Rise and Shine!


[394 words]

I was conscious enough at 6 a.m. Monday through Friday to hear my dad step inside our doorway and turn on the light. My dad would say, “Rise and shine, my sons!” We got up to our daily chores of cooking breakfast, making coffee, fixing mom and dad’s lunch pails and their thermoses, and sitting at the table half asleep to eat breakfast together. Then at 6:30 they left to drive to their jobs at Beech Aircraft in Wichita. I never once thought about how they liked the early morning and the daily commute.

My parents worked hard, to provide the best life they could for our whole family. They were the typical American employees who took pride in their work, believing they were making life and America better. I will never forget that! Through all the years of back and forth to Wichita to work, my parents never complained about their employer, nor about their pay. They believed Mr. and” Mrs. Beech took care of them. Company, family, and friends brought complete satisfaction to them and their co-workers.

I look at America today and see a completely different picture of the American family. The legacy of hard work that my parents left my siblings and me has been replaced with ungrateful employees who complain more than they work. They are completely dissatisfied with their jobs, their pay, and everyone else. Pride in a job well done is long gone, and has been replaced with a “you owe me more” attitude. Many children grow up with more than one set of parents. Love is not based on the commitment; it is all about feelings; which really isn’t love after all. What has happened?

The devil has destroyed our culture with his onslaught of the family, and America’s work ethics. Our president said on the news one night, “Nothing can defeat America.” America is blind to the fact that we are already defeated. Peter was right when he wrote: “Be self controlled and alert. Your enemy prowls around, like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” As America turned away from God, God allowed America to fall in love with itself, and become a slave to its worst enemy. America’s only hope is to repent and turn back to God! It begins with each family. It’s time to rise and shine!

Larry Scarth
Derby Church of Christ
Derby, KS

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