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About Vernonia's voice. (Vernonia, OR) 2007-current | View Entire Issue (July 16, 2015)
14 in other words july16 2015 Better Parenting: Allow Kids to Learn When the Price is Affordable Provided by Sonia Spackman and The Cline/Fay Institute The cost of this knowledge is a few minor bumps and bruises. Others, protected from this experience, have to learn the same lesson during their teen-age years at Learning an important lesson today may be a the cost of serious physical injury, usually at the hands bargain. Kids suffer from things costing more. The of a much stronger person. cost of learning how to live in our world goes up daily. The price a child pays today to learn about friendships, I met a parent who likes to loan money school, learning, decision-making, and responsibility is to her young children. She believes this is a great the cheapest it will ever be. opportunity for them to learn about responsibility and the way our banking system works. The older a child gets, the bigger the decisions She expects the child to sign a promissory note, become. Elementary school children make many provide collateral just as an adult would do at the bank, decisions with affordable price tags. This means they and pay off the loan by a certain date. She is actually can pick themselves up and try again if things don’t training and preparing her children for the real world. work out. High school students are making life-and- Recently she repossessed a cell phone when death decisions – about fast cars, riding in the back of her son did not pay off his loan on time. She said that it pickup trucks, drugs, alcohol and other issues- on a really hurt her to have to take the cell phone. However, daily basis. her most convincing statement was, “My son is really I’d rather my child learn at an early age when the lucky. Here he is, only 10 years old, and he knows price is much more affordable. Some children are so much about the responsibility of paying back loans, allowed to learn at an early age not to bully bigger kids. collateral and even repossessions. All it cost him was his cell phone. It was a bargain.” She added, “My neighbor’s boy learned the same lesson at the age of 26 when the bank repossessed his $3,900 car. My son had a 16 year head start on the neighbor boy. Now he has an additional piece of wisdom to carry him through life.” His life will be better in the long run as a result of this lesson. It’s painful to watch our children learn through natural consequences. But that pain is the price we pay to teach our children. We either hurt as we watch our children learn through life’s natural consequences, or we hurt as we watch them grow up unable to take good care of themselves. I guess no one said it was going to be easy. If you have questions about this column or if you have an issues you would like to have covered please feel free to e-mail me at soniaspackman@msn. com or call 971-998-8169 and we could discuss it. Things to Ponder: Reading Provides Answers Vernonia’s Voice offense averaging over 80 points per game while giving up just 30. The team began regular evening practices the sec- ond week of July. “We are going to be success- ful right away,” says Ware. He inherits a strong core group of players in Alex West, Jake Butcher, Jake Harbour and Luke McCallum, along with underclass- man Gavin Everett, Noah Ryland and Ben Shulte. The potential success of the program has also encouraged new recruits, including first time player and senior Jared Medearis, who Ware says is very athletic, fast and strong. “We’re extremely fast, with just a ton of team speed,” says Ware. “Speed kills in this sport and we have a lot of it.” Ware’s three sons will also join the Vernonia program. His son Steele is a junior and a talented quarterback with a strong and accurate passing arm, who lead the state of Wyoming in passing yards per completion last year. Blade is a senior running back and Steven is also a senior. Ware has introduced a new offensive system that his players have already been learning. “We hope to have everything in place by August,” New Football Coach: Thor Ware and I’m really excited about them. We have a brand new facility and a great weight room. The players are super athletic and super-fast. The only thing they need is guidance.” Ware’s leadership appears to be infectious. His Logger players have already been hitting the weights six days a week and have been out on the field practicing on their own. The team is playing in a summer 7 vs. 7 league and is undefeated at 6-0. Ware says the team has been virtually unstoppable on Columbia Humane Society Featured Pet Jeihro came io ihe shelier as an owner surrender due io allergies in ihe home. In ihe keginning he had a hard iime adjusiing io life ai ihe shelier. Now ihai he is seiiled in he is doing greai. He doesn'i seem io mind ihe oiher cais or dogs eiiher. He also seems io do well wiih kids. He is akoui 4 years old, and weighs righi around 15 lks. He would ke greai on a farm oui ihere caiching mice. If you ihink you can give him a greai home please don'i hesiiaie io call or email. Web: www.columbiahumane.org Phone: 503-397-4353 2084 Oregon Street Email: animalwelfare@columbiahumane.org St. Helens, OR 97051 continued from page 12 continued on page 17 Vernonia Dental D in Support of mind dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.” The world is searching for truth and meaning only to find itself empty and confused. Many of the things foisted on us bring temporary happiness, but shield us from finding true joy. The car doesn’t really perform as advertised. The perfume doesn’t attract as promised. The weight loss program cost too much and isn’t worth the effort. All is not lost! Grab a copy of the best book ever written, the Bible, and read the gospel of John. You will discover the truth about life and the future. As it turns out, reading is more profitable than I ever expected! DM Anonymous Donor in subtle but severe ways to undermine and destroy the quiet faith of God’s people. Through means of insidious suggestions, doubt, disparagement, and despair they endeavor to undermine our confidence in Christ.” I know it isn’t just my imagination, the world and our society is not as interested in spiritual things as it has been in the past. There are so many choices out there today it has become increasingly difficult to make good decisions when it comes to finding wholesome entertainment and healthy ways to pass time. The Bible offers us some great advice. Philippians 4:8-9, says, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your an When I was a kid I hated to read. Why should I waste my time reading if I could hang out with my friends or play a fun game like baseball? Even in college my desire to read was still dimmed by more exciting things like hiking and rafting. It wasn’t until I got to Bible college that I realized how much I could expand my mind and spirit by exposing myself to the great writers and thinkers who have taken the time to put their thoughts into words. Since then I have enjoyed hundreds of great books. Today young people face a far more dangerous set of choices when it comes to passing time. My generation had to make a choice between things like “Leave it to Beaver,” and kick the can. Today’s young people still have choices like that plus violent video games and musical choices that aren’t even suitable for adults. Some of you might be thinking I am out of touch, but no, I have not forgotten about Charles Manson. But let’s face it, entertainment for young people has taken a decided turn toward the violent. In his book, “A Gardener Looks at the Fruit of the Spirit,” W. Phillip Keller makes this observation, “Many of the men and women who dominate the media in publishing or programming are non-Christians. Some are violently anti-God. Such set out e rm By Grant Williams D h . r C r h p o is t M er . h S c eu 622 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR 97064 phone (503) 429-0880 -- fax (503) 429-0881
