How we plan to change the world...

There have been a lot of people lately talking on television about how horrible this world is and how they can't understand how bad it's gotten. I'll admit that if I don't think very hard about it, I would wonder the same thing. But there is something we can do for the future, and those who have kids young enough to mold can do a lot.

Ron and I have been married for almost two years. We have no kids, but would like to have some someday. When we do, and when they misbehave and are old enough to understand right from wrong, we're going to teach them the consequences of their actions. If that means we have to spank them, we will. That's not child abuse, despite what some may say. It's discipline. I was spanked as a child. Ron said he was, too, until the spankings didn't hurt anymore. Then he and his siblings were fined for their misbehavior. Yes, they were expected to pay out of their allowance that they got for doing chores every time they did something wrong. It taught them money management and that good deeds are rewarded just as bad behavior is punished.

We're going to make sure that we go to church every Sunday and that we're all involved somehow. Right now, even though I have physical handicaps, I can participate in a way that not everyone can: I sing in the choir or perform solos, and I'm also on a special music scholarship committee. Ron mows the lawn and keeps in touch with church politics (sometimes, I think, a little too much).

If children are to grow up knowing right from wrong, and know the spiritual consequences for their actions, have a proper understanding of the Law and Gospel, and know how to manage their money, we need to start them out young. Otherwise, who's to say they won't end up wondering who their babies' daddies are, shooting someone at school because they think it's funny or to get back at someone for saying or doing something against them, or taking their own lives because they've found not hope but despair?

We need to make sure that our children understand the times in which we live and that they are raised to know how to correct the mistakes of our generations. We need to make sure that tomorrow's leaders are prepared today, because when the time comes for the end of the world, we want to make sure that we go out with no regrets, knowing that we did what we could to make this world a better place in which to live.