There aren’t many benefits to insomnia. I experience it occasionally due to the medication I take. Ambien helps, but I try not to take it every night since I get up at 5 am for work.
There has been one benefit, however. Like my morning commute and hospital waits, insomnia affords me to opportunity to think. I’ve had so much time to think, in fact, that I have developed solutions to most of the world’s problems. The answers are, in no particular order: coffee, Tennessee football, Jesus, better fathers, fewer politicians, and more cowbell.
In light of my abundance of solutions, I hereby announce my intention of running for the Office of President of the United States in 2016. I will run as a member of the Coffee Party – “The party of BOLD action and FRESHLY-BREWED ideas.”
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My platform will consist of one only issue: the restoration of the American Family. I am convinced that most of our social ills stem from the breakdown of the American family unit. It negatively affects the economy and even national security.
According to the Washington Post and National Fatherhood Initiative, 1 in 3 – about 15 million – children grow up in a home without a father. One in five children live without a mother in the home. Of children who grow up without their father in the home, 44 percent live in poverty and have significantly higher chances of incarceration, obesity, teen pregnancy, and drug use.2 The statistics are even worse in the inner city and rural South.
But it not just the absence of fathers from the home that’s striking. Even though the divorce rate, which hovers around 40-50% depending on the source, declined during the recession (perhaps couples were staying together because they couldn’t afford not to), it has since increased.3 Families continue to crumble –and at a faster rate – as we become more prosperous. Interestingly, divorce rates among the nominally religious are consistent with the national averages, but are significantly less for those active in their faith.4
This leads us to the effect on the national economy. The average income for couples with children is around $80,000, whereas single mothers earn $24,000. Not only does this lessen GDP, but it also lessens the opportunities available to children to advance their education.
The breakdown of the American Family is also a national security concern. Fewer young adults are able to qualify for military service due to obesity, criminal records, and lack of education. All these factors increase in single parent homes.
This is not meant in anyway to disparage single parents. I grew up in a single parent home for most of my childhood. But it is intended to open our collective eyes to a significant problem that threatens our nation.
So, what do we do about it? The answer is not a massive government program. Instead, the solution requires both collective and individual responsibility.
Men have a God-given responsibility to lead their families, to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Women have the responsibility to love and respect their husbands.
For husbands, this means love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God’s word. (Ephesians 5:25-26 NLT)
Church leaders must teach what the Word says about this subject and lead their congregations accordingly. Community leaders must encourage fatherhood and support families who are struggling to stay together.
But, the very core of the problem is commitment, or lack thereof. Husbands and wives must stay true to their promises, remembering that love is a choice, not an emotion. When we become a spouse or parent, we give up any remaining right to put ourselves first. Selfless devotion to our families supersedes personal ambition.
On second thought, I hereby withdraw by candidacy. I just realized the election is right in the middle of football season. Plus, I asked Christi and she said “no.”
1. http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/25/fathers-disappear-from-households-across-america/?page=all
2. http://www.fatherhood.org/father-absence-statistics
3. http://www.apa.org/topics/divorce/
4. http://www.christianitytoday.com/edstetzer/2014/february/marriage-divorce-and-body-of-christ-what-do-stats-say-and-c.html?paging=off
Jeff, I am a true believer in God and his beloved Son. I have to agree. My daughter is a single Mom; my grandson is without a Dad. It is sad because he needs a man in his life. We try to keep him with male role models thru sports. That doesn’t help at home when he needs a dad. God bless you for your posts.
Thank you, Peggy. God bless your daughter and grandson. God can fill the gaps. It’s great that you’re deliberately making an effort to expose your grandson to positive male role models. I think God will honor that.
You got my vote !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i even have your “slogan” Cole can !!!!!
he he he Sally
Thanks, Sally. Vote early, vote often, vote Cole. 🙂