Why I HAVE to keep on...

The last couple of days I have been in the car a lot. Ryan's battery died and so I have been the taxi service for him this past week. So, needless to say, I have a lot of time in the car and there is NOTHING on the radio but pointless stupid music and not much else. However, I did find a talk-radio station that usually has pretty conservative views on the events of the day. Two days ago, I was so angry (and I forget that no matter how many times I yell at the people on the radio, they cannot hear me, nor will I change their minds...but nonetheless, I yell all the same). There was a lady on the radio saying that she lives in a fairly conservative state and so she really does not see a need to vote because the candidate she wants to win is going to win anyways, so why bother? I wanted to reach through the radio and shake her. Does she really have no idea of the price that has been paid so that she can vote? Can we really have done THAT poor of a job in the educational system as to have cheated her out of the rich heritage this country has? Just when I was about to say, "No more, I cannot listen any more," Suddenly I heard a young voice on the radio. The radio host was just as surprised. The boy, I'll call him "Chase", admitted that he was only 12 but he felt he needed to call in. He said, "I have an example of how people are trying to brainwash us at school." He had my attention at that point. "We had a guy come to our school and tell us how evil coal was and how the people who own the coal mines are evil people who basically treat their workers like slaves or servants." The little guy was so articulate and clear with what he was thinking and hearing. This is my point....I get really tired of people writing off America and the next generation. I think the next generation is full of potential and promise. I am not denying that they have a choice to really MESS up America...but where did they learn some of that from, huh? But, another thing to consider is that those middle schoolers and high school students have opinions and minds that are sharp and quick...they are capable of thinking those big thoughts that I think sometimes we underestimate. The key to this is, who is helping them form those opinions and attitudes about life and faith and country? Is it MTV? Is it the mainstream media? Is it their enviromentalist teacher? Who is it? Have you surrounded those precious young minds with great Christian leaders and writers? Are they sitting under a pastor who will ground them in the word of God? You may say, "Well you have no idea how hard it is, you are not a parent." I would give my left arm to be a parent, believe me, even the parent of a teenager. However, I have spent enough of my short life so far pouring myself into their lives and investing in them that I know how important role models and CORRECT information is in their hands. I have watched many students blossom into very politically involved young persons after they were TOLD about their rich heritage and the costly price for their freedoms and rights. As long as I have breath and am able to teach teenagers, I am going to share with them the history of our great nation. We may be struggling, many on our shores may have turned their backs to God, but I do not want to think that America is gone for good. As long as God is on the throne, and HE IS, then we have reason to hope.