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On September 11, 2007, I heard the words that would change the rest of my life. The doctor at the hospital announced, “Mr. Ogborne, you have had a heart attack”.  I can still remember the room. I can still remember that there were three people in there, and it became very cold.

It goes without saying, that when you hear your heart has a defect, there is an uncertainty that starts to pierce your very being. I thank God for the comfort he gave me through friends and colleagues.  However, as I lay in the hospital, the comfort that gave me the most peace was God’s Word. I started to search all the verses that talked about the heart. I finally settled on a verse that was my rock during this time, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart” (Deut. 6:5).

It was the comfort I needed, because it is from the heart that our obedience flows. It is from the heart that a desire to do God’s will starts, and it is from the heart that we follow His commands for a successful life.

So where am I going with this, you might ask? I believe our children are facing a heart attack every day.

The world around them is trying to weaken their heart, so that it will not respond to the ability to do good deeds which bring glory to their heavenly Father. As parents and educators, we try to instill in these young lives a desire to do good. We help them to obey the rules, so that their heart will respond to the ultimate authority of God’s Word.

As the technology of this world saturates their lives, younger and younger children are having to make heart decisions about their life. There are not enough guidelines and rules that can be imposed to guarantee that your child will not indulge in inappropriate behaviour. As a school, we filter the internet at three different levels.  Yet we still see the heart decisions of students that violate the very covenant that they have signed with us, as to online behaviour. It is true. Good students are making poor choices. They have a defect in their hearts called “sin”.

As parents, you need to be more than diligent. You need to be actively thwarting the culture of social media and entitlement to the possession of electronics, by upgrading your technological knowledge and building a plan to address its use in your home. To accurately assess and guide your child’s journey, you need to know the direction and terrain that they will encounter. Last year, PCS attempted to bring in a speaker to talk about this very topic. Unfortunately, times and dates did not gel. As we planned to do it this year, we were made aware of a similar seminar being offered through Carruthers Creek Community Church (C4). 

In order to train your child, you must also be trained. I would encourage all parents to attend. Will having this knowledge solve their heart issue? No, but it will help you guide your child away from the moral pitfalls that could create habits that will damage their heart even more. If your first thought is that you should go, don’t hesitate.  RSVP and make it happen. It’s too important to leave it for another time.

Ultimately, all the rules in the world will not solve this. It’s a matter of the heart. As my mom used to say to me over and over, “a man convinced against his will, is of the same opinion still”. We need to be fervently praying for the Lord to grab their heart and give it the desire to follow Him.

Be blessed and strengthened on your journey.