Matthews Family Herald

The other day I declared "Backwards Day" We did everything backwards. We stayed in our pajamas and didn't get dressed till that night. We ate in our rooms instead of at the table. I cooked pasta, rolls, and corn(no salad of course/ nothing healthy, that would be bad)in the morning for our "supper". We likewise had cereal and toaster strudles for "breakfast" that night. Poor James, didn't know what he was walking into when he got home. And the kids personal favorite-No chores or any responsibility!, and video games(nice educatioanl ones of course), during the week( gasp!) After each playing around of 20 min. however, the ugliness springing out of them put a stop to it pretty quickly. My point was to have fun in making a point, not to actually cause them any harm. They did not like however, when I said," Now, since we don't do structured"school" like the rest of the world does, normally, today we are! We will sit at the table with textbooks, and do every unrelated subject over the next 8 hours straiht, only breaking for lunch. I will cram as many facts into your head as I can whether or not you are ready developmentally for it and expect you to know them for the test later." Oh the look of horror and shock on their faces! Of course I did not follow through, like I said I did not want to harm the children, only make a point, which was made well enough by just proposing it. And what was the point you ask? Was there method and meaning to this madness?
Yes, actually.
The whole thing was an object lesson on Isiaih 5:20,21. Where God says " Woe unto them who call evil good and good evil, who call darkness,light and light darkness."(not exact quote)
We discussed many of the things the world says are good but showed scripurally where God says it is bad. Some examples were having lots of money( that's a biggie and sooo pervasive in our society) Getting lots of education so as to get the most amount of money and glory. Woman's rights, for ex.( not that I am for woman being abused wrongly by their God given authority,namely men)Rights such as abortion, equal ability/standing and pursuit of "fulfilling careers". Society implies that being a"barefoot and pregnant" housewife and supporting and being in subjection to your man is shameful. When in fact, the Bible teaches that we are to be keepers at home, submiting to our husbands, bearing much fruit(which the bible calls a blessing for women) and raising and training that fruit in the ways of the Lord. This is the highest calling one could ever hope for(and the most challenging and personlly fulfilling, I might add) These lies perpetuated in the world are a big part of why the infrastructure of the family and consequently society is deteriorating so fast. Women's selfish needs and ambishons for personal fulfillment have replaced there sense of duty to the detriment of there family. Some even put there kids in daycare as babies although they don't have to go to work, because as one woman told me, she "needed a break and didn't want to get burned out", as if children are a terrible burden instead of the most incredible joy that they are. Same said woman even said that the doctor, at her childs check up, and the child's psycologist advised her to keep her child in daycare so the child wouldn't be clingy, although there was known abuse to several children there, that even this woman admitted to me she had seen the adverse effects of in her child! Wow! talk about backwards! I hope my words had an effect on her. And we wonder why there is such vast rifts in parent/child relationships-duh!?! I didn't really mean to get on a soap box, but I guess I take it personally where the essence, purity, nobility, beauty and purpose of a woman is so perverted and destroyed and the children suffer for it.( And I daresay the woman too!) ( breathe, smooth red hair- If I were a preacher I'd be wiping the spittle off my chin and the sweat off my brow!-hmmpf!)

Things that the the world says are bad, that God declares "Good" are homeschooling(self-righteous wierdos), religion(what a crux for a weak mind!),rural living(how uncivilized, just a hand laborer), and large families(gross,what's wrong with you? Are you ever going to get fixed" ie, willfully sterilized?!?!)I guess lots of kids would be bad if you viewed them as estranged, burdensome, little monsters(product of society and public school). Ouch that was harsh.(What's wrong with me today?)

Anyway, we know that human nature and the carnal mind is enmity against God, but woe unto them. It is our duty as parents to keep our children from falling into satan's traps though these false, anti-scriptural worldviews. Enough said. I think it was a very effective and eye-opening object lesson for the kids, who admitted that although some of these things might be fun for a day or so, eventually they would be sick of it, and not to mention run out of clean clothes and dishes. So although we may seem backwards to the world, it really just depends on where the front is and which way you are facing. So go and live a "backwards" life!