RLSH700

Very important lesson, Jeremiah. People live by example, not by words. If a young boy watches his father walk out on him and his mother & siblings, this sends a powerful negative message. You can tell children until you are blue in the face what is right and wrong, but if you are not living up to your own words, they will know that the father is all talk.

My family tended to get along better when we had time for "family dinners," which meant in the later years, we seemed to be more distant with each other. However, during the early half of the year, it was close to impossible for my father to have dinner with the rest of us because of his accounting work. He wasn't trying to get ahead, he was trying to keep the company above water (due to some lazy workers who didn't carry their share of the work).

I can't complain about the example that my father set. He taught my brother and I at a very young age about waiting until marriage and staying only with your wife, and it has worked for both of us. He would lecture us anytime there was a friend of ours who's parents where living together, that if either one of us did this, he would be very disappointed in us. He explained how if you do not wait, you will have heartache and an attachment to the first girl for the rest of your life. He explained about the moral implication (which was enough reasoning for me alone), he gave examples in scripture about when people in scripture did not obey this rule and how they suffered from it. He warned of pregancy element, and he warned us that if we got someone pregant, he would not allow us to try to get out of supporting the child. If we made the bed, we were going to lay in it. I'm waiting for the right person to marry first before I go ahead.

I think the thing that makes my father such a strong father figure is the fact that he grew up on a farm. He has a lot of his father in him. My father lived by example, not by word. He gave me the structure on how to be a strong father (I just need to remove the excessive temper part of his structure is all), now I just need to find the right girl.

One thing I have noticed is that in life, it appears that sex can be as addictive for some people as drugs. The saying is "the easiest drink to turn down is the first." I believe that would also apply with sex. If you don't know what you are missing, you don't miss it.

Keep these lessons coming Jeremiah!