I was running errands this morning. Monday mornings seem to be a day for that…nice and quiet and there are no crowds.

After a relatively successful shopping excursion, I headed for the parking lot.

Ahead of me…a set of parents with two very active little boys. So active in fact, that one ran out into the parking lot. I was grateful there was not a car headed his way. His parents just yelled at him to stop running. He did not. As I said…no car thankfully!

I got in my car and sat for a minute checking my text messages. Then I saw it. The little boy finished off a snack and started to put his wrapper in the vehicle.

“Stop!” the adult male yelled. “Just throw that down.” And he did. He threw it down on the parking lot. It had good company along with all the other trash that people obviously thought did not belong in their car either.

Really.

Here is another answer. Throw your trash in the proper receptacle please, or at least put it in your car and not on the lot.

We have a small creek behind our house and due to the rains it has been rather high. Left behind are always those wrappers and worse that people don’t want to be bothered by. One time we saw a large chair floating in the current!

It all boils down to this…respect. Respect of our creation, respect of each other’s property…well you get it.

What could that parent had said that would have possibly made an impact? Obviously yelling was the chosen way to communicate. The sad thing was that the little guy never intended to throw it on the lot to begin with. Unfortunately, he was encouraged to do so rather than put in the SUV.

It seemed like for the years I taught I was constantly having to teach my students how to respect others and others’ items. How many times did I catch one writing on a desk or breaking a pencil that I had provided to them with my own money? I must admit that many times I told them I was going to come to their house and write on their dresser! I am not sure it would have mattered, most likely they had already done that!

So there you have it. Sometimes I feel like an old woman who notices all these things that should be handled another way. But seriously, what is happening to the earth that the Father created for us? Do we appreciate it? Do we teach our children to respect what we have been given?

“In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”  Genesis 1:1

I could go on and on and on. But I will stop right now. But I do know something…

Respect can be taught!

~Be Blessed

IN CHRIST ALONE

TSA

*NIV Bible, personal graphics