The Duped Generation

Dear Generation,

We've been duped. 

We've been lied to, pigeon holed, misled, coddled, and deceived. 

Our eyes have been covered, our ears have become tone deaf, and our laziness justified. We've allowed ourselves to be limited, used and cornered. 

Accurate history of America's founding and greatness has been hidden and re-framed; facts have been morphed to support a hidden agenda; our idealism has been capitalized on for destruction. 

Our sinful nature has been applauded and aided. Our human-ness has been utilized for a purpose. Our innocence has been mis-used.

Youth ambition has been channeled for liberal revolution. Unbeknownst to us we've served as a tool and wrecking ball for the demolition of our nations foundations and security of freedom. Self glorification and comfort has become our goal. 

We've mocked wisdom, under utilized our access to truth, mimicked lies dressed as reality, justified our wrong doing and re-defined almost everything God has already defined, with boundaries for our benefit. 

My peers, please awaken. Our country needs us. It is time we arise as a generation of truth. We must ask questions and think with critical and objective reasoning. It's a must that we return to the moral rights and wrongs God has already written on our hearts. We must awaken. 

Please understand the enemy of freedom wants us to stay in darkness. He knows full well that once a small crack of light is exposed, the darkness will be displaced, the shadows understood and we will awaken with a righteous roar, as we experience the revelation of the truth. 

Let deception lie behind us, humility be our cloak, redemption be our journey and truth be our ambition. All is not lost as of yet. But we must awaken soon before we cross the point of no return.

We must - and by faith we will! - change our identity from The Duped Generation to The Generation that Embraces its Divine Destiny. Let the journey begin!!!

The Parent-less Generation?

At least the Babyboomers had parents to lock the latch, aka their code name of The LatchKey Generation.

My generation had parents that lived in different homes, if we even knew who they were. If we knew their identities, we played home-volley-ball with our weekends and we were the volley ball getting tossed back and forth. One weekend at Dads while the rest of the week at Moms. I think our parents thought our lives were normal and that they could keep life up and we wouldn't notice. But we did.

Many of the young adult generation spent much of our time trying to convince ourselves that our parents divorces or splits were not our fault. But deep down inside we were convinced we were the cause.

Some of us grew up in married homes, but some of our parents were both full time career people. Our baby years were spent in daycare. Our week days in the classroom and then sport practice, daycare or some extracurricular activity. We came home to cartoons and snacks. When our parents got home they were tired yet we were desperate for their attention. You could say there was a lot of tension in our homes. But our parents were convinced the financial stability is what we needed to have healthy and normal lives. But deep down all the stuff in the world couldn't make up for the time and attention of Mom and Dad.

A kid is designed to know his roots. We are meant to grow up and married two parent homes is to be our norm, our standard, our baseline for healthiness, righteousness and security. We are supposed to know a home where the marriage covenant is respected, honored and protected. We should know the security of a Father and the tenderness of a Mother. We should see their interaction and communication, their relationship with one another, hard work ethic, servant heart, and commitment to a family community. We should learn to obey their discipline, be delighted at their affirmation and know they are around the corner ready for any sort of question. They should teach us to save money, look to someone else's needs besides our own and help us be the best we can be for God.
(see article from Heritage Foundation)

Why do you question the sane-ness of this generation when we've grown up so dishelved. When our own local "government" is not stable and healthy and balanced, how can we fight the growing federal government? Afterall the government systems in the forms of education, foster care, government food programs, and more, although unbalanced, are the ones who have been there for us!!

When you break it down, I don't know why parents and grandparents today are surprised when the Millennial generation "doesn't care" about cultural issues. We've spent our lives in fragmented worlds. No matter how many times the adults tried to make our lives seem balanced, we always envied "Susie and Sam" who had two married parents, who ate dinner together every night, whose parents were at their games, worked together in the yard and even laughed together.

For many of us, our parents just weren't there. Emotionally, physically or spiritually so I guess you could say our peers became our fellow survivors.

Does this blog post sound dark? Perhaps it's just a black and white picture of what the reality has been for many young people. The sad thing is that of the majority of those who lived through this and survived are even more blind now as they look to their children for what a healthy family unit looks like and why its desperately needed for a healthy society, a well rounded child and a balanced community.

We needed our parents affirmation, their assurance as we walked through the wickedly awkward teenage years that there was nothing wrong with us. We needed defended, protected, nurtured and stimulated. We wanted to share our small moments with our parents; we didn't want Mom and Dad to hate each other any more; and we wished we could get our parents attention that money doesn't really matter.

All we ever wanted, needed or longed for - was you.

Is this idea of a two parent (one man, one woman, married) family a Utopia? For some. Is it reality for others? Yes, a few. Is it something to understand and recognize even if we acknowledge it was our world whether as a parent, or child? Yes, although painful it may be we must be aware. We must examine ourselves so to help those to follow not make the same mistakes. If you finish reading this blog and you feel condemned I have failed as a writer. But if something in this strikes truth in your heart, it's simply something God is revealing as a tender Friend. He wants to heal us and restore us. He's just that kind of God. He redeems us, our families, our orphan years, our single parent roles, our broken pasts, our mistakes, our disappointments. And He lets less than perfect things work together for His beautiful glory. He makes everything okay again and bring things back around to just as they should be.

May this be our moment of clarifying truth: the Millennial generation is the way it is for many different reasons, but one of which is because we've not been secure in our own homes therefore why would we want be standard bearers for the preservation of the traditional family?  But if you'll help us and hold our hand toward healing, I think we might be willing to give traditional marriage and family a try. Because, after-all, that is the way God has designed us to thrive as a community, nation and people. So... let the healing begin.

Old Coffee Doesn't Solicit the Right Kind of Passion

Redundant messages and calls to action are not sufficient anymore. Your young adults, who you want to influence, don't want stale bread, diluted coffee or an over used toothbrush. And in the same way they don't want the same message repeated to them over and over and over, especially when they don't have an accurate or fresh understanding of what it means.

No matter how many times I try to sell my brother on having an old cup of coffee that was left over from yesterday - whether I do a jig and make him laugh, or say it with tears, or ask him pretty please with a cherry on top - he's still not going to want it. He wants coffee. But he doesn't want the old version. He wants a fresh pot but he doesn't want me to change the recipe. In the same way, in your effort to engage the next generation on your projects, efforts, and causes, you might want to consider the following.

I have noticed conservatives and liberals alike are using so many redundant words in their narratives. It's surprising, these terms out of their dictionary still solicit action in any of us. But then, I find myself using the same words that are always used without really thinking about what I'm really trying to convey.

Oftentimes certain terms are so apart of our culture, we've become unfeeling towards them. And how many terms that should solicit pride, shame, joy, etc have completely lost their meanings on us all together?

Never assume your audience speaks from from the same dictionary you do. Based on education, experience and culture, there are different connotations, implications and understandings. For example, I've grown up around terms like "constitution", "freedom", "right to life", "traditional family values" and "one nation under God". But not everyone knows to appreciate these ideas and even those of us who do need to to be reminded, have the importance of the cause polished and  re-presented.

Never use a term so often that it becomes cliche. Continually evaluate if the term you believe so strongly in and want to convey: Does it still invoke reaction among your audience? Do you remember what it means? Is it an expected soundbite? Has its presence in your communication become an accepted norm? And does it trigger further exploration of truth? There is an element that requires repetition, repetition, repetition in order to establish a brand. But when a term has been so over-used, the power of its truth gets overlooked.

So you have a message you want to tell us, you said? Excellent! We want people to trust us, invest in us, challenge us but we aren't looking for a "redundant preacher". If you want to convince us of an idea, we need to see you as a leader who is living out this vision. We are tired of diluted coffee and overused things. We want fresh passion with solid content, and substance.

Here are some overused words that come to mind: discrimination, class warfare, unity, diplomacy, transparency, peace, Reaganism, conservative, liberal, moderate. Never noticed? Try listening to the news tomorrow and not hearing these terms.

If you want these terms (and others) to have meaning to us, to catch us off guard and solicit action and concern: find a new way to explain them to us. Or use a different word that describes the same concept. You can say "constitution" in a casual sentence. Or you could say "the document that our Founding Fathers sacrificed their lives for". Okay, so that's a phrase vs a word but I hope you get the idea. Scenarios that made sense in your day don't in ours. "I had to walk to school 10 miles up hill" may not have the same relevancy on the Millennial generation as it did on the Baby Boom generation. We have no concept of someone not having wheels to get to school. Keep the point you want to make just freshen it up a little bit.

Always remember that every positive has a negative. If I kept pushing my brother's button to drink my old coffee, he wouldn't want it but it might increase his passion of frustration toward me and never want to come near me when coffee is in the room again. In the same way. If you're "harping" on a point with us as your kids or young people you care about, the more you push on an idea when we've rejected it, don't understand it or find it outdated could invoke passion: but not in the right way. So, just beware.

Given all of these thoughts, do you still wonder why we're glassy eyed when you try to charge us to be concerned with what's happening in our country? Would you want to follow a leader who frequently presents bland terms, abused phrases, flat visions and out-dated solutions? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Oh and one more thing, before you roll out fresh words please know where you're leading us to. And be ready to explain why we should come along. It's amazing what impact good, fresh coffee has on us as younger adults. I think you'll find the same to be true when you freshen up the approach on the concept you want to convey. Our response might surprise you.

We blush no more

My ears couldn't believe what I was hearing but my gut wasn't surprised. You could see this coming.

In listening to a talk show host, he highlighted a new market that has alot of demand. For the discretion of my readers I'll be vague but it is a part of our body hardly ever discussed in private among close peers let alone in public!! But evidently this loose culture I live in has decided that this area of privacy needs to be public and it needs to be public so much that a new industry is needed. The slight hope that there was still decency in this culture has been snuffed out. (This is my dramatic side talking. I know with God there is always hope!)

Combine the afore mentioned with this revelation: marketers are having to resort to such low levels to garner the attention of young to middle age adults so they are using brute language. Because the consumers they want to engage are so numbed down to normal words that would stimulate action, they now have to use words with strong sex appeal just so we'll pay attention.

We've grown up in a generation that is more loose with our bodies and our mouths regarding our bodies than possibly any generation before. Things that were ghastly to mention at the dinner table in your home, are now blatantly paraded in the faces of little ones.

Because we've grown up so "loose" little shocks us or causes us to blush. So if you want to grab our attention you use crude words. Great. Can one go any lower?

Commercials addressing drugs to enhance husband and wife pleasures. Ads on facebook where all ages gather displaying scantily clad young women. Images in store windows that should be only for the eyes of one's spouse to see. Is there no room for discretion? Is the allusion of secrecy and intimacy for one's spouse even thought of anymore? There are healthy environments for these conversations but not in the public marketplace!

Things deserving utmost privacy - are they being supported in shameful publicity? STOP! If we don't draw a line in the sand somewhere... what will happen to us as a people?

There will always be a market place for evil because we live in a fallen world. To assume that this world will be perfect is un-reasonable. But we can become a louder voice for desiring the clean and good content. Our human nature might enjoy seeing the physically pleasing model in the magazine but it's our choice whether we gravitate towards, seek out, or run away from those environments, images and values.

Shame is a good thing! It means our conscience or our inner GPS has collided with God's Holiness and something doesn't register or sync therefore it needs to be resolved. Blushing is synonymous for being exposed, in either a good or bad format. It should be a sign of innocence, vs a sign of guilt when being apprehended. But when a blush (concept) is in need of being defined in a culture, so foreign that it's not even looked for, and so un-neccessary because the indecent has become our reality - shouldn't we be gravely concerned?

What has happened to our moral guidelines? Our sense of private and public discrepancy? Not everything has to be made public! Somethings are meant to be hidden - and should be off limits to "new markets", new marketer's strategies and for that fact - not even an option in the mind fo the business owners who are selling these ads, running these commercials and so on.

Instead of moving further into our base human sinful pleasures, aren't you tempted to see what the results would be in the market place if we swung for the high ground? Fine. Laugh all you want at my "seemingly" innocent suggestion but can't we start going back towards the holy destination? Who knows, maybe your product will benefit. Shock and gasp! How could we ever expect God's way to be the best market plan around? And He doesn't need sex appeal, shock and awe to accomplish His good and perfect plan. He has plenty of other brilliant marketing strategies up His sleeve.

Try Him. And hurry up - let's get our blushing back as a community, culture and nation. It's become a bit too foreign around here.

(Thoughts? Email me at amyjaynehawkins@gmail.com - or share this article on your facebook wall and create a conversation with your peers!)

Fewer Babies equals Fewer Resources

Imagine the fanfare! A grand trumpeter has just made an announcement that I am about to make a huge reveleation known.  The flags unfurled! The crowd waiting in silent anticipation. "Did you hear? She has the secret to restoring our economy! We are about to find out why our economy has suffered so harshly these past few years! What do you think she will say?"

Forget the fanfare. I'll tell the world here and now. The reason our economy suffers so? It's because we've been eliminating our investors. No, not the investors with the three piece suits and nice manicures but the ones that have yet to be born.

I'd like to pose this question to our verbose leaders: Have you ever stopped to wonder what our country would look like if we had never legalized abortion? Because, by aborting 53 million babies, that means 53 million babes not here to invest money that into the economy.

Here are more specific facts, focusing on - 2008:
In 2008, approximately 1.21 million abortions took place in the U.S., down from an estimated 1.29 million in 2002, 1.31 million in 2000 and 1.36 million in 1996. From 1973 through 2005, more than 45 million legal abortions have occurred in the U.S. (AGI). (Found here on abort73.com)

So whether it's 2008 or 2011 or ever since a baby has been aborted on our land, our economy, culture, local markets, and communities are feeling the repercussions.

Not as many children that need the dentist (therefore medical offices don't need as many employees)
Not as many families need larger homes (therefore building companies not quite as successful)
Not as much clothing is needed (fewer stores are necessary to meet the market's needs)
Not as many grocery stores need to stay open (not as many mouths to feed)
Not as many socceer coaches needed (not as many kids to play)
You get the point.

If you chop down the tree in your front yard, sure you eliminate that tree. But you also elimiante all the little saplings that maple tree would have produced.

In the same way with abortion: if each baby that is absent were to mature, get married and have two children, that's 53 million x 3 = 159 million lives across our country that could be investing back into our economies (and some of those babes would now have grand children too making the number even larger!).

If I hear one more leader focus primarily on "jobs, the economy, forget social issues, jobs, jobs, economy" I might scream. Does one not see there is a marriage between the two? So all the fine advocates of Planned Parenthood, you who cling to your chants that a woman deserves the rights to do with her body as she pleases. Who whine about the poor economy we're in and what can we do to fix it. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Either you keep eliminating us and have a bad economy or you ...

Start promoting LIFE and you'll start to see your economy thrive again.

Tears in Barnes and Noble

I wrote this by hand and am now posting: 

Just walked out of a secular bookstore, so gripped with emotion I had to pen: Saw yet another vampire book. A vampire book with a sexy cover and alluring draw. These books are everywhere. And I want to scream at the world! And the leaders! Leaders of Religion and Pop culture! Parents! Anyone who will listen!!!

Is this the best you have? Is this the biggest vision you can cast for the younger generation? Is this the best you can do for us? Vampires, witches and warlocks. There is nothing worth fighting for here so we should imagine ourselves away to another world? 

Is all you can offer us body piercing, freedom to express our sexuality, liberty to lose our innocence? Where's the Church showing us a God who has a gripping imagination? 

Can't you show us the miracle working, blood shedding, life to death than life again, mountain shaking, Almighty God?

Fight for us! Fight for our value, as seen in the eyes of God. Fight for our minds - and our souls. Please seek God and come up with something better than this dark and twisted form of entertainment. Vampires. Witches. Warlocks and blood. 

Unless you get a hold of the marketplace, my generation and those to follow are going to wilfully hand the reigns of this world, country to the Destroyer of Rome, thinking they are doing the greatest good for mankind. 

Oh God help us. God help you - before it is too late. As Creations of God we are much better than this. We can do more than leave our children to the words of darkness. God help us all. 

Glenn Beck's Youth

If you have not joined Glenn Beck's new GBTV subscription you should. A friend clued me in to a show he was doing tonight with young conservatives. I joined in for a short bit as he dialog-ed with a plethora of college students. I was surprised and impressed when he confronted them - and was not shy about addressing them - on how they had handled a situation. I think the young adult area is so bitter sweet. Like a double edged sword.

On one hand we're wanted - our time, attention, involvement. But we must also remember while this hour is calling for us, we must also seek WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING. Just because this hour needs our involvement does not mean we should also embrace foolishness at the same time. Yeah, you better listen in... and props to Mr. Beck for challenging me. I think I want to be like him someday soon :)

The Same Way 1 Million Times

If I hear one more person say: "Hi, I'm running for office because our country needs jobs!" or "Let's get America back to work!" or "Where are the jobs, Mr. President?!" or "I'm so disappointed - where are the jobs!!" or "I'm running for office and my number one issue is the economy... jobs ... economy... jobs... economy."

Enough already!!! 


The truth is the truth is the truth is the truth. But, how you deliver the truth can differ. I'd love to see our elected leaders try the same message with a different approach.

And we wonder why fellow citizens are disgusted with government? There are many reasons I'm sure but one has to be: They say the same thing all the time with no results. A broken record only keeps your attention for so long before it because a natural part of your environment's background noise.

My parents used to live next to the rail road tracks. The trains would storm through during the night and they grew accustomed and thought nothing of it. The morning after my grandparents' first overnight stay, had Grandpa sleepless and shaken. He was incredulous as to how my parents had not noticed! But if he stayed there all the time, he'd for certain grow accustomed to it too. If something as reverberating as a heavy moving train can roar "through your living room" and you don't notice, how much more do you think it's easy for us to dismiss one another's simple and repeated stump speeches?

When something is repeated over and over, group-think can set in. The item that should be noticed now longer is noteworthy and the group - be it 2 or 2 billion - ignores its poignancy and the consequences.

You can't change the truth. To speak something other than the truth is a lie. But if you want to get the attention of the audience you want to engage, you must change your approach. You must keep things fresh. You must use words that solicit the listeners short attention span, peak our interest enough to listen, and cause passion enough for us to engage. Can it be done? Sure it can. Just think of it, Abraham Lincoln's short speech made many moons ago is still a resounding heartbeat of our nation.

Want to be a more effective communicate and influencer? Take an issue you think needs to be addressed and get creative, think outside the box and make it a message so stunning that people never forget.

Every Thought Recycled?

Strolling through the aisles of one of my favorite stores, a notebook's front cover caught my attention. While I don't remember tEh exact verbatim it said "Recycled Ideas." What?! I turned my head and looked again to confirm this clear yet astounding statement: Recycled Ideas. 

Is this statement indicative of our young adult generation? Is that how we see ourselves? Do we perceive ourselves as cycling in the mud? Can't we come up with solutions? Do we have no new ideas? Are we only capable of repeating the ideas of those who have gone before us?

The theme of the creator is clear. They are marching to the tune of the cultural agenda of going green,saving the earth, using cloth instead of that for which can be disposed and more.

The thought of environmental safety and care is not the subject of this post. But the idea that this young adult generation is succumbing itself to the belief that everything is recyclable is a lie and a joke. I'd suggest it's almost on the page of blasphemy.

For years I've seen the world through certain lenses. But must I continue to live my life as though it's limited by my own ability, imagination and understanding of God? Is He not bigger than my limited mind? And if He's able to brilliantly and profoundly create everything, everyone, so much of this world that it would take us a dozen eternities to discover it all, can He not give our generation new ideas? 

If all thoughts are recycled... that means our future is pithy and sad. If all the world wants to teach the young generation is that "life is recycled", than forget the world. Their perspective shouldn't count anyways. Only God's agenda matters. If He's the one to create the environment, education, marriage, government, business and life itself, He can definitely handle fresh and new ideas that no one else has considered, that are the answers and revelations to heal our country.

He's brilliant. And the God in us makes us brilliant too. Okay, Generation!! There are no more recycled ideas for us!! Only good ones in the hours, days and years ahead.

(Comment on this post or email me with thoughts amyjaynehawkins@gmail.com)