Forty percent of children today, live in fatherless homes. That statistic makes me sick to my stomach. It is even worse to know that I am a part of that statistic. My son is in a fatherless home. What does that mean for him, for us, and for our society? According to other alarming statistics it means that he is at risk for becoming a criminal, having a dysfunctional family of his own one day, and never really learning how to be a spiritual leader or man, among other disturbing things. For single parents with girls the statistics are just as alarming for failure. How does a single parent with those odds stacked against him/her, take their son/daughter and mold him/her into the person that God created them to be? How do we look at those statistics and not feel a sense of fear and urgency to do everything in our power to go against the odds?
Working at Family Talk, I am highly aware of the plan that God had for family, marriage, and parenting. I am constantly and painfully reminded that times are really rough and that more and more, people do not carry all 3 of these wonderful blessings at the same time. Whether you had your child out of wedlock, are divorced, or widowed you still fall into this path of Satan's destruction to eliminate any sense of family and God's purposeful plan. Satan is out to seek and destroy what God has created for good. Your children are a gift. When plans change and you are left to parent your "gifts" on your own, things do not have to flow with statistics. We can rise above the odds and do everything in our power to create a godly, loving, stable, and instructional environment. Our kids are living in more the "norm" with a one-parent household. Let's train them up on how to bless and encourage others who are living in their same situation. Let's raise them to know that two parents are God's design but that our own desires or life circumstances can change what we envisioned His design for us and our children to be and that God can still bless our lives through these changes.
If you are not a single parent, please find someone who is and take them under your wing. I cannot speak loudly enough about how much this is needed! From experience I can tell you that that loneliest times are when I cannot do for my son what a father can. It's a helpless void that sometimes only someone of the opposite sex can fill. I am all too tired of hearing people speak about how much they care for a single parent's situation, yet do nothing to help those kids be as influenced as possible by healthy relationships. Help a single parent show the goodness of God to their children through your interaction. If you are currently blessing a single parent home, "THANK YOU" as you are an answer to prayer. Maybe, just maybe, if we all bind together to raise these children with both the influence of a mother figure and a father figure, we can stop the negative statistics from rising!
Very encouraging still praying for my son to get that under the wing support. Please for him too he so needs it. Thanks.
ReplyDeletePraying for your son. Thank you for reading.
DeleteLove this. I can relate as a single parent of a boy. I am grateful for my church and the Sungle Mothers of Sons Ministry. There should be more ministries like this at churches
ReplyDeleteI feel like I am on the verge of a fatherless home. I feel like I have stayed in a not so good situation just to avoid these statistics of children coming from broken homes...ughhh this was encouraging but still feels overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteI think we need to re-look at these statistics. Many of the dysfunctional kids I come across these days are from homes that have both parents. I think each parent expects the other will do something and then no one does anything and the child suffers. However, for single parents, they know they have no one to push the responsibility to and therefore give their very best to their children. From where I am standing,I can count very many children from single parent homes that have made their parents really proud. Its not always doom and gloom.
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