I don't want to grow up! That's what Neverland is all about. Lost boys who don't want to grow up. So why is this fairy tale becoming a reality? Why are there less and less men and more and more boys? Maybe they want to grow up they just don't know how!
Most of the guys I work with are in their mid to late twenties and they still spend a large part of their time playing video games. Even the ones with a wife and kids at home. The percentage of men between 25 and 34 who still live at home is up to 19% as of 2011 and in the UK it is almost 30%! They say that this is due to the rising cost of houses and other such expenses and I am sure that that accounts for some of it. But I think there is more to it then just money.
I believe the root of the problem is Satan's attack on the family. As I already talked about in
A Marriage Worth Fighting For the rate of divorce is on the rise. With the break down of the core family there is a lack of male presence in a lot of homes. Roles are getting mixed up and often reversed. Boys only have their moms to look up to and follow after. Women are forced to step into the mans role as the provider and protector. So with fathers out of the picture and women out of the house working full time who is there for the kids? Let's face it, even the best day-cares and preschools are not going to train and care for and love the children as much as their own parents would.
So what do we have? We have a bunch of boys who are confused and alone and afraid. They don't know how to grow up because nobody is there to guide them. Some turn to gangs, others find some sort of middle ground based on the warped male image created by today's media, and some are still at home with their moms or maybe a father is present but he is just as confused or afraid as the son.
If we look around we can see it everywhere. They say good help is hard to find and it is more true now then ever. In all the jobs I have worked at there are so few good workers. They have no work ethic, they complain, they don't take pride in their work. Maybe they are just lazy, or maybe they have never had someone show them the value of a hard days work. They don't know what it feels like to provide for a family. If they do have a family they feel that their spouse should be helping make money too so they don't have to work as hard or so they don't have to get by with less.
The point of my story is that we as men seeking God's will for us need to step up. We need to take care of our wives. We need to fight for our families and show our kids what it means to love God. We need to be there for our families not off in some false reality that we escape to through our video games.
Family first is my motto. I work hard enough to provide what is needed but not so hard that I am gone all day and my kids never see me. When I am home I try to spend as much time with my wife and kids as I can and then in the evenings after they are in bed I have some time to myself.
If you don't know where to start, I have some
resources that will give you a good place to start your journey and help you open the door to becoming a man after God's heart. A man who is living the way God intended, not stuck in limbo, a boy in a man's body.
So many kids are getting lost along the way, left to figure life out for themselves. Let's reverse that trend! Lets make the family something that matters again. Let's be men who aren't afraid to face reality and do what it takes to keep our families alive!
