Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Many times, when I write Gig Line, I refer to my faith in God, but it isn’t to boast or to insinuate that I’m this know-it-all Christian who thinks anyone who doesn’t openly proclaim their faith isn’t faith-based. I just know what I have been through in my life and how faith in the Lord has given me the ability to sort through right and wrong and chose my direction accordingly; that it’s taught me patience, forgiveness, compassion and a desire to truly love everybody whether I know them or whether I don’t.

It would seem hard for most people to understand that I suppose. You know, proclaiming love toward others I have never met or know very little but it is what it is. I truly do. The good Lord gave me that love. The joy I came to know when I invited God into my heart truly changed my life and it made me a better me.

Before I really came to know the Lord as my personal Savior, I liked people overall. As a seven-year-old, I learned that there was bad in this world, having been molested by a stranger. It was then that I learned how innocence doesn’t protect you or fend off ugly, but having kept it to myself and not even telling my parents (who I knew loved me very much) was a conscious decision. Even at seven, I knew Daddy would have hurt the man who touched me inappropriately and that a very ugly confrontation would take place and then what? My father that I loved so much would go to jail for defending me? No, I couldn’t take the chance, so even as a first grader, I just talked to the Lord about it and kept it to myself. That experience did however, put me on guard that things in the world can be hurtful, terrible and shocking and just plain wrong.

The secret was with me, inside my heart and head, and the only one I ever whispered it to or about that one devastating incident was God, whom I had only come to know when Mama took me to a revival tent meeting one time, but I felt His spirit, His love and in the shadow of His great big wings, I felt reassured and safe.

For the most part, I see the exquisiteness in this world and the goodness in people; in the incredible earth on which we live, in the incredible beauty that surrounds us, through nature, the animals around us. But also in view of everything that is taking place in today’s world, I can’t help but be sad, really sad for the vulnerable children crossing our southern border who are traded, sold or used as pawns for someone else’s better good; for what they are exposed to; how they are disrespected as innocent young and that holding the hand of someone they may not even know at all who may be mistreating them, using or taking advantage of them sexually breaks my heart.

I watch the news, of course, but it becomes harder to with each passing day – not only to hear it from the perspective of the commentator but to see news first-hand – when you hear testimonies of the people describing life as they see and experience it and events that are taking place and so unbelievable, it’s hard to fathom.

How have we allowed the progression of so much “sex talk” to grammar school aged children? This is scary, folks. Kids should be allowed to be kids. They should be encouraged to have healthy minds and to embrace the beautiful opportunity youth brings them, to learn about how special they are, how they have a future to look forward to, to have the chance to engage in healthy competition through sports, a spelling bee, a talent show or during a class debate. We should impress on them to have an opinion and to respectfully convey it, not through violence or spite or hate.

Children are precious. They are a gift that we should protect, inspire, mentor and to help them see their worthiness of how they can make a difference in not only their own lives, but in the lives of others, even in the world. Children, though young, are smart and they deserve respect. They should be given the best we can give to encourage them to mature into a good, kind, caring, productive citizen, proud of our country and a contributor to our nation and in this world.

Teaching children and young people to be independent thinkers is a good thing, but they need time to mature, learn and absorb life before making big decisions.

Gig Line is an opinion column and anybody is welcome to disagree, call me old fashioned, not with the program or not in tune to today’s world – that’s fine, so be it. I’m just thankful my husband and I and our children and grandchildren were raised to believe in ourselves; to learn there was a Heavenly Father who loves us and who is there for us without exception; that we all came into this world for a purpose; that kindness toward others not only makes other people have a better brighter day but our own as well; that having goals and working toward and accomplishing those goals is rewarding. If children want to become a doctor or a lawyer; a soldier or a pilot; a fireman, a policeman or a judge; a carpenter, a farmer, a fisherman, a writer, an artist or even an entertainer – whatever – it’s okay! We need to help them as best we can to be of good conduct; teach them that hard work will help them appreciate what they achieve in life and that our rewards are due when we work for them.

Do I sound grumpy? Honestly, I’m not. I am aware, though, that severely negative influence seems to have taken hold of those either too weak to resist it or too gullible not to understand there is a motive and when it comes to our precious little ones who depend on us to protect them; it should take precedence. It’s troubling to see that the more earnest, simple goodness of life as we have known it is constantly challenged, criticized and ridiculed so often. Why?

If my sweet patriot husband was here today, I can only imagine how he would feel about what’s going on and what he would say. He would be shocked; he would be disappointed; he would be heartbroken. He would wonder why the emotion of hate – literal hate – has overtaken so many. He would wonder how in the world polio has been found in one of our largest city’s wastewaters after all these years? Where did it come from? Are we being caught with our britches down?

Our debts are mounting exponentially but we keep dishing out money; our drug overdoses and deaths have gone through the roof; crime is rampant in the cities where people are slamming unprovoked, innocent bystanders to the ground just to watch them fall to the concrete unconscious, pushing them in front of trains, knocking them down the stairs; our little children are being shot and killed by drive-by shootings – dear Lord, why? Why are our policeman diminished in their scope of work? Why have so many seemingly intelligent people and politicians turned in favor of the offenders? Why have prosecutors become so lenient that they diminish charges of serious malicious assault to misdemeanors so they can just walk out free to hurt someone else again and again? Why have we wimped out as a people who have loved our country so much to allow this – not through violence – that’s NOT the way to accomplish things – but through our votes? What is the cost of a vote nowadays? How much is it really worth?

Is its only value the little sticker we put on our lapel or collar to say I voted? We must do better than this. We have to put priorities in order. Safety and security was always paramount for our nation; for individual citizens; for our little ones; for businesses that families built from the ground up. Dear Precious Lord, what has happened to us?

I love this land and I pray that we vote in future elections realizing that our one little vote is gigantic – monumental – major and that we vote keeping in mind we won’t be here forever, but our legacy will move on through our children, grandchildren and great-great-great-grandchildren for centuries to come.

Please learn about who you support, don’t just go with the flow or vote because you feel obligated or influenced by your neighbors or social circles. Vote as if your one valuable, prized vote could change the world. It could do just that. I will pray about my votes coming up. I will pray as an informed voter who loves this country, our citizens, our struggling families in pursuit of that goal they set for themselves years ago. I will pray for all politicians (like I do now) that they are there as public servants to do what is best for our country, not to get a slap on the back or a wink because they went against their better judgement to impress others.

Overall and through all these years we have done well, protecting our nation, providing for our military, securing safety and protection of our families and we have acknowledged and left alone churches to open their doors and bless those who enter.

Next week I will write about specific veteran topics that I have been working on and in the meantime, if you have a question related to a potential veteran claim or another issue, please contact Patty O’Sullivan, Dare County Veteran Service Officer, at her office: 252-475-5604 or her cell: 252-473-7749. She is eager to help all veterans, so please make the call. It might be the best thing you could do for yourself and your family.

Until next time, be healthy, safe and happy. Do the right thing and you’ll never have regrets after it’s too late. Think of our children and decide for yourself how much it matters what their future will hold. Call my cell if you wish: 252-202-2058 or email me: giglineheroes@aol.com – also for previous columns you might have missed, see www.giglineheroes.com. Take care, love yourself, love each other and by all means, love our veterans and active duty both near and far. Stay tuned!

READ ABOUT NEWS AND EVENTS HERE.

SUBSCRIBE TO THE COASTLAND TIMES TODAY!