................Learning from those who are older.

Leviticus 19: 32--"You shall rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God; I am the Lord."

Deuteronomy 6: 6ff--"And these words which I command you this day shall be upon your heart; and you shall teach them diligently to your chldren, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise."

This page relates to the assignment for Wednesday, December 21, 2006. What did you learn when you interviewed your older person, particularly as the older person may have talked about God?

Carlee writes "At church we were asked to do a project about someone and ask them these three questions, "What was your life like when you were my age?, "What was your world like?", and "What would you like to tell young Christians today?" I went to Joe Miller's house to interview him. He told me that when he was my age his chores were to cut wood, drive the milk cows, pick and chop cotton, and he worked at a saw mill. When he was 10 he had a brother Glen and sister but his brother died. Joe liked to squirrel hunt. He had a single wall house where you could see through the cracks of it. Later he worked with his dad at a service station. He and his brother Glen wanted a bike really bad so they had to make a cotton crop to afford a bike and they made $87.00 from it.

When I asked him about his life, he told me there was no TV, only battery operated radios, no electricity or water, no indoor bathrooms, he washed his clothes in the spring, and he went to church.

Last, he told me that he wanted young Christians to not take life so seriously or school too seriously but to do your best at it, only the take God seriously.

Corey learned from his interviewee to "Stay away from bad influence," and "Let God take away your worries and have a positive attitude."

Colton interviewed his grandmother. "She said she lived on a farm, where her parents raised almost everything they ate. She went to school to a two room school called Denny Country school where first through third was one classroom and third through sixth was the other classroom. She was a tomboy and liked to play with her many cousins who also lived in the same community as her family. They loved to play, hid-and-seek and red rover. She has a younger sister and played dolls a lot. They used to dress up their pet cat and dog and push them in a doll buggy. Her parents were kind and loving but never attended church much, so she was not raised to go to church.

Although there was electricity other places, there was no electricity or indoor plumbing at her farm. The family home was only four small rooms but was always neat and clean. They didn't have a TV but listened to the radio a lot. It ran on batteries. Their lamps burned coal oil.

Families enjoyed getting together more than they do now. To visit neighbors and family or them dropping by was a form of entertainment. Another form of entertainment was an occasional pie supper or community square dance. Her dad had a sawmill, so her family went to Russellville each Saturday to get supplies in her dad's one ton truck he used to haul logs.

"Never forget that God is always near," Colton's grandmother advised him. "Attend Bible classes regularly because while you are young is when you learn and retain facts about the Bible." She knows this becaused she didn't know much abou the Bible until she was an adult and it made it hard sometimes to get straight when and why things happened. She said that she always thinks that we young people are our future leaders and teachers in our church and is always glad to see us attend.

Kaeli interviewed her grandmother.

Tell me about your life when you were my age? "We played basketball, rode horses, went swimming, went to church at 16, dating, did not drive."

Tell me about your world when you were my age? "The world is different. [People] stayed out late, and played games."

What would you like to tell young Christians today? "Take time in life. Don't throw your life away. Take time to read the Bible and serve God.

It is obvious from the visits that our young people have had that the interviewing assignment spanned generations and brought them closer together. Thanks to all for participating--Sid

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