stress of running a business, and knew I didn’t want to rear children in the Bay Area culture. We sold out, eventually bought a farm in Indiana, and I farm and work in a very well paid but blue collar job. No TV, family bed, breast fed, mom at home 24/7 farm life. We loved Laura Wilder’s books, and even emulated them. Our kids are all graduates or still in college, happy, healthy and totally worth it. It all was and is worth a simple life.
May I recommend a great book. Karen Pryors “Don’t shoot the dog.”
https://www.amazon.com/Dont-Shoot-Dog-Teaching-Training/dp/1860542387/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1501874134&sr=8-1&keywords=dont+shoot+the+dog+by+karen+pryor
This is 100% spot on. It has been a planned and directed ‘long con’ on the human race to slowly hand over our true nature of love, compassion, and light to a lie in service of a consciousness that is very real. The creep has been so slow, yet steady, that your average citizen has no idea it’s happening. The forces of evil are real, not some abstract idea. They manifest in just about every aspect of society through the people we look to as leaders – they are willing or unwilling participants for various really horrible reasons. The goal is for humanity to willingly enslave itself and permanently sever our connection to our divine nature. BUT TAKE HEART! Just as there are forces of evil hard at work, there are light forces doing everything humanly [and more ;-)] possible to reveal to humanity its true nature as one consciousness in love and light with our infinite creator. In fact we are fast approaching the time when the luciferian edifice erected over the last 300+ years will completely crumble. If you know where to look, you see it happening already, and this is just the beginning. We will go through a difficult period when we all must deal with the light of truth shining on the ugliness of our trusted institutions – and it is uglier than you can imagine, but could not be more real. After we do that, however, justice will be served and the way will be cleared for a new golden age of humanity where we will have the power to manifest the love and beauty that we all long for. We are at the doorstep people, the time is here. The war has already been won, we just need to realize it and make the conscious choice to turn towards love and unity. God be with you.
Victory of the Light!
You are speaking directly to my heart. My passion and dream, which will happen is to get my family on the farm and be self sufficient. I want us to work hard together to raise our food and take care of each other. I love this and agree with you 100%.
Love your article and totally agree with it. I feel like it is getting worse not better with the next generation of children. Mine never had the TV’s, cell phones and mobile apps but they did have endless school projects and lots of activities. As parents, we really try to do our best, but looking back I can see how we could have tweaked a few things to slow our lives down a little. I will share with my children – they don’t have a family of their own yet, but it is always best to be prepared! Thanks for your words of wisdom!
Great book on the subject: For the Family’s Sake by Susan Schaefer Macaulay
Wow!!! Very True and Very Powerful!!! Thank You! 🙂
You nailed it. Every word. I am posting your article in my room as a daily reminder to focus on what’s important and to push back against the culture. Thanks for posting this!!!!
I agree with the sentiment of your blog. I often feel rushed, stressed, and distracted and I long for the idealistic closeness of family. However, I have made choices to try and bring our family closer. My son participates in only one activity. He does not have any devices like his friends do (yet). And I have sacrificed my career by taking part-time work for more family flexibility. But I still have problems with balance. Having this kind of life usually involves the mother staying at home full time. But I love my job. I love the work I do, and sometimes it physically pains me to miss it. For a short time I was a full time stay at home parent. But it made me deeply unhappy and resentful. Working is the best antidepressant for me. It brings me joy and allows me to be a better spouse and mother. Working empowers women, enabling them to be financially independent, confident and fulfilled. I think a lot of discussions miss this side of the conversation. I’d like to see more men step back from working and take responsibility for family relationships and not just the paycheck.
I agree, Meredith – if I’m not working I become deeply depressed and resentful. It’s incredibly important to my mental health to be able to pursue something that I find fulfilling and validating. Both myself and my partner (together 8 years, not married) work in the corporate space, and sharing our experiences, struggles, and triumphs with one another has brought us closer as a couple – and we both work in the software/tech industry, so you can probably imagine how much we’re on our devices. 🙂
I think each person’s “perfect life” will look very different from someone else’s, and that’s okay. A perfect life for me is succeeding in my career, loving my partner, and (hopefully) one day having children. If that doesn’t work out, that’s also fine. We can’t control everything in our lives, be it fertility, health, or the breakneck speed of technological change. If you look for the good in everything, however, and focus on what truly brings you joy, I think we all have a chance at a very happy and fulfilling existence on this earth.
What a wonderful post! This is exactly how we should respond to all the mayhem in our lives pulling us away from relationships with the one’s God has blessed us with. Time, you don’t it back. We have to be better about the quantity of time spend is quality time. I love having talks with my two children about life and it amazes me how the right influence shines through them. I know God has given me the ability to make my own choice freely, but I am a work in progress too, but spending quality time with those in our lives, even strangers, makes a huge impact on what God is trying to do in their live as well as mine. It makes us think.
Ironic that you should mention the Little House on the Prairie books. I loved them as a child and felt like my first success at reading was maturing those books. I wanted to be Laura and love on the prairie! This week in Time magazine I learned that the Little House books are racist and we should use them as a means of teaching racism. What?! I refuse to let some crazy media conglomerate dictate to me that a book so dear to my heart is racist (do to the treatment of Native Americans). I am just so sad about the state of this world. Stay strong families!
Love the article! You are definitely and absolutely correct — Satan wants families and marriages destroyed.
There is an acronym for BUSY that we use:
B — Being
U — Under
S — Satan’s
Y — Yoke
If Satan can keep us busy with unnecessary tasks, activities, games, etc. He will have a good chance of winning the battle! Being busy keeps us from a deep relationship with God … we get so busy that we cannot even hear the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us! How sad!
Thank you for your heart and insight!
And all because you took the TIME to read to your child and not let a gadget do it. Bravo! Great article.
“Is Satan Stealing Our Families?” He is trying and he’s doing a pritty good job of it. “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I (Jesus) am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” John 10:10 King James Version (KJV).
But we (Christians) can win and we are going to win because “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” 1 John 4:4King James Version (KJV).
I have been saying this for years. I just didn’t know how to write it as beautifully as you just did. Thank you for the reminder. Thank you for speaking up on what is important.
Agree with everything you said. Right now am trying to deal with the obstacle of video games in our home. Have been praying about it. Asking The Lord to remove the desire from my boys to play them and instead give them desires He wants them to have. We need to be always praying for our families and obeying Him. Thank you for putting into words what have been feeling. Time spent with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and seeking to know Him more and being concerned with His priorities is what we should be doing. More Love to Thee o Christ more love to Thee! Have a lovely night.
The irony is that living authentically has turned into a project, rather than being…authentic.
Love this, thank you!
This is all so pertinent and well written. Thank you for sharing these counter-cultural thoughts! Ephesians 6:12 seems appropriate to your title: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (ESV)
I think the point of the article is that we have traded in what makes life authentically fulfilling for ‘things’ that do not. The focus is on what has been lost and why, and I don’t think one could rationally against the premise. So you are talking now about 2 slightly different things. The article highlights what we’ve lost in how we apply technology, without reference to what has been gained. And your counter argument highlights what has been gained, without acknowledgement of what has been lost. If we recognize that technology is agnostic – not inherently good or bad in and of itself – then we can approach it correctly. What we’re witnessing is application of technology with no wisdom in regards to what its application ultimately serves.
It sure does feel like Satan is stealing our families…… I’m sure has never been a piece of cake, as they say, but I would go back to the Little House on the Prairie, in a heart beat
I think you are correct in your comments. I was blessed to have parents who took me out and about on the weekends – we hiked, biked, walked and saw the wonders of nature, what God has created. My childhood memories are of my father telling me about all the trees, the animals, birds and so forth, my mother gentle instruction to being kind to people, making learning fun and both parents telling me stories of growing up in the country. My mother saw to it that I got out of the city frequently when we would all drive to Tennessee to visit her parents and her grandparents….it was a different world, for me, one where things were slower, people sat on front porches and talked for hours. I learned about the simple pleasures in life and I embrace this today, thanks to both parents spending time with me. I hear my friends, discuss getting the children here and there for sports and other activities and I wonder when the kids study and just have “free time.” I feel bad for the kids today, they are missing out on a lot, though they have “things” a lot are missing out on what is truly important.
How right you are. For those of us who had meals together, talked about the days events, even listened to dads workday events, family is so important and becoming lost in Saten’s world. Life moves fast, hang on to those OLD ways
Hello Brie, of course your thoughts have much truth in them. As I read your blog I was expecting that your conclusion would be to change your life style to more of what is was like 50 years ago. No internet, no cable, no smart phone, etc. It is easy to wax nostalgic but not so easy to give up what technology has provided. Yes?
I totally agree. I recently found this and it goes pwrfetly with your post……Hope you will read. Thanks
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1259999247422587&id=100002375712790
Well said!
So much food for thought. We need to chew long and hard and take stoke of how we are living our lives.
I totally agree with everything you wrote here, Brie. It’s weird…Little House on the Prairie was my favorite TV show when I was growing up. My whole family would watch it together every week, my four siblings and I lying on the floor, eating popcorn next to the fire in the fireplace. ? We all loved the show, and I was lucky to grow up in a close family much like the Ingalls family…we didn’t have a lot of material possessions, but we all had each other and my parents were honest, hard-working, and loving. I was very blessed.
My husband and I tried very hard to bring up our children the same way. We spent a LOT of family time together, and they weren’t given all the material objects their friends had all through school. Our vacations were camping weekends at nearby campgrounds, but to our daughters, we could’ve been hundreds of miles away as far as they knew! They’d have a blast riding bikes, hiking, fishing, and roasting marshmallows over the campfire. Every night before bed, we’d read to them and pray together. Now they are grown and tell us that they had a very happy childhood. ?
I’ve seen the shift in society and in families that you’ve explained so well, and it makes me sad. Technology is an amazing tool, but I feel that it is also robbing us of being fully ‘present’ in our life and in the lives of our loved ones. And keeping our children busy busy busy with activities is not helping them. Many children don’t know how to keep themselves entertained! Many have never been exposed to basic things such as creating a game of hopscotch with just a rock, looking for four-leaved clovers, lying on their back and looking for shapes in the clouds…using their imaginations!
I hope that articles such as yours will make people stop and THINK what it really is that they want out of life…and if they are raising their children to be happy and ‘present’ adults.
Excellent article and points I have pondered many times. We are commanded to be separate from the world. The world (Satan) constantly bombards us with what it says we “need.” Too many distractions divert our attentions from God and family. It is a constant battle, but one we must be diligent in fighting every single day.
Your words are so true, Brie. Thank you for sharing them and having the courage to put down thought provoking words that we all need to hear.
If Satan can’t make you bad, he’ll make you busy.
Pretty good article, although I do agree with other commenter that we tend to glorify the past sometimes. I also think the jab at public schools is unnecessary,
As a church youth leader, I speak with preteens and teens very often, and they are very stressed out about the pressures put on them by school, parents, and sports. The trend towards year round sports is very sad, even with all the knowledge we have about how unhealthy it is, and how unlikely college coaches are to recruit one sport athletes. Don’t even get me started on how unlikely your child even is to play a sport in college, especially Division I.
I had a volleyball player in my office in tears one day, praying she would get hurt so she could quit.
Satan may have a hand here, but parents have the power to put an end to this. Weekend long traveling tournaments for 5th and 6th graders or even younger? This is insanity, and parents are the ones who need to start saying NO, and stop shrugging their shoulders and saying “well, what can you do, we don’t really have a choice” We do have a choice, and the choice can be to NOT do it. If half the team said no, then no tournament. Parents need to lay down the message that they aren’t going to participate in the madness anymore. My own daughter was in basketball in 3rd grade, and they wanted her team to play out of town for an entire Saturday, and we said no, that we had family plans that day. Guess what? She survived, and can still play basketball. Will she play in college? Probably not, but I don’t care. The amount of money spent going to camps and traveling in high school could pay for a year of college.
Okay, sports rant over, but just let your kids have fun in sports for a season, set limits for electronic devices and follow through on consequences. Also make sure you monitor your kids’ social media and you approve who they follow, and who’s following them.
We have FFF in our house, forced family fun, where we have to play some kind of board game or card game together for a minimum of 20 minutes, taking turns choosing. 90% of the time, we play for an hour, and we have a blast.
I am surprised that many people think this is an invasion. My daughter is now 27. She has never drank, smoked, done drugs nor sleep around. I did raise her in a small mountain community, and although she wanted to be in a city, I think it was good for her to learn to appreciate nature, bring in wood for the wood stove, and learn to cook. I never thought it was strange – I always taught her to do anything that would hurt herself or others. She lived in three different countries as an exchange student (once in high school on a scholarship), the other two while in college. She is off again for graduate school in England. But “stuff” and having all the trappings of money were never reinforced to her. Even now, she still chooses to buy her “expensive” clothes off E-Bay, she spends her time teaching herself different languages – it’s her hobby, which I totally support. I have supported her interests and my only rule was to not hurt herself or others. She is the one who decided to not drink, smoke or do drugs – she finds that extremely unattractive and has no desire for it. But her time is well spent learning multiple languages (six so far: Spanish, Japanese, Cantonese, Mandarin, Yoruba and, of course, English. I always encouraged her to use her mind and supported her interests as long as they were safe and healthy. After her Master’s Degree, she plans to return to Asia and maybe teach English. She is not glamored by wealth, or “stuff.” She understands (values I instilled in her at a young age) that people are more important, that it’s important to have a good education (she did have to take out loans),and that learning more about the world was a good thing (she was always interested in other cultures). Maybe I am old-fashioned, but I believe a child should be self-sufficient, kind, responsible, and .”Do onto ..” I think many parents nowadays want their kids to “fit in” with the rest, and give in to the child. I am proud of my child, but I also know that I instilled these values in her. Anyone can have fancy clothes, or drink, do drugs, etc., and I felt she should have a solid background in kindness, education and I supported her in her interests as long as they didn’t hurt herself or others. I never did understand why parents would go around competing with other parents (for their kids clothes, etc.), because this is a soul, and one for which we are granted to take care of. She’s on the internet, but mostly to look up various cultures and languages. I only laid the groundwork – she did the rest. I also believe in rewards and consequences (I am a social worker), and that is critical. Today, she is a lovely, kind, generous young lady who won’t even hurt a bug (believe me, we spend lots of time “saving” bugs that might enter the home and putting them back outside). It’s not that hard, Designer clothing will not make up for a moral deficit. Learning about manners, “do onto others” and working hard are great rewards in themselves. Sorry this is so long, but as an older mom (I’m now in my late 60s), I, too, remember “the Good Ol’ Days,” but they are not lost, only forgotten.
My fifth sentence should say ” I taught her to do things that would NOT hurt herself or others.” If you choose to use it, would you please insert the “NOT” as that is highly important. That was my mantra to her – don’t do anything that would hurt yourself or others. Thanks.
Great description of present day busy, busy life… and the spiritual and emotional dangers…
Putting God first in everything is the key to a change for the better. Seek God in the morning, read the Bible, put all the activities and decisions before Him. Praise Him for His love and care. Pray for your children and spouse each day. Pray together regularly. Attend a church, take on some responsibility in the church. God will weed out the rest of agenda and help you stay on top of everything else, including internet, social media, social activities, clubs, sports, holidays, finance, career, friends, …, …
Yes …do not apologize for what you said . If it hurts peoples feelings it what they have become…a follow the crowd
keep up with society. I raised my kids on Little House and they have the books in their home. Their kids read them too. I miss the simple life..the small town folk. My clothes line, push mower and mud puddles my sister and I would wander through. Focus on Jesus…
Just another perspective.
I grew up in a large Catholic family. Mom at home, dad working a good-paying job, Catholic grade school, (no Catholic high schools in the area), Sunday Mass, no satellite TV, limited electronics (internet in its infancy), no cell phones. Curfews. Chores. And we read and watched Little House on the Prairie.
And..
my dad sexually molested all of us siblings. My cousins too. Boys and girls .
Let’s not romanticize the past. It wasn’t always good.
There’s a difference between correlation versus causation. Implying that a family being Catholic is what caused your dad to sexually molest you is the same as saying that your mom being a stay-at-home-mother is what caused it. Both those statements are false. I am so sorry for what you’ve been through; but it had to do with your dad’s personal choices and nothing else.
So I was with you all the way to the end when you blamed the devil I think we are too quick to do that. God gives us free will. We choose to spend more time on the internet, spread ourselves too thin, etc.
This past week I shut everything down. No media, no social media, no cell phone and spend 6 days up in the North East, praying, journal writing and meditating for inner peace and to bring my focus back to a more family centered place. I have set up boundaries for myself, because it isn’t the devil that makes me spend an hour on Facebook when I should be working (I own my own company), but the free will God gave me. I am grateful to Him for that and know that with setting down my own rules for me, I’ll find my way back.
To By some miracle, I’m still Catholic – I’m so sorry that you and your family experienced this as a child. Not all Christian fathers take advantage of children in this way. I know this is painful and so unfair.
Brie – Thank you for sharing this. It is so true of many of us today. We are working hard to make sure there is family time, game nights around the dining room table after dinner and dishes are finished but there so many demands on us and way too many electronic distractions even for us. We attend a wonderful church but don’t make it there every week because of so much on our plate. We are working to get there weekly instead of every other week when things get busy. We practice prayer at home but know of so many families who don’t.
Seems like it makes us feel better if we externalize our sinfulness and blame something outside ourselves. I know I’m awful and vile – I know there are bad and sinful things around me, but the biggest struggle happens right between my ears. Thankfully I have a Savior who died for MY sinfulness, so I don’t need to blame things that I do on others or outside forces.
Thanks so much for the comment, Tim. I totally agree. I don’t think acknowledging principalities and powers of darkness that influence us (just going Biblically here) in anyway equates with denial of our own sinful nature, responsibilities, and free will. To say Satan is here to steal, kill, and destroy doesn’t mean you’re also saying “I can’t be held responsible for my own actions.” I feel like that’s just common sense, and it looks like you agree.
Twenty-some years ago we decided we were going to skip all the kids’ athletic teams, because we saw how much rehearsal, and many games, were on Sunday mornings. There was travel time too, and since we DID both work FT, we wanted to actually see our kids and be a family. I must say it was easier than some other families since our kids weren’t inclined towards group Athletics, but still… we did get some flack for not ‘expanding their horizons’, but we figured they got enough expansion at daycare 5 days a week.
You really nailed it with this article. I too want to go back to simpler times when we didn’t have all this techy stuff that is interfering in our family lives. Too much today is computers cell phone and games. I really wish people would sit back and take a good hard long look at what they have and spend time to be with our children before they grow up.
I have been saying this for years , we gave up family for things. When was the last time kids just had a few kids over for cake and ice cream on their birthday not any more and Christmas means nothing when they get everything they want. What a shame we have taken that away from the children. Kids get to tired to trick or treat, because they get all they want with no walking for it .
I have been thinking about this topic a lot too. People say God will never GIVE you more than you can handle. It is my belief that satan is the one who causes the grief and problems and despair in one’s life…not God. Satan is the one who tries to give you more than you can handle. And when you have your heart right and invite Jesus Christ into it, satan has no power anymore. With Jesus Christ on your side you also have other Christians, The Father and the Holy Spirit who love you and will help you through life every second of everyday. Thanks for posting. God bless.
Amen
I’m concerned about the phrase “God favors families.” As a mom with four kids, that concept works well for me. But many people do not have families, and God’s love and grace for them is just as great. Sometimes the family-first message has the unfortunate side-effect of marginalizing the dignity of individuals that are loved by God.
Thank you. I addressed this in another comment. I apologize. I meant God is in favor of families, which wasn’t clear in how I worded it.
Such a great read. My last child just graduated from high school and I was beaming with excitement. Now it’s off to college and trying to figure out what’s next. Looking back on the younger years I realize now you don’t have to spend all your time running your kids to extracurricular activities. Kids get exhausted too. They need down time and family time. Sports and dance kept us in the car every evening and someone else spending time with my kids when what they really want is our time. We invest more time worrying about the size of our home and the car we drive. We need to take a step back and invest more in our kids and importance of family.
What a wonderful article. Thank you so much.
You hit the nail on the head with this
Wow! You nailed it! This goes along so much with out past few weeks of sermons with out church on Honor.
Satan wants us fighting. Quaralling. Tired. Beat up. He wants to take out families and we need to stand firm on HIS word and lead our kids by example.
The world wants to spend so much time proving they are right. But we are. Jesus is truth. Jesus is the way. Jesus is Life.
Amen!
So true and a needed message. The question is will we step up and make this happen. Make the hard choices.
Disclaimer: I am a 62 year old father of three grown daughters, married to their mother for over 37 years now. I am also very opinionated in this area. You are absolutely right and I am terribly encouraged with all these moms who have left such positive comments. My wife used the Little House books as a key part of our girls’ home school curriculum. I think our girls were the only ones whose mom literally went to a slaughter house to get a real pig’s bladder and blew it up for a kick ball, as Laura and Mary’s mother had done. Of course it helped that we lived on a farm already, so our girls “missed out” on a lot of activities endured by their peers. Short story: they turned out just fine. They did well in college; no one ever accused them of being “unsocialized,” which is what parents who are afraid to buck the rat-race system often hear. They each in turn married Almonso’s of their own–wonderful, highly motivated and loyal men. Though they all live in the cities now, the benefits they gleaned from living a somewhat simpler life were huge. We’d do it all over again. My advice? Go for it!!
When our children were in school, we told them they could do a maximum of two activities. Two. Logistics were part of that decision, because my husband is a small town physician in private practice (no large group with lots of coverage) who was working 55+ hours per week, so most of the transportation responsibilities were mine. Plus, living in a rural area, it could easily be a 35 mile drive one way to some venues.
But, our main reason was that we felt two activities were enough on top of school and life in general. This not only kept us out of the Swamp of Overscheduling and allowed our children critically important free time, but it helped them learn an important skill–prioritizing. It required that they think carefully about any activity that interested them and decide if it was something they REALLY wanted to do. Some activities made the cut only once and some were enjoyed for years. Sometimes, a child might pick just one thing, or (gasp!) none. More importantly, our lives were not frenzied, we had dinner as a family AT HOME almost every night, and our children had space in their lives just to be children.
I cannot agree with you more. I absolutely agree Satan is stealing our families and our happiness. The shift away from God, the family and values has made an undeniable difference in our society. I pray we get back on track.
Hi Brie, I completely agree with what you’ve written here, when I think about this stuff for too long it actually terrifies me. Have you watched Minimalism:A documentary about the important stuff ? It’s on Netflix.It’s along the same lines and really helped me to get some things back under control. I wish the entire world would wake up, but I think it’s going to take some major disaster for that to happen.
This is right on point with the message at church this week. Funny how that works. I ran across it on Facebook and then it took me a while to go back and find it again. Great food for thought, especially for young parents.
Excellent post! I have thought about these things many times, and wonder how we reverse things! It definitely takes work, and we might see some resentment at first but in the end the memories we make I am sure will be worth it. Thank you for your thoughts.
I highly recommend that you read the story behind those stories. “Prairie Girl” which is the actual writing of Laura (not the children’s version found in the books) and also “libertarians on the prairie” which outlines how and why the books ( heavily edited by Rose wilder) read as they do rather than assuming the books as they are, are indeed the whole truth.
This is such a great article. Many times I have thought back to raising my children and thought of the things I wish I had done or things I wish I had done differently. I’m sure every mother has those thoughts. My children are now 29,27,22 and 18. I home schooled them all from kindergarten to high school. Three have gone to college. They have all excelled at jobs they had because the know how to work. They all know how to communicate. I know I was far from a perfect mother and I know my kids are who they are because of the grace and love of our Father God. Not because of me. But I did choose to follow His ways. The regrets that sometimes I have when I think of worldly things that my kids missed out on. They did not have a lot of outside activities outside of church and home school group functions . They never went to Disneyland or any other big trips. Our vacations were going camping. They didn’t grow up with tv and had very few electronics. They spent time out doors exploring, riding bikes, climbing trees, building forts. They were and still are each others best friends. I still have a very close relationship with all my kids because we lived life together, working and playing, worshiping and learning. I have had many conversations with my kids and they are not sorry for the childhood that they had. They don’t feel like they missed out on anything, but they gained so much. I say this to encourage any mothers who want to stay home with their kids, or worry about their kids not being able to do all those activities or have those great vacations, or not have all the fancy clothes or toys. I think kids want their parents more than anything else. Those that say well they only have one parent, well my kids only had one that infested in their life. Unfortunately they don’t have a relationship with their dad. I of course think the very best thing is two parents invested in their life, don’t get me wrong. My heart aches for my kids not having a father in their life. But if you don’t have that it is still possible. I believe and know that God blesses us and watches over us and provides all that we need to follow in what He has for us.
Love this. Thanks for sharing!
I totally agree and you nailed it! I have had a nagging voice telling me this exact thing and I spent 25 years in IT. A true nerd and avid junkie of all new toys. Only to see all the bad things. I wish for simpler times. I remember the blue law where thinks were closed on Sundays. My mission has become becoming self reliant. Growing more of our own food, being responsible and helping our brothers. I started my ministry Soldiers of Christ to start reaching out to others.!
Good food for thought! It’s a huge struggle to swim against the stream for sure, and I firmly believe that yes, Satan is stealing our families. Even trying to live life differently is more than a little difficult, and while we hope our teens will someday appreciate why we don’t live like “everyone else” (or at least their approximation of everyone else), there is no guarantee.
This is definitely a battle best fought on our knees with an eye to Galatians 6:8-9, and sometimes all we can do is what Paul enjoins us in Ephesians 6:13b-14a: “…and having done all, to stand firm. Stand, therefore…”
Lord, help us to hang onto values long since jettisioned by society at large, and bring our children’s focus off this fast-changing world and onto the Rock that stands higher than us!
Such a good article! I think many people (more and more everyday) see a lot of this happening and agree but ….. “We’re not even trying to take a stand.” Some see it and try to fight against it, but for them it’s like swimming upstream or climbing a steep mountain and not many want to join with them and they are dismissed and persecuted and get tired and give up. Many still are like the frog in the boiling water……..that jumped in the water when it seemed cool and safe but then the heat was turned up and he was boiled to death…….they just don’t even see it happening at all until it’s too late. The most sad of all are the ones who know what they are doing and are helping to move the world in that direction because of greed and self-interest or pride. If I was to do it all again…I would shelter my kids more from what this world has to offer them until they are strong enough in faith and have been taught all I wanted to teach them without being influenced by others…others that even though they may mean well, can never love or teach your children what you want them to learn. Parents are their kids first teachers….what are we teaching them…what are others and our current culture teaching them? What did I teach mine? Looking back…..I was a frog a lot of the times too……I admit, as much as I tried…and all in the name of love……I got it wrong a lot of the time. Strange world we live in! End of soapbox…sorry…I guess some of what’s in the news makes me wonder about these things more often than not and this article hit a nerve today…….and I loved “Little House in the Big Woods”!
Thank you this subject that needed to be addressed! May we always wear our Armour:
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Every time we put family first we are making a difference. Every family dinner, every minute we play together, every time we pray as a family, every time we read the scriptures. All we can do is just a little bit more, being a little bit more aware. Thanks for your insites. I’m glad I didn’t live then, my mom was pretty close to that on a self-sustaining farm at least a generation behind people in the city. They always had food to eat during the depression and had family member come stay with them that had no other options. There are always blessing to be found when we look for them and when we enbrace the good things for our families.
WE, as a family, agree 100%. My 10 year old has this book series (we’ve read it once as a family when she was 6 and she’s read it once on her own), we watched the series from TV ( not only because there’s not much else to watch as a family) and we’ve taken the Laura Ingalls tour from WI, to MN to MO seeing how she lived. This same daughter wants to BE Laura. We have always tried to do things together as a family (of 4) and even our Christmases, tho never totally out of hand, have taken a BUY LESS, DO MORE approach and have more experiences than packages. We home school for a variety of reasons and make it a point to not be in the car racing from one activity to the next. They both have one 45 min dance class/ week. While we are not perfect, by any stretch of the imagination, and are granted Grace upon Grace, your article makes me feel like we’re doing it right & that I’m not the only one who feels this way 😮
So thank you for that.
Amen, I am so blessed by your thoughts. I have had the same thoughts, though I do not have a family, I see families being pulled in so many directions that there is not much time left to spend together. I shared my concerns with a few church members this last Sabbath.about this, and I think we need to take a good thoughtful look into how we are raising our families. I think a good start is to find a way to combine school, work, and home life. It gives me hope to see people thinking about these things. May the Lord Bless your in your walk with Him.
Social media really is a double edge sword. It helps us keep connections but it also has allowed us to become disconnected. Like toys these days, one button, one click and we have “instant gratificaton” but creativity is being lost. I see families out for dinner but everyone is glued to their phone. Kids are losing fun road games like “I spy” because they are watching a DVD rather than looking out the window We work hard and long to afford what we might consider necessities but we lose the true necessities. My mom had worked hard her whole life and has built a nest egg as well as other savings but she has always felt that she couldn’t do anything that would cost $ because something might happen. Three years ago we were in the phone (we had never been close) and got on the subject of our bucket list trips. She wanted to go to Portugal some day. I had wanted to see Russia for 30yrs. Out of the blue she said “let’s go”. She paid for us to do a two week tour and it was amazing. Long story short, three years later and we have made 4 trips to Russia. We have never been as close as we are now And it is the best feeling in the world that we share something so special. My mom told me after the 2nd trip “I have realized that although you need to live within your means it is ok to spend some $. I can make more money but I can’t get back the missed time I could have spent with you”. Even if we are not able to take another trip, our relationship is so strong we could do anything low cost or no cost and we would still have an amazing time.
The answer is not goin back. Apply the principles to the world we leave in, today, right now. Teach kindness, love, altruism, empathy, hard work, loyalty, all in the environment we live in today. There is no going back, who wants to go back? Adapt and grow!…. God allowed knowledge to increase and be used for the good of mankind…. Cain killed Abel in a simplest, most beautiful and tranquil environment. In the car, on the way to piano lessons and soccer practice, I had some ofthe most meaningful talks with my kids about generosity, patience, competing against yourself, not to the detriment of others…. Achievement and pursuing higher professional goals are not the evil… it’s the attitude and perspective that make a difference. God is involved with us in the woods and on the freeway, at the farm and in the university.
You nailed it on each and every level. Thank you for sharing. God bless you and all of our families.
Yes, M, yes!!!!!! Short & sweet & right on.
I guess I do not see the Satan involved. While rarely out until 10, I carted my son to football and lacrosse practices and games. It was a family outing. It was family supporting each other. That is what families do. Further to pay for some of the play and support, I took an extra job a couple of nights per week. We became a stronger family because it.
So if Satan was involved, he either failed miserably at trying to steal my family or he was a tremendous success at building us up.
It is the sneaky trap of choosing between good things. Choosing between good and bad is easy, but we think sports are good, good schools are good, vacations are good, big houses are good, so we want it all! I have thought for a long time how much Satan loves “screens.” They keep people busy without doing anything productive at all. Yes, we need to have the courage to take our lives back, even if those around us will not.
Very true and well written.
Very well said, written, & so true. The battle continues for the heart & soul of your boys & girls. There is hope when parents are prayerful & intentional regarding the calendar for each one of their younguns’. The busy life lived in most homes is a result of a culture led by an enemy that is intentional in claiming each one of us, especially our kids & grandkids. George Barna stated that the opinions a child has by age 14 are generally the opinions they will die with. The opinions our children have are being shaped by their peers, culture, & school. We all have to home school. By that I mean we have to train them up to keep their eyes on Jesus. And help them learn how to stand in a culture that is toxic to everything we stand for & believe as followers of a God who loves us. Love every word you wrote. The sad thing is most of the ones agreeing with you will hit like & go right back to watching each of their kids spend countless hours on their device. The devices are a part of our world & very useful. But they are also a tool of the enemy that limits growth, limits creativity, limits discovery, & limits a child’s ability to learn how to relate to another human being. If you have not read Senator Ben Sasse’s book, The Vanishing American Adult, please do so. It is spot on. Thank you for your heart for good things for our families.
Wow, speechless. As my 3 yo daughter finishes up her cancer treatment this month, and we start our second chance at life, I hope to be more aware and more selective of where I devote my time and money. Thank you!
Praying for you.
Don’t ever apologize for those thoughts and feelings you expressed. You are right on and the word for how this has crept up on us is “incrementalism”. I chose to do without the smartphone and social media years ago when my 16 and 18 year old kids were young. I knew it would take time away from my time with them. It is so sad to me that parents (and people in general) would rather see what others are doing on facebook than spend time loving, hearing, teaching, etc. their own children. God knows what we are doing and I have always felt like technology was Satan. When I take my son’s phone from him as punishment, I say “Hand me your poison please.” Keep on keepin’ on! You are wise for your age and hopefully can influence more mothers.
Satin is on the move. Church attendance of children is at an all time high. Without children in church Satin will steal our next generation of children. Then what?
Satan cannot steal the children whose family follows God. Satan is real and his goal is to keep people from choosing to follow God. As long as people do not chose to believe in and follow God they will be a slave to Satan. Through free will, God gave people three choices: 1) follow God, 2) follow Satan and 3) make no choice which is essentially following Satan. Having said that you may ask how that applies to the subject at hand. The family in the little house followed God. The parents: taught the children about God, nurtured them and helped them to believe in themselves, gave them love and understanding, let them explain a situation they were in and most of all the parents said what they meant and meant what they said. The children: felt loved and did not look for it outside the home and they trusted and obeyed their parents. Parents do have an instruction book, The Bible. The apostle John is a good place to start reading.
Thank you!!
What a beautiful, well written post. Thank you for speaking truth, even when it’s hard to hear.
Such a beautiful article to trigger the minds of us all. Thank you for calling out the truth and not being afraid to stand for what we believe in. Blessings.
Amen! There is a real battle every day. It is so easy to gradually drift in the wrong direction when Christian friends are going with the flow. It takes real courage to chart a new course. My 4 children are all done with college and in their twenties. Back when video games were new, I looked suspiciously at them as they filled the toy store shelves. As an educator I care about healthy brain development. Since no one had done any long term studies on the impact of them on young children’s growing minds, I chose not to purchase them for my 3 sons. Their friends all had games, and treated my boys as if they were deprived. I made sure they had plenty of time outside playing sports and exploring nature. Over time, I saw the damage in some boys’ lives who developed video game addiction. I am so grateful my boys avoided that. Remember the latest new trend today, might not be good for your child, it might even be damaging! God knows what is best for your child. Don’t worry about what others might say or think of you or your child. Listen to God and your conscience. You won’t regret it!
Wonderful article, I agree 100%.
One thing my family does when we say Grace each night is to add a little prayer on to the end. My grandpa started saying this when he attended a church meeting where they talked about the Holy Family and how we should model our own families in their likeness. It goes like this: “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, please guide, guard, council and protect our family.” Not only is it is a nightly affirmation that we ARE a family, but prayer never hurts, right?
i agree with you. I just love the “Little House on the Prairies” series and “The Waltons”.
Thanks!
Yes, yes and yes. Thank you for your thought-provoking article and for re-inspiring us to be the change we want to see. This is not an impossible task; with His Empowerment our homes CAN be like this. Reminds me of what Jesus said once. ““You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless…You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” -Matthew 5:13-14. Let’s live like salt and light!
Very insightful, and i’m glad there are people who see what’s going on. I am just a bit puzzled sometimes, because you want the real deal for your children, want them to kick ball rather than play video games, want them to have Jesus as their hero rather than superman etc. What makes it hard though is that you’ll be raising an outcast, a kid that comes to a Batman party and doesn’t know who batman is. A kid, who will not know how an iPod works by the age of 5, this list may go on. I do firmly believe that Jesus is worth the sacrifice, but it’s different when you have to sacrifice someone else, like your kid. I’m not looking for excuses, i’m rather looking for advice from Christian parents, who raise their kids differently. How do you ‘serve’ it to them? How do you explain that we do life differently, and here is why? Is there a way to soften the blow?
I LOVE THIS!!! One of the best blog posts I’ve read lately. It is also nice to know that there are other people out there who feel the same way. This is something my husband and I are currently working on… simplifying our lives so that our family can spend more quality and spiritual time together. It all starts at home, and if you can tear down a family, well, that’s just the beginning of the domino effect. Great job!